Oceiros, the Consumed King

Oceiros, the Consumed King is a boss in Dark Souls III.

Lore
Oceiros was the former king of Lothric who sought to achieve great power through harnessing his royal blood. He discovered the Grand Archives and uncovered Big Hat Logan's notes on gaining immortality, which in turn was taken from the research of Seath the Scaleless. Like his predecessors, Oceiros was driven insane by the Paledrake's writings and chose to follow the path of the dragon, his devotion transforming him into a twisted abomination.

Oceiros had a son named Ocelotte, whom he dubbed "the child of dragons". Despite his transformation, he continued to love and protect his son, determined to defend him from those he believed would harness his power. For reasons unknown, Ocelotte vanished from his father's side but in his delusional state, the King continued to believe he was present, his insanity and physical blindness rendering him unable to realize the truth. During the battle an infant can be heard crying although the source of this is unknown.

Location
Found at the far end of the Consumed King's Garden, in a cavern located behind a terrace guarded by two knights.

Fight overview
The battle starts with a cutscene of King Oceiros in a delusional state and holding the imaginary body of his youngest son, Ocelotte. Once he notices the ashen one's presence, he will pick up his staff from the floor and prepare for battle, willing to defend the welfare of his son with his own life.

On his first phase, he attacks almost solely by swinging his staff. His attacks are very slow and easy to avoid, taking a considerable amount of time between swings. Additionally, most of his attacks are performed in front of him, leaving his lower body open to attack most of the time. He will occasionally perform a jump to smash onto the player and also summon fountains around him that inflict curse buildup upon touch.

On his second phase, however, Oceiros becomes much more aggressive. He starts by disposing of the imaginary baby and tearing his staff to pieces by smashing it into the ground. He then proceeds to stand in all four limbs and the battle then becomes much more similar to that of Vordt's, by rushing at the player from one end of the arena to the other.

Some of his attacks now include performing a series of ferocious bites at the player in a very similar fashion as the Sulyvahn's Beast, an extensive barrage of claw-swipes, and a spinning move when both he and the player end up occupying the same space.

He also can now unleash a white breath that summons crystals that inflict curse buildup. Most importantly, he now has an aerial attack where he jumps up and glides toward the player, unleashing a trail of the same crystals and which can kill the player almost instantly.

Strategy
The first phase of the battle is not very difficult. Just rush toward the king's hind legs and attack. Since most of his attacks will end up in front of him, staying below him will prevent the player from being damaged for the most part. Most likely, he will then proceed to jump up and try to smash onto the player, be ready to move or roll away when this happens.

The fountains he summons are also very easy to avoid, as they are amply telegraphed and take a moment before they start dealing damage.

If the player ends up occupying the same space as the king, he will unleash a spinning attack. This is telegraphed with enough time and has poor collision detection, making it easy to avoid.

When about 40% of Oceiros's health has been depleted, he will switch to his secondary phase. Tactics for this phase change drastically from the first one. The player should keep distance from the king and let him attack first, retaliating only while he is recovering.

Most of the time, he will lunge at the player with great force, usually ending at the other side of the arena. When he finishes this move, he will turn around and roar, leaving him completely vulnerable at that moment. The player must evade this attack and then rush after him to hit him in the face. If the player is able to hit him enough times directly to the face, he will stagger and become open to a critical attack (in a similar way as the Sulyvahn's Beast).

His barrage of claw-swipes have very poor tracking and if the player can evade it in the first place, the king will be vulnerable from behind for a considerable amount of time while he keeps on walking forward, finishing the move.

His white breath is also easy to avoid and amply telegraphed. He makes a pause and then unleashes it from the right to the left side of the screen. Circle him by the left and attack him while he is performing the attack.

His flying attack, on the other hand, is extremely dangerous and can kill the player almost instantly if they let themselves be caught inside the trail of crystals, which fill up the curse meter at an alarming rate. When the player sees him jumping from a distance, they must make it a priority to run or roll in a perpendicular direction from the trail.


 * Note: Oceiros will say a few dialogues throughout the course of the battle. While these are onscreen, the player will be prevented from performing most actions. When these appear, tap the action button to make the dialogue scroll and disappear as soon as possible.

Trivia

 * Oceiros is voiced by William Houston, who previously also voiced Marvelous Chester and Vendrick.
 * Oceiros has a special death animation if he is defeated in only one hit (only possible by using cheats).