The Pursuer

The Pursuer is a boss and later an enemy in Dark Souls II.

Location
The Pursuer is dropped by a crow early in the Forest of Fallen Giants, serving as a generic enemy. If defeated here, you will not have to fight his boss version later. However, if the player dies to him or jumps down before killing him, he will have to be fought as a boss if the player wishes to fight him again. Another Pursuer can be found in the boss arena of the Smelter Demon after he is beaten. Two Pursuers appear simultaneously in the throne room behind Chancellor Wellager in Drangleic Castle in New Game +.



Attacks
Charge: At a distance the Pursuer will charge at the player with an upwards strike, if dodged, a brief moment to counterattack

3 Hit Combo: Performs 2 horizontal swipes and if all attacks are performed while the player is still near him, will follow it up with a full 360 degree spin attack or a overhead smash.

Shield Bash: He uses his shield and hits the player once with it, causes large stamina drain if blocked.

Curse Stab: The Pursuer's Blade glows blue and he lunges the sword at the player, if it connects, the player will be in an animation where the they are impaled on his sword and the player will then be cursed. This attack cannot be blocked.

Seeker Projectiles: After being dropped below 50% health, the Pursuer will lift into the air and vent energy from its body. This will cause 3 to 5 projectiles to exit its body and fire towards the player after a short delay. This attack can occure before his health drops below the 50% mark, but that occurrence is rare. The projectiles are slow but track extremely well and deal a moderate amount of damage. (the attack has a similar look to the Hex Affinity)

Spread Projectiles: Similar to the Seeker Projectiles this attack starts with the same animation, but it fires several waves of spreading hex like attacks. These attacks can be dodged by rolling backwards away from the Pursuer and the next attacks will follow the relative direction of the first blast. (the attack has a similar look to the Hex Dark Hail, but lighter in color.)

Energy Blast: Swings his sword and produces an energy blast in the players direction. Note: Only the ones fought at Drangleic Castle can perform this move. (The one in the Forest Of The Fallen Giants also use this technique)

Strategy
The Pursuer's combos mainly come in threes, after the third strike leaving him vulnerable to a few hits.

Although the Pursuer is an agile opponent, parrying him immobilizes him for several seconds. This allows ample time for a counterattack, and more importantly allows the player to employ ballistae against him. On NG, if all three ballista bolts hit, 90% of his health can be taken out. A sizable chunk of his health is taken off even if not all of the bolts hit. The Buckler received just before the second bonfire in the forest will make parrying easier.

Note the Pursuer can be poisoned with weapons or 2 casts of the pyromancy Poison Mist. Having two weapons at your disposal is a good way to poison him then switch to your more powerful weapon, Poison Ricard's Rapier +10 with two strong attacks will poison him, hence then switching to your main weapon for further damage is a good strategy. At the start of the fight, you have time before he fully materializes to initiate a poison.

Most of his attacks can be evaded if the player rolls to the right (his shielded side). However, this is not advised when he uses his three-hit combo as the spinning slash can still strike the player from the side.

He is vulnerable to lightning damage, and somewhat vulnerable to magic.

He is also capable of inflicting curse on the player. His sword will glow blue and he will lunge forward, impaling the player, then lift him/her over his head and infect them with Curse. It is possible to avoid getting cursed if the player is killed by the initial lunge. Keep in mind that if he curses the player, he gets a power boost, evidenced by his eyes glowing red and black mist coming from his shoulder armor, and gains a black magic Pursuer attack. If any of the multiple black orbs connect with the player, they will not only deal massive damage, but also curse him/her further for every orb that hits.

For the third encounter in Drangleic Castle, an easier way of obtaining the Ring of Blades +2 is to defeat one of them, return to the King's Gate bonfire, then go back for a 1 versus 1 battle against the other. An even easier way (though rather unorthodox) is to allow one Pursuer to curse the player. This will cause the one that has cursed you to disappear leaving the last one for easy picking.

Trivia

 * The Pursuer's armor has many faces carved into it. Whether these faces are symbols of previous enemies or just for decoration is unknown.
 * The Pursuer has several weapons bundled into a sheet on his back, forming a sort of quiver. These weapons are the size for a normal human's use, too small for him, so it is unclear what purpose these weapons serve.
 * Another interesting to note; the two Pursuers in Drangleic Castle are missing the 'quiver' of weapons on their backs.