The Rotten | How to defeat a boss Dark Souls II Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
The Rotten is one of the four bosses which souls you have to collect. It consists of hundreds of corpses squeezed together, which makes it resemble a rotting silhouette. It is rather slow, but its attacks are very powerful and have a large range. It performs them with a giant Butcher's Knife, which it holds in his right hand. Both the right and the left limb can be cut off with melee weapon, thus preventing it to attack. However, its hands grow back after some time.
Attacks:
- Horizontal Slash - the undead performs an attack with the knife from right to left or from left to right
- Forward Slash - three quick forward attacks
- Grab - The Rotten swings his hand and grabs the player
- Pummel - the opponent pounds the ground with its left fist, trying to hit the hero
- Sludge Wave - The Rotten slams the ground with its Butcher's Knife and shoots out a wave of sludge
- AoE Blast - The Rotten charges and releases a big shock wave, which deals damage around him.
- Forward Slash + AoE Blast - charges its attack and performs a forward slash, after which an AoE blast occurs on the location of impact.
- Acid Spit - The Rotten grabs its chest and spits out acid a couple meters in front of him.
Strategy:
The Rotten has low resistance to lightning damage, so it's good to have a weapon dealing it. Its attacks may be slow, but they deal a lot of damage and are difficult to block, so you should wear lighter armor for faster movement and better regeneration.
This fight should be rather easy for ranged fighters. You just have to stay on the move and stick to the centre of the arena, because you might fall into lava. The greatest danger are the AoE attacks, so always be ready to perform a few rolls. Every type of magic will work during this fight, but the best choice are lightning based spells like Heavenly Thunder or Lightning Spear.
Melee players have to have a bit more patience. Dodge its attacks and use the long pauses between them to hit a few times. Try to circle the enemy after its attacks, to obtain a few additional seconds for dealing damage. Additionally, if you use a weapon with a large range and can attack from above your head, you can try to cut off its hands, which will greatly decrease his power. Attack normally using left or right hand, without Lock-On.
Rewards:
- 47,000 souls/90,000 souls (NG+)
- Soul of the Rotten
- Old Dead One's Soul (NG+)