Some great points on Vendrick's placement here as per the gameplay mechanic of having to gather souls to even damage him, we are required to bear Giant's Souls to harm him - but my counter-point would be that even if you cannot harm him without access to these souls, the fight itself is nothing more than a very very beefy soul-less meatshield. I can't get over the hump of him having discarded his soul prior to his permanent self-imposed exile, but what do you guys think? where would you have him?
I suppose you could make the claim that the all-powerful, grand indivdual was KING Vendrick, the one who stole from the giants and built a mighty kingdom. However, that was then, now we're just fighting Vendrick, just a hollow man, barely able to lift his mighty sword whilst stumbling aimlessly. That is a good reason for his placement on the list.
I mean yeah but another counter-point, you put him 38 of 41. Even if he is a meat shield, he hits like a tank, and there's no way the Rotten or the Giant Rat-dog would beat him
Still too low. And Aldia likely should be higher considering you fight a puppeted part of him, as you don't even get souls from it as you didn't kill him. He's also a magic genius in general.
He definitely still has part of his souls in the crypt, so he’s not a “soulless husk”. Vendrick likely split his soul, just as Gwyn did. Also, if he had no soul, than how can you talk to him in his normal form in his memory? Oh, and I think he should be placed as #1 considering how he could easily defeat any other boss in the game. Without any giant souls he has x32 the defence. Even if you consider him a meatshield, him still being victorious in a fight should rank him higher than the opponents, which is everyone.
However, let's all be greatful they only gave them a few Skeleton Wheels. That fight could have been FAR more irritating if the Devs decided to give us the Pinwheel Treatment with DS2s hitboxes.
Ivory King is quite possibly the biggest gigachad in the entire series, maybe even in any Fromsoft game. He was fully aware that his queen Alsanna was a shard of Manus and unironically responded with "yes, and?"
"I will be your doom. Your kingdom will fall and your realm will crumble to ashes. All will be forgotten if we continue this affair!" "Well, girl. That's pretty hot."
Considering how far the demons of chaos have fallen by the events of the 3rd game, it's not a stretch to assume that the actions of the Ivory King (and his queen) utterly broke chaos.
@GazerWR Monstrosities of Sin, the hand monster ogres. One drops Eleonora Axe that says: "The Profaned Flame was triggered by the curse of these women, relatives of a certain oracle..." They also resemble Manus's pimp hand.
Ivory king, such a Chad that he took a shard of darkness and evil and selfishness and turned it into a selfless queen. Then looked at chaos, flipped it the bird, then jumped into it to fight it.
@@drarsen33As his soul degraded he went to fight chaos one final time to contain it. Chaos finally gained a true champion but also a jailer to keep it contained for untold time in the form of the Ivory King. Mf gave himself and in turn chained chaos and weakened it.
25:42 Hard disagree with this one. By the time we encounter him, Aldia has essentially transcended the physical world. He is no longer an actual being, rather, he has sown himself into the world, potentially within the flames of the bonfires, although its not really clear from what ive read. Whatever the case may be, the form he shows us is merely a manifestion, and upon his defeat, not only does he continue to speak to us, but we also do not gain any souls. He is essentially immortal and invulnerable, so to place him this far down the list seems very inconsistent with the lore. Im not certain if it would be accurate to place him at Number 1, so it may be tge correct choice to simply not have him on the list as he is not a killable being. Its like if you put Shalquoir on this tier list.
Not necessarily, if an immortal ant tried to fight me it won't win simply because it can't die. We see a few manifestations of varying size which may tie into how strong they are too, but there's nothing to say about his power, but he seems no where near things like the darklurker, but maybe a little higher.
@@specialnewb9821 Aldia still has masterful magic prowess, as seen in his boss-fight, he was able to manifest flame in multiple ways, and even roots of his own manifested body to fight. He very much is still powerful, and in a real fight, bodies most people. He was still able to be defeated at the end, but we only have destroyed a lowly-physical manifestation of him.
8:06 "Vendrick found himself in the lands between" ah yes, my man's looking for that Elden Ring dlc. Shenanigans aside, this is a hell of an underrated channel, i love your narration pace and style so much. Plus, DS2 lore deserves loads more attention than it gets, you're doing a great job at showcasing it!
I love DS2 lore, really glad to see you revisit the lore of this game with stuff we now know from DS3 since I dont see that commonly done. Something I've wondered for a while is if we could consider Vendrick and the other monarchs of that game to be what DS3 refers to as Lords of Cinder, individuals destined to link the flame (even if they then refuse to do so, like with Prince Lothric). In DS2 you slay and usurp the power of these various monarchs, taking their crowns. Then, in a ritual you combine their power into something that lets you break the undead curse (at least for yourself) and step outside the cycle. In DS3 you slay various Lords of Cinder and return their ashes to their respective thrones. Then, in a ritual you combine their power into something that seems to functionally teleport you to the ends of the earth and finally decide the fate of the first flame. The relevance of this to DS2 is that I wonder if some good old-fashioned time travel or "transitory lands" nonsense was happening in that game with the lands of the Iron King. After all the situation in DS2 isnt dissimilar to the situation at the start of DS3, the monarch destined to link the fire has shirked their duty and refused to do so. And in DS3 this makes the world go crazy trying to physically bring eligible young fire-linking bachelors back to the land, in ways such as physically forcing old lands together. The Iron King's era was long long before the events of DS2, since we know he also had to deal with an outbreak of the undead curse which must be at least 1 full cycle before Vendrick facing the curse. We also see that the Ironclad warriors serving Drangleic in the Forest of Fallen Giants are old and rusty, compared to the much newer-looking ones in the Iron Keep. There's every indication in the game that Drangleic basically plundered the old Iron King's lands at some point, you need only look at the presence of an Executioners Chariot in Castle Drangleic (possibly *the* Executioners Chariot), desert sorceresses, mannikins, alonne knights and even rusty Ironclads that serve Vendrick's forces in the Forest. But when the player-character visits the Iron King's lands there's no sign that they've been disturbed or plundered, everything seems pretty untouched especially considering the relative proximity to Drangleic... and I dont think you encounter a single "Vendrick-era" enemy on that path. Just undead continuing to do what they were instructed to do in the era of the Iron King.
About the Iron king, I think his miracle to create Iron was related to the lord soul, since Gwyn was also a miracle user, so Iron king probably had the lord soul from the beginning, or found it causing him to gain the Iron creation miracle.
Vendrick should be much higher even though he’s hollow he is still powerful enough the player is encouraged to go and search the world for items that weaken him which no other bosses do
I make for a fun "Lord Boros" run by using Cheat Engine and making myself Op. With Maximizing all of the stats and multiplying the dmg of my bare fist by 50 times I was able to barely SCRATCH Vendrick (Around 100-200 dmg per hit if I remember correctly) without Giant Souls. THAT'S How Powerful Vendrick as a Hollow Was.
Agreed, and just because a body lacks a soul doesn’t mean it is devoid of power. Vendrick was a warlord after all, essentially built for battle, and while he has wasted away considerably his incredible stature and ability to wield such an enormous blade shouldn’t be discounted.
17:33 not related but i always found amazing how the ruin sentinels time their attacks in sync, not only that but the way they both jump to opposite sides at the same time to surround you. Bosses actually working together like that is something i have only seen in this game and sekiro
Sinh is one of my favourite bosses, especially lore wise, it's one of the few dragon fights that feel special, he's so legendary that even Vinheim itself was secretely aknowledging its existance (as proved through the slumbering dragoncrest ring) I reckon he had no ill intents and that Shulva was protecting the dragon rather protecting itself from it, not necessairily from the drakeblood knights but because at the time of lordan there was a lot of dragonslaying Elana of course attempted to use the potential of this mighty dragon to one day destroy everything, using her songs as an excuse to keep the dragon secure when in reality she was slowing fulfilling her plan, luckily for the world but unluckily for Shulva he was pierced and freed from his eternal slumber but was now turned hostile
Minor nitpick: The double dragon riders have one using a bow and the other uses a halberd, not a dualblade. There's no blade at the bottom of the stick.
None of the Dragon Riders we fight in game use a twin blade, but it is part of their arsenal. See Dragonrider Twinblade, a trade in for their soul with Straid & 1500 souls.
When you do Dark Souls 3, you should compile every boss from all three games into one ranking. It would take *a lot* of work but I've always wondered who the strongest characters in Dark Souls lore were, or who the weakest were lol If you don't do it that's fine. Great videos either way man :)
Since every cycle of kindling the first flame becomes weaker than before it’s likely the list would be mostly DS3 bosses lower and DS1 bosses higher. Yes I think some like the nameless king, Midir, Gael and souls of cinder will be able to contend with the higher ups they are still unlikely to breach the top 10.
@@goatlover6312, I know. But there *are* bosses in 3 that could no doubt compare to the ones in the other two. Even the lords of cinder when combining their powers are able to rekindle the first flame, so at least those guys would have a level of power to keep up. Aldrich for example eats gods like Gwyndolin just to spice things up. Though for the most part, yeah bosses like the crystal wizard are probably going to be lower on the list than bosses like Pinwheel lol Either way I'd like to see it, this guy's good at compiling the boss lore
I think Midir and souls of cinder would rank among the highest in all honesty. Considering midir is corrupted by the abyss which gave him new destructive powers and souls of cinder is the basically the chosen undeads remains from the past made into one being and seeing as we defeated every boss toget there he would stand amongst the strongest in the entire series lore wise.@@goatlover6312
This is the kind of video idea that we will see for the rest of the series. Mysteries I’m hyped to see are. 1) Demon Prince VS Twin Princes, Lorian should put them above by default, but perhaps the Final Demon Prince might get some merit for being the last one compared to its predecessor. 2) Radahn and how far will he be from Malenia. Before the game they were on par. But during the events of the game Radahn is nerfed while Malenia is buffed by finally becoming the Goddess of Rot. So it’s fun to consider their “base strength” VS their final moments. 3) Sekiro and if humans and monsters see a difference in ranking. It’s funny that the story itself confirms that the ranking of humans is Isshin>Owl>Genichiro thanks to the Shura Ending, but perhaps monsters like the Divine Dragon, Ape and Demon of Hatred are able to take rankings between the 3 main human antagonists!
i know it's a year later but radahn was stronger than malenia barely, which is why she got to blossom just like in the fight with the tarnished, and regarding sekiro i think the divine dragon should be number 1, i know he made a vid but i've yet to watch it.
Smelter Demon looks cool and its lore is cool That thing brought down one of most strongest kingdoms ever known of Dark Soul universe single handedly Iron King being one of strongest combatants in DS2 timeline tells alot how frikking strong is that iron monstrocity
I absolutely _adore_ the manner in which you speak and, presumably, how you write your scripts. This video was both a wonderfully verbose narrative and a truly profound oratory experience, and I truly wish many more than I or any of those who have already partaken will soon find their way here. Your narrative sense is astounding, as is your capability to dredge the minutia of the game for the tiniest specks of any colluding evidence at all. There is so much more to see than in the written lore; the environmental details, the established history, and most especially how characters relate to each other all provide a rich and rife atmosphere of information. It takes a keen eye and a stern wit to seek as many of these details as you have, and to have wielded them so _proficiently._ I, myself, learned a great many more things about DS2 than I had known before, and my perspective on as many details has shifted. The Prowling Magus and the Congregation, for instance, were an assembly that I had never given a great amount of thought to. I had assumed them of a grim proclivity, perhaps of the spider-worshipping ilk. That may have been my brazen mistake in interpretation, and to instead see them as a possibly tragic group once dedicated to protecting those fleeing from Tseldora, themselves eventually falling victim to the curse in their own time, is far more compelling, indeed. Thinking of them now, I feel sorrow for the inevitability of their encounter, and how comparatively small they are in the larger scope of the game. I am not all that certain of your perspective on hollowed Vendrick, however, as although he has lost the gleam of power and heroism that once ascended him to king, he still _was_ once king. A king of such might that he was once in prime position to assume the mantel of fire, and ascend the Throne of Want. Though his mind may be gone, and though his strength may have waned, a beast without its mind may still bare its terrifying fangs all the same. His very _skin_ itself, without the compounded power from the residual fury of the buried giants whom he brought low, would _shatter_ all manner of blades and weapons brought to bear upon him. Such is the inherent strength within he, the ruler who peered into the very essence of the soul. Even at his lowest, he stands taller than _many._ The Gank Squad is another group who I have never given lore significance to, yet their manner does indeed demand a quality of power. From Drangleic to Forossa or further, wherever they may have come from, to prosper as much as they must have to have found such articles of importance and strength as they wield, they _must_ be mighty, indeed. It is only a matter of perspective, and in that way, they may just be comparable to the Bearer of the Curse themselves. Mytha the Baneful Queen is yet another character of interest, provided she is examined in the proper perspective. It is as you said: if one rules through power, then their power _must_ exceed those they rule. To command such prolific groups such as the manikin, one must only presume she is a fearsome force to seat herself atop the horrors of the Earthen Peak. The potency of her poison matters little more than the breadth of her subjugated domain. I also much enjoyed the manner in which you framed the Royal Rat Authority as the backbone of strength in the Rat King's demesne. If the Rat King is such a widespread presence as to ostensibly command the so-called underworld of Drangleic, then he must possess the means to exert his authority. The Royal Rat Authority is the only creature who could feasibly bear such responsibility, and as it is such a heavy burden, he must function as a _strong_ backbone, indeed. It is a beautifully nuanced way to articulate strength in a medium of subjectivity such as a video game, and I must applaud you further for putting this connection into words. There is much more I would like to say, yet I feel my prudence evaporating at the length with which I have spoken. I will bring only a few more subjects of interest up, such as the Lost Sinner. I have always adored her for her design, and to imagine her strength in greater dimensions brings me ever more joy. Rather than speak on her existing connection to the Bed of Chaos, I will instead remark on her agility. The speed and flexibility with which she wields her eponymously _ultra_ greatsword is accomplished on its own, yet it cannot be understated that she is _bound,_ and _broken,_ and likely so close to _death_ that every movement could very well be her last. Yet her sword rests in her hands as though it weighs nothing, and her feet scarcely graze the ground in her path. On the subject of Sinh, I would actually like to put forth my own piece of idle conjecture. Just for a bit of fun. It's something that only occurred to me as I watched this video, listening to the particulars of its circumstances in the dimensions that you laid out. If Elana intended Sinh to stand in place of her champion, yet corrupted him with poison to the extent of losing great strength in his slumber, then could it be that she intended to wield him as such? As a _receptacle_ for her poison? A creature that could hold so much rot and decay within itself without perishing, such that it began to actually _heal_ after the toxins were liberated from its body, would suit such a purpose very well. If the enormity of its illness was enough to bring Shulva to destruction, then would any other kingdom have fared as well? If Sinh had been freed of its poison in Drangleic, would even _Vendrick_ have survived? I don't know enough of Sinh off the cuff to say whether that makes any sense at all, but the possibility intrigues me, regardless. Finally, on a succinct note, I had doubted the Smelter Demon's placement up until its actual spot, but after I had remembered it's stated that the Smelter Demon incinerated the Iron King in one swing, I understood completely. If that statement is taken at face value, then the Smelter Demon possesses _unspeakable_ strength. And... I enjoyed the lengths you went to on the Burnt Ivory King. I have little to speak of besides my renewed admiration for the character, brought to life by your prose. I enjoyed _all_ of your prose, as well as your speaking ability. This video was a wonderful experience, indeed. Thank you for making it.
As huge (even more) than the first one. It's hard to disagree with all of your reasonings. Long live the Burnt Ivory King. That guy was a chad among chads.
You are criminally underrated... I loved the DS1 one you did and I love to see and listen to 2h more for DS2. I use your vids like an audiobook before sleeping, you should really consider getting into voice acting or reading books, your voice is amazing!
Ornsteins corpse is not in Archdragon Peak, his armor is actually just lying on the ground. This suggests that he devoted himself to the Nameless King and shed his armor in order to transform using a dragon torso stone. I think that the real Ornstein was in Heide's tower--either at the start or in the midst of his search for Gwyn's firstborn.
I’m happy to say that I saw this video the day after I bought DS2, and I’m now more hyped than ever to meet the absolute chad that is the Burnt Ivory King
This ain’t accurate though in the slightest I mean the ivory king is the goat but a lot of these were just wrong like najka is no way in fucking hell more powerful than the immortal scholar of the first sin dude is so unbothered he send a weak manifestation to fight you then still talk to you the fact he ranked a scorpion experiment over a immortal that’s left the cycle shows that there wasn’t a deep dive done he’ll everythig I just said is literally spoon fed to you in the game ignoring it is crazy
I just want to say I’m really impressed with your channel. I know what it’s like to be a small RUclipsr. I pretty much only make videos for friends to see. The fact that you put this much effort into your videos despite the smaller audience is very admirable. Keep it up and I’d bet my butt you’re gonna get a crap ton of subs.
I love this video! This is the first time someone makes horrifying battles like Lud & Zallen and the Graverobber squad to sound as something epic and exciting! 😁
To me aldia should be way way higher than what he was. To me he should be top 5. In lore, he was one of the greatest sorcerers, developing the most powerful spells rivaling even logans spells, namely forbidden sun and soul geyser along with creating a staff that is attuned to the darkness within man (the sunset staff, since its the best hex staff). Not to mention, like you said in the video. He recreated an everlasting dragon albiet one that can still die. But the dragon itself lets you travel memories and potentially change the past itself thanks to aldia. Also, he is the only human to be actually immortal, moreso than the very gods themselves. He has no humanity or a soul for he drops nothing upon death and still talks to you outside the boss room after his defeat, you didnt actually kill him. Out of any character he knows the most, hes probably the one who discovered the ringed city (as an item description in ds3 of the ruin armor set found there that drangleic knew about the dark soul and the ring city. Hinting more twords aldias research and what gwyn actually did to humanity)
@@thekingofwaterfowl7766 exactly! The statue that's in lothric (that depicts the first scholar of the archives) I think is supposed to be aldia in a human form. It's the only statue that looks like the person is part tree, growing roots and and "melted" looking
25:42 gives a detailed explanation on why he made this choice to put Aldia at number 29 with lore and individual strength points. Me - A LIE!! WILL REMAIN A LIE!!
You made this video at the exact right time! Literally just started my 5th character maybe a week ago; thanks for the great and informative content! I can see your channel going places
Man I remember being like 13 when this game came out and i fell soooo hard in love. I was a big fan of the first Dark souls but something about this game really took me in. The hate for this game actually kinda makes me sad lol
This is amazing! Such a great, reasonably-defended list. As on the previous video, I have only minor disagreements. Mainly, I'd probably bump aldia up several spots and possibly lower Nashandra. My arguments for Aldia: He's a powerful mage and/or scientist. A combination of Gwyndolin and Seath the Scaleless. He's had time to make lots of stuff, and has created incredibly powerful beings. He's also rendered himself immortal, or at least amortal (if that's even a word). Death doesn't have any fear for him. He experiments with what dying feels like, as a curiosity more as anything else, when he fights the player. And I'm under the impression that he's not actually dead when you kill him. He also seems to maintain his own free will. I was going to say 'sanity', but he seemed a bit of a mad scientist vibe. He also seems less worried about the Watcher & Defender. I got the impression he could enter the throne room at any time. Unlike Nashandra, who specifically needed the PC to do her dirty work and take out the Watcher and Defender for her--she wasn't willing to brave them herself. Allone, I'd have nudged a few spots higher on the list, as kind of a 'mini-Ornstein', so to speak. He has his free will, sanity, and human form, entirely uncorrupted. I really don't have too much else to pick on. I do love that Nashandra is lower than the Watcher & Defender on your list, for the reason I pointed out above--she was unwilling to challenge the Watcher and Defender herself. Surprised to see the Smelter Demon ranked so highly, but your reasoning is sound. Great list!
Hmmm as she is my fav I'm hoping the dukes dear Freya makes a podium finish. She won't but I want it to happen. Post video: oh damn my girl made it way further than I thought she would!! Goes to show the power of fricken Lazer beams!!! Spectacular video that succeeded in making me salty that we never got to fight a prime Vendrick!!
Amazing video, even though some placements may look weird at first your justifications make up for it. Good luck with the ds3 video, looking forward to it 🤩
I can agree with the whole list except for the Top 6. Which should be. #1 Aldia the Scholar of the First Sin. He's a transcendent being who embedded himself beyond the concepts of the undead curse and the multiverse. That's why he doesn't drop souls and is still alive after the ending. #2 Burnt Ivory King. The awesome gigachad himself is of course the strongest character after a transcendent god like Aldia. Successfully fixing Alsanna and stopping the Old Chaos is extremely impressive. #3 Vendrick. In his prime he surpassed the Giant Lord and won the war. His journey is similar to the Bearer of the Curse. He took down the 4 previous reincarnations of the Lord Souls and built Drangleic. #4 Giant Lord. Leader of the Giants. A rival to Vendrick. A soul so powerful that he posed a threat to Drangleic. #5 Raime the Fume Knight. It is stated that the Fume Knight could easily destroy any fragment of Manus. But he chose to ally with Nadalia to get a boost of dark power. He is stronger than the Smelter Demon because the Fume Knight is more experienced, can wield as much destructive force, and can use both fire and dark power. #6 Smelter Demon. The flaming monstrosity that crushed the Old Iron King and his kingdom is of course one of the most terrifying and powerful forces in Drangleic.
Hello, Beastiary I love the lore intense-focused driven content you have created. I love this dark souls 2 video how you created a list based on LORE and not about Aoe and etc etc, I really cannot wait to see dark souls 3 boss lore driven strength
I love the hard hit in watching the video I got seeing Vendrick so early only for me to stop the video, have all of DS2's lore come back to me in an instant, and wonder: "Where's the Ivory king?"
Great video, and the Ivory king is absolutely Nr1! I would place Vendrick and Aldia higher though, Vendrik for raw strenght I would put him on par with the guardian dragon and Aldia as Nr 2. Aldia is akin to a primordial force.
It's likely that, given there's an miniboss verison of the Covetous Demon in Eleum Loyce, the Covetous Demon boss is likely a human who was mutated by the Old Chaos (Flame of Chaos). It's a major theme in DS2 that over-expressions of ones desires can lead to ruin, so maybe this was a means by which the Old Chaos corrupted whatever or whoever the Covetous Demon once was. Suffice to say, I think it's safe to assume he's definitely a demon, but probably one made from a human corrupted by the Old Chaos rather than one born fully from the Flame of Chaos.
Considering Vendrick was super hollowed. Velstadt couldn't have been far behind. Staying in the tomb by himself for all that time. Constantly outputting power to ward against the dark. His miracles likely weakening and being consumed by darkness. Velstadt in his prime was likely as powerful as Prime Fume knight (the version we fight.)
aight, vendrick is obviously too low but I'll add that aldia himself is also way too low. judging aldia by the one we fight is like judging vendrick by his zombie fight, that was very clearly just an avatar he made to interact with the bearer of the curse. the guy is confirmed to be a magic genius and by the time of DS2 he has ascended so far that he's a cosmic presence and probably can't be killed at all. hell, the guy is still around in DS3.
Yeah Aldia himself is probably quite strong but that is not the boss we fight is it? If the tree monster we fight is Aldia's avatar, then we should rank the power of the avatar, rather than the "complete" Aldia that we never get to meet, even if one is technically just a fragment of the other's being. The point of the video IS to rank the things we are actually going up against after all.
Not to mention he is one of the only entities in the series able to travel between worlds freely- not just worlds close to a new age, when the lines between dimensions blur (hence the ability to invade/be summoned by other players), but stable worlds and even worlds that have entirely extinguished their first flame as well. He has essentially ascended beyond a corporeal form, becoming a primordial entity at least on par with, if not entirely more powerful than, the serpents. Yes, “defeating” him isn’t much of an achievement, but it’s not meant to be; your fight with Aldia is simply a test he is administering to prove if you can handle a world outside of the cycle. This is reinforced by the fact that he drops nothing; no souls, no boss soul. The idea that you in some way “slay” him is ludicrous- it’s like saying that you slew the concept of fire or cut down the wind blowing through the trees. Aldia is a force of nature, beyond life and death, and would kick Ivory King’s ass. Negative diff.
The whole point of Aldia is that he's ascended need to for power through the flame, in lore he isn't powerful, because he has no need to be, I feel like people sort of forget that knowledge doesn't mean power unless you have a way to use it, as far as we are aware, Aldia can't do anything beyond what we are shown and it's baseless to say otherwise. he's just a flamy boi
i have to respect the ability to give a few minutes of interesting commentary on a fight not even the devs seem to have put that much effort into given that it's just a group of random npcs with not even a boss name
If no one has pointed it out but dear freya didnt have seaths soul. The duke did, freya was protecting it thats why she doesnt drop it you have to pick it up
See my head canon for the three adventures is that they were a group who even when the curse came to them they didn't care they were allies through thick and thin. However, on the journey to the sunken kingdom they became lost and unsure how to progress more so due to the danger in both paths. Maybe they lost faith in climbing back out seeing it's pointless to go back empty handed. But saw it was dangerous to press forward. Thus trapping themselves there and slowly hollowing but remaining together as allies in the end.
As a video of just whos the strongest boss, you paint a very beautiful picture. Of course the strength is lore based so the beauty of the writing is necessary. Still tho you say words pretty.
Would love a video on brightstone cove tseldora, the dukes dear freja, and what caused tseldora to go mad. One of my favorite places lore wise in ds2. Such a desolate and creepy vibe. Doesn't even feel like it belongs in a ds game.
I think you're wrong about Tark and Najka, I'm pretty sure the Duke is who created them, with the knowledge he obtained from Seath's journals, since it's widely agreed that Tseldora is where the archives used to be. I'm certain (not 100%) that you only get the Dragon ring from Tark after you kill the Duke; not Freja
I don’t know if you read these comments but if you could do a maybe top 5 of the trilogy I’d love to see how the ds2 bosses stack up against the rest of the series. Great video thanks for making it
finished ds2 recently (was my first ds after elden ring) and I beat nashandra, since, fume knight, and ivory king in the same week, although it did take me a few months in total to play, before retiring my character at the ripe old level of 201. recently started ds1 and will return to the channel when I beat it
One thing people don't realize is that in the games all the bosses have super readable movements and just stop moving for a few seconds after most attacks which they probably wouldn't do in the actual lore lol. Like hearing about the high agility of a boss then seeing the boss move slow as hell after attacking should make you realize that the bosses strength in the games are not 1/1 to their power in the lore.
i understand the hate of dark souls 2 gameplay but the story of dark souls 2 is very great. it might be my favorite out of the trilogy the art style ,the concepts, and story is just more captivating to me.
I’d like to call myself a Souls veteran. Dark Souls 2 was something else. Very different from the other two, a lot of the differences were bad ones. But the DLC is really where it shines. The time I spent with the Ivory King for the very first time still sits with me. The Fume Knight is absolutely iconic. And Sinh is in my top 3 hardest fights in all of Souls.
Ngl I think aldia should be higher he is practically only mind and no body that's why he gives 0 souls when kill he is basically immortal not only that we know his mental capability are massive cause he recreated dragons (the literal ancients gods of dark souls) he is something like the Rick of dark souls
Damn, I really don’t think that the Vendrick fanboys can read. Just because the gameplay suggests that this literal mindless and soulless hollow can somehow tank a dozen strikes of a greatsword and 2-shot the player with Vendrick’s limp-dick swings doesn’t mean he’s powerful anymore in the lore. It’s just ds2 being ds2.
I think the grave robber, ancient soldier and the traveller Trio are a reference to players like us, as said in video they are well travveled companions likely seen a lot together, similar to summoning other players to fight a boss
Some great points on Vendrick's placement here as per the gameplay mechanic of having to gather souls to even damage him, we are required to bear Giant's Souls to harm him - but my counter-point would be that even if you cannot harm him without access to these souls, the fight itself is nothing more than a very very beefy soul-less meatshield. I can't get over the hump of him having discarded his soul prior to his permanent self-imposed exile, but what do you guys think? where would you have him?
I suppose you could make the claim that the all-powerful, grand indivdual was KING Vendrick, the one who stole from the giants and built a mighty kingdom. However, that was then, now we're just fighting Vendrick, just a hollow man, barely able to lift his mighty sword whilst stumbling aimlessly. That is a good reason for his placement on the list.
I mean yeah but another counter-point, you put him 38 of 41. Even if he is a meat shield, he hits like a tank, and there's no way the Rotten or the Giant Rat-dog would beat him
Still too low.
And Aldia likely should be higher considering you fight a puppeted part of him, as you don't even get souls from it as you didn't kill him.
He's also a magic genius in general.
i more or less agree, cockroaches are also hard to kill but it doesn't make them powerful
He definitely still has part of his souls in the crypt, so he’s not a “soulless husk”. Vendrick likely split his soul, just as Gwyn did. Also, if he had no soul, than how can you talk to him in his normal form in his memory?
Oh, and I think he should be placed as #1 considering how he could easily defeat any other boss in the game. Without any giant souls he has x32 the defence. Even if you consider him a meatshield, him still being victorious in a fight should rank him higher than the opponents, which is everyone.
The skeleton lords would be a lot less powerful if people would stop leaving "don't give up, skeleton" messages everywhere.
Rejoyce, skeleton!
However, let's all be greatful they only gave them a few Skeleton Wheels. That fight could have been FAR more irritating if the Devs decided to give us the Pinwheel Treatment with DS2s hitboxes.
@@stevenrivers173 Also ds2 bonewheels are way weaker than ds1 bonewheels.
Skeleton, but whole.
Ivory King is quite possibly the biggest gigachad in the entire series, maybe even in any Fromsoft game. He was fully aware that his queen Alsanna was a shard of Manus and unironically responded with "yes, and?"
"I will be your doom. Your kingdom will fall and your realm will crumble to ashes. All will be forgotten if we continue this affair!"
"Well, girl. That's pretty hot."
He's just like me, except without all the badassery
@@jokecookie1089"I need a bad bitch to ruin my kingdom fr"
Bro actually fixed her
"I don't care. Looks female enough."
Considering how far the demons of chaos have fallen by the events of the 3rd game, it's not a stretch to assume that the actions of the Ivory King (and his queen) utterly broke chaos.
Ivory King by far is the most metal fucking boss/character I've ever seen
Real shame Alsanna's successors started to fall in love with the Profaned Flame though.
@@specialnewb9821who is alsanna successor
@GazerWR Monstrosities of Sin, the hand monster ogres. One drops Eleonora Axe that says:
"The Profaned Flame was triggered by the curse of these women, relatives of a certain oracle..."
They also resemble Manus's pimp hand.
@@specialnewb9821 thanks 👍
Your video makes me remember how fucking insane and underrated DS2’s lore is
Yea while some gameplay things do bring it down. There's still so much including lore that makes ds2 a great game.
@@MegaWeedies dark souls 2 haters try to not say it's a bad game for 5 seconds challenge (impossible)
@@swag_tortoisehuh?
@@Bendanna93 based on my own experience, many people who don't like dark souls 2 feel the need to say that the game is bad whenever it's mentioned
@@swag_tortoise Your comment was unnecessary, they literally said that it's a great game...
Ivory king, such a Chad that he took a shard of darkness and evil and selfishness and turned it into a selfless queen. Then looked at chaos, flipped it the bird, then jumped into it to fight it.
Why are we expected to kill him?
@drarsen33 I don't know all of his Lore, but I think he's being possessed by chaos and in eternal torment, so we're freeing his soul
@@drarsen33As his soul degraded he went to fight chaos one final time to contain it.
Chaos finally gained a true champion but also a jailer to keep it contained for untold time in the form of the Ivory King.
Mf gave himself and in turn chained chaos and weakened it.
25:42 Hard disagree with this one. By the time we encounter him, Aldia has essentially transcended the physical world. He is no longer an actual being, rather, he has sown himself into the world, potentially within the flames of the bonfires, although its not really clear from what ive read. Whatever the case may be, the form he shows us is merely a manifestion, and upon his defeat, not only does he continue to speak to us, but we also do not gain any souls.
He is essentially immortal and invulnerable, so to place him this far down the list seems very inconsistent with the lore. Im not certain if it would be accurate to place him at Number 1, so it may be tge correct choice to simply not have him on the list as he is not a killable being. Its like if you put Shalquoir on this tier list.
Yeah, Aldia is pretty much just chilling when he fights us. If he wanted he would decimate the player, but that's clearly not in his interest.
Fully agree, was about to write this exact comment myself. He’s so transcendent according the lore, according the video’s own rules he’s the winner
Not necessarily, if an immortal ant tried to fight me it won't win simply because it can't die.
We see a few manifestations of varying size which may tie into how strong they are too, but there's nothing to say about his power, but he seems no where near things like the darklurker, but maybe a little higher.
@@Daeyaeyeah his power such as it is lies in being one step outside the cycle, not in actual combat power.
@@specialnewb9821
Aldia still has masterful magic prowess, as seen in his boss-fight, he was able to manifest flame in multiple ways, and even roots of his own manifested body to fight. He very much is still powerful, and in a real fight, bodies most people. He was still able to be defeated at the end, but we only have destroyed a lowly-physical manifestation of him.
I love the part that aldia says:I am the dark souls II,the scholar of the first sin
Me at the living room:😢
Truly one of the Ds2 SOTFS moments of all time
Me inside your walls: 😢
8:06 "Vendrick found himself in the lands between" ah yes, my man's looking for that Elden Ring dlc.
Shenanigans aside, this is a hell of an underrated channel, i love your narration pace and style so much. Plus, DS2 lore deserves loads more attention than it gets, you're doing a great job at showcasing it!
I love DS2 lore, really glad to see you revisit the lore of this game with stuff we now know from DS3 since I dont see that commonly done. Something I've wondered for a while is if we could consider Vendrick and the other monarchs of that game to be what DS3 refers to as Lords of Cinder, individuals destined to link the flame (even if they then refuse to do so, like with Prince Lothric).
In DS2 you slay and usurp the power of these various monarchs, taking their crowns. Then, in a ritual you combine their power into something that lets you break the undead curse (at least for yourself) and step outside the cycle.
In DS3 you slay various Lords of Cinder and return their ashes to their respective thrones. Then, in a ritual you combine their power into something that seems to functionally teleport you to the ends of the earth and finally decide the fate of the first flame.
The relevance of this to DS2 is that I wonder if some good old-fashioned time travel or "transitory lands" nonsense was happening in that game with the lands of the Iron King. After all the situation in DS2 isnt dissimilar to the situation at the start of DS3, the monarch destined to link the fire has shirked their duty and refused to do so. And in DS3 this makes the world go crazy trying to physically bring eligible young fire-linking bachelors back to the land, in ways such as physically forcing old lands together.
The Iron King's era was long long before the events of DS2, since we know he also had to deal with an outbreak of the undead curse which must be at least 1 full cycle before Vendrick facing the curse. We also see that the Ironclad warriors serving Drangleic in the Forest of Fallen Giants are old and rusty, compared to the much newer-looking ones in the Iron Keep. There's every indication in the game that Drangleic basically plundered the old Iron King's lands at some point, you need only look at the presence of an Executioners Chariot in Castle Drangleic (possibly *the* Executioners Chariot), desert sorceresses, mannikins, alonne knights and even rusty Ironclads that serve Vendrick's forces in the Forest. But when the player-character visits the Iron King's lands there's no sign that they've been disturbed or plundered, everything seems pretty untouched especially considering the relative proximity to Drangleic... and I dont think you encounter a single "Vendrick-era" enemy on that path. Just undead continuing to do what they were instructed to do in the era of the Iron King.
About the Iron king, I think his miracle to create Iron was related to the lord soul, since Gwyn was also a miracle user, so Iron king probably had the lord soul from the beginning, or found it causing him to gain the Iron creation miracle.
“I’m quite literally a part of manus father of the abyss”
Ivory king : “smash , next question 🗿”
Vendrick should be much higher even though he’s hollow he is still powerful enough the player is encouraged to go and search the world for items that weaken him which no other bosses do
I make for a fun "Lord Boros" run by using Cheat Engine and making myself Op. With Maximizing all of the stats and multiplying the dmg of my bare fist by 50 times I was able to barely SCRATCH Vendrick (Around 100-200 dmg per hit if I remember correctly) without Giant Souls. THAT'S How Powerful Vendrick as a Hollow Was.
Exactly. In his prime, Vendrick, OLK, and Ivory King were likely similar to Gwyn in power if we consider the lore.
Edit: spelling.
Absolutely crazy that he's so low. Really makes the list questionable.
Agreed, and just because a body lacks a soul doesn’t mean it is devoid of power. Vendrick was a warlord after all, essentially built for battle, and while he has wasted away considerably his incredible stature and ability to wield such an enormous blade shouldn’t be discounted.
According to lore, what he was and what he is when you fight him is why he's so low. It's not hard to understand.
17:33 not related but i always found amazing how the ruin sentinels time their attacks in sync, not only that but the way they both jump to opposite sides at the same time to surround you. Bosses actually working together like that is something i have only seen in this game and sekiro
Sinh is one of my favourite bosses, especially lore wise, it's one of the few dragon fights that feel special, he's so legendary that even Vinheim itself was secretely aknowledging its existance (as proved through the slumbering dragoncrest ring)
I reckon he had no ill intents and that Shulva was protecting the dragon rather protecting itself from it, not necessairily from the drakeblood knights but because at the time of lordan there was a lot of dragonslaying
Elana of course attempted to use the potential of this mighty dragon to one day destroy everything, using her songs as an excuse to keep the dragon secure when in reality she was slowing fulfilling her plan, luckily for the world but unluckily for Shulva he was pierced and freed from his eternal slumber but was now turned hostile
wait so sinh existed even before dark souls 1?
2 corrections: Yorgh definitely did not flee, his corpse is found in Sinh’s arena. Also Nadalia is the 4th shard of manus.
Minor nitpick: The double dragon riders have one using a bow and the other uses a halberd, not a dualblade. There's no blade at the bottom of the stick.
None of the Dragon Riders we fight in game use a twin blade, but it is part of their arsenal. See Dragonrider Twinblade, a trade in for their soul with Straid & 1500 souls.
When you do Dark Souls 3, you should compile every boss from all three games into one ranking. It would take *a lot* of work but I've always wondered who the strongest characters in Dark Souls lore were, or who the weakest were lol
If you don't do it that's fine. Great videos either way man :)
Maybe not everyone, but I think a top 10 or 20 would be cool to see
Since every cycle of kindling the first flame becomes weaker than before it’s likely the list would be mostly DS3 bosses lower and DS1 bosses higher. Yes I think some like the nameless king, Midir, Gael and souls of cinder will be able to contend with the higher ups they are still unlikely to breach the top 10.
@@goatlover6312, I know. But there *are* bosses in 3 that could no doubt compare to the ones in the other two. Even the lords of cinder when combining their powers are able to rekindle the first flame, so at least those guys would have a level of power to keep up. Aldrich for example eats gods like Gwyndolin just to spice things up.
Though for the most part, yeah bosses like the crystal wizard are probably going to be lower on the list than bosses like Pinwheel lol
Either way I'd like to see it, this guy's good at compiling the boss lore
I think Midir and souls of cinder would rank among the highest in all honesty. Considering midir is corrupted by the abyss which gave him new destructive powers and souls of cinder is the basically the chosen undeads remains from the past made into one being and seeing as we defeated every boss toget there he would stand amongst the strongest in the entire series lore wise.@@goatlover6312
This is the kind of video idea that we will see for the rest of the series.
Mysteries I’m hyped to see are.
1) Demon Prince VS Twin Princes, Lorian should put them above by default, but perhaps the Final Demon Prince might get some merit for being the last one compared to its predecessor.
2) Radahn and how far will he be from Malenia. Before the game they were on par. But during the events of the game Radahn is nerfed while Malenia is buffed by finally becoming the Goddess of Rot. So it’s fun to consider their “base strength” VS their final moments.
3) Sekiro and if humans and monsters see a difference in ranking. It’s funny that the story itself confirms that the ranking of humans is Isshin>Owl>Genichiro thanks to the Shura Ending, but perhaps monsters like the Divine Dragon, Ape and Demon of Hatred are able to take rankings between the 3 main human antagonists!
i know it's a year later but radahn was stronger than malenia barely, which is why she got to blossom just like in the fight with the tarnished, and regarding sekiro i think the divine dragon should be number 1, i know he made a vid but i've yet to watch it.
Smelter Demon looks cool and its lore is cool
That thing brought down one of most strongest kingdoms ever known of Dark Soul universe single handedly
Iron King being one of strongest combatants in DS2 timeline tells alot how frikking strong is that iron monstrocity
I absolutely _adore_ the manner in which you speak and, presumably, how you write your scripts. This video was both a wonderfully verbose narrative and a truly profound oratory experience, and I truly wish many more than I or any of those who have already partaken will soon find their way here.
Your narrative sense is astounding, as is your capability to dredge the minutia of the game for the tiniest specks of any colluding evidence at all. There is so much more to see than in the written lore; the environmental details, the established history, and most especially how characters relate to each other all provide a rich and rife atmosphere of information. It takes a keen eye and a stern wit to seek as many of these details as you have, and to have wielded them so _proficiently._
I, myself, learned a great many more things about DS2 than I had known before, and my perspective on as many details has shifted. The Prowling Magus and the Congregation, for instance, were an assembly that I had never given a great amount of thought to. I had assumed them of a grim proclivity, perhaps of the spider-worshipping ilk. That may have been my brazen mistake in interpretation, and to instead see them as a possibly tragic group once dedicated to protecting those fleeing from Tseldora, themselves eventually falling victim to the curse in their own time, is far more compelling, indeed. Thinking of them now, I feel sorrow for the inevitability of their encounter, and how comparatively small they are in the larger scope of the game.
I am not all that certain of your perspective on hollowed Vendrick, however, as although he has lost the gleam of power and heroism that once ascended him to king, he still _was_ once king. A king of such might that he was once in prime position to assume the mantel of fire, and ascend the Throne of Want. Though his mind may be gone, and though his strength may have waned, a beast without its mind may still bare its terrifying fangs all the same. His very _skin_ itself, without the compounded power from the residual fury of the buried giants whom he brought low, would _shatter_ all manner of blades and weapons brought to bear upon him. Such is the inherent strength within he, the ruler who peered into the very essence of the soul. Even at his lowest, he stands taller than _many._
The Gank Squad is another group who I have never given lore significance to, yet their manner does indeed demand a quality of power. From Drangleic to Forossa or further, wherever they may have come from, to prosper as much as they must have to have found such articles of importance and strength as they wield, they _must_ be mighty, indeed. It is only a matter of perspective, and in that way, they may just be comparable to the Bearer of the Curse themselves.
Mytha the Baneful Queen is yet another character of interest, provided she is examined in the proper perspective. It is as you said: if one rules through power, then their power _must_ exceed those they rule. To command such prolific groups such as the manikin, one must only presume she is a fearsome force to seat herself atop the horrors of the Earthen Peak. The potency of her poison matters little more than the breadth of her subjugated domain.
I also much enjoyed the manner in which you framed the Royal Rat Authority as the backbone of strength in the Rat King's demesne. If the Rat King is such a widespread presence as to ostensibly command the so-called underworld of Drangleic, then he must possess the means to exert his authority. The Royal Rat Authority is the only creature who could feasibly bear such responsibility, and as it is such a heavy burden, he must function as a _strong_ backbone, indeed. It is a beautifully nuanced way to articulate strength in a medium of subjectivity such as a video game, and I must applaud you further for putting this connection into words.
There is much more I would like to say, yet I feel my prudence evaporating at the length with which I have spoken. I will bring only a few more subjects of interest up, such as the Lost Sinner. I have always adored her for her design, and to imagine her strength in greater dimensions brings me ever more joy. Rather than speak on her existing connection to the Bed of Chaos, I will instead remark on her agility. The speed and flexibility with which she wields her eponymously _ultra_ greatsword is accomplished on its own, yet it cannot be understated that she is _bound,_ and _broken,_ and likely so close to _death_ that every movement could very well be her last. Yet her sword rests in her hands as though it weighs nothing, and her feet scarcely graze the ground in her path.
On the subject of Sinh, I would actually like to put forth my own piece of idle conjecture. Just for a bit of fun. It's something that only occurred to me as I watched this video, listening to the particulars of its circumstances in the dimensions that you laid out. If Elana intended Sinh to stand in place of her champion, yet corrupted him with poison to the extent of losing great strength in his slumber, then could it be that she intended to wield him as such? As a _receptacle_ for her poison? A creature that could hold so much rot and decay within itself without perishing, such that it began to actually _heal_ after the toxins were liberated from its body, would suit such a purpose very well. If the enormity of its illness was enough to bring Shulva to destruction, then would any other kingdom have fared as well? If Sinh had been freed of its poison in Drangleic, would even _Vendrick_ have survived?
I don't know enough of Sinh off the cuff to say whether that makes any sense at all, but the possibility intrigues me, regardless.
Finally, on a succinct note, I had doubted the Smelter Demon's placement up until its actual spot, but after I had remembered it's stated that the Smelter Demon incinerated the Iron King in one swing, I understood completely. If that statement is taken at face value, then the Smelter Demon possesses _unspeakable_ strength.
And... I enjoyed the lengths you went to on the Burnt Ivory King. I have little to speak of besides my renewed admiration for the character, brought to life by your prose. I enjoyed _all_ of your prose, as well as your speaking ability. This video was a wonderful experience, indeed.
Thank you for making it.
Thank you so much for this lovely comment and really seeing and sharing my vision for this video and channel, I’m so pleased to have you on board
As huge (even more) than the first one. It's hard to disagree with all of your reasonings.
Long live the Burnt Ivory King. That guy was a chad among chads.
You are criminally underrated... I loved the DS1 one you did and I love to see and listen to 2h more for DS2.
I use your vids like an audiobook before sleeping, you should really consider getting into voice acting or reading books, your voice is amazing!
Ivory King: I can fix her
Ivory Gigachad: *Actually Fixes Her*
Ornsteins corpse is not in Archdragon Peak, his armor is actually just lying on the ground. This suggests that he devoted himself to the Nameless King and shed his armor in order to transform using a dragon torso stone. I think that the real Ornstein was in Heide's tower--either at the start or in the midst of his search for Gwyn's firstborn.
does anyone know why old dragonslayer has smough’s butt slam move?
@@conrad8759 Because Smough was the one eaten(by Ornstein during the fight) in cannon? Thats why we never see him again.
@@MrFallenonesuper smough is Canon considering that smoughs Armour Says that He was the last knight to defend anor londo
I’m happy to say that I saw this video the day after I bought DS2, and I’m now more hyped than ever to meet the absolute chad that is the Burnt Ivory King
Man I appreciate these Lore accurate power videos
Keep up the good work man, you're amazing
This ain’t accurate though in the slightest I mean the ivory king is the goat but a lot of these were just wrong like najka is no way in fucking hell more powerful than the immortal scholar of the first sin dude is so unbothered he send a weak manifestation to fight you then still talk to you the fact he ranked a scorpion experiment over a immortal that’s left the cycle shows that there wasn’t a deep dive done he’ll everythig I just said is literally spoon fed to you in the game ignoring it is crazy
I just want to say I’m really impressed with your channel. I know what it’s like to be a small RUclipsr. I pretty much only make videos for friends to see. The fact that you put this much effort into your videos despite the smaller audience is very admirable. Keep it up and I’d bet my butt you’re gonna get a crap ton of subs.
Bro rizzed the abyss it self
I love this video! This is the first time someone makes horrifying battles like Lud & Zallen and the Graverobber squad to sound as something epic and exciting! 😁
To me aldia should be way way higher than what he was. To me he should be top 5.
In lore, he was one of the greatest sorcerers, developing the most powerful spells rivaling even logans spells, namely forbidden sun and soul geyser along with creating a staff that is attuned to the darkness within man (the sunset staff, since its the best hex staff). Not to mention, like you said in the video. He recreated an everlasting dragon albiet one that can still die. But the dragon itself lets you travel memories and potentially change the past itself thanks to aldia. Also, he is the only human to be actually immortal, moreso than the very gods themselves. He has no humanity or a soul for he drops nothing upon death and still talks to you outside the boss room after his defeat, you didnt actually kill him. Out of any character he knows the most, hes probably the one who discovered the ringed city (as an item description in ds3 of the ruin armor set found there that drangleic knew about the dark soul and the ring city. Hinting more twords aldias research and what gwyn actually did to humanity)
Oh damn you think the Drang set we find there could have belonged to one of Aldias escorting fighters/researchers?
It’s also heavily implies he’s the one who convinced Lothric and Lorian from ds3 to refrain from linking the fire
@@thekingofwaterfowl7766 exactly! The statue that's in lothric (that depicts the first scholar of the archives) I think is supposed to be aldia in a human form. It's the only statue that looks like the person is part tree, growing roots and and "melted" looking
25:42 gives a detailed explanation on why he made this choice to put Aldia at number 29 with lore and individual strength points.
Me - A LIE!! WILL REMAIN A LIE!!
FINALLY SOMEONE MAKES THIS VIDEO FOR DS2!! THANK YOU!!!!!
This seiries has been incredible all the way through, your voice is perfect for talking about these stories
You made this video at the exact right time! Literally just started my 5th character maybe a week ago; thanks for the great and informative content! I can see your channel going places
Man I remember being like 13 when this game came out and i fell soooo hard in love. I was a big fan of the first Dark souls but something about this game really took me in. The hate for this game actually kinda makes me sad lol
Great quality video ! Featuring deep lore and good narration/diction about the Souls game that probably fascinates me the most.
Love the passion with the script it really keeps my attention for such a long video
this is honestly more of a lore lightning round than an actual ranking
i think it's really good though and it's funny to see some of the entries here
Yayyyy finally , I've been checking my notifications forever for this video, can't wait to watch it🎉🎉
I just watched your entire series on soulsborne bosses, which were outstanding, so going back and commenting for support
This is amazing! Such a great, reasonably-defended list. As on the previous video, I have only minor disagreements.
Mainly, I'd probably bump aldia up several spots and possibly lower Nashandra. My arguments for Aldia: He's a powerful mage and/or scientist. A combination of Gwyndolin and Seath the Scaleless. He's had time to make lots of stuff, and has created incredibly powerful beings. He's also rendered himself immortal, or at least amortal (if that's even a word). Death doesn't have any fear for him. He experiments with what dying feels like, as a curiosity more as anything else, when he fights the player. And I'm under the impression that he's not actually dead when you kill him. He also seems to maintain his own free will. I was going to say 'sanity', but he seemed a bit of a mad scientist vibe.
He also seems less worried about the Watcher & Defender. I got the impression he could enter the throne room at any time. Unlike Nashandra, who specifically needed the PC to do her dirty work and take out the Watcher and Defender for her--she wasn't willing to brave them herself.
Allone, I'd have nudged a few spots higher on the list, as kind of a 'mini-Ornstein', so to speak. He has his free will, sanity, and human form, entirely uncorrupted.
I really don't have too much else to pick on. I do love that Nashandra is lower than the Watcher & Defender on your list, for the reason I pointed out above--she was unwilling to challenge the Watcher and Defender herself.
Surprised to see the Smelter Demon ranked so highly, but your reasoning is sound.
Great list!
Hmmm as she is my fav I'm hoping the dukes dear Freya makes a podium finish. She won't but I want it to happen.
Post video: oh damn my girl made it way further than I thought she would!! Goes to show the power of fricken Lazer beams!!!
Spectacular video that succeeded in making me salty that we never got to fight a prime Vendrick!!
Really enjoyed the one on Dark Souls 1. Looking forward to diving into this one
This series is fantastic, I've always wanted boss rankings by lore
This will be a great vid to watch as my Friday winds down
God I love the Ivory King and Alana story. Its the most Dark Souls way of saying love conquers all
Amazing video, even though some placements may look weird at first your justifications make up for it. Good luck with the ds3 video, looking forward to it 🤩
Love the little mouse boop at 1:37:50. that’s classic dark souls 2 😂
Amazing video, must’ve taken ages to write and produce!
I had no idea that royal rat kings lore was so cool lmao.
Great video, cheers🎉
can't wait for the dark souls 3 video, since im currently replaying that game and paying attention to the lore more
Almost two hours of Dark souls content? Yes please.
I can agree with the whole list except for the Top 6. Which should be.
#1 Aldia the Scholar of the First Sin. He's a transcendent being who embedded himself beyond the concepts of the undead curse and the multiverse. That's why he doesn't drop souls and is still alive after the ending.
#2 Burnt Ivory King. The awesome gigachad himself is of course the strongest character after a transcendent god like Aldia. Successfully fixing Alsanna and stopping the Old Chaos is extremely impressive.
#3 Vendrick. In his prime he surpassed the Giant Lord and won the war. His journey is similar to the Bearer of the Curse. He took down the 4 previous reincarnations of the Lord Souls and built Drangleic.
#4 Giant Lord. Leader of the Giants. A rival to Vendrick. A soul so powerful that he posed a threat to Drangleic.
#5 Raime the Fume Knight. It is stated that the Fume Knight could easily destroy any fragment of Manus. But he chose to ally with Nadalia to get a boost of dark power. He is stronger than the Smelter Demon because the Fume Knight is more experienced, can wield as much destructive force, and can use both fire and dark power.
#6 Smelter Demon. The flaming monstrosity that crushed the Old Iron King and his kingdom is of course one of the most terrifying and powerful forces in Drangleic.
Hello, Beastiary I love the lore intense-focused driven content you have created. I love this dark souls 2 video how you created a list based on LORE and not about Aoe and etc etc, I really cannot wait to see dark souls 3 boss lore driven strength
Your such a good youtuber I was expecting many more subs appreciate all the hard work!!
Bro really saw the goth girl with daddy issues and said "i can fix her" and he did
I love the hard hit in watching the video I got seeing Vendrick so early only for me to stop the video, have all of DS2's lore come back to me in an instant, and wonder:
"Where's the Ivory king?"
I was gonna be annoyed if the boss at No.1 wasn't No.1, good video overall though I think some are a bit awkward to place so respect your choices
been enjoying this series so far! can't wait for the ds3 ranking :)
Great video, and the Ivory king is absolutely Nr1! I would place Vendrick and Aldia higher though, Vendrik for raw strenght I would put him on par with the guardian dragon and Aldia as Nr 2. Aldia is akin to a primordial force.
Another amazing video! I can't wait for the Ds3 video.
The way you spoke about the ivory king gave me hope and feeling proud to fight the king with his own knights.
we love you sir alonne
It's likely that, given there's an miniboss verison of the Covetous Demon in Eleum Loyce, the Covetous Demon boss is likely a human who was mutated by the Old Chaos (Flame of Chaos). It's a major theme in DS2 that over-expressions of ones desires can lead to ruin, so maybe this was a means by which the Old Chaos corrupted whatever or whoever the Covetous Demon once was. Suffice to say, I think it's safe to assume he's definitely a demon, but probably one made from a human corrupted by the Old Chaos rather than one born fully from the Flame of Chaos.
Considering Vendrick was super hollowed. Velstadt couldn't have been far behind. Staying in the tomb by himself for all that time. Constantly outputting power to ward against the dark. His miracles likely weakening and being consumed by darkness.
Velstadt in his prime was likely as powerful as Prime Fume knight (the version we fight.)
Probably a little bit behind Fume Knight though since he was already very close to Prime Velstadt and then was buffed by Nadalia.
Makes me wanna go back to ds2 and play it all over again ngl. Maybe i‘ll start today
"Interestingly, this ornstein is found as a corpse" proceeds to show clear and obvious lack of a corpse.
I quite enjoyed the passion you put into this.
absolutely love your vids mate, keep up the great work !!
aight, vendrick is obviously too low but I'll add that aldia himself is also way too low.
judging aldia by the one we fight is like judging vendrick by his zombie fight, that was very clearly just an avatar he made to interact with the bearer of the curse.
the guy is confirmed to be a magic genius and by the time of DS2 he has ascended so far that he's a cosmic presence and probably can't be killed at all.
hell, the guy is still around in DS3.
Yeah Aldia himself is probably quite strong but that is not the boss we fight is it?
If the tree monster we fight is Aldia's avatar, then we should rank the power of the avatar, rather than the "complete" Aldia that we never get to meet, even if one is technically just a fragment of the other's being.
The point of the video IS to rank the things we are actually going up against after all.
Not to mention he is one of the only entities in the series able to travel between worlds freely- not just worlds close to a new age, when the lines between dimensions blur (hence the ability to invade/be summoned by other players), but stable worlds and even worlds that have entirely extinguished their first flame as well. He has essentially ascended beyond a corporeal form, becoming a primordial entity at least on par with, if not entirely more powerful than, the serpents.
Yes, “defeating” him isn’t much of an achievement, but it’s not meant to be; your fight with Aldia is simply a test he is administering to prove if you can handle a world outside of the cycle. This is reinforced by the fact that he drops nothing; no souls, no boss soul. The idea that you in some way “slay” him is ludicrous- it’s like saying that you slew the concept of fire or cut down the wind blowing through the trees. Aldia is a force of nature, beyond life and death, and would kick Ivory King’s ass. Negative diff.
The whole point of Aldia is that he's ascended need to for power through the flame, in lore he isn't powerful, because he has no need to be, I feel like people sort of forget that knowledge doesn't mean power unless you have a way to use it, as far as we are aware, Aldia can't do anything beyond what we are shown and it's baseless to say otherwise. he's just a flamy boi
I'd argue vendrick isn't he's decrepit hollow and depressed when you meet him not exactly in his prime
i have to respect the ability to give a few minutes of interesting commentary on a fight not even the devs seem to have put that much effort into given that it's just a group of random npcs with not even a boss name
I hope that after you're done with Dark Souls you look at Demons' Souls as well. I would love a lore perspektive on the bosses' strenght.
"I can fix her" - Ivory King
1:02:54 me walking up to the smelter demon gate after despawning all the enemies in Iron keep because I died 300 times.
If no one has pointed it out but dear freya didnt have seaths soul. The duke did, freya was protecting it thats why she doesnt drop it you have to pick it up
This video is so good for such a small channel
See my head canon for the three adventures is that they were a group who even when the curse came to them they didn't care they were allies through thick and thin. However, on the journey to the sunken kingdom they became lost and unsure how to progress more so due to the danger in both paths. Maybe they lost faith in climbing back out seeing it's pointless to go back empty handed. But saw it was dangerous to press forward. Thus trapping themselves there and slowly hollowing but remaining together as allies in the end.
very nice vid :D
but psst, Ivory King Cosplaysouls is best when you take his sword into your left hand
I was waiting for this video but didn't even know it was planned omg
Shulva is probably my favorite Souls area period, the aesthetic is just so good.
Blessings of the algorithm be upon you
As a video of just whos the strongest boss, you paint a very beautiful picture. Of course the strength is lore based so the beauty of the writing is necessary. Still tho you say words pretty.
i love these videos, i can tell how much time you put into them
Would love a video on brightstone cove tseldora, the dukes dear freja, and what caused tseldora to go mad. One of my favorite places lore wise in ds2. Such a desolate and creepy vibe. Doesn't even feel like it belongs in a ds game.
I think you're wrong about Tark and Najka, I'm pretty sure the Duke is who created them, with the knowledge he obtained from Seath's journals, since it's widely agreed that Tseldora is where the archives used to be. I'm certain (not 100%) that you only get the Dragon ring from Tark after you kill the Duke; not Freja
I am sorry to tell you that is not where the archives are
I love ds2 videos. Im so glad you did this. More ds2 lore!!!!!
I don’t know if you read these comments but if you could do a maybe top 5 of the trilogy I’d love to see how the ds2 bosses stack up against the rest of the series. Great video thanks for making it
finished ds2 recently (was my first ds after elden ring) and I beat nashandra, since, fume knight, and ivory king in the same week, although it did take me a few months in total to play, before retiring my character at the ripe old level of 201.
recently started ds1 and will return to the channel when I beat it
Great video like the first,
Are you planning to make videos on demons souls bloodborne and sekiro after dark souls trilogy
Absolutely, having too much fun with these!
One thing people don't realize is that in the games all the bosses have super readable movements and just stop moving for a few seconds after most attacks which they probably wouldn't do in the actual lore lol. Like hearing about the high agility of a boss then seeing the boss move slow as hell after attacking should make you realize that the bosses strength in the games are not 1/1 to their power in the lore.
tbh ive had this video recommended to me a couple times but i just stumbled into the reel talking about it so i decided to come check it out
They should have let you face vendrick in his prime after you finished all 3 dlcs
That actually would’ve been a really cool idea
i understand the hate of dark souls 2 gameplay but the story of dark souls 2 is very great. it might be my favorite out of the trilogy the art style ,the concepts, and story is just more captivating to me.
I’d like to call myself a Souls veteran. Dark Souls 2 was something else. Very different from the other two, a lot of the differences were bad ones.
But the DLC is really where it shines. The time I spent with the Ivory King for the very first time still sits with me.
The Fume Knight is absolutely iconic.
And Sinh is in my top 3 hardest fights in all of Souls.
just love the design of demon of song its so freaky looking looking like something directly from japanese mythology
The Burnt Ivory Chad
Sitting atop this list as he did the old chaos.
What a brilliant character
Ngl I think aldia should be higher he is practically only mind and no body that's why he gives 0 souls when kill he is basically immortal not only that we know his mental capability are massive cause he recreated dragons (the literal ancients gods of dark souls) he is something like the Rick of dark souls
Yes and aldia is still alive when the bearer walks away from the throne
Damn, I really don’t think that the Vendrick fanboys can read. Just because the gameplay suggests that this literal mindless and soulless hollow can somehow tank a dozen strikes of a greatsword and 2-shot the player with Vendrick’s limp-dick swings doesn’t mean he’s powerful anymore in the lore. It’s just ds2 being ds2.
I think the grave robber, ancient soldier and the traveller Trio are a reference to players like us, as said in video they are well travveled companions likely seen a lot together, similar to summoning other players to fight a boss
By your logic Alida is weaker than the dragon he trapped in a cage?
Make it make sense please.
there is no sense, this guy misses blantantly