Part 12: Iron Keep Pt. 2

And today we are finally going to meet the first Old One that the Emerald Herald and Shalquoir have been hyping up. So Let's see what's up with those guys. I also made an extra video featuring mostly lore you can see if you click on the Old Soul icon next to the episode banner. It's mostly meant for people who know only little about the first game's lore, but it also features some speculation. Oh, and also: There's this one time where I misidentify some guy's weapon as the Demon Greathammer. He's actually using the Archdrake Mace



Fancy dress! I tried it on as a guy, but even though he has one of the smaller body types available he still looked huge in it. Thankfully there's the gender swap coffin in Things Betwixt. The Witch's dress has really high fire resistance. Which was the main reason for me using it and will probably be the only time I actually choose armor because of its function rathern than its looks. It still looks good, though.




Old Iron King

The Old Iron King is the first of the Old Ones that we happened upon. We could have of course fought any of the others before him but he happened to be unlucky enough to be the first one in our path.

He himself is not the biggest problem in the fight. It's actually the rather small arena with lava around it. To make things even better there's a small pool of lava in the middle too. So you're essentially fighting on a half ring. If you are too defensive and retreat to the wall there's a good chance you'll fall into there as you try to dodge something.

As long as you keep that in mind fighting the Old Iron King is not very hard, though. His attacks are obviously telegraphed. He can sweep his arm across the arena or just plain smash his fists down on it. The worst thing he can do with his arms is a two hit combi. No wait, it's the palm laser. Yes that. When the King winds up with his left arm he'll shoot a laser out of his hand once it hits the ground. This is mainly supposed to be a fuck you to players who hide around the corner because it actually goes through walls. But it's a prime opportunity to get a good couple hits in for everyone else.

If you're using a Melee based build you'll have to wait for him to attack before you can attack him. With a ranged build you can just do whtever.

He can do some other stuff too though. He can breathe fire. He'll either direct a stream of fire straight ahead or he'll sweep fiery death across the platform. Depending on where you stand and how he's positioned the latter may be hard to dodge. It relies on you having enough space to actually get out of its reach. You can use the wall on the right side of the arena to hide, but don't get too comfy there. In fact get out of there as soon as possible.

Sometimes he'll also submerge again to resurface in a different spot. You can actually influence that spot by standing where you want him to be. I generally find the middle the easiest, but some have less trouble with him on the left because that'll allow you to abuse the wall on the right side more easily.

When defeated in New Game+ and beyond he will drop the Old King Soul, which is most likely referencing Gwyn, a major character and actually the lead villain from the first game. It's implied that the corpse of the iron king got turned into Ichorous Earth by the Old King Soul. Ichorous Eearth being the actual name of that thing we just fought.


Boss Weapons
Old Iron King Soul
Soul of the Old Iron King, who succumbed to the flames that swallowed his castle.
The Iron King's flesh was charred, and his soul possessed by the things that lurk below.

Iron King Hammer

Trade Soul with: Ornifex
Moveset/Weapon Class: Great Hammer
Physical Damage (+0/+5): 112/280
Fire Damage (+0/+5): 50/120
Scales with: STR (D), DEX (D), FIRE (C)
Requirements: 50 STR, 8 DEX
Damage Type: Strike
Note: Heavy attack has a fire AoE effect as long as you meet the stat requirements.

In-Game Description:
Great hammer forged from the soul of the Old Iron King.
The tip is formed of molten rock.
The corpse of the Old Iron King became the vessel that bred Ichorous Earth.
The heavy rock tip is formed of cooled magma, with a still-smoldering core. Strong attack releases its inner power.


Old King Soul:
Soul of the ineffable.
This once magnificent soul continues to exert influence over the land, even after the eons have reduced it to these remnants.

Dragonslayer Greatbow

Trade Soul with: Ornifex
Moveset/Weapon Class: Greatbow
Physical Damage (+0/+5): 116/290
Scales with: STR (B), DEX (C)
Requirements: 30 STR, 20 DEX
Damage Type: Strike

In-Game Description:
Dark Souls II: A greatbow said to be used to down ancient dragons flying high above the clouds. Extremely large for a mere bow, and more destructive than any ranged weapon imaginable.
Shooting this bow requires the grounding of its stability anchor, which takes time and leaves the shooter vulnerable. Also requires great arrows.
Dark Souls: Bow of the Dragonslayers, led by Hawkeye Gough, one of Gwyn's Four Knights.
This bow's unusual size requires that it be anchored to the ground when fired. Only uses specialized great arrows.

Blinding Bolt

Trade Soul with: Straid
Magic Type: Miracle
Requirements: 65 FTH
Description: Fires a small orb shoothing lightning in random directions in the air. More useful than I make it out to be in the video, upon further review.

In-Game Description:
A miracle that creates a giant soul mass and transforms it into a lightning-spouting orb of light.
Crafted in ancient times by the God of Sun, but later forbidden by the same deity. Was it to protect the world from hatred, or sorrow?



Item Descriptions

Dark Armor
Dark Souls II: Armor of a knight subsumed by dark.
No one knows the true identity of these men who are said to freely manipulate dark. Old foreign legends describe them as poor souls who chased the lost art of life drain.
Dark Souls: Armor of the Darkwraiths, former knights of New Londo who descended into Dark.
Their armor transformed, and remains a symbol of the Dark servants and their diabolical art of Lifedrain.

Black Knight Greataxe
Dark Souls II: Greataxe wielded by knights who served a lord of light in a long-forgotten age.
Even after their flesh was charred by flame, they remained as strong as ever,
and stood watch, challenging visitors to their land.
Dark Souls: Greataxe of the black knights who wander Lordran. Used to face chaos demons.
The large motion that puts the weight of the body into the attack reflects the great size of their adversaries long ago.

Covetous Gold Serpent Ring
Dark Souls II: A gold ring depicting the snake, both the servant and manifestation of the god of desire, Zinder. Greed is traditionally viewed as a vice, but only a coward sees every chance as something to fear.
Dark Souls: The serpent is an imperfect dragon and symbol of the Undead. Its habit of devouring prey even larger than itself has led to an association with gluttony.
This gold ring, engraved with the serpent, boosts its wearer's item discovery, so that more items can be amassed.

Ironclad Armor
Leggings worn by Ironclad Soldiers. Provides high defense, but is so heavy that it requires great strength to move
The Ironclad Soldiers were minions created by the Old Iron King, their life granted by an enchantment of souls. By now this is again an iron husk, and fit to wear.
Note: Wearing this will prevent the backstab animation from triggering. People will still be able to literally stab you in the back, though.

Pyromancy: Chaos Storm
Dark Souls II The chaos flame is said to have devoured the mother of pyromancy.
Create multiple pillars of chaos flame.
Those who sought great power were consumed by their own desires.Where are these lost souls now?
Dark Souls: Art of the Flame of Chaos, which engulfed the Witch of Izalith and her daughters. Erects localized chaos fire pillars.
The Witch of Izalith, in an ambitious attempt to copy the First Flame, created instead the Flame of Chaos, a twisted bed of life