Aldrich, Devourer of Gods

Aldrich, Devourer of Gods, also called Aldrich, Saint of the Deep, is a boss and one of the Lords of Cinder in Dark Souls III.

Description
In the opening cinematic, it is shown that Aldrich has become an expansive sludge of maggoty black rotten flesh and humanity dregs, filled with both his own bones and the bones of those he consumed.

By the time the player reaches him, he will be inert and spread across the floor, using the weapons and half eaten body of Gwyndolin to interact and attack.

Location
Found in Anor Londo, in the same hall of the cathedral where Ornstein and Smough were fought in Dark Souls.

Lore
Of his origins, much is unclear, though it is mentioned that he was Irithyllian before his transformation. A former holy cleric, he began to have visions of an age of the "deep sea," where the dregs of the human soul fall to the lowest depths, and become the core components of the new world. From these visions, Aldrich was able to access a condensed, stagnated form of the Dark mightier than that of standard humanity, which he named the "Deep ." But he eventually developed a tendency for cannibalism, and he took to the habit of consuming humans, which he took to with delight.

On these visions and powers, he founded the Church of the Deep, and worked at actively inducing the stagnation of souls. The clerics of the Church of the Deep sheltered Aldrich and provide a steady stream of sacrifices, overseen by Pontiff Sulyvahn and Archdeacon Royce. What lead to his departure from Irithyll is unknown, but it likely had to do with the concept of a half god cleric experiencing visions of darkness, something which almost all known gods are opposed to.

During this time, he continued to indulge in the misery of those he consumed, and even created sacred rings that bestowed that same feeling to wearers. But while the powers in the Deep are beyond pure humanity, so too is its potential to do grave harm, breeding abhorrent life beyond abyssal corruption. Most of those who worshiped the Deep became intoxicated or corrupted, all except for Aldrich, who, despite his taste for flesh, retained sanity somehow. He was not immune however, and his devouring of both flesh and souls bloated him with dregs until he collapsed in on his own polluted mass, becoming a creature of rotting maggoty flesh, animated by darkness and forming as abyssal sludge. Despite this, he continued to retain sanity and sentience, and was still given his sacrifices.

It is implied that Aldrich consumed many children, and that Anri and Horace were the only children to escape the Devourer.

Why he linked the fire is unknown, but some believe he was forced to by the time's rulers, as his strength had made him the perfect candidate. All that is known is that he was not chosen for his worthiness, but for power he held.

After Aldrich was revived as a Lord of Cinder, he experienced visions of the world's inevitable envelopment in darkness, and neglected to take his throne. He began dreaming of the Old Gods, who supported the linking of the fire, and sought to devour them. Sulyvahn traveled with him to Anor Londo and managed to capture Gwyndolin, God of the Darkmoon. His younger sister, Captain Yorshka, managed to evade capture, but Aldrich devoured and assimilated Gwyndolin. In addition to assuming Gwyndolin's form, Aldrich gained the abilities and sorceries of the Darkmoon god as well.

As Aldrich took to devouring Gwyndolin's body, he appears to have entered hibernation, falling into a deep slumber. In his sleep, Aldrich was also able to absorb Gwyndolin's memories, as he dreamed about a young, pale girl in hiding. Weak as he consumed the god, he awakens to defend himself, utilizing Gwyndolin's power and a miracle developed from his dreams.

Fight overview
The encounter begins with Aldrich standing on the far end of the room, imbuing his staff with magic and wielding it menacingly while he prepares for battle. He specializes in ranged combat, doing so by casting diverse dangerous magical spells. Conversely, his close combat abilities become heavily compromised due to his sluggish mobility and tendency to miss hits with his weapon. His substandard melee abilities should not be underestimated, however, because what he lacks in accuracy, he more than makes it up in damage-dealing potential.

When he rears up and aims his bow, he will launch an expanding wave of highly damaging arrows in front of him, allowing you to circle behind him and get hits in.

Throughout the course of the battle, Aldrich will be constantly summoning small homing projectiles. Each one of these, on its own, only deals a small amount of damage and the player may even opt to sustain a few of them in exchange of inflicting some damage to the boss. However, if they are caught by the full attack, they will sustain heavy damage, which may even kill them in a single barrage.

Aldrich is most vulnerable on his tail, which provides an area where the player may attack without risking themselves too much from being in the staff's range.

Upon receiving some damage, Aldrich will raise his staff and create a big vortex on the ground in front of him, plunging inside to escape from punishment. This vortex is heavily damaging and the player would be wise in not attacking the boss too many times in a row, preparing instead to move away when it is cast. Aldrich will emerge a moment later on the other side of the hall, as far away from the player as possible, trying to buy some time to cast more spells.

Once Aldrich has lost about 40% of his health, he will buff his scythe with fire. At this point, every time he emerges from the ground, he will deal damage to nearby players while a much greater amount of homing projectiles spawn with him as he rises.

He will also use a replica of the Lifehunt Scythe, starting a large windup before spinning twice in a full circle, and stealing health with each target that it connects to. This attack is telegraphed, and one can see the miracle generating on his staff, but it can often be confused for another standard swing.

His most devastating attack is, without a doubt, taking out Gwyndolin's bow and shooting toward the sky, making an extensive barrage of arrows rain over the player and follow them for a considerable amount of time. He telegraphs this attack by suddenly stopping and erecting his upper body, while a white flash of light emanates from him. Being caught under the rain of arrows, practically means instant death. As soon as this attack is detected, the player is advised to completely disengage from battle and start running throughout the room with no specific direction, trying to end near Aldrich when they calculate the attack is about to end.

Strategy
At the beginning of the fight, charge at Aldrich to avoid his hard-hitting soul spear. Get behind him and focus your attacks on his tail. This leaves him with nothing to do but swing his two slow, devastating melee attacks or teleport across the room (usually, adjacent to where he teleported from).

At about 55%-60% health, he will teleport and come back up, buffed with fire. His arrows also go from going forward to following a specific player. If the arrows following the player catch up to them, then that player will most likely go down quick. Blue Bug and Red Bug Pellets are recommended for this fight.

Casting the sorcery Twisted Wall of Light can negate Aldrich's ranged attacks, including his arrow barrage in the second phase, allowing one to wait out the attack by casting repeatedly.

Trivia

 * His throne in Firelink Shrine refers to him as "Saint Aldrich of the Deep".
 * His appearance resembles an amalgamation of Gwyndolin and Nito from Dark Souls. Since the cycle starts anew every time the Flame is linked, it is possible that Aldrich (who came out of his coffin as a featureless sludge) devoured an entity similar to Nito, thus acquiring his organic "cloak" and the multitude of bones that we can see floating in his mass. Priscilla is more or less mentioned while Aldrich possesses a Lifehunt Scythe.
 * More likely, due to Nito being destroyed, the bones are those he has consumed. Due to the nature of reincarnation, one could at least extrapolate that he is Nito's newest incarnation, after The Rotten was long before.
 * While the attacks of Gwyndolin were light blue energy in the first game, Aldrich does the same moves using a purple energy, showing his power over the Deep and the corruption of moonlight.
 * In the fluid floor, there can be observed innumerable bones from consumed bodies, revealing the whole floor to be part of Aldrich's mass, Despite this, Aldrich insists on attacks by exerting his will over the body of Gwyndolin, instead of simply devouring the player.
 * It is mentioned that as he devoured Gwyndolin, he was asleep, meaning he could be weakened from consuming a god.
 * His bone fluid remains after dying, though they are inert, making him and Archdeacon Royce the only two bosses to leave behind physical remains.
 * His melee attacks, during his first phase, closely resemble those of Nito.
 * His name, besides being an actual name, can also be a play on the word "eldritch", meaning esoteric or mysterious.
 * Aldrich's staff, presumably inherited from Gwyndolin, bears a semblance to the Golden Ritual Spear.
 * In the soul of Aldrich, there is a lighter, independent glowing mass in the corner of the design, which has recently been extrapolated to be the remains of Gwyndolin's own soul.