Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin

Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin is an optional boss as well as a character in Dark Souls II. He was added in patch 1.10 and is only accessible to players who have installed Compatibility Pack 4.

Description
The Scholar of the First Sin appears to be a giant, charred human head covered in flames and large branches. The ground around the Scholar will be on fire. There is a single red orb near the center of his body, which is possibly an eye.

Lore
Aldia is the elder brother of Vendrick, as well as an assistant in founding Drangleic. He secluded himself to his manor, searching for secrets of life, viewing Undead as the key to finding it. For his reverence of the Undead, Aldia was shunned by Vendrick, banished to his Keep forever. People who were invited to his manor commonly disappeared and were replaced with malformed beasts. The Southern and Northern Ritual Bands were created by Aldia after cruel, horrible experiments were performed on these people. Many valuable objects came out of Aldia's Keep, including the Sunset Staff, the Spitfire Spear, Soul Geyser, Unleash Magic, and Forbidden Sun.

Location
He is originally found in the room of the final primal bonfire to be lit. If all bonfires had been lit prior to downloading the patch, he will automatically appear in Black Gulch.

Upon speaking to the player at the primal bonfire, Aldia will proceed to the first bonfire in Undead Crypt.

After being told "Yes" in Undead Crypt, Aldia can be found in Dragon Shrine in a significantly reduced size at the first bonfire.

Finally, after being told "Yes" in Dragon Shrine, Aldia will appear in Drangleic Castle after killing Nashandra as a boss. It is required to kill Vendrick before this can happen, though.

Plot
Aldia serves as a lore-centric NPC, alluding to a great deal of things in relation to the lore of Dark Souls II. Upon guiding the player to the final boss, Nashandra, Aldia will appear and turn into a boss.

Summoning

 * Vengarl of Forossa and Benhart of Jugo can both be found for summoning directly outside the boss fog.

Attacks
Fire Orbs Aldia will fire out four orbs of fire, placing them above his head. After a short time, the orbs will begin homing in on his target. He can cast this multiple times in a row

Tree Root Dance Aldia slams a root into the ground, causing numerous tree roots to protrude from the ground, moving towards the player rapidly.

Circular Tree Root Dance Aldia slams a root into the ground, causing numerous tree roots to come out of the ground around him, not moving towards the player.

Teleport Aldia can teleport at any time. Upon finishing a teleport, he emits an AoE attack immediately.

Strategy

 * The Fire Orb attack can be avoided by strafing around Aldia.
 * Both versions of the Tree Root Dance do pure physical damage, and as such can be blocked relatively reliably.
 * When Aldia has no fire around his sides, he has less defense. This occurs after he teleports, as well as when he casts the Circular Tree Root Dance.
 * The fire that is around Aldia will severely damage the player, so it is best to be avoided.