Board Thread:Dark Souls II/@comment-98.233.13.32-20140330183015/@comment-16047389-20150420164103

12.31.219.227 wrote: you need at least 4 giant souls to do okay damage. but I think you need at least 1 giant soul to activate the fight. also I think he won't activate for you because you do so little damage to him, 5 giant souls are required to do normal damage. This is exactly the problem that is occuring. Attempting to fight Vendrick without Giant Souls will have you doing so little damage, that he won't even appropriately aggro into combat. That said, engaging Vendrick immediately after killing Velstadt (meaning not leaving the Undead Crypt or reseting at a bonfire) can cause Vendrick to have reduced defenses as if you possessed all 5 Giant Souls. If you die or zone out for any reason, his defenses return to normal scaling levels (Note: I have only had this work on PS3 version of the game, I cannot confirm that it was carried over to Scholar of the First Sin).