The final boss of the Ringed City DLC in Dark Souls 3, Slave Knight Gael is the most infamous in the Souls series. Slave Knight Gael is an amalgamation of what makes Dark Souls so difficult. High damaging attacks, sporadically rapid movement and large sums of health make Gael a nightmare for most players. The Slave Knight makes for a fitting boss to end the Ringed City DLC, serving as a perfect enemy to conclude the expansive story of Dark Souls 3. However, facing Gael is one of the most frustrating boss fights in the entire series and is both discouraging and seemingly impossible.
Facing the intimidating Slave Knight Gael is the most difficult boss fights within the entire Dark Souls franchise. Possessing high damage attacks and a wide variety of difficult to dodge magic-based techniques, the Slave Knight is a fearsome foe. It seems that From Software designed the boss to be the mother of all difficult bosses. Challenging even the most steadfast and skilled Dark Souls players. With some guidance facing Gael will be significantly easier than seemed possible.
Facing Slave Knight Gael’s First Phase in Dark Souls 3
The large knight’s boss battle consists of three main phases. The first of which features the Slave Knight in a hunched over animal-like stance. This phase requires some incredible reaction time and a firm understanding of his attack pattern.
This first phase against Gael is filled to the brim with a variety of incredibly quick combo attack strings. Gael has a variety of multi-hitting and tricky strings that players should watch out for. The best strategy to facing these multi-hitting strings is to simply step away when the large knight is flailing about and counter when he concludes. After these strings, Gael will be stuck in a recovery animation opening him up for counter-attacks.
Gael’s first phase possesses an incredibly far-reaching stabbing attack. The sheer amount of distance covered in this move is unparalleled in the Souls series. This move can hit from what seems like miles away. And not only is its range massive, but it also has the potential to knock off a large chunk of a player’s health bar if it connects. The Slave Knight will begin this attack by jumping up in the air and then hurl himself at players. When you see the large enemy flying through the air be sure to dodge forwards. Making use of the invincibility frames on your dodge it will place players directly behind Gael. Allowing for a powerful counter-attack measure.
Facing Slave Knight Gael’s Second Phase in Dark Souls 3
Gael is characterized by his aggressive style and relentless strings of attacks. This aggression is only heightened in his second phase as he gains a breadth of powerful and devastating attacks.
The second phase of this boss battle will be signaled by Gael’s change of posture. He goes from his hunched back form to a variation in which he stands straight up. This second form provides the Slave Knight with a variety of new and more dangerous techniques. The knight gains a series of powerful wide sweeping slash attacks that cover a wide range of space. The best way to avoid these slashes is to either roll towards the Slave Knight or to continuously roll away from the boss. Due to the positional advantage, rolling towards Gael is the far better option.
Gael also begins to demonstrate his excellent magical prowess as he gains access to a boomerang style magic attack. He will summon a series of magic disks that will launch themselves at players. As they come towards players be sure to dodge through the disks and run behind Gael. This is due to the disk’s returning properties, the projectiles will return to their sender and can catch unsuspecting players.
Be cautious when facing this form of Gael. A reckless player can be killed within one or two simple mistakes. So be sure to be aware of his variety of powerful swiping attacks and his newly gained magic moves.
Facing Slave Knight Gael’s Final Phase in Dark Souls 3
The third and final phase in Gael’s possession can only be categorized as a chaotic mess. A mess consisting of dangerous magic attacks and maintaining his already powerful series of melee moves. Combine his already brutal tool kit with the newly introduced random lightning strikes, this final phase is a boss fight in its own right.
As mentioned, be aware of the lightning strikes plaguing the arena. These strikes are random and unpredictable so always stay moving as to not be caught by one. Gael also gains access to a powerful swarm of red magic projectiles. These projectiles have homing qualities and can tear through a player’s health bar in no time. Be sure to run from these attacks while keeping an eagle’s eye on Gael’s location.
Slave Knight Gael possesses a new and more devastating variation of his jumping lunge attack. This final form of the move changes what was a stabbing attack into a powerful slash. This covers three of the potential 4 evasive movements a player has when he performs this attack. It prevents back rolls and side rolls and requires a forward roll. Be sure to do so as it protects from high damage and allows for positional advantage. Be aware, however, of Gael’s tendency to combine his new projectiles and this lunging attack to make a seemingly unavoidable technique.
Gael’s melee move set remains mostly intact from his second phase. He has a variety of powerful horizontal and vertical slashes that can dish out huge sums of damage on a player if caught. So be sure to evade these moves when possible. Be aware that this final phase increases Gael’s aggression and makes avoiding the boss all but impossible given his hyper offensive behavior. It is a matter of facing the Slave Knight head-on and cautiously rather than avoiding him.
Dark Souls 3 is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
