Royal Rat Vanguard

The Royal Rat Vanguard is a boss in Dark Souls II.

Location
The Royal Rat Vanguard is fought in the Grave of Saints, past the second bonfire.

Description
The Royal Rat Vanguard has a very similar appearance and size to the rest of the rats fought in the room. However, it has more prominent hair on its back.

Strategy
Upon entering the fog gate to this room, there will be no healthbar at the bottom of the screen, nor seemingly any enemies. Shortly after, though, many normal rats will attack the player. They are easy to kill, but can swarm the player easily and stunlock them. The indestructable rat statues in this room also block movement. It is best to run away from the group of rats to avoid being trapped, then run back to attack. They are rather easy to kill, but cause poison buildup with their attacks, so bringing some Poison Moss will help greatly.

After either killing enough rats or after a long enough time (Note that the normal rats spawn endlessly) the boss's health gauge will finally appear, and the boss will fall into the room. It looks very similar to the rest of the rats and is difficult to distinguish in a crowd. (See description) It does not have much health, though and is thus easily killed with a powerful weapon. You may have to back off a few times, however, to avoid being killed by the rest of the rats. Killing these rats does not help much as more replace them quickly. It is a good idea to keep a close eye on the Vanguard once spotted, as this can help with finding it amongst the melee.

Note that the actual boss does much more damage and can cause more poison buildup than the rest of the rats.

Once The Vanguard is defeated, the remaining rats exit from the arena.

Attacks
Keep in mind that the boss itself and the normal rats share the same attacks.
 * Rearing Bite: The rat rears back and bites. Inflicts poison buildup.
 * Lunging Bite: The rat leaps forward and bites. Inflicts poison buildup.

Drops

 * Royal Rat Vanguard Soul
 * Rat Tail
 * 11,000 souls