r/darksouls • u/THE_ANONYMOUS619 • Jul 15 '26
Discussion FUCK THIS GAME, FUCK THR DUO BOSS, FUCK THE RUNBACK, FUCK THE SILVER KNIGHTS, FUCK THE TWO FATASS KNIGHTS, FUCK THAT HOMING MISSILE ARCHER, FUCK THE CAMERA and FUCK MY LIFE
My god what am I supposed to do then they DP me in the corner
Edit: Update posted 11 hours ago
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u/wl1233 Jul 15 '26
The easiest way to get past this part is to keep your health bar above zero.
Hope that helps!
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u/Reaperrobin Jul 15 '26
Don't forget to get their health bar below zero, though
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u/Time_Inflation_1882 Jul 15 '26
That's actually pretty good advice.
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u/Yiga_CC Jul 15 '26
Did you not activate the bonfire inside the castle?
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u/CuddleCatCombo Jul 15 '26
I think they did, they’re talking about the one archer in the main hall before the boss room I’m assuming?
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u/Witch_King_ Jul 15 '26
Oh, that's not that bad at all. Just run past everything.
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u/ChingusMcDingus Jul 16 '26
Only issue with running past everything is when it comes to Solaire. If you summon him and don’t kill everything he goes murder hobo and doesn’t help you kill O&S, instead deciding to solo the guards.
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u/Fedginald Jul 16 '26
Clearing out the hallway to O&S so solaire doesn't get stuck is one of my most dreaded things in this game
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u/AJ_Dali Jul 16 '26
Leave the bonfire and run past the two silver knights on the way. When in the main cathedral hallway go upstairs and around to take out the single archer. Summon Solaire and have him fight the sentinels. I'd recommend helping him so they don't heal. After they're gone, black separation crystal to give our Sunbro a break. Quit, reload, and resummon our boy.
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u/ChingusMcDingus Jul 16 '26
Damn that’s some high IQ play. I just slogged through fighting them alone, though I did always take out the archer first.
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u/Noctum-Aeternus Jul 15 '26
I tried that once or twice and I always got the worst luck with getting smacked by one or both of the giants in the main hall before the boss room. I usually just took it slow.
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u/robeewankenobee Jul 15 '26
There are 2 , one with a sword and one with a spear which agro if you run back to the boss assuming you don't do the stair jump ... the archer makes no sense to fight since you come from the other side.
The 2 silver knights are a perfect parry learning moment if you keep dying at O&S ...
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u/Rombledore Jul 15 '26
if your running into the archer knights on the runback to orney and smo- i think you're missing a bonfire bro.
for the duo- use pillars! block them bois. maybe summon our pal solaire if able? he's a good distractor.
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u/ELMUNECODETACOMA Jul 15 '26
And missed the shortcut back to the original bonfire (opening the main doors)...
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u/ThreeDaysNish Jul 15 '26
Canon event.
All of us are spirit-bomb-connecting to send you strength and poise.
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u/UsedFeature4079 Jul 16 '26
Right this boss made me quit for 6 months came back and beat it first try and eventually 100% The game.
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u/AcrobaticProgram6521 Jul 15 '26
You got this don’t give up we all have been this frustrated I assure you
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u/JoDaBoy814 Jul 15 '26
Look up the amor londo stair skip, that'll make the runbacks a little easier. Try to separate ornstein from fat ass and just be patient. You've got this bro
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u/Gavia-Immer Jul 15 '26
The stair skip makes that runback so much more tolerable. It’s definitely worth learning
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u/RDGOAMS Jul 15 '26
maybe DS1 is not your thing, maube you should try DS2, everything you hate in DS1 gets improved in DS2
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u/su1cidal_fox Jul 15 '26
Ah, this brings me back to my first playthrough years ago. You will get it buddy. 💪
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u/SplendidPunkinButter Jul 15 '26
They cannot move through the columns, even if they’re broken and just the base is left. Use this to your advantage.
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u/YourDriverStubnorts Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
For your camera woes, keep in mind that in a lot of instances it's better to not be locked on.
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u/aviasvr Jul 15 '26
Currently feeling this about Bloodborne. Don’t you dare go hollow!
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u/dhddevice Jul 16 '26
I usually grab Solaire and go after Smough. He's slower so he's easier to get rid of first (plus I prefer Ornsteins soul items).
Ornsteins fast but much easier when it's just him and his moves are fairly well telegraphed.
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u/Excaliburrover Jul 15 '26
Summon Solaire.
Use a swiping weapon so you don't have to lock on. In this way you can more easily track the enemies.
Use the pillars to separate them but remember that the pillars will block your attacks but not theirs.
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u/Tedanki Jul 15 '26
Yeah, was going to say this. Def worth reverse hollowing and summoning Solaire or any other players.
Try to focus down Ornstein first, then Super Smough. Super Ornstein is way harder.
Use the pillars for cover as much as possible. Don't get greedy with your attacks. Hit and run.
Don't rely on lock on too much. When it's time to run away, turn it off.
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u/infamous_sandwich5 Jul 15 '26
You just have to say "NO, I do not consent" and then get out of the corner.
In seriousness create space between them, keep distance and pull them apart.
Don't engage when they are next to each other.
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u/jornadamogollon Jul 15 '26
I am just playing this game for the first time and completed the boss at Anor Londo last night. It is a pure joy to get slaughtered over and over. The design in this game is amazing, even given the time since it was released.
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u/Dry_Attempt7554 Jul 15 '26
Ah! Ornstein and Smough. That's where the boys are separated from the men. Lol!
You'll beat them OP. Just keep trying!
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u/BismuthCommun Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Do not go in the corner, and do not stay in the center of the room. Always keep both of them in front of you. Do not be greedy : one hit by one hit on the same boss, and the safer is the better.
If you need better equipment : steel or/and lightning protection ring, 20 estus flasks (upgraded twice), +10 weapon for melee, shield which blocks 100% physical damages and has a good stability (50-60 minimum), light or mid rolls.
If you need better stats : if you do not dodge well enough, 30-40 vitality, same for endurance ; if you do, 20 minimum.
If you have enough attunement (~16) and want to overlevel, try pyromancy.
Get good.
The runback isn't that hard if you have light rolls or a good shield. You kill two silver knights (critical attacks help), skip the staircase (just jump and heal in front of the fog) and avoid the giants. If you can kill the giants without using too much estus, try jolly cooperation
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u/Is-there-chocolate Jul 15 '26
I want an update post when you beat them. You will. The longer you work at it, the more you see yourself making improvements.
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u/vostok_k Jul 16 '26
huh, when you finally beat out the shit of them, you’ve be like “this is the best game I played in my life”. release your anger but dont you dare go hollow!
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u/Extension-Letter-732 Jul 16 '26
Those spiral stairs at the beginning just outside the bonfire, you can jump from them directly to the bridge leading to the fatass knights and run for like 10 seconds to get to the boss. Look it up on YouTube it's a little tricky to get the jump angle correctly but it's not hard.
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u/Rustinboksi Jul 16 '26
thats all a part of the experience. the game is working exactly as intended and sooner or later you will learn to love it like the rest of us.
dont you dare go hollow
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u/SweetShuriken Jul 16 '26
We’re in 2026 having people unironically say “git gud” god i wanna impale whoever says that with a zweihander from mouth to anus
But yeah this fight can be a pain. Ah…memories
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u/Lashmush Jul 16 '26
Just in case you missed it: After the greatbow silver knight, once you make that jump to the balcony and head inside, open the door on your left. Bonfire here.
Then, back out from the bonfire room, go up the spiral staircase until you can see the second floor with some doors on the sides and a path to the main hallway. Normally, you gotta come from that side and unlock one of the doors to clear a room of I think 2x Silver Knights with spears. However, in the spiral staircase, if you do a running jump from higher up towards the rim of the spiral stairs, you can land on it or even just clear it and then land on that second floor. Open the shortcut and sort out the knights, then you can basically just do a direct short sprint from that bonfire to the bossfight in a few minutes. No loss of estus, faster retries, less frustration if you die.
Also, if you haven't done so already, use humanity in your bonfire to upgrade how much estus you get every time you rest/respawn.
As for the fight itself, my advice is to keep max distance from Smough, the big guy. Ornstein is very fast and can do a dash attack that covers a ton of ground to reach you. So if they are both far away, wait for that dash, then punish Ornstein and try to keep Smough in view in case he does his charge to try and scoop you into the air. If you see him coming, dodge away from them both, regain distance and wait for Ornsteins charge, repeat.
You can do it, man. We all suffered just like you did when we first picked up a Fromsoft title.
Also, there is a blacksmith nearby that you can use to upgrade some gear, especially armor if you haven't capped it at whatver you can get right now. He sells stones so grind some souls and deck yourself out a bit. The big boys in the huge hall towards the boss give a lot of souls and you can always just go spend what you got, then use the darksign to go back to the bonfire and repeat.
Don't you go hollow.
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u/EstablishmentLevel37 Jul 21 '26
Okay so based on your words I imagine you’re at Anor Londo. Lol First of all sorry you are having such a rough time.
Second, there is a really big shortcut to get to that Ornstien and Smough fight without fighting anyone. The bonfire where you are next to Soltaire inside Anor Londo, like the one in the little wooden door that is next to spiral stairs. If you go up about 3/4 of the way and turn around you can see one of the walkways over the railing. You can actually run and jump over that and land on that walk way.
It makes the run back way faster.
Now for the fight, you CAN summon Soltaire. Become human and reverse hollow at the bonfire. Then take that shortcut. Now you’ll want to take out the Two big Guards and the one black knight archer at the other side so Soltaire doesn’t get damaged before the fight. But the summon sign is on the stairs on the side where the archer is.
You can do this man!
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u/Sr5DelSol Jul 15 '26
First play through took me 3 tries to beat them using only a great sword nothing else at all. So basically just do what u did and beat them good luck
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u/Fusrodahmus Jul 15 '26
First door on your left as soon as you get inside the castle is a bonfire. Immediately after that is circle staircase going up. Go about halfway up and look over the railing, there should be a path. Jump over the railing (start from higher and jump early to clear the lip), now the run back is short.
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u/BraveNemesis Jul 15 '26
Ah, the classic discovery of O&S, or as my brother once called them, "Fuck This, and I Quit"
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u/CONNER__LANE Jul 15 '26
Theres a neat little jump u can do on the stairs to make the runback shorter…..
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u/sciencesold Jul 15 '26
Just wait until you get to like your 50th playthrough and they're an absolute pushover.
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u/redleg50 Jul 15 '26
Kill the big knights right in front of the door and summon Solaire. That’s all you really need.
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u/nicofdarcyshire Jul 15 '26
Learn to jump over the stairs bannister. Learn to not give a crap about any enemies on the way... Just run. Then due to to Orney. Then donut again. Practise makes perfect.
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u/zZbobmanZz Jul 15 '26
Its okay, let it all out, its okay its all okay. Take some deep breaths and try to calm down if you can and you can try again if you want.
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u/Anime-Fr3Ak365 Jul 15 '26
May Gwyn grant you the faith to accept what you can not change, the strength to change what you can not accept, the dexterous legs as well as enduring stamina to roll from harm, the intelligence to know which path to take, and the vitality needed for one of our ilk to continue moving forward.
Brandish your steel, notch your arrows, recount your incantations, and recite your prayers fellow undead. The old ones may have abandoned you, but we haven’t. Don’t you dare go hollow!
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u/JustJdog2 Jul 16 '26
You got this bro. We all went through this. Except me I beat em first try get good
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u/lizfromdarkplace Jul 16 '26
Gods I feel this post in the darkest reaches of my soul. But it’s part of the experience. You just gotta keep on keepin on. Good luck friend you got this!
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u/pineapple_stickers Jul 16 '26
Bonus tip for the archers, buy Poison arrows, dose those jerks up and just wait for them to die. Takes a little bit but it avoids the headache
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u/Consistent_Prompt514 Jul 16 '26
I defeated them roughly 5 hours ago for the first time and i resonate with you. You'll get there buddy
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u/chiliwithbean Jul 16 '26
Try to hit the boss until it's health is depleted to zero, and you should get it done first try.
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u/bedheadB188 Jul 16 '26
There's a summon sign for solaire if you require him, use the pillars to break them up, avoid corners, don't fight the knights on the way if you don't have to, I'm rooting for you
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u/Coldspark824 Jul 16 '26
Walk instead of run up the banister, the arrows miss.
When you sprint they aim ahead of you.
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u/Alex_Hovhannisyan Jul 16 '26
Be patient and always keep an eye on Ornstein and never let him get out of your field of view. Get 1-2 hits on Smough when you can, use pillars to reset/recover. Most importantly do not get greedy. Every single boss except 4 kings is a matter of patience, if you can get 1 free hit in when they create an opportunity then you've already beaten the boss, because you literally just do that over and over. There's only 1 dps race in the game.
Super Ornstein has a very predictable moveset, just get under his legs and avoid the slam and you're good.
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u/Radiant-Lab-158 Jul 16 '26
The second half blows so badly, it's an inferior product to DS2 in every way.
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u/Lil-Squidy Jul 16 '26
Super speedi bou tactics (you don't have to, but if you're willing to solo or summon a buddy from the bonfire it's easier) start at the bonfire you meet solaire at (this is the 2nd bonfire you typically reach in your first playthrough by heading around the rooftops and through an open window after you've gotten to the main locked gate). Exit the room and head left, head up the stairs, and right before the top there's a spot you can run and jump onto the stairs railing and fall into the platform underneath. This brings you to the right side of the main hallway behind the locked door we talked about earlier. With practise, this becomes a really quick runback for the boss which relieves the slightest amount of stress
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u/mikeits Jul 16 '26
You can jump over the banister on the spiral staircase and skip the knights. You can land on the walkway to the great hall and mosey on over to Ornstein and Smough. I had to do that runback at least 100 times a few days ago fighting them on my Level 4 warrior.
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u/freaky1310 Jul 16 '26
…you know that there’s only one possible answer for this, right?
G I T G U D .
Memes aside, if you’re unable to keep calm, it’s likely that the souls games are not for you (yet). Resilience is the basic skill needed to beat those games.
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u/LostSoulNo1981 Jul 16 '26
No one seems to talk about being able to open the big doors in the main hall. They lead you back out the steps with the other two sentinels, and a quicker run back from the bonfire at the bottom of the moving staircase.
Then all you need is loads of poison arrows to deal with the sentinels, and the archer in the main hall is pretty easy.
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u/Jeckaa84 Jul 16 '26
The only reason i didn't continue the DS series after DS1 is the running to the boss after each boss attempt.
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u/dubesto Jul 16 '26
I just did O&S, got super lucky with a very helpful summon. I didn't even know people were still playing online
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u/MrFunnyMans404 Jul 16 '26
Dp them in the corner back, believe in the power of jolly co-operation. Frustration is the beginning of patience, this veteran believes in you.
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u/lPizza_Thymel Jul 16 '26
Look up the stairs shortcut if you haven't already. Makes the runback much more manageable.
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u/Own_Farmer195 Jul 16 '26
Stay near the pillars and kill O first by baiting his attacks and listen to S run attack so you can go behind a Piller
For the run back learn how to do the stairs skip and git gud
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u/No_Bison_617 Jul 16 '26
After spending a ton of hours playing Souls games, I realised that those who play these games have a humiliation fetish, I think I have over 1k hours playing just Dark Souls 3, and PvE still kick my ass, let alone PvP, which is a factory of salt, and I still go back to it with one question in mind; "why on the hell I'm still playing this game!!!?" Am I having any fun with it? Even after beating a boss, there is no joys from it, the amount of sore in your mouth just negates any sweetness of the victory.
I have no idea what kind of a haunted soul Miazaki have injected these games with, it feels like it's personal, they are not just hard, the games seem to be a sentient entity, they just know how to surround you with despair.
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u/Xorm01 Jul 16 '26
Your forgot fuck blighttown! I cannot say that enough even all these years later. Fuck blighttown.
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u/Fire_Block Jul 16 '26
keep your distance until one separates from the other by using an attack to close the gap. that's your opportunity to get damage off until the other gets up close. you can also open a shortcut on the way to the main hall before the fog wall, and can summon solaire on the set of stairs in the main hall with the archer while you're human.
other than that, there isn't any fancy trick. this game's about learning and practicing against these impossible odds to succeed, and o&s is often seen as a test to check players' skill before the late game. just keep working at it, and don't you dare go hollow. it's only a matter of time before you git gud with a little determination.
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u/Toon_Nik Jul 16 '26
You can do it!
I'm on my first playthrough and beat them recently - practice controlling enemies around pillars in the runback, and use that first to isolate Ornstein and deal with him first, before patiently wearing Super Smough using a pillar stump to keep distance and choose your moments.
Once I found that rhythm I did it in two attempts, if you have humanity summon our favourite Sun Bro from near where the archer is in the cathedral hall and it'll make the first half of the fight much easier.
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u/AnimeMemeLord1 Jul 16 '26
Get Zweihander (in the graveyard in Firelink Shrine, find big tombstone guarded by giant skeleton as well as other smaller skeletons). Dash attack or heavy attack either Ornstein or Smough, they will be stunned. Be careful of the other, but other than that, you can basically almost stun lock either of them to death.
I recommend killing Ornstein first since Smough remaining is much easier than Ornstein remaining. Do the same thing and you’ll basically stunlock him to death.
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u/FearnFuenfzig Jul 16 '26
Been there once. Didn’t touch the game in month after I bought it. Then I killed the boss I struggled with and realized how few souls I actually lost there.
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u/Nank-Tank Jul 16 '26
Strip naked, two hand that shit and pound the skinny one into the floor.
Sounds like a joke but I am dead serious. Also farmed some vitality to get my win.
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u/Drekhar Jul 16 '26
It feels overwhelming the first time but these guys aren't as hard as they seem. They both only have a few attacks that are pretty easy to dodge once you get used to the attack patterns. Just stay calm and dodge and get an attack in. Don't get greedy with attacks, they will take advantage of that.
Also, during phase 2 always be prepared for whichever huge one you're fighting to jump in the air for the AOE attack. You need enough room to get 2 rolls off directly away from the boss. If you are not constantly aware of your surroundings you will trap yourself and get hit with the AOE.
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u/PKblaze Jul 15 '26
Just beat the boss first try. Then you don't have to do the runback.