Old King Doran

Old King Doran is a character and mini-boss in Demon's Souls.

Background
Old King Doran, also known as "The Last Hero," is a demigod of the ancient past and the founder of Boletaria, locked away by the False King inside a great shrine which houses one of the Kingdom's holiest of treasures - the Demonbrandt. The player receives the key to unlock and free Old King Doran from either Ostrava or Ostrava's corpse, and thus can challenge Doran to a duel for the right to claim the Demonbrandt.

Involvement
Doran guards the Demonbrandt, a sword that gains double its attack power with the wielder's Pure White Character Tendency. The player must show his/her worthiness of possessing this powerful sword by defeating (not killing) Old King Doran, i.e. bring him down to 2/3 health. Be careful however, he is very dangerous and a single hit from him can kill you.

Strategy

 * A slow (but sure) strategy would be to:
 * Equip the Thief's Ring, very light armor, a powerful backstab]] weapon (a dagger or a "Fatal"-prefixed weapon), and a long-range means of attack (bow and arrows or a spell, e.g. Soul Arrow, will do).


 * 1) After challenging Doran, lure him half way across the bridge and run to the entrance of the area, breaking his line of sight. Hopefully, this makes Doran turn back. Otherwise, run out the door to where the Red Eye Knight was, where he cannot go to.
 * 2) As Doran turns his back and walks to his original position, walk right behind him and backstab him with your weapon once.
 * 3) If he moves towards you, rinse and repeat Steps 1 and 2.
 * 4) If he goes away from you or does nothing, hit him with your aforementioned long range weapon to attract his attention.
 * A cheap and very easy strategy:
 * 1) Remember Poison Cloud and/or Death Cloud.
 * 2) Equip Thief's Ring and any spellcasting weapon.
 * 3) Run past Old King Doran and hide behind the statue (on the other side of the statue of where you pick up the sword). He won't follow or find you there.
 * 4) When he is no longer looking for you, walk a little bit to the side and use Poison Cloud and/or Death Cloud. Wait, rinse and repeat.

Legit strategy tips:
 * Use a shield with high magic resistance, like the Dark Silver Shield (100%).
 * Don't use fire weapons or spells as he is highly resistant.
 * Not all his attacks will kill you outright; he has 1 that will completely drain your stamina if blocked, and break your guard, so it's imperative to dodge or make him miss, as a follow up strike could be fatal.
 * "Warding" helps mitigate the physical portion of his damage.
 * He will heal himself if the pressure is taken off him and he's low on health.

Старый король Доран