Fang Boar

Location

Drops

Health
NG	NG+
307	768

Souls
NG	NG+
750	3,750

Fang Boar

Location

The Duke's Archives

Drops

Fang Boar Helm

Health
NG	NG+
640	1,004

Souls
NG	NG+
1,000	2,000

The Fang Boar, also known as Armored Tusk, is a miniboss in Dark Souls.

Location[]

One is found in the Undead Parish, near the portcullis.
Two other, much stronger versions of the Fang Boar are located in the path from Anor Londo to The Duke's Archives. These versions are armored around the tail too, so backstabbing is impossible.

Description[]

The Fang Boar is a very large boar covered in steel plating and featuring enormous tusks. As such, most weapons tend to bounce off its armor. This plating doesn't cover the whole body of the boar in the Undead Parish, with the rear open to attacks. However the other two boars protecting the entrance to The Duke's Archives are completely armored and much more resistant.

Strategy[]

Undead Parish[]

Head up the staircase on the right to reach the walkway with the two crossbow-wielding Hollow Soldiers. Take the Alluring Skulls from a corpse on the ledge and toss one so that the boar moves under the ledge, then use a plunging attack.
The Alluring Skulls used above can also be thrown directly into a fire below the ledge, killing the boar by self-immolation.
From the same position drop Firebombs on the boar. Or use any ranged attack choice (bows, spells, etc.).
Slowly walk off the staircase until the boar charges, then rush back on so that it enters the fire.
The boar can be backstabbed, taking a large portion of its health.
The boar cannot go past the pillars by the stairs, so they can be used in conjunction with a long reaching weapon to easily defeat the boar.
A way to kill the boar without going up to the walkway, and by only using the short bow and heavy arrows, is through drawing aggro by attacking the boar in first person mode and then quickly retreating to the archway of the stairs to the right of the portcullis which it cannot enter. Shooting at the exposed rear end/tail when it returns to its position will draw its aggro again but retreating to the archway and then repeating the process will eventually kill it.

The Duke's Archive[]

The boars cannot leave The Duke's Archive, and can be lured towards the exit, where then the player can use ranged attacks to kill them.
As the boars are no longer able to be backstabbed, the player can instead use Poison or Fire to deal damage, as they are weak to them. If this strategy is used with weapons that inflict one of the two, it will be better to use thrust weapons against them, as it doesn't cause the weapon to be deflected. Alternatively if no reliable thrust weapons are available, jump attacks also can not be deflected.
Spells such as Sorceries, Pyromancies, and Miracles can be effective at bypassing their armor, which like most shields, is not as effective at blocking elemental damage as it is physical damage. This may however require precise timing, as most spells have high starting lag which can leave the player unable to evade attacks.
The boars can easily be killed by running past them to beside the elevator. The boars can not run between the elevator and the pillar, thus allowing the player to kill them by range or melee.
Some weapons can damage their unarmored underside with horizontal attacks. For example, Man-serpent sword's strong 2-handed attack deals full damage.

Enemy information[]

Health and souls[]

Location	Health		Souls
Location	NG	NG+	NG	NG+
Undead Parish	307	768	750	3,750
The Duke's Archives	640	1,004	1,000	2,000

Characteristics[]

Respawn	No
Backstab	Yes / No
Damage Types	Strike / Thrust
Abilities	–

Attacks[]

Attack	Damage	Attack Type	Status Effect	Parryable	Tracking	Attack Speed
Tusk Launch	350	Thrust	None	No	Neither	Slow
Tackle	350	Thrust	None	No	Neither	Medium
Tusk Attack	238	Thrust	None	No	Both	Medium
Boar Kick	238	Strike	None	No	Neither	Medium
Charge	238	Thrust	None	No	Both	Fast

Attack	Damage	Attack Type	Status Effect	Parryable	Tracking	Attack Speed
Tusk Launch	672	Thrust	None	No	Neither	Slow
Tackle	672	Thrust	None	No	Neither	Medium
Tusk Attack	456	Thrust	None	No	Both	Medium
Boar Kick	456	Strike	None	No	Neither	Medium
Charge	456	Thrust	None	No	Both	Fast