Talk:The Pursuer/@comment-173.20.187.103-20140317042657/@comment-166.168.126.47-20140323161835

If you fight and defeat him the first time you encounter him, next to the firebomb throwing hoklow near the Cardinal Tower bonfire, you will not need to fight him again on the way to The Lost Bastille.

I'm unsure whether or not he is mandatory anywhere beyond this point in the game.