At long last, Dark Souls 3 is finally available in stores around the globe, bringing a new string of challenges and monstrosities for the Dark Souls community to overcome. Of course, while many fans take pride in carving through each new entry in the series, figuring out the weaknesses of each boss and discovering all the secrets hidden throughout the game, many people need a bit of help to make it through each new Dark Souls release. So we’re putting together guides to help you get through the game’s toughest encounters.
Now that we’ve returned from PAX East 2016 , we’re showing you how to take down the Deacons of the Deep; the mysterious sorcerers waiting in the heart of the Cathedral of the Deep.The Deacons of the Deep can be one of the toughest boss fights in Dark Souls 3 , if you don’t know what’s going on, because it’s possible to damage the boss without really understanding how. But the encounter becomes significantly easier once the Deacons’ secret is exposed.
When the fight begins, take a moment to look carefully at the mages approaching you. It may take a moment but (within a few seconds) you should spot one enveloped by red flames. This is your target. Generally, you’ll need to sprint around to the back of the roaming mages, who will try to position themselves between the player and their target. But taking down the red mage generally isn’t difficult once you’ve repositioned, especially if you’re using a weapon or spell with a wide attack range. Once you’ve killed the target mage, wait a few seconds for the flame to relocate and repeat the process several times.
After you’ve dealt a significant amount of damage to the Deacons -- usually somewhere between a third and half their health -- the boss’ attack strategy will change. Instead of jumping from one host to the next, the flame will inhabit what appears to the Deacons’ leader. The new target can be identified by its holy crown and larger spellcasting staff.
During the second phase, the Deacons will begin casting fire magic more frequently and a second group of mages, wearing darker robes, will target the player with cast spells. As you’d suspect, these can be incredibly problematic and bring your fight to a quick and disappointing end if you aren’t careful. If the curse casting begins, immediately switch focus to the dark-robed mages and continue killing them until the casting stops. Ideally, you’ll beat the Deacons of the Deep before the curse spells ever become an issue, though.
The Deacons of the Deep aren’t very tricky once you’ve figured out their gimmick. But we’ll admit to dying more than a few times during our first completion of the game. Just remember to use large weapons that tend to swing in wide arcs; they make it easier to hit multiple targets at once and help keep other nearby enemies at a safe distance. And, as always, try not to get discouraged if the Deacons of the Deep take you a couple of attempts to defeat. Worst case scenario, you can always summon in some help from the DS3 community.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Dark Souls 3 coverage throughout 2016 and for however long FromSoftware supports Dark Souls 3 in the months following launch.
