- "Please, avert thine eyes. I will snuff out these ashes for good."
- — Sister Friede
In-Game Description
- Friede was the first Ash to enter the painting, but together with the good Father, they chose rot over fire.
Sister Friede, born Elfriede, is a character and a boss in Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel.
She is voiced by Amara Karan.
Description[]
Friede wears the Ordained Set, and is armed with a scythe. She has burn marks on the right side of her face.
Location[]
Sister Friede is found sitting on a chair in Ariandel Chapel in the Painted World of Ariandel.
Lore[]
Elfriede is the eldest of three sisters who at some point entered into the service of the Primordial Serpent Darkstalker Kaathe.[1][2] Together with Yuria and Liliane, Elfriede became a maiden of Kaathe, and the Primordial Serpent taught them his art of the Dark Hand, which could sap the essence of its victims.[3] The sisters pursued Kaathe's goal of ending the Age of Fire founded by the gods and ushering the Age of Dark, and searched for a Dark Lord who could usurp the First Flame and use its powers to lead the humans into a new age.[1][2][4] To this end, the three sisters used their battle prowess to found the Sable Church,[5] an organization that claimed to offer salvation to Hollows.[2] Elfriede, as the eldest sister, became the leader of the Church.[6] The Church came to be seen as a haven for those with unsavory or blurry pasts, along with other rejects of the Age of Fire. An increasing number of Undead and Hollows would find refuge in the Church, forming a society of wretchedly aged, deceitful, deeply detested Hollows.[7] This place would become known with the name of Londor, where Hollows could exist outside the oppression of the Darksign using purging stones to ease their condition,[8] even mining their stagnant Humanity to create gems that they then used to forge weapons.[9]
The Sable Church, with Elfriede at the helm, continued to grow; they developed dark miracles, forged specialized weaponry, and trained knights unflinchingly loyal to their cause.[10][11] The influence of the Sable Church would extend beyond Londor and into other realms via Londor Pale Shades, assassins and knights who served the interests of the Church abroad, without regard for honor or glory.[12][13][14][15] At some point, Sir Vilhelm would come under the employ of the three sisters of the Church. He was especially loyal to Elfriede, becoming her steadfast follower and cold-blooded hangman.[11]
Elfriede eventually departed Londor to attempt to link the First Flame. It is uncertain whether she intended to usurp the Flame, realizing Kaathe's vision of an Age of Dark, or if she wholly abandoned Londor to link the Flame for another purpose. Regardless, she was unable to withstand the Flame's power, and was burned to Ash.[6][16][17][18][19]
As the First Flame continued to fade and Prince Lothric refused to link it, the Unkindled were exhumed from their graves, tasked with hunting down the Lords of Cinder that had refused to return to their "thrones" to become kindlings once again.[20] Among the resurrected Unkindled was Elfriede, who instead chose to renounce everything,[21] leaving behind her role as leader of the Sable Church, Londor, and even her name, becoming known simply as "Friede".[1][17] Now without a home to call her own, she was eventually drawn into the Painted World of Ariandel,[22] where the forlorn and the outcast were welcomed and found refuge.[23] Friede became the first Ashen One to reside in it,[17] coming to accept the cold of the Painted World and considering it her new home.[24] She discovered that she wanted to "protect" the inhabitants of the Painted World, and thus assumed the precise form that they yearned for:[21] that of their former mistress Priscilla, even going so far as to wield a great scythe, which was symbolic of a long-lost home for the inhabitants of the painting[25] and belike one that Priscilla wielded.[26][27] At a certain point her knight, Sir Vilhelm, found her in the painted world, returning to her service despite having been released from duty.[6][28]
Over time Friede earned the trust of some of the inhabitants of the painting, to the point that the Corvian Knights who protected the village became infatuated with her.[29] Above all, she managed to get close to Father Ariandel,[30] a great Corvian who had the task of guarding the Flame inside of the Painted World, and to restore it using the fire when the painting began to rot, to bring the world back to life and avoid the fate of the stagnant outside world.[31][32] However, when the painting began to be corrupted and its inhabitants made up their minds to burn it away, Friede opposed their wish, preferring a slow death in the comforting rot to the renewing change of the Flame.[17][31] She convinced Ariandel to bury the Flame of the painting and hold back its strength using his blood,[32] while her Corvian Knights swore to "protect" the painting from fire, even killing their brethren who opposed her.[29] The Painter would be imprisoned in the library of the corvian village and guarded by Sir Vilhelm, to prevent her from restoring the painting.[28][33][34] His Lady's imprisonment prompted Slave Knight Gael to escape from the painting, taking with him a rotten scrap of it, and search for another Unkindled that could fulfill the prophecy of the painting, which stated that when the Ashes inside the painting became two, the Flame would return and burn the rot away.[19][31]
Friede remained in the cathedral of the Painted World, guarding the Flame and Father Ariandel against trespassers, while the inhabitants of the painting rotted and filthy insects spread. When an Ashen One arrived in the painting, she would kindly but firmly invite them to leave and return to the outside world, leaving the inhabitants of the painting in peace and forgetting about them.[35] When they ignore her advice and descend the cathedral to confront Father Ariandel, she would be forced to wield her scythe and confront them, not before asking Father Ariandel to turn his gaze away from the imminent carnage. When she is defeated the first time, an enraged Ariandel sparks the Flame he bled so much to subdue, in a desperate attempt to revive her. Now rekindled, Friede would come back from death to fight by his side, their souls linked. After falling a second time, Friede would rise yet again thanks to her inner Dark Flame, in a final struggle to defeat the Ashen One and prevent the Painted World from being burned away.[36]
Theories[]
- It is possible that Friede inherited her Blackflame from the First Flame, following an only partially successful attempt to usurp it from its kiln.
- The Ashen Estus Flask description relates the item's nature to the Unkindled in that they "turn a bonfire's heat cold"; in addition, the Ember description highlights that similar nature of an Ashen One, as they lack the "embers that burn within a champion's bosom". This could point to a lack of inherited Flame within Unkindled Ones, making it unlikely as a source from which Friede's blackflame is derived.
- The weapon skill of the Onyx Blade, "Elfriede's Blackflame", states that the blackflame was "born of the similarly-hued flame that smolders within her". Following from the speculation that Unkindled Ones lack the original Flame, this similarly-hued flame possibly hails from a different source, possibly the First Flame itself within the Kiln, the very fire which ended up burning Elfriede.
- Given the Sable Church's affinity with dark miracles, it seems likely that the First Flame would attempt to manifest within its would-be usurper as a derivation from these arts that are powered by the Darkness of humanity.
Strategy[]
First Phase: Sister Friede[]
Sister Friede in the first phase.
First of all, it is suggested to use a light weapon (such as a straight sword, a greatsword, etc.) to avoid the risk of being stun-locked by her fast attacks, and also a greatshield with high stability to minimize some stamina damage.
After the beginning of the fight, be careful and learn her attack patterns while blocking with your shield (be careful anyway, because her scythe inflicts Magic damage).
Note that Friede will nearly always jump away after one or two hits, so it is not advised to go for more as it is very easy to disregard stamina and become open for a devastating counterattack. While she seems to have very little poise, she sometimes will almost completely ignore the player's attacks and poise through them with no trouble, guaranteeing the player gets hit if they are getting greedy.
Occasionally, she will turn invisible and move rapidly through the room, and after a short time, she will perform a grab with her scythe that inflicts heavy damage if not stopped and is difficult to dodge roll away from. It is possible to track her by paying careful attention to which way she jumps. She will either jump to the side, or over the player's head and land behind them. Another way is to run straightforward at her when she turns invisible, as being in close proximity to her or attacking her will cause her to reappear.
Second Phase: Father Ariandel and Friede[]
Sister Friede and Father Ariandel in the second phase of the fight.
After killing Friede in her first phase, a cutscene will play in which Father Ariandel enters a berserk state, expands the arena, resurrects Friede, and begins to fight the player alongside Friede. During this phase, both Father Ariandel and Sister Friede will share the same health bar, and both will die once the health bar is depleted.
Sister Friede will fight much more defensively, opting to cast ice spells from afar instead of directly engaging the player. However, she will still attack if the player gets too close to her.
Father Ariandel fights by using his bowl like a weapon and uses it to try and crush the player. He also has several area of effect attacks that are best avoided by staying either away from him, or behind him. He moves slowly and will charge at the player if they are too far away from him to be hit by any of his attacks.
-If the player has used Slave Knight Gael's summon sign, he will be summoned into the arena once the second phase begins.
-The first time the player defeats this phase, they will be rewarded with a Titanite Slab
Third Phase: Blackflame Friede[]
Blackflame Friede
After defeating the second phase, Friede will resurrect a final time. She will now fight with two scythes. Her original scythe will typically be coated in "Black Flame", and will deal significantly more damage than before. Her secondary scythe will deal heavy frostbite damage, as well as wielding multiple ranged attacks freezing the ground and building up your frost bite meter. She will also go invisible and continuously freeze the ground running up to you and won't stop until attacked. Many of her attacks will gain an area of effect and become incredibly damaging. She will also fight far more aggressively than before.
Attacks[]
Defenses[]
Drops[]
| Item |  Soul of Sister Friede |
 Titanite Slab |
| Drop Rate | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
Dialogue[]
| Click to see dialogue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Notes[]
- Can be parried, backstabbed and riposted.
- Ariandel can be poise-broken and riposted, if hit enough times in a short amount of time.
- Friede is fully affected by the Sacred Flame pyromancy in all three phases of her boss fight.
- However, she is only partially affected by the Dark Hand, taking the first instance of damage, but not entering the full animation or taking the full damage.
- The Titanite Slab is a reward for completing phase 2 for the first time. It can only be obtained once per NG cycle.
- Friede can be parried and riposted during all phases of the fight. However, parrying her can be tricky as she attacks very quickly.
- During the second phase, one can use the Storyteller's Staff and Toxic Mist on Ariandel with almost instant activation.
- Repeatedly casting the poison of the Storyteller's Staff on Friede as she burns and revives can poison her as the third phase starts, making the fight against her much less stressful, wherein one can get hits when they can and let the poison work at the same time.
Trivia[]
- She has been known as "Friede" and as "Elfriede", although the reason is not certain.
- If attacked (including kicking), while she is sitting in her chair, she will disappear until the area is reloaded, and will not mention having been attacked when spoken to in future.
- If she is still absent when opening the path to Father Ariandel, she will also be absent for the cutscene and her voice lines will not be heard. She will, however, reappear when the player talks to Ariandel to start the boss fight.
- Blackflame Friede bears several attacks that practically mirror those of Lady Maria, a boss in Bloodborne.
- Despite having not had contact with Yuria for a long time, and having long abandoned the Sable Church, she, as well as Sir Vilhelm, recognizes the recently anointed Lord of Hollows.
Gallery[]
Music[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yuria of Londor dialogue.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Billed Mask description.
- ↑ Dark Hand (Dark Souls III) description.
- ↑ Yuria's Ashes description.
- ↑ Black Set (Dark Souls III) descriptions.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Onyx Blade description.
- ↑ Dead Again (Dark Souls III) and Untrue Dark Ring descriptions.
- ↑ Purging Stone (Dark Souls III) description.
- ↑ Hollow Gem description.
- ↑ Vow of Silence (Dark Souls III) description.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Vilhelm's Set description.
- ↑ Pale Shade Set description.
- ↑ Poison Throwing Knife (Dark Souls III) description.
- ↑ Manikin Claws (Dark Souls III) description.
- ↑ Sneering Mask description.
- ↑ Yuria of Londor dialogue: "Ahh, our Lord and Liege. 'Twas the soul of my sister. Elfriede... a poor wench turned to ash, who would abandon Londor. If thou wouldst, let it nourish thy Lordship, and in return, do her a small kindness... Remember those who stayed by her to the end, in the shadows cast by fire..."
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Soul of Sister Friede description.
- ↑ https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/File:Cw0GrBcXgAAxfSF.jpg
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Slave Knight Gael dialogue.
- ↑ Opening (Dark Souls III) narration.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Ordained Set description.
- ↑ Painted World of Ariandel#Enemies
- ↑ Storyteller's Staff description.
- ↑ Chillbite Ring description.
- ↑ Friede's Great Scythe description.
- ↑ Lifehunt Scythe description.
- ↑ Great Corvian Scythe desription.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Sir Vilhelm locations and dialogue.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Crow Quills description.
- ↑ Father Ariandel dialogue.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Forlorn Corvian Settler dialogue: "Surely you've seen the rot that afflicts our world. But that witch fooled the good Father, and buried the flame. After we had all made up our minds, too. So, please, grant us one wish. Make the tales true, and burn this world away."
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Rose of Ariandel description.
- ↑ Forlorn Corvian Settler (character) dialogue.
- ↑ Contraption Key description.
- ↑ Sister Friede dialogue.
- ↑ Sister Friede#Strategy