Vordt of the Boreal Valley is a large quadrupedal creature wearing heavy knights armor and many of the attacks in his moveset features a great hammer that resembles a mace. When players encounter him, he is seen walking out of an orb of fog. After being brought down to a certain health threshold, the blue mist around him and his weapon intensifies, slowly inflicting Frostbite onto the player if they stand close to him. This is the first instance of frostbite the player may encounter in the game.

Due to his slow attacks, it is recommended to stay underneath and behind him to and dodge to create opportunities to counterattack. There are 2 phantom NPCs that can be summoned for this boss fight – the Sword Master (if he has been defeated outside Firelink Shrine) and Lion Knight Albert (if you don’t have the Basin of Vows). This boss is not optional and he must be defeated in order to be able to progress to the Undead Settlement.

Bosses are unique and challenging Enemies that drop Boss Souls capable of being transformed into powerful Weapons, Spells, and Items for the player.

Lore

• It is written that Boreal Knights devolve to beast-like forms due to the effects of Pontiff Sulyvahn’s rings (in his case, the Left Eye) – it seems that Vordt is further along in this process than the other Outrider Knights met in the game.
• Referred to as a “Dog” by Emma, he guards the path to Undead Settlement.
• Vordt using ice/frost in comparison to the Dancer using fire could symbolize that the Dancer chose the path of the Pontiff, while the other Outrider Knights chose the path of frost.
• Because of Vordt’s large body shape, it can be assumed that he is at a higher rank in the Outrider Knights

How to Fight and Beat

Strategy 1 (Melee)

The best way to fight Vordt as a melee build is to stay close to him, roll through his attacks, and get underneath him. A very good weapon to use is the Deep Battle Axe, which can be found in the room below the Lothric Wyvern, as almost every starting class can wield this weapon effectively with two hands. The first phase is relatively easy if you stay underneath and behind Vordt as much as possible. Attack after his second wide swipe attack and never stand in front of him, as he has a very fast lunge attack that is nearly impossible to dodge. If you find yourself in front of him, close the gap as fast as possible while moving to his left.

When Vordt reaches his second phase (at about half health), he will start doing a charge attack back and forth. You should leave yourself with some stamina to roll if you know your sequence of attacks is going to reduce Vordt to half health. Your best option is to dodge these charges while locked on to always keep him in your sights; he will usually charge three times. After these charges, he will begin to ready his breath attack. This is when you should close the distance, move to his left, and use a charged two-handed power attack.

Staying beneath him is still ideal in the second phase, but it will not make you invulnerable as it did in the first phase, so watch out for him standing up and other attacks.

Strategy 2 (Magic Pyro)

The first phase of this fight for casters is similar to the melee approach discussed above, wherein the safest place to attack and evade Vordt is under his belly or behind him. Fire at him with your strongest spells (Heavy Soul Arrow or Fireball), but keep enough stamina to roll out of his way if things get out of hand.

During the second phase, forget everything you did in phase one and just keep your distance as much as you possibly can without losing target lock. Attack Vordt at the start of his second phase, and when he starts charging, be ready to roll out of his way three or four times. Always roll to the side, never into or out of his path. The safest time to attack him during phase two is when he starts charging his frost attack, which happens after his charges. Stay on his side, not in front of him, and attack him with your strongest spells. Be prepared to dodge his charges once more if he survives. Usually, he will go down before his second wave of charges.