Old Iron King

The Old Iron King is a boss in Dark Souls II.

General Information
Located in Iron Keep, the Old Iron King is the final boss of this area who possessed one of the four great souls.

Summoning
There is no NPC that can be summoned as a phantom for this fight.

Lore
The King of the ancient Alonne kingdom once ruled from the Iron Keep, an impenetrable fortress made out of solid iron. He was obsessed with creating an indomitable empire that would last for centuries, but his wishes of longevity and impregnability would eventually lead to his downfall as his beloved castle began to sink into the earth due to the immense weight of the structure. As the earth opened to swallow his castle, molten lava began to melt the walls, eventually consuming his kingdom. He was believed to have been killed by the Smelter Demon and his soul possessed by the great evil that lurked in the flames.

When the undead curse broke out through Drangleic, he would personally preside over the undead hunts that would take place at The Huntsman's Copse.

Fight Overview

The fight is very simple and is similar to Ceaseless Discharge from the original Dark Souls. The only difference is that you cannot kill the Old Iron King with an easy trick. He is also susceptible to ranged attacks.The player has little room to maneuver and may walk off or be thrown off the edge into the lava. The boss gives the player many chances at healing and dealing out tons of damage.

Strategy
All of the Old Iron King's attacks should be dodged since being hit by them can be very devastating and it is very possible that the player will be knocked into the lava.

There is a small area in the rightmost portion of the stage where one can go to avoid his sweeping flame breath if players are not too confident with rolling. An ally ranged character can also set up there if there is a summoned player to draw aggro. Be careful, though, as the structure does NOT block the beam that the Old Iron King fires from his right hand.

The best time to land high damage is when the boss slams his fist(s) into the ground and when he is using a flame attack. It is more difficult for pure melee players to hit the Old Iron King during a fire attack, but it is possible.

Players would do well to take their time with this boss. One should not attempt to rush the battle and waste stamina before it is needed.

Attacks
Swipe: Swipes one of his arms across, sometimes followed up by an overhead slam or another swipe with the opposite arm. Can be avoided by rolling towards it.

Slam: Performs an overhead slam, sometimes done with 2 hands, sometimes followed by another slam or a swipe. Can be avoided by sprinting horizontally in relation to the boss or rolling away at the last second.

A dip in lava: Goes into the lava and doing so spews some lava patches and upon coming back up, spews more lava patches. When coming up from the lava he will be in a different location of the boss arena.

Laser: Charges his right hand with a fiery glow and shoots out a laser beam. Clips through walls. Can be avoided by sprinting horizontally away or rolling with good timing.

Fiery overhead slam: Charges one or both hands with fire and slams it/them onto the ground, and erupting fire around it. Should be avoided by sprinting horizontally away as simply rolling may lead to players being hit with the fire.

Flame Breath: Shoots a line of fire out of his mouth. Can be rolled through.

Swiping Flames: Shoots flames out of mouth in a wide arc. Can be rolled through.

Roar: Lets out a roar that hits from medium range. Usually only done if players get very close.