Tower Knight

The  is a boss in Demon's Souls. It is encountered in a large courtyard at the end of the second section (1-2) of the Boletarian Palace.

Description
A large knight covered in thick metal armor, wielding a lance and a shield. It towers over the player, with the player character coming to just above his ankles.

Strategy
The courtyard in which the Tower Knight is fought is flanked by high balconies occupied by a total of eight archers (four on each side), which are accessible via the two staircases behind at the other end of the courtyard; it is advisable to kill them before engaging the boss. From there, one can employ one of two primary strategies: close/medium range or long range.

Long range combat makes the fight much simpler, but obviously requires that a character have a ranged attack and have sufficient resources (e.g. arrows or Mana) to actually kill the Tower Knight. One must get on top of one of the balconies overlooking the arena and wait for the Tower Knight to lower its shield defense, which almost exclusively happens just before it is about to attack with its long-range "soul spear" throw (which knocks the player down and deals significant magic damage). A successful headshot will deal higher damage to the Tower Knight, but is obviously harder to perform than a shot to the torso. With proper timing and sufficient evasive skills, however, it is fairly easy to get the Tower Knight's AI stuck in a loop, which will quickly and easily finish the boss fight if the player has the ability to do so.

If not, the Tower Knight's close-range repertoire is much more diverse. Most of its attacks deal substantial physical damage and will knock the player down. Occasionally, the Tower Knight will raise its shield, pull back its lance, and then thrust it toward the player; this can be avoided by dodging to the right or left, or, if the attack is seen early enough, sprinting in between its legs. It also has a sweeping attack that can also be avoided by dodging to the right or left; however, the attack hits much closer to the Tower Knight, so its is a good idea to roll/sprint away from rather than toward the Tower Knight. It also has a stomping attack and a shield slam attack, both executed when the player is within melee range of the Knight. The stomp is relatively fast, but is one of its weaker attacks and has a small area of effect. The shield slam, on the other hand, is extremely slow and well-telegraphed but has a massive area of effect (hitting even a few paces behind the Tower knight) and deals very high damage, likely to instantly kill low-level characters; in general, run away quickly if the Tower Knight raises its shield at close range. While dodging these attacks, the goal is to attack the knight's ankles and destroy the armor protecting them. Once this is done, it will fall on its back and be stunned for a few moments, at which time the player can attack the head for significant damage. It would be a good time to apply any weapon buffs that add fire or magic damage, as the Tower knight is weak to those damage types (more so to magic). Beware that being close to or under the Tower Knight as he falls or being near him as he gets back up deals slight/moderate damage to the player depending on how close you are.

Any archers that have not been killed will die once the Tower knight is defeated.

Trivia

 * The Tower Knight shares its boss theme with the Penetrator.
 * The Tower Knight has a separate death animation if it is killed while it is standing, where it slumps down and leans on its shield.

Gallery
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