Grand Archives Scholars are enemies in Dark Souls III.
In-Game Description
- The scholars of the Grand Archives, sorcerers by craft, tend to their candles with a reverence that exceeds the simple burden of labor. They know dangers of the Archives' store of knowledge all too well.[1]
Description[]
Eerie sages, sorcerers by craft,[1] who tend the vast and irreplaceable bulk of knowledge stored within the archives. They wear religious robes and pace slowly along the library's corridors. They all wield a candlestick which strengthens the sorceries cast by some of them.[2] All of them can be seen holding a small, unlit candle on their left hand, although only those with burning flames on their heads may use it to douse wax onto trespassers.
Scholars know too well the dangers contained within the store of knowledge they tend,[1] and thus, are always seen with their heads drenched unceremoniously in wax to protect themselves from the many spirits lurking within the tomes. This wax ends up taking the shape of a small candle at the top of their heads.
There are two variants:
Unlit candle:
Normal-sized scholars with their candles unlit. They mainly resort in performing melee attacks with their candlesticks.
Burning candle:
Slightly taller and stronger sages portraying a burning candle on their heads. They can unleash a series of magical attacks from very long distances and may quickly heat up the candle they hold with the flame on their heads to douse the player with hot wax, rendering them unable to sprint or roll for a short period of time.
Locations[]
Only found throughout the library section of the Grand Archives.
Lore[]
In Lothric, the Scholar has long been considered one of the Three Pillars of the king's rule, and is therefore master of the Grand Archives.[3]
Their candles, and the deliberate complete coverage they maintain on their heads, are made of an "ivory wax" that prevents the foulness of the texts from damaging and dislodging their "anchors of reason"[4]
Strategy[]
Scholars mainly serve as supporting forces for other enemies. Even though they move very slowly, they may surprise the player with unexpected stabs and slashes with their candlesticks.
The ones portraying burning flames on their heads are considerably stronger and may only fall with at least two hits from heavy weaponry. They will be the main concern while traversing through the archives while in search of the elusive Crystal Sage, as they can detect the player from very long distances and unleash several barrages of magical attacks in quick succession.
It is advised to take care of any other enemies in their vicinity first and to have one's own head covered in wax the whole time, as they tend to stand in areas where a myriad of Clawed Curses may emerge.
If possible, it is recommended to attack them from very far away by using a bow and arrows, thus giving the player a breathing room while evading the Crystal Sage's constant harassment.
Drops[]
| Item |  Crystal Gem |
 Scholar's Candlestick |
 Scholar's Robe |
| Drop Rate | ??? | ??? | ??? |
Notes[]
- Immune to Alluring Skulls.
- Immune to Rapport.
- Scholars will always detect the presence of the player once they have been approached a certain distance, even if they don't produce sounds (either by wearing the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring or by casting Spook).
Trivia[]
- Their body models and clothing are just modified versions of the two thinner variants of Deacons.
- The Scholar Ring portrays the picture of a scholar, with his head accurately covered in wax.
- Their headgear, the Scholar's Shed Skin, exists within the game's files and was supposedly intended to be dropped by them, although testing by using a 100% drop rate script has confirmed that it actually cannot be obtained in the game by conventional means.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Scholar's Robe description.
- ↑ Scholar's Candlestick description.
- ↑ Scholar Ring description.
- ↑ Description of the Scholar's Shed Skin from the guide.