Easily one of my fav fights ever, had a ton of fun learning him the first few tries then executing it properly felt amazing. Extremely fair and cool boss for a cool area.

This boss would be s teir in ds3…but this is dark souls 2 so it sucks

"At, the bottom of brume tower, near the throne floor bonfire"

Yeah why not ...

Strong Magic Shield + Havel's Greatshield, and he isnt that scary anymore, If you add Clorancy Ring and Baneful Bird ring - even better.

Was expecting a ton of tries after reading comments, but actually beat him 4th time. People say tank/strength build is bad for him, but it actually made it easy for me. Did it solo with fully upgraded havel shield and basic light fire/dark resist armor. Used ROB, clemanthy, binding, and third dragon to stay under 50% weight. Granted I'm soul lvl 201, and used red iron twin blade +10(which some think is too OP..... i love it lol), but i got him at least 40% hp each try just by holding block, hugging left leg, and circling to his left, and striking when he missed attacks/finished a combo. Magic weapon spell helped a decent amount at beginning of fight. I was able to get in 6ish hits during intro animation. Give him space/take your time after you strike so your stamina refills, and repeat.

For phase 2, he damages through shield and doesn't let up, so i just rolled toward him/his left every swing, and got 1 hit in after each combo. Then retreat for stamina refill, and repeat. Took me 4ish mins total. Just make sure to only estus after his big dark magic swing, and/or fire ball attack. And be careful when he adds a 4th swing to his combo. I was able to get between 1-3 hits at once on him each time using this strategy.

What… a fun, challenging, fair boss fight in DS2 *without* a ridiculous run up? Hurrah!

Easily the best boss in the game.

My tips: It’s all about stamina management here. Wear everything you have to increase stamina regen (including a stamina shield on your back). Keep weight as low as possible (under 50% definitely). Fire or dark resistance is useful (incl. one +3 fire/dark res ring perhaps). Maximise DPS with Ring of Blades, Flynn, etc. You’ll want to end this one quick, before you make mistakes. Initially, rush in and land 3-5 hits to get a big chunk off before it even starts. Then roll through attacks and punish once or twice. Run/roll backwards when fire orbs appear. Ultimately, it’s a dance — beautiful once you get it.

Even though Raime has elemental resistance, if you have a lightning build for instance you’ll be fine and make sure to buff. It’s still worth it. Beat him with Lightning Defender GS myself.

Beat him in my first try, easy as cake.

Who made this DLC? It's amazing! The DS2 DLCs are the best things FromSoftware has ever made!

Used all of the 10/11 obtainable smelter wedges before Fume Knight so theres still one Ashen Idol near his room healing him. Yay.

Remember when this boss was infamous for his high damage delay sttacks that wait until they think you will roll?
Now every boss in elden ring does it 3 times over. Ahh, simpler times.