A.k.a How To Train Your Dragon 3 boss fight.
Nameless King; the boss that has made many gamers pull their hair out in frustration and helplessness. He has done the same to me, until I beat the guy the day before yesterday. What a pain he was! But I tell you, beating him gave me the greatest sense of accomplishment throughout my DS3 playthrough. He deserves a post all for himself. So, how to go about beating the Nameless King? I’ll tell you.
As is with the toughest bosses in DS3, this boss fight also takes place in two phases :
- King of Storms :
In the first phase, you fight his loyal buddy, the drake, on which the Nameless King is riding. This is the easier part of the boss fight. There are a few things to keep in mind regards this part of the boss fight. The boss takes a helluva lot of damage so long as you hit him in the head or neck. He takes drastically reduced damage if you attack his legs. The Nameless King atop his mount uses his spear to make slashes and thrusts, but with some practice you’ll be able to evade his attacks quite easily. Also he uses some lightning-empowered thrust attacks, for which you have to roll right when he’s thrusting his sword into the ground. It is always safer to roll into the dragon’s body, as you’re more susceptible to the Nameless King’s attacks if you try to roll away from him.
The dragon uses flamethrower attacks mostly; the one where it uses a directional flamethrower is the best time to get in 3-4 hits on the dragon. Another opportunity for attacking is when the Nameless King tries to take two sweeping hits at you. Just roll behind the dragon’s neck and he won’t be able to do anything to you, while you can get in 3 hits on the dragon’s head/neck.
The dragon will take off between the fight at least twice, during which he uses some attacks. First up, the Nameless King will try to use a lightning spear on you, which is easily seen and evaded by rolling or just plain running. The dragon will also sometimes use the AoE flamethrower attack right at you, and the dragon tracks your position and shifts the flamethrower accordingly. The only way to evade it, is to run away from the dragon. I used to get caught in this blast a lot, until I realized this. And when the dragon comes back down, it will occasionally take a nip at you, which you have to roll out of. And the Nameless King will take a swing at you, for which you have to time your roll to near-perfection to dodge. Rarely, the dragon uses a wind-type attack which approaches your position in a wave. You need to roll into it at the correct time to avoid taking damage.
Just don’t lock on to the boss, as your camera angle will get messed up if you do that.
Weaknesses : Lightning and Magic. Just dragon things.
2. Nameless King :
This is where the tough part starts. Most importantly, try to keep the camera locked on to him at all times, as he tends to jump around a lot and you’ll lose sight of him often if you don’t lock-on. The guy doesn’t seem to have many weaknesses, and as expected he’s resistant to lightning. Most of his attacks are thrusts and swings, which are hard to dodge at first, but with sufficient practice you should be able to do that. It is pretty hard to maintain distance against him, as he has a number of gap-closers which deal loads of damage. Even his regular attacks hit like a truck, and if you happen to get hit once during a combo, it is really hard to escape his remaining attacks and he’ll probably delete you then and there, unless you’re lucky.
After you rid him of half his health, he starts using lightning spells along with his regular attacks. He charges up his spear for a second and strikes the ground in front of him for massive lightning damage. Even if you evade it, be ready for the aftershock that is released from the point of impact. It doesn’t deal as much damage, but it will cripple you for about a second. More time than the Nameless King needs to 100-0 you with a combo. His another lightning-based attack is where he charges up his spear while holding it across his body. About half a second later, a homing lightning attack will land on you. Just roll out of your original position and you’ll be fine. If you’re doubtful about the roll timing, just roll twice, that should do it. The final lightning attack is where he impales you with his spear, then lifts you up and discharges lightning into you, dealing about 60-70% of your max health easily. But this attack is one he uses from the start itself, so you should recognize the animation.
The only thing that makes it easier for the player, is that the Nameless King can be staggered. If you deal damage to him regularly enough, he’ll get staggered, once at 60-65% health, and once at 20-30% health. Don’t miss these chances to pull off powerful ripostes, which you unleash by standing in front of him and attacking.
Main thing to do in the fight, is to stick to the guy and keep rolling in circles around him, and try to attack only after he completes a combo. Conserve your stamina at all times, unless you just got off a riposte when you can afford to get just a little bit liberal.
Use your fastest weapon against the Nameless King. I tried fighting him with my katanas but it was of little use, but I beat him in my 4th try once I switched to my straight sword. I’m assuming it’s even better if you’re good with rapiers. Get armor with high lightning resist and physical defense too; I ended up beating him wearing a Mirrah Vest. The idea is to get armor with good physical defense along with decent lightning-resist. Thunder Stoneplate Ring is invaluable in this fight, for those moments when you get hit by his spells. If you are the kind who prefers to block rather than dodge, get the Dragonslayer Greatshield or Spirit Tree Crestshield, whichever is better for your character build path.
Don’t hesitate about grinding for levels or upgraded weapons if you need to. In my opinion, grinding for upgraded weapons is a better bet. The Great Belfry is an amazing location for grinding, as each successful run in the area gives you around 20-25K souls.
Have fun fighting!