Part 38: - Depths of the Painting

Champion's Gravetender

And so we meet our first boss of the DLC. If you don't know what this fight entails ahead of time it can be really tough. If you don't it's gonna be really simple. Compared to bosses of past games' DLCs this one is comparatively easy. I believe this is due to the fact that this boss drops the Champion's Bones, which you need to access the PvP arena.

At first glance this boss seems like it's just a random NPC accompanied by a couple wolves. It's wise to kill the wolves first. Then deal with the guy who acts exactly like a standard NPC. Or how a standard NPC would act with a unique Weapon. He uses the Valorheart, a Shield and Sword combo. As in, this one inventory item is both sword and shield. But all in all he's just that: A regular NPC. He doesn't even have all that much health for an NPC. That's because the Champion's Gravetender is only half the fight.

At about half health the Gravetender's Greatwolf, which you can meet twice before this fight, joins the fray. For each of the two previous encounters you defeat the wolf at he'll start with a little less health. If you didn't focus down the Gravetender while the Wolf showed up you'll now have to deal with two opponents, which is where this fight can get tough. In that case I recommend dealing with the Gravetender first. Because while the wolf has the same moveset as in the previous encounters at first, that's just phase one.

Once the wolf heats up he becomes much more aggressive. Chaining dashes together more frequently and more times in a row. In addition to that he also gets an ice breath which, as long as you're in the right spot at the time, allows you to get in a quick combo or two. It bears mentioning that he's vulnerable during his howl he does to transition into the second phase and he CAN be stunned into a state where he can be visceral attacked. This may allow you to flat-out skip phase two. It's my prefered way of dealing with this fight because Phase 2 of the Wolf is the hardest part of the fight by far.

After winning the fight we don't get a Boss soul. Instead we just straight up get the Valorheart as well as the Champion's Bones.

Thinking about it now I really think it would have been cool if they recycled the gimmick of the Old Monk from Demon's Souls, where the Old Monk was actually another player with a Boss' health bar. I think that'd be a really cool way to spice up this encounter somewhat.

Valorheart
Weapon once wielded by the Champion of the Undead Match. A special paired set consisting of a broad sword and a lion shield.
the champion fought on, without rest, until he lost his mind. In the end, only his page and a lone wolf stayed at his side.
Skill: Lion Stance - While in stance, use normal attack to thrust forward with shield up, and strong attack to execute a shield bash with a lion's roar.

Champion's Bones
The charred but warm bones of a champion.
Long ago, an Undead declared a fight. A fight to celebrate their undeath, and so to preserve what remained of their souls. So it was that the Undead Matches were born. The merit of an Undead is measured in deaths. Could there be a greater gift for such a creature, than a fight that has no end?
Note: Burning this at the Bonfire in Firelink Shrine lets us join a PvP arena. I actually recorded PvP footage including the Arena, but because the video I made with that footage also features parts of the DLC we haven't seen yet I'm gonna post it once we're done with the DLC