Dark Souls Archthrones Keeper of the Old Gods Boss Fight Guide

In Dark Souls Archthrones, the bosses you'll encounter range from imposing beasts that challenge your resilience to humanoid adversaries that test your skill, and the Keeper of the Old Gods falls firmly into the latter category. This formidable opponent is no easy adversary, often requiring numerous attempts to overcome, especially for newcomers to the game.

Fortunately, you needn't face this challenge blindly and without assistance, as this guide is here to provide you with a comprehensive walkthrough. Below, we'll offer detailed and general tips on how to defeat the Keeper of the Old Gods boss in Dark Souls Archthrones.

How To Beat Keeper of the Old Gods Boss In Dark Souls Archthrones

The Keeper of the Old Gods boss is located in the Archthrone of the Old Gods (so the name of the boss is quite fitting) and is specifically in the Phoenix Tower Irithyll area that you first spawn into. To get to the boss, you'll need to head through the central tower in the starting area, then choose the path/door to the left which will lead you to the boss (the path to the right will lead to the Disgraced Knight boss).

Turning left will put you on a straight shot to the boss as all you need to do is head straight up the platforms and stairs until you reach a large drawbridge that leads right up to the Cathedral of Blue where the boss resides. Thankfully, there is a bonfire right next to the boss entrance as well so you can rest up and prepare for the fight.

When it comes to the boss itself, the Keeper of the Old Gods is somewhat of a gimmick boss, but only in that you won't win the fight, and the boss will become an NPC you can interact with afterward. But before that, he will be a full-on fight consisting of two phases, and utilizing a powerful short-range sword that he can swing at incredible speeds. 

The goal of this fight is to drain the boss of its entire health bar, and once done, you can throw the fight (once his health is at 0 he will continue to fight, so there's no point in continuing). So let's break down his move-set to give you the best chance at getting his health down to 0.

Keeper of the Old Gods First Phase

• Base Combo: The boss will run up and deliver a series of extremely fast blows that range between two or six, depending on how close you are to him. 
• Kick Combo(s): The boss starts with two sword strikes, then will either deliver a single roundhouse kick, or a series of kicks and slashes in succession that hit much harder. 
• Rush Combo: A leaping attack that has the boss rushing forward and delivering a series of slashes that can lead to other combos. 
• Charge Strike: the boss will sheath his blade and charge up a storm/wind-based attack then rush you and deliver two heavy blows. 
• Aerial Slam: the boss will leap into the air above you then kick down to the ground and do a leg sweep combo which can end with him rushing you or backing away. 
• Step-back: the boss will perform a strike and then jump back almost immediately afterward.

Keeper of the Old Gods Second Phase

*Borrows all the attacks from the previous phase*

• Storm Combo: The boss will rush you with a series of sword strikes ending in a heavy downward swing. 
• Storm Rush: The boss will rush you with a series of attacks, this time implementing a longer combo in the middle of his attack and ending again with a downward swing. 
• Storm Slash: This attack is similar to the Storm Rush, but instead of ending with a downward slash, the boss will cleave through the air and essentially deliver a blow that bisects the entire room. 
• Storm Vortex: The boss will deliver a series of blows, ending in a heavy gust of wind from his blade that pushes you back and sends a slash of light toward you. 
• Storm Charge: The boss will charge up his blade then rush forward and deliver any of the combo, rush, or slash attacks as described above.

Now, when it comes to the boss itself, you have two options to choose from, which are to either parry and riposte the boss's attacks or learn his move set and wait for the right times to attack. The former is a lot harder to pull off if you aren't experienced at parrying and can be tough for most players given the boss's speed and erratic movement that can easily overwhelm you before you can get off a successful parry.

The latter is a lot more doable, but it will be risky in its own right as the boss recovers quickly from cooldown and almost doesn't stop moving at all during the fight. We suggest that you time the combos specifically and wait for the boss to either attack past you (so try rolling around him) and then counter, or wait for some of his larger combos, like the rush, kick, and charge attacks to go off, then as he recovers from those, you can counter with a few attacks of your own.

Now when the boss reaches phase two, staying far away from him won't help you much as he has gap closers and can still attack from a distance, so the key is to stay in range of the boss, and wait for his combos to begin. Because these combos are a little longer than those in phase one, you can bait them out, then run around the boss and attack from the side, but don't get greedy as the boss aggressively counters in this phase and gets caught in his longer combos here is a quick recipe for death.

So in essence, you'll want to stay near the boss for most of the fight and bait out his attacks for you to counter; attacking early won't work as he barely staggers, and heavy attacks leave you open to his faster strikes. So as a rule of thumb, be patient, wait for the boss to do longer or heavier attacks to get in a few hits of your own, and do your best to learn his move set and know when to close in and when to attack, and before long, the boss will reach 0 health.

Once the boss is at 0 health, he won't die, and instead will just keep attacking you. From here you can just let him kill you and instead of spawning at the bonfire, you'll spawn in the Blue Cathedral next to the boss who reveals his name to be Flynn. He then becomes an NPC you can interact with and purchase items from when in Phoenix Tower Irithyll.

So there you have it, a comprehensive guide on how to defeat the Keeper of the Old Gods boss (Flynn) in Dark Souls Archthrones. For more guides and breakdowns, be sure to check out our dedicated Dark Souls section here for more help on your journey through the world of Archthrones.