The Hunter's Grove has "become a theater built on mountains of bones", we wrote in the guide to the bosses of Dark Souls II dedicated to the chariot of the executioner. The wood was to all intents and purposes a stage where they were held regular undead hunts, hunted for their diversity. The more unfortunate ended up the rest of their (earthly) days in the Purgatory of the Undead, which is actually a detour from the Hunter's Grove, a prison where they were tortured by the Executioner's Chariot.
The luckiest, if we want to say so, hunted, killed but not considered eligible for Purgatory were instead buried in some arranged catacombs scattered towards the end of the dark grove. In these, some skeletons still rise and again, because of the necromancers who disturb their rest: theirs is an instinctive revenge towards the king and his commanders, those who managed the hunting parties.
The roar of a nearby waterfall is actually the signal of the true masters of the area: those commanders who betrayed the king and joined the skeletal ranks becoming the Lords of Skeletons.
Similar to the Sentinels of Doom, this is also a one-on-three fight. Unlike the Sentinels who had three life bars each, the Skeleton Lords share one, but it's not all as simple as it sounds. They lost their nom de guerre, and thethe only thing that differentiates them is the weapon they wield:
- The sinister Skeleton Lord wields a scythe.
- The central Skeleton Lord wields a magical staff with which he uses pyromancy.
- The right Skeleton Lord uses a dark halberd and pyromancy.
Keep these differences in mind, because the peculiarity of the boss is that A certain type of skeletons arrive to Lord killed to support the remaining ones. In particular:
- Killing the Skeleton Lord with the scythe will bring skeletons with scimitar and shields.
- Killing the Skeleton Lord with the staff will bring skeletons-wheel.
- Killing the right Skeleton Lord with the halberd will bring skeletons with two glauts.
È essential to kill a Lord first and take care of his skeletons before moving on to the next since the skeletons only arrive at the death of a specific lord. Another tip that greatly simplifies the boss fight is leave the Skeleton Lord with the staff for last as the infamous wheel-skeletons, coupled with the camera, are among the most devastating enemies in Dark Souls II.
Taking these aspects into account, the Skeleton Lords are "a lot of smoke and no roast", despite their introduction that sees them descend from the throne of bones on which they sat and the arena, large and divided by three piles of bones that serve as pillars, can be used to your advantage to separate the bosses and especially the minor skeletons, which perhaps constitute the real difficulty of this test.
They all are weak to fire, to blunt attacks and, at the time, to the sacred urns before they were patched and rendered almost ineffective. Let's see the attacks as usual, the list of which is rather skeletal (ba dum tss, Editor's note).
Attacks:
- Sickle Strike / Halberd Strike: Skeleton Lords with scythe and halberd respectively will strike. They are really simple attacks, so much so that you can dodge them, get around them and punish them with a backstab.
- Fire ball: Lords with staff and halberd will shoot a fireball, showing themselves not these great pyromancers in the end. Dodge from the side, or even easier to take cover behind a column in the arena.
- Necromancy: not a real attack but as mentioned the skeletons will be added to the party at every death of a Lord. Get rid of them before dealing with another Lord to avoid being surrounded and beware that the skeletons are capable of parrying. One tactic to get rid of them temporarily is to throw a lure skull in the opposite direction (or if you are a sorcerer the spell Brama, available for purchase from Carhillion).
The boss is considered defeated when both the Lords and all the minor skeletons have fallen.
Drop:
15.000 souls.
Soul of the Skeleton Lord (creation, from Straid: Roaring Halberd).
Lapis Lazuli Ring +2 (New Game + only or after using an Ascetic Bonfire).
The Skeleton Lord set becomes available for purchase from Gren in Purgatory for the Undead.
Lore:
In the Hunter's Grove, time has eroded the distinction between jailers and prisoners and between hunters and prey. Now they are nothing more than skeletons, destined to haunt the woods and called to duty by the bed they call grave when necessary.
The Dark Souls saga is full of tricks of fate, and the Skeleton Lords are no exception: even humans once, they too have had to deal with the curse and become what they have hunted for so long, enough to become commanders of the hunting season in undead sauce. Reduced to a fluttering purple robe and two red eyes they have forgotten their old mission and their loyalty to the king and, abandoned to their rot, they are reborn with another: to create a kingdom of bones by wearing three crowns of the same shape.
“At the game of the throne either you win or you die. There is no third possibility ”, it is said in a popular fantasy saga far from over. The Lords of the Skeletons are dead but in their rebirth they believe they have won, sitting on bony thrones made up of the carcasses they themselves had hunted long ago. This belief remained for a long time, until a chosen one arrived crossing a great sea of grass.
► Dark Souls II is an RPG-Adventure game developed by FromSoftware and published by FromSoftware Bandai Namco for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the video game was released on 11/03/2014 The version for PC came out on 25/04/2014
