Vendrick

Vendrick is an optional boss in ''Dark Souls II. He is voiced by William Houston, who also voiced the Marvelous Chester in the Artorias of the Abyss expansion in Dark Souls.''

Lore
The once great king of Drangleic. According to legend, a mysterious woman named Nashandra, said to be of unparalleled beauty, came to Vendrick long ago and warned him of a looming threat across the seas, in the land of the Giants. King Vendrick named Nashandra his queen and crossed the ocean with her to combat the Giants. During this conflict, he pillaged the Giant's lands, and stole an unspecified "prize", which he brought back to Drangleic. Using this acquired power, Vendrick created various types of Golems, who in turn built Drangleic Castle.

Seeking vengeance for the subjugation of his kingdom, the King of the Giants amassed an army in a vengeful counter-invasion of Drangleic. He also sought to reclaim the invaluable "prize" stolen from him. Unwilling to forgive the actions of Vendrick, the Giants crossed the sea and landed on the northern shores of Drangleic. They set siege to Drangleic Castle and relentlessly attacked various settlements, forts and keeps across the land for several generations.

Battles waged endlessly between Vendrick's forces and the Giants, and much of Drangleic's citizens fled the kingdom to escape the conflict. Ultimately, the Giants were defeated by an unnamed hero. In the aftermath, much of Drangleic had been reduced to rubble, and visitors to the kingdom were rare.

He was eventually reduced to a Hollow after becoming obsessed with finding the essence of the soul in a failed attempt to cure the Undead Curse. His queen, Nashandra, tricked him into continuing his experiments. He eventually realised the trickery and her connections with the Father of the Abyss and exiled himself to prevent her from obtaining his power or his ring.

Alongside a contingent of knights and his loyal right hand Velstadt, The Royal Aegis Vendrick travelled to the Undead Crypt. Separated from his soul, the king wanders the halls, nothing more than a hollow husk while his loyal servants keep watch, protecting the king from those who would do him harm. The Bearer of the Curse may choose to spare the king, leaving him to wander endlessly, or slay him, and end his misery.

Strategy
Vendrick has very high defense which likely will make this a very lengthy fight. His defence can be considerably lowered, however, by collecting up to five Giant Soul found throughout Drangleic. Each Giant Soul halves his defense; without any souls, he has 32 times his base defense, and takes almost negligible damage per hit. Even with the Giant Souls, Vendrick is not to be taken lightly. His attacks deal heavy damage, have good reach, and can stagger players who roll too early because of the windup for each one.

Vendrick holds his sword with the blade dragging behind him even as he winds up for the horizontal slash attacks. Staying close to him and strafing to his left will make it very hard for him to hit the player. He will sometimes jump back to put distance between him and the player. If he backs up into a wall, the player may back up in an attempt to get behind him again. Keeping a good shield in your inventory can help, but not always, as most of Vendrick's attacks have extremely high stamina damage.

A good way to approach the fight is to stay directly behind or next to his left foot. If he gets too close to a wall where any part of the player or him is bumping into it, try to lure him back out towards the center of the arena.

Attacks
Swiping: Swipes his sword across the ground two or three times in a row. This is his deadliest attack, as if it hits the player's shield it will drain all stamina and the player will then by severely damaged or killed by the following swing. Hugging his left foot while causes the attack to completely swing over the player's head, but rolling through the attacks works well too if the player learns Vendrick's moveset and timing.

Overhead Sword Slam: Raises his sword up and slams it onto the ground, sometimes done twice or even three times in a row. Easy to dodge by staying as close to him as possible.

Jump Attack: Will jump towards the play and slam his sword into the ground where they were standing the moment he jumped. There's a clear wind-up and it is fairly easy to dodge by moving out of the way when he gets airborne.

Single Sword Swing: Will swing the sword horizontally towards the player once, it has a long reach, and a slow wind-up that is exactly the same as the swiping. Fairly easy to dodge by sprinting towards his left side. He will also do this is the player is far away and will most likely kill them is their back is turned.

Charge: If the player starts really distancing themselves from Vendrick where he can not hit them with his swing, he will pick up speed. He will move much faster than his normal slow meander and will most likely catch the player off guard if they were healing or buffing their weapon. The best way to handle this is, if one has a shield, to raise it and sprint towards his left side. If one doesn't have a shield, sprint towards his left side and be prepared to roll for your life.

Curse Orb: Upon crossing the fog wall, Vendrick will scream and throw a dark red orb at the player, inflicting instant curse if it connects.

Drops
Vendrick will not drop anything except the given amount of souls when he dies. However, his Soul of the King and his armor set can be found in the Shrine of Amana, behind a door that can only be opened after defeating him. The door is in the area between the first and second hut where the player can find a pathway leading to the door, however, they must be in human form to open said door.

Using a Bonfire Ascetic instead of going to NG+ will not spawn these items anew in the Shrine of Amana.

Trivia

 * Upon download of the Crown of the Sunken King expansion, and obtaining the Ashen Mist Heart; interacting with Vendrick's discarded clothing will bring the player to the Memory of the King, allowing them to speak with an unhollowed Vendrick.