The bosses in Dark Souls 3 are some of the best in the series, starting out strong with the tutorial encounter that perfectly sets the groundwork for the fights to come. This tutorial encounter comes in the form of Iudex Gundyr, who has the task of setting up several trends that will persist as players continue to fight Dark Souls 3's most intimidating enemies.
More than anything, the role of Iudex Gundyr is to test the player's initial skills with the game since at this point there's no way to increase levels or upgrade weapons. The result is a boss fight that isn't the most difficult encounter in Dark Souls 3, but it will still likely kill most players at least half a dozen times before they make it to Firelink Shrine for the first time.
Iudex Gundyr's Bombastic Second Phase
In the case of Iudex Gundyr, the best place to begin picking apart this fight is from the end, specifically the start of the second phase when the Pus of Man makes its first appearance. This is one of FromSoftware's most impactful spectacles across the developer's catalog, with the secondary enemy appearing from within Iudex Gundyr and then exploding into a giant, snake-like creature made of black ooze. All of this is capped off by the emergence of this enemy starting with a massive claw attack that can easily catch a player off-guard the first time they reach this point in the fight.
Beyond the quick kill that the Pus of Man can easily deliver, this phase primes players for something that had occurred in some bosses from earlier games, though not all of them. In fact, it's the fact that Iudex Gundyr has a second phase at all that sets the boss apart from many of the bosses from the original Dark Souls. Especially when considering the first game in the series as the biggest comparison for boss design, only a handful actually have more than one phase. Even the encounter against the final boss Gwyn keeps a steady pace from beginning to end.
As an interesting addition, Iudex Gundyr manages to set up a second new concept to Dark Souls 3. This would be the Pus of Man itself, which explodes into the start of this second phase. While this add-on to creatures isn't something that appears in many boss fights throughout the game, the Pus of Man is an enemy type that will continue to show up as a hidden challenge across the world. The introduction of these enemies also has a heavy impact on Dark Souls 3's lore and tone, priming players that there is something dark under the surface.
Iudex Gundyr's Introduction
Backing up from the impact of the second phase, there is also plenty to say about the first phase of Iudex Gundyr, as well as the introduction to the boss. In many ways, the introduction of Iudex Gundyr is a classic showing of FromSoftware's style, complete with a massive open area and a statue that looks like it's ready to punch the player. Then after pulling Dark Soul's iconic bonfire sword from this statue's chest, it starts to actively try taking out the new player, who likely isn't surprised that this will immediately start a fight.
After this introduction, the fight is about as straightforward as any FromSoftware boss encounter gets. Iudex Gundyr will attack with either his halberd, his fist, or a devastating kick, all of which are well telegraphed and easy to either dodge or parry. As far as preparing players for the rest of the game, Iudex Gundyr emphasizes everything players will need to know in order to survive against everything from the weakest enemies to the toughest bosses. Even Dark Souls 3's optional boss Nameless King runs on the basics of reading attacks, dodging, and countering that is originally shown off in the Iudex Gundyr fight.
Comparing this fight to other tutorial bosses by FromSoftware, Iudex Gundyr is also one of few battles where a player can come out of the encounter with a win on the first attempt. It's a boss that understands that players will be returning from previous titles, giving players a chance to stand up to an early challenge like Dark Souls 3's Dancer fight, rather than a tedious slog with a broken weapon. This introduction is one of the key features of Dark Souls 3 that helps make it both one of the best FromSoftware titles to start or replay, and also one of the top titles in the developer's entire catalog.
Dark Souls 3 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.