Dark Souls Archthrones Heide Phoenix Boss Fight Guide

In the world of Dark Souls Archthornes, while many bosses offer strategic battles against humanoid foes, some present formidable creatures that can become significant obstacles. Among these challenges is the Heide Phoenix, widely recognized within the game's community as one of the toughest and most frustrating adversaries.

If you're aiming to conquer this formidable boss and could use assistance with summoning and defeating it (yes, you'll need to summon this boss), you've landed in the right spot. Below, we'll provide a comprehensive guide covering everything you need to know to overcome the Heide Phoenix boss in Dark Souls Archthornes.

How To Beat Heide Phoenix Boss in Dark Souls Archthrones 

Unlike many of the other bosses in Dark Souls Archthrones which place themselves directly in your path as obstacles to defeat to progress, the Heided Phoenix requires that you summon it by using a specific item, the Phoenix-Caller Horn.

To get this item, head to the Cathedral of Blue and down the stairs at the back of the cathedral to find Flynn, the boss you defeated previously as the Keeper of the Old Gods, and purchase the horn for 10,000 souls.

Once purchased, you can head to the Tower Vista and when standing facing the burning tower, you'll get a popup that relates to the horn, and from here you can simply blow the horn which will summon the boss on the platform below. 

To make it easier to reach the boss, you can teleport to the Phoenix Tower Irithyll bonfire, and from there, you have a straight shot to the boss by going up the stairs then dropping down to the wooden rafters on the left and running straight to the boss.

The boss itself is a large griffin-like creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings (four of them) of a Phoenix. The boss doesn't have two distinct phases, but it does get more aggressive as time goes on, so if you're ready to take it on, let's first discuss its abilities below:

Heide Phoenix Boss Abilities

• Beak/Claw Swipe: The boss will use its claws or beak to strike/swipe directly in front of itself.
• Tail Swipe: The boss will quickly whip its body around flinging its tail in a circle around its body, dealing tons of damage if it hits you.
• Leap Strike: The Phoenix will leap forward towards you and slam into the ground dealing damage, but it can follow up with any of the fire attacks listed below, so be aware of this attack.
• Flame Dash: The boss will begin running around the arena in a burst of flames, and from here it can execute any of the below fire attacks.
• Flame Wheel: The boss will perform a backflip several times, and as it rotates, it will fire off various fireballs towards you.
• Fire Rush: The boss will stomp onto the ground breathing fire onto it which will cause a wave of fire to rush forward in either straight lines or a series of waves.
• Fire Ambush: While the Phoenix is running, it will disappear into a burst of flames, after which an explosion of fire will erupt, causing a smaller phoenix to spawn in and rush towards you, along with various fireballs that will slowly home in on you.
• Fire Rain: The boss will spawn a giant fireball in its mouth, then it will stomp the ground causing it to explode, and then summon a wave of fireballs that spread towards you.
• Fire Meteor: While running, the boss will disappear, and after performing a Fire Ambush, it will rain down meteors that rapidly crash into the arena and deal heavy damage if they hit you.

Heide Phoenix Boss Fight Tips

When it comes to fighting the Phoenix, there isn't any real distance you can keep from the boss to maintain damage dealt as the boss has various attacks that vary in range, and because it can chain so many of its attacks together, it's a tough boss to deal with. We've found that the first thing you'll want to do is take advantage of the opening phase where the boss will do more melee attacks to try and deal as much damage as possible.

Once the boss is at lower health, it gets more aggressive and starts leaning more into its fire-based attacks, and from here, you'll want to switch up your tactics. You'll want to close in on the boss to bait out its melee/swipe attacks, as these can be dodged, and you can circle the boss to get in some hits. But as soon as you see the boss begin charging up a fire attack, you need to back away immediately to see the boss and see the fire attacks coming to dodge them appropriately.

When the boss is running around the arena, you'll want to back away so you can see which move the boss is going to make next, which can be difficult, especially when it disappears, and you have nothing to lock on to. So if it disappears completely, we suggest that you run to one side of the arena which gives it only a few angles to attack from and gives you a chance to evade or block the attacks.

So the strategy for this fight is to keep as much distance from the boss while it's flying around and dealing heavy wide-area attacks, and when it lands, close in to bait out melee attacks and counter with your attacks. Keep this up, and eventually, the boss will fall, but be warned that this fight is tough to get through and will require some practice, so don't expect an easy fight. With some practice and a couple of attempts behind you, you'll eventually bring down the Heide Phoenix.