Vendrick

Vendrick is a boss in ''Dark Souls II. ''

Description
The once great king of Drangleic, reduced to a large Hollow that uses his sword to defeat the player.

NOTE: Vendrick counts as a Hollow so weapons like the Old Whip deal increased damage.

Strategy
Vendrick has very high defense which makes this a very lengthy fight. His defense can be considerably lowered, however, by collecting up to 5 Giant Souls found throughout Drangleic.

NOTE: DO NOT CONSUME THE SOULS UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE DEFEATED VENDRICK.

Even with the Giant Souls, Vendrick is not to be taken lightly. His attacks deal heavy damage, have good reach, and can throw off twitchy 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 distance himself so players must take care to evade his attacks as they approach and repeat the tactic.

Weapons that inflict Bleed will be very helpful in this fight since Vendrick does not move very quickly nor will he try to evade, save for the times when he jumps back.

The same strategy can be applied for ranged fighters and casters, and is even encouraged, since fighting him from afar is very dangerous.

General Melee (+Magic) Strategy
1. Use light or no armor except stamina recovery-improving items such as the Shield of the Insolent. This allows you to be as fast as possible when evading his attacks or staying behind him.

2. You may use Crystal Magic Weapon and/or Sunlight Blade before entering the fog door to further enhance your damage output.

3. Hold your melee weapon, such as a fully-upgraded Old Whip due to its damage boost against Hollows, with both hands.

4. Rings to equip (ideally all of the first three):


 * - Chloranthy Ring to boost stamina-recovery


 * - Ring of Blades to further enhance melee damage


 * - Red Tearstone Ring if you wish to boost your damage further by fighting with less than 30% hp and relying on evasion


 * - Either the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring or Clear Bluestone Ring (to extend spell duration or increase casting speed if you will be using magic) OR a ring of your choice

6. IMMEDIATELY run behind him, giving him no time to cast his Curse spell. Stay behind him and keep attacking. Close in quickly if he jumps away.

7. If one of your Weapon Spells runs out, cast the next one as soon as Vendrick starts with his second overhead slash.

8. Repeat #6 and 7 until Vendrick is defeated.

Drops
Vendrick does not drop anything except for his soul right after the battle (and 90,000 souls or 225,000 in NG+). However, his Soul of the King and his armor can be found in the Shrine of Amana, behind a door that can only be opened after defeating him. You must also be in human form to open the door.