Demon's Souls: How to Beat the False King Boss

The Demon bosses in Demon's Souls are the hardest and most stressful part of the whole affair. Filling up on souls in the stage prior only to have to prove yourself against a giant enemy with a massive health bar to match is almost always a daunting task.

But don't worry, in this Demon's Souls guide we'll have you covered by breaking down each of the game's bosses and the best way to approach them. Take a deep breath, have a look at the tips below, and try your best to enjoy yourself and the challenge that the bosses pose.

How to Beat the False King in Demon's Souls

This guy is one doozy of an Archdemon. This will likely be the last boss you fight before the game's finale, and it probably should be given how you'll need to use every advantage possible against him. There isn't any easy way around him nor does he have any significant weaknesses, you'll just have to man up and face this Old King head on.

It almost goes without saying that you'll likely die to Old King Allant the first time, and (if you're like us) probably the first twenty times! That's actually the best way to go about defeating Old King Allant – learning his moveset and behavior by inevitably dying to him over and over again while remaining steadfast in your efforts.

When you do die to him, you'll unfortunately have to deal with the Blue Dragon again. That is, unless you manage to kill the Blue Dragon, in which case it'll be gone for good and make your path back up to the Old King for another attempt far less fraught with danger. Take a look at our Demon's Souls: How to Kill the Blue Dragon walkthrough if that sounds up your alley.

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Dodge

Old King Allant's attacks are almost universally vicious – they hit like a truck and they're fast. His sheer damage output is so high that blocking won't do you much good as he'll bash right through your stamina bar, regardless of how high your endurance might be. Because of his raw damage potential, your best bet is dodging like a madman.

Well, not like a total madman, mind you – you'll need to time and position your dodges very carefully to exploit the small openings in the Old King's defenses. He'll briefly pause after his heavier attacks, and those pauses are your only surefire opportunity to get in a couple attacks of your own. Play it safe and make certain that you'll have the stamina necessary to dodge back out and put some distance between you two so you can better react to whatever he might do next.

Don't Let Him Charge Up

Every once in a while, Old King Allant will stop in his tracks and begin charging a downward stab attack. You'll want to keep an eye out for this one and always be ready for it as you'll have to act almost immediately as he starts charging up. When fully charged, Allant will unleash a massive area-of-effect attack with a reach so large it's almost ridiculous.

You'll have to quickly sprint to the other side of the hall to be completely out of its reach. Try to maintain spatial awareness of the battle arena, always keeping in mind which direction you should dash in if you see him start charging.

However, if you're only a few paces away from him once you see him start charging up that massive blue light beneath him, he can be interrupted quite easily with an attack or two. Not only will this prevent you from having to run halfway across the hall, but it's also an excellent way to get in a free few hits.

Look out for His Glowing Blue Hand

If you see the Old King bring his hand back and see it begin to glow, get the heck out of there. This is his special Soul Drain attack that'll drop your character an entire level if it connects – he's the only enemy in the game that can do so.

It's pretty clearly telegraphed and not too difficult to dodge, but you'll want to stay out of its path. It goes without saying that getting dropped down a whole level ain't great, especially this late in the game where every level increase costs a hefty sum of souls.

Old King Allant Rewards

Ousting Old King Allant will provide you with:

• 75,500 souls
• False King's Demon Soul

Are you one of those people who's so good at Demon's Souls that you can beat the False King with a blindfold on? Let us know how easy Demon's Souls really is in the comments below. Do check out the rest of our Demon's Souls guide for help on some of the other stuff in Demon's Souls that isn't as hard as this fight.