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Strategies

Video Strategies

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• Ranged Strategy, video is bow only, but projectile magic works in the same scenario.
• Bow+Heavy Weapon in KoS, Light Weapon+Buffs in NK (no healing)
• Deprived Nameless King (Vigor/Luck Build) +3 Anri with fire buff, rolling strategy
• Nameless King Melee Co-Op Strategy Strength build, +5 Irithyll Sword, Cloranthy Ring, Prayer set

 

Strategy 1 (Melee)

This boss deals lots of lightning damage in both phases, so any lightning resistant gear or rings are a huge benefit in this fight.

The first phase consists of the Nameless King riding atop his stormdrake, the King of the Storm. This boss requires constant attention to camera angle. It is important to be aware of what both the rider and wyvern are doing at all times. Having the camera locked to one or the other at the wrong time is a recipe for doom. It is advised to keep the wyvern at some distance until you go in for one or two hits then retreat to be able to keep watch on both and time your responses appropriately. The wyvern will sometimes flip behind you, requiring you to adjust to maintain your relative position. The Nameless King will, at times, attempt to hit you with his swordspear. Depending on position, roll or block accordingly, keeping an eye for his two or three hit combos. The stormdrake itself will bite at you and attempt to roast you with its flames. Avoid its attacks and aim for the stormdrake's head, as damage to the legs and body does minimal damage compared to blows directly to the beast's head. A good way to get several hits on its vulnerable spot is when the stormdrake is about to rear it's head for a flame attack, rush towards its body and hit the neck area just below the rider, ensuring that you keep your distance from the fire-spewing head. If the stormdrake flies into the air, it will do one of two things: unleash a fiery breath attack directly beneath it, or circle around you while the Nameless King hurls Lightning Spears at you. If it stays in one spot in the air, move away, avoiding its breath attack, until it lands again.  The breath attack hits almost directly below the drake's body, so a good rule of thumb to avoid it is to run in the direction its head was facing when it took off, since from where your character is likely standing, that's the shortest path to safe ground. If it begins to circle you, keep an eye on the Nameless King; his Lightning Spears are intimidating, but can be dodged. Rinse and repeat until the stormdrake is dead, whereupon a cutscene will signal the start of the second phase.

In the second phase of the fight, you will face the Nameless King himself. He is very fast and deadly, so medium to light equipment load is recommended if you plan on roll dodging his attacks. With enough attacks dealt he will be staggered, allowing you to perform a riposte-esque visceral attack not unlike the mechanic in bloodborne. While he stands up from this riposte, he is vulnerable to further attacks for most of his animation. Use this to get extra damage in or to heal up if you need it. The boss itself can be very difficult for a novice (or anyone for that matter) and his movements, while somewhat predictable, are still erratic, so stay on guard until there's a guaranteed opening to attack him. Also, another recommendation would be to equip the Carthus Bloodring and stay on his left side (your right) and continuously roll dodge his attacks until you see an opening to strike. For fast weapons (Straight Swords, Rapiers, etc.) try to get two hits in at most and for larger weapons (Greatswords, Ultra GS, etc.) one at most, two if you're bold enough but it is quite risky.

Be particularly wary of:

• His lightning strike attack. He telegraphs this by taking out his weapon and slowly brandishing it to the sky. With a short delay after he finishes, a lightning strike will be summoned directly over you, dealing heavy damage. This attack must either be dodged with perfect timing, or blocked by a shield with high lightning resistance (which will drain all stamina).
• His waist-level charged lunge.  This attack cannot be blocked or dodged sideways, though it can be rolled through.  The safest way to react is to dodge backwards.  (Note that you should not dodge backwards against his shoulder-level lunge, however.)

 For melee users, in conjunction with everything else, below is a playbook of info that will completely trivialize the Nameless King/King of the Storm.

1. More than anything else, the Nameless King will open up the fight by flying over your head. This is just an intimidation tactic, and meant to throw off your lock-on.  Don't buy into it.
2. In the first phase, keep your lock on the King, and not his dragon, because he will be 90% of the opposition for his wider range of attacks, and frequency of attack. If he breaks your lock or it is messing with you, quickly unlock, rotate your camera, and then re-lock.
3. Staying under the dragon may SEEM like a safe strategy, but it's not. His feet will stomp you, and you will look stupid. If you have a bleed effect, this becomes viable, because his stomp attack is not frequent, but the dragon will still try to blow flames on you.
4. It is better to only use no more than three Estus during the first phase of the fight. During the second phase, use a max of two Estus for when the Nameless King is above about 30% health, because past that point, his arsenal of attacks widens up.
5. If you hit the dragon's head, be prepared to immediately sprint, and then roll spam, because that makes him more prone to flying upward. Staying under the dragon's belly brings up the probability, too. The AOE is about fifty feet maximum from the point of impact, and it can be avoided by combining sprinting, jumping, and then rolling out of the edge of the AOE. The dragon telegraphs this by slightly bringing one of his knees down, as if he is kneeling, pushing down his tail and quickly flying up, letting out a scream, so as soon as he starts this telegraph with that slight kneel, get to evading with the fleetest of feet!
6. If you miss an opening, be absolutely ready for the dragon to breathe fire downward. Again, this is because for every opening, he is very likely to do that attack!
7. As for phase two, the Nameless King has a maximum combo of ten to eleven strikes (eleven has never been seen by this contributor, but it's a safe bet), more likely in the form of spear thrusts. Use this to get an opening.
8. Nameless King has some very powerful spear attacks. When he stabs, it can go right through your shield most of the time, so it is befitting to roll backward, out of range, diagonal, or to the side. Dodge roll timing is much more precise than other attacks because the Nameless King waits for an opening, so the player really needs to have this down.
9. For essential equipment, the player should have a Lothric Knight Shield (Easy to get by purchasing it from Greirat. Other options exist, as well), or another kind of lightning shield, Grass Crest Shield (second slot), Ring of Steel Protection, Thunder Stoneplate Ring, Estus Ring, and Lloyd's Shield Ring. This will mitigate a lot of damage, and these pieces are quick pick-ups, that are virtually hassle free. By all means, the player can also stack some lightning armor, as well. If the player is using a Chloranthy Ring, the Grass Crest Shield nullifies the need for it, because switching to it is extremely fast, for a stamina boost. The Chloranthy Ring, at later levels (provided the melee build is done correctly by levelling Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity almost exclusively) becomes redundant for the pace of the game, including this boss fight, so the player should ditch it, and pick up the big boy toys (Plus, wearing flowers is hideous and cheap looking). Using an Ember will increase the effectiveness of the Estus Ring, since it scales to a multiple of 20% more health.
10. If the player really wants to survive with a lot of health, he should stay some feet out of range of the Nameless King's spear, so he will fly up, and do a plunging lightning attack. He doesn't regenerate health, so this way, the player can take advantage of that to take out his health.
11. The Nameless King (second phase) has a lightning attack where he brings lightning down from the sky. Once his spear flashes with lightning, throw a double or triple dodge roll in rapid succession, and you should avoid it.
12. The Nameless King's lightning AOE in his second phase tends to spread out a lot. This is a ruse, as the attack only does damage on impact, so use this to roll.
13. One or two of the Nameless King's lightning attacks in his second phase has a post-attack where strands of lightning spread out. Roll into the region in-between these strands, and you will be good.
14. In the first phase, the Nameless King is kind of an edgelord, and will surf on his dragon while it flies in a circular motion. You get a better chance of avoiding his lightning bolt if you roll in the direction the dragon is flying, because he likes to throw his lightning bolt into the opposite direction, in an attempt to seek on you. However, dodge rolling in basically any direction has a solid window, so this is not a big deal.
15. In reference to excerpt 9, it seems like that equipment doesn't offer a big buff, but how it works on paper, and how it works in-game is different because you get more hits before you are in the red-zone for being thwarted and killed. So definitely work your build as a lightning and physical tank build, and you will be fine.
16. The Nameless King has wind attacks. These are physical, and thus can be blocked with a 100% physical block shield, but rolling to the right or forward avoids them nicely. Like all the wind attacks, they move too slow to roll backward, so this is not advised, and please keep note that if you roll near the King, he will very likely try to hit you with his spear, so be ready to dodge roll. 
17. If you gauged this battle to be as hard as fighting Dragon Slayer Ornstein & Executioner Smough, or Manus, then you have got it spot-on, because that is how much danger that the Nameless King and his dragon are bringing.

That is all that can be said, really. This will work regardless of most aspects of a build, and whether the player used a summon. However, if somehow this does not work, then this one trick absolutely works in all situations in any game: Think about and separate what you are failing at doing that is causing you to get hit by the King, versus what you can do naturally, without thinking (for example, hitting R1, versus avoiding the downward flame attack), and then make the entire fight about those things, then you will win. If this STILL does not work, use the method again, and continually nest the method so you know exactly what to do. Once you apply this technique of executive functioning, then you are absolutely golden, because then your enemy loses all of the situations where he hits you, and your environment loses that power, too. The player needs to have a nose for obfuscations that are hindering his tactical execution to be able to succeed in skill-based games like Soulsborne games.

 

Strategy 1.5 (Easy KotS Melee)

Using a two-handed Lightning Lothric Knight Greatsword +9, It is possible to kill the King of the Storm in just four hits, allowing you to more easily practice the much more difficult Nameless King fight, as well as save much of your estus for it. Landing two fully charged heavy attacks to his head will stagger him and allow you to riposte him. As he recovers from the riposte you will have just enough time to land a running light attack to his head, finishing him off. The best time to land fully charged heavy attacks is during the King of the Storm's grounded fire breath attack and right after the Nameless King's lightning slam attack after dodge rolling toward him. However, due to the Nameless King's high lightning defense the Lothric Knight Greatsword does very poorly against him and it is therefore recommended to have a different weapon to switch out to during the second phase of the fight.

 

Strategy 2 (Sorcerer)

This is one of the easiest bosses for sorcerers, since the dragon (phase 1) is highly vulnerable to magic damage, and the Nameless King itself (phase 2) not resistant to magic. Considering that this is endgame and assuming you have endgame stats and build (60 INT, Court Sorcerer's Staff +10, all the shiny sorcerer-rings, etc.), this boss is a walk in the park.
Phase 1: Stay out of the dragons range, lock on his head, fire Crystal Soul Spear's until he's dead. Should be around 4 Spears to kill him.
Phase 2: Basically do the same, but this time with the Nameless King. A little bit more tricky, since the King is more aggressive. But he has not so great range, so dodging him and getting out of the melee-zone should be no problem here. Since the Nameless King has pretty much one damage type here (Lightning), you could consider equipping the Thunder Stoneplate Ring if you have problems with your health.

 

Strategy 2 (Magic / Ranged)

Keeping away from the boss but able to lock onto him is key here. In the first phase learn to dodge his lightning spears and follow up air to ground attack. Lock onto HIM not his little pet's head, when you're rolling to dodge his landing attack. Aim to complete your roll to the side of, or under the dragons base of the neck. Lock onto his head and stay underneath and fire away. He may take flight sooner rather than later but at any time if you hear the audio cue (dragon scream) start to run away before he breathes his fire attack onto the ground. If you are lucky enough to keep him at range and the boss is only doing his flying attack straight at you, upon completion of his animation the dragons head will be motionless for a brief period and wide open for you to open fire.

In the second phase, just STAY AWAY and keep shooting. Run sideways as soon as you see him raise his dragonslayer swordspear to do the shockwave attacks because it is wide and difficult to outmaneuver. Early bird stays damage free here. I used a greatshield in my Melee completion and I was able to tank his shockwave attacks, so equip a great shield if you'd like to do less evading. The purpose of ranged combat is to pick him apart from a safe distance. There is a distance where he will be wide open for attacks as he slowly walks after you. Circle him to keep him at a range you are able to lock on and shoot. Watch the background. There are two buildings you need to keep an eye on. If you don't see one of them in the background while you are back-walking, you know you are headed towards the narrow edge of the map and may need to run to the side to re-center and get him back to a shooting range. If you feel he is too close, just watch for his telegraphed wind up attack and roll through it and keep rolling away as he recovers and you'll be back to sniping him to death. Good luck! and have fun.

 

Alternative Magic Phase 1 Strategy

If your build has a mixture of Intelligence and Faith (like a Pyromancer), the sorcery Dark Edge is extremely powerful in the first phase of the fight. Keep your target on the dragon's head as opposed to the rider and take advantage of the many possible openings. The possible openings for casting include after the aerial-to-ground strike (don't confuse this with the standing ground strike), after or during the fire breath (dodge roll to your right through the flames and get in close before casting), after the electric ground strike and after a second sideswipe. Unsafe times to cast would be after it leaps over you to land on your opposite side, after it lands from the aerial lightning spear->stab combo, after it lands from the aerial fire breath, after one standing ground strike (as this can combo into sideswipes) or after one sideswipe (as a return side swipe may follow). Don't get greedy and keep an eye out for the safe openings. With around 3 solid strikes to the head of the dragon, you can trigger the stagger animation and land another free blow.

 

Strategy 3 (Bow and Heavy Weapon in KoS, Light Weapon+Buffs in NK)

As soon as you enter the boss arena run forward for a while but not too close to the place where boss lands (half a stamina bar). This way boss won't attack you immediately and you have time to use your bow and try to hit the head of King of Storms. After boss flies behind you, change to your heavy hitting weapon and always go for the head.

When the second part of the fight starts, change to your light weapon (rapier or anything with high dps) and use Carthus Beacon pyromancy (consecutive hits boost damage). Also have the Pontiff's Right Eye ring (consecutive hits gives a dmg buff) and any other buffs you can. Nameless King is very tanky and has high health but if you can do good damage and fast you get two riposte opportunities which make this fight much easier. However you have to be very good at rolling and in stamina control. Still, usually do not attack more than once or twice if you have a good opening. Boss usually does 2-3 hit combos so after the second attack wait a while and take the opening little late just be sure he won't attack the third time.

Strategy Four - Faith with Lightning and Dark Blade

The King of Storm is weak to lightning. A high faith character (60) can annihilate the King of the Storm with Sunglight Spear or Lightning Arrow using the upgraded talisman or chime of their choice. Yorksha's Chime will provide the best buff, while Canvas Talisman will also provide an excellent buff and the unfaltering prayer weapon art. 

Hurling the Spears or shooting the arrows at the King of Storm will end him very quickly. As noted elsewhere, a max Lothric Knight Great Sword on a faith strength character with a buff can kill him in four heavy attack hits with the riposte.

For the Nameless King, human pine resin or dark blade on a fast weapon will break him down quickly, particularly if you have the blindfold mask. Melee characters can rely on this as well, as I used the human pine resin on grave warden twin blades. However, at 60 faith with the sunlight straight sword on NG, this will hammer him. The Crucifix of the Mad King will also be rewarding if you have your timing down. 

 

 

 

 

Attacks

 

 

Lore Theories

• The Nameless King is possibly Gwyn's firstborn: a fearsome, dragon-slaying war god, founder of the Covenant of Sunlight and master of Ornstein, from the time of the ancient lords that had his deific status revoked and his name stripped from the Annals after an unnamed incident.
  • According to the lore of the nameless king's armor, soul, and weapons, he was a dragon slaying god of war and heir of lightning that sacrificed everything to ally with the Ancient Dragons, taming a stormdrake who fought with him in countless battles.  His weapon is the predeseccor to both the spear and sword and his armor bears resemblance to that of the First Lord. These facts strongly support the idea that he is Gwyn's firstborne.  Gwyn's firstborn being Ornsteins master explains both the similarity of their movesets and the armor found after beating The Nameless King. The statue of the Heirs to the Sun is a statue of Gwyn's Firstborn, which heads the covenant, and the statue carries what appears to be a swordspear, although it looks different to the Dragonslayer Swordspear.
  • Faaram, the war god worshipped by the Forossan knights, could be the name of Gwyn's firstborn, and therefore The Nameless King, who is the only god of war mentioned in the series.  The knights of Forossa were called the Lion Knights, fitting elements of both The Nameless King and Ornstein's designs. In Dark Souls 2 you can find lion-men in the Shaded Woods. Their manes are very similar to the hair of the Nameless King.
• Ornstein's spear and armor are found nearby, which could suggest that he was slain by The Nameless King (unlikely, since the armor isn't attached to a dead body), or that Ornstein forsook his duty as a dragonslayer after meeting him, as it is found in much the same way that Siegward's armor is found after Yorm is slain.  Bizzarely, the absence of a body and the proximity of the armor to the Nameless King could indicate that the foe the player fights is not the man the armor describes, but instead Ornstein impersonating that man, although there is not much evidence to support this. 
• It is unclear if the Stormdrake The Nameless King rides is The King of The Storm, being the primary force you fight in the first part of the battle, or if The King of The Storm is the title of the man you fight and by slaying his stormdrake you deprive him of this title, making him The Nameless King.
• Statues of The Nameless King abound in the area where The Ancient Wyvern is fought, indicating that he is a being of great worship among those that wish to become dragons.
• Due to the strange nature of Archdragon Peak, being a place cut off from the rest of the world and being reached through falling asleep while meditating, it is unclear if it or those within actually exist or are instead some kind of collective dream among those that desire to become dragons, as many elements of Dark Souls III, from the Forlorn to Miracles, come from stories being believed strongly enough to become real.  Being sent into a dream of glorious conquest is the final answer Siegmeyer obtains from The Descendant of Dragons in Ash Lake in Dark Souls I, who is also the originator of the dragon covenant, and Archdragon Peak could be this or a similar dream. 
  • In this context, the ringing of the bell, awakening the dreamers, and its role in summoning The King of Storms is incredibly odd and open to multiple interpretations. 
    • It is possible, given the extremely surreal circumstances through which the player summons him, that The Nameless King the player fights is not the real Firstborn Son of Gwyn but some kind of collective conception of him by the dreamers, an idealized version called to defend the dream from destruction 
    • Alternatively, he could be the awakening from the dream, effectively a midpoint between nightmare and reality being called by the bell, representing both the slayer of dragons and the loss of those that worked with dragons.
    • Of course, either of these could still be the case regardless of if The Nameless King is real or not.
    • The player ringing the bell  mimics how a bell was rung to rouse the player from the dead at the beginning of the game, perhaps implying that The Nameless King was dead and revived via a similar mechanism, or perhaps being simply a poetic parallel.
  • Regardless of interpretation, the arrival of the player, slaying of the archdrake and ringing of the Bell to destroy the dream of dragonhood strongly parallels the rise of those empowered by flame and their attempt to wipe out the dragons at the dawning of the age of fire, and the arrival of The Nameless King to fight the player mirrors his arrival to fight Gwyn during the war.
• The hollowed out appearance of The Nameless King and its connotations is an element of great debate.  He does not speak, a trait shared by Hollows who have lost their sanity, but this on its own is not enough evidence.  If he is the Firstborn son of Gwyn, this may be a result of him being stripped of his inheiritance, as though the fire of his lordship were ripped from him, but this is contradicted by his ability to continue to use lightning.  It is possible that he was branded with the sign of the undead, as this appears to be the case for all of the warriors that follow him.
• The Serpent-Men in the area could indicate that Sen's Fortress belonged to the nameless king, suggesting his name may have been Sen.

Notes 

• Dragonslayer Greatshield makes the fight much easier, if your build supports it. A Spirit Tree Crest Shield or Lothric Knight Shield will also work, if your build cannot support greatshields.
• Carthus Bloodring is effective for dodging lightning attacks' large hitboxes, as well as delayed melees.
• This boss uses physical, lightning, and fire abilities, making building an armor set against him difficult.
• Because each phase, King of Storms and Nameless King, is resistant to what the other is weak against, and each rewards and punishes close up and ranged fighting differently, creating a single build to navigate the fight is incredibly difficult.
• In the First phase of the fight, any weapon arts that have a large vertical hitbox can inflict normal damage to the stormdrake, as long as they are under the torso, an example is the Dragonslayer's Greataxe weapon art, which calls down a bolt of lightning and has a very high hitbox, but has a high FP cost. 
  • One would think that this would make the Stormruler effective against the first phase, just as The King of Storms was weak against the Storm Ruler in Demon's Souls, however, the extremely low damage of The Stormruler in Dark Souls III makes this not the case.

Trivia

• The name King of Storms is a reference to the identically named King of Storms boss in Demon's Souls.
• Several of the Nameless King's abilities and armor pieces mirror Ornstein, Gwyn, and Artorias from Dark Souls I.
• The Nameless King's arena is in the sky, and its fog-gatelike floor is not counted as a normal floor by the game. Dropped souls will appear outside the boss room on the nearest solid land, along with messages. Summon signs cannot be used on this floor.
• Looking up on the bridge after the fight reveals several bloodstains from other players, suspended in the air.
• When the stormdrake dies, the Nameless King's hand shakes just before he stabs him.
• Only one God of War is definitively mentioned in the series lore, with there being no precedence of overlapping domains of deities, so the true identity of the Nameless King may be Faraam, the God of War, and the god depicted on the Wargod Shield, but this is not directly stated.
• The story of The Nameless King is very similar to that of the Japanese Storm god Susanoo, the son of the head god Izanagi that was banished from Heaven after offending his sister, Amaterasu, Goddess of The Sun.  During his travels on earth, Susanoo famously slew the dragon Yamata-no-Orochi, and is therefore often known as The Dragonslayer, and the weapon he crafted from the dragon's tail, Kusanagi, was a large sword capable of generating whirlwinds, much like the swordspear of the Nameless King (as well as the dragon tail weapons in the series).  The long flowing hair of The Nameless King and his wrapped garb, with him standing atop of clouds, is highly evocative of many depictions of Susanoo in ancient japanese artwork and the flowing white hair of the headpiece in particular resembles that used by actors in Kagura plays, which often retell the story of Susanoo slaying Yamata-No-Orochi.
• The sound The Nameless King's weapon makes when striking the ground is the same as the parry sound effect.
• Much like Ornstein, The Abyss Watchers, Yuria, and others, it is unclear if the fact that the character's hat comes with his hair attached means that it is decorative and the person is actually bald underneath.
• Curiously, the nature of the Nameless King, of a lightning infused dragonslayer that instead slays only men, is paralleled and forshadowed in the description of The Dragonslayer Axe.
• The concept of a rag-wrapped individual that embodies sovereignty as they lack everything besides their kingly status, that exists and rules over a dreamlike place, who is embodied primarily in countless followers bearing his symbol and united by the idea of him, and whose appearance is heralded as one of coming destruction, is very similar to the character The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers, who is directly stated to be the inspiration for the design of The Old Monk and his Xanthous Robe seen throughout the Souls Series, as well as the design of the Bloodborne enemy Martyr Logarius, who in his file name is labeled "King in Blue".