Belfry Gargoyles

belfry gargoyle enemies dark souls2 wiki guide 300px
HP 1,400 | 2,660 (NG+)
Weakness Strike, Magic
Resistance Poison
Immune Bleed
Respawns Yes

Belfry Gargoyle is an enemy in Dark Souls 2 (DKS2). Up to six gargoyles can appear, each with improved attacks and speed. Enemies have their own behavior and unique attacks, killing enemies provide various drops that reward players with items and souls.

 

Dark Souls 2 Belfry Gargoyles Information

The Belfry Gargoyles are a boss team in Dark Souls 2. Also present in Dark Souls, the new group is much more ferocious. Their attacks and speed are improved and up to six gargoyles can appear. They are also in an area guarded by the invasion-themed PvP Covenant Bell Keepers, so reaching them in online mode can be challenging.

The elaborate stone statues on the belfry mysteriously came to life.

 

Belfry Gargoyles Location in Dark Souls 2

 

DS2 Belfry Gargoyles Drops

 

Belfry Gargoyles Strategy Tips in DS2

  • Two gargoyles will immediately spawn as soon as the player enters the fog gate and begin attacking the player in tandem. The third Gargoyle activates when the overall boss life bar is less than 90% full. At less than 70%, the fourth Gargoyle springs into action. The fifth and final Gargoyle will enter the fray at around 50%. Focusing on one gargoyle at a time is a good strategy. Eliminating one before or as soon as a 3rd spawns is ideal, as 2 is much more manageable than 3. Keep chipping away, focusing on one gargoyle at a time, one swing/spell/flame at a time.
    • If you spend too much time on the first 3 gargoyles, the 4th gargoyle will also join the fight. With very long fights 5th can also join if you have no kills.
  • If 3 do spawn, the gargoyles go into different formations depending on their health percentages. Adjust accordingly. (ex. if 3 spawn and 1 is at less than 50% or so, he will start breathing fire rather than performing physical attacks). Each gargoyle will start breathing fire and will stop aggressively advancing towards the character when below 50% health. Several fire breathers can make approaching one very difficult and can quickly turn the arena into a fiery inferno. Try only allowing one to drop below 50% at a time and single that one out before engaging the others.
  • The gargoyles appear to be weak against lightning, so a weapon imbued with lightning attack can be helpful. You can use Gold Pine Resin to apply lightning to a weapon for a short time. Additionally, "Strike" type weapons, such as a Morning Star or Craftman's Hammer seem to be much more effective than "Slash" or "Thrust" type weapons.
  • For Pyromancers and Sorcerers it is best to keep your distance from the gargoyles and to keep running back and forth down the roof top if possible while keeping your guard up and throwing spells at them, this process is slow which is why you will need to use stronger spells or pyromancies and be cautious as when you pull away the gargoyles will give chase.
    • Note: A pyromancers flame and the pyromancy Flame Swathe can kill a gargoyle or numerous gargoyles in one hit if used effectively, this pyromancy is acquired from Straid of Olaphis once he is unpetrifyed with a Fragrant Branch of Yore.
    • For clerics: Get a sneaky hit in just as they spawn then run to the back of the area and throw a lightning spear or two depending on how quickly they descend on you. Dodge and run to the other end of the area and throw more spears. rinse and repeat. tip: Heavenly lightning can be a life saver, getting a quick cast in the middle of the area can damage the currently spawned gargoyles and deal some high damage.
  • The Gargoyles seem weak to lightning. Get one tank and a ranged DPSer with lightning spear and you're set.
    NightHawk: Fighting 2-3 gargoyles at once can be tough- try to keep your distance and pick them off one at a time by sweeping in to get a hit or two off whenever you have an opening.
  • Concentrating on one gargoyle till it's dead is paramount; if you spread the damage out too much, you can easily end up being overwhelmed. Additionally, keep your distance to avoid being surrounded by multiple gargoyles. Even if you don't have lightning damage, magic works well.
    Fantasma702: - All you really have to do is keep your distance and try to knock one out first then focus on the others. You can in fact get the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring +2 by using a Bonfire Ascetic on the Upper Ramparts bonfire in Belfry Luna.
  1. The Belfry Gargoyles start the fight by sending out one lone Gargoyle on the left row (The first pillar on the left). There's usually a short window here to go rush in and hit him as much as you can while it is entering and before it can attack. Locking onto a gargoyle is only possible once they have fully entered the fight.
  2. Next, it is possible to rush-kill the Gargoyles one by one, only focusing on one Gargoyle at a time, but this is not necessary for a safe strategy. Playing safe when there are multiple gargoyles in the fight at once is important. Greed is easily punishable.
  3. Turtling is unadvised, as the Gargoyles can easily attack in tandem and break your poise.
  4. The fight has to be treated like group encounters with other basic enemies in this game (Example: Bastille knights with Zweihanders), and thus you should use every inch of the roof, because the Gargoyles can take up space easily.

 

Dark Souls 2 Belfry Gargoyles Move Set

  • The physical attacks can be parried.
  • Boss is weak to lightning and magic attacks. Using miracles and sorceries will result in heavy damage.
  • Focus damage on (preferably) one gargoyle at a time. The fewer gargoyles to deal with the better.
  • Two-hand your weapon for increased damage and dodge away from the gargoyles attempting to flank. (Watch out for tail sweeps!)
  • A shield with high fire defense is recommended. 
  • They do have a rare lightning attack, so a shield with some lightning defense is recommended just in case

 

Belfry Gargoyles Notes and Tips in Dark Souls 2

  • Defeated Gargoyles will subtract 90 seconds (in Aldia's Keep) or 4 minutes (in Drangleic Castle) from the duration of a co-op session, depending on the location. The 4 minute time removal is the largest time adjustment that exists in the game, shared only by a small handful of enemies. See Online for more detailed information about Multiplayer Time Limits.
  • Other Notes and Tips go here.

 



 




Tired of anon posting? Register!
    • Anonymous

      Bonfire Ascetic:
      Belfry Luna - Upper Ramparts Bonfire
      You need to defeat The Lost Sinner before you can burn an ascetic.

      • Anonymous

        Stop confusing people with "man-mode", most of the comments clearly show that most people here are tweens. You are forcing unrealistic expectations on people who believe more than 1 enemy at a time is unfair. You would at least supply man sized tissues if you were a real man-mode!

        • FS dev: hmm I wonder what multi boss should be next
          Random hobo: gargoyle, do that again
          FS dev: but people will notice that we just copy paste it from DS1
          Hobo: eh just make them uglier and put like 6 in a area
          FS dev: perfect

          • Anonymous

            "Man-mode is powerful, but reckless."

            Thank you for your great wisdom, sensei. I promise to only enter MAN-MODE as a last resort

            • Anonymous

              Got so fed up over this ****ing thing that I came here, only to be bombarded with the Man-Mode. Got a couple of levels and the heide's lance and goddamn soloed it, pure rage and hatred for the ****ing thing

              • Anonymous

                > be fextralife editor
                > writing article on DS2 boss
                > "remember not to...."
                > lose train of thought
                > make up word

                The "Man-Mode" Incident:

                • Anonymous

                  ng+ vendrick has 14885 hp
                  these oyles have a combined total of 13300 hp
                  meaning they are just one gargoyle away from outtanking vendrick

                  • Anonymous

                    The most annoying thing about this boss in specific, is that they only attack the exact moment as you, and since they dont stagger, u getting comboed to death, i circle around them for 10 minutes them not doing anything at all, but i do 1 single r1 and all decide to spam attacks.

                    • Anonymous

                      Shout out to SOTFS for putting the Bastille Key in a reasonable place rather than making you fight a whole extra boss just to make Lost Sinner marginally easier. You can tackle the Gargoyles early and enjoy a challenging fight, or wait until you're SL 120 with +10 weapons and go massacre them on a whim

                      • Anonymous

                        I dont know what to say its like ds1 gargs but worse the feeling of hitting them is worse the fun duo boss mechanic is thrown out the window no staggers no room to breath and its even worse with ds2 rolls

                        • Anonymous

                          i did this at SL10 in NG+ difficultly for the ring so here's my advice:

                          it's about patience. the gargoyles wake up at certain health percentages, and NOT on a timer. this means you can be REALLY patient and only attack when you're sure it's safe. you might think an opening is safe and get hit by one of the 2-3 enemies attacking you, and it's really annoying, but trading hits can also be fine if you have the means to heal a lot.

                          • Anonymous

                            Personal opinion: this boss is easily the worst in the franchise (beat all souls games, I'm yet to finish ds2 sotfs but I'm close, still have like 5-8 bosses). This boss has now overtaken the number 1 spot for the shittiest boss in the franchise, previously occupied by Bed of Chaos. At least Bed of Chaos was "nice" enough to save your progress, unlike this atrocity and putridly designed boss fight. Thanks ds2 for another stinker, you never dissapoint

                            • Anonymous

                              I just summoned Masterless Glencour from under the stairs leading up to the boss fog. Made easy work of the Gargs while Glencour meat shielded for me.

                              • Anonymous

                                "enjoyed fighting three guardians as tank? Here's have five gargoyles without of any friendly npcs to help you"

                                • Anonymous

                                  DaS Gargoyles are so easier than this bullshit. At least in DaS, when you focus on one, the other usually does a breath attack that has so much windup and easily punishable. Also, why is there a lot of gang fights in DaS2 Sotfs?

                                  • Anonymous

                                    I really recommend using a ranged weapon for this. If you aren't a spell caster, then an upgraded light crossbow would do(it is much faster than heavy crossbow). Just play it slow, gauge their turns, then plan your turn accordingly. It is ok for the bastards to get close to you, actually you should be close to them, so they will do their attacks right away and you can back away to shoot at the ranged bastard from behind. Just use lifegem bcuz they are faster. Also you can try using poison dart if you want, for me I stocked up on them but I felt it was too hopeless, since I only got to attack once in a while and that is not enough for poison buildup. While poison pyro takes too much time and stamina.

                                    • Anonymous

                                      I wanted to get the gold ring, so I did it again early. It was a nightmare. The first mistake is summoning the npc, that guy suckass. I went with the 20str greatshield and a bunch of spells. Just basic soul spells, I almost used all of my spells. First I just focus on one of them, it is alright for the spells to hit the other 2, as long as I killed the 50%hp one first. And I need to keep my target on the 50%, while rotating around the area. The shield can protect me from all attack as long as I keep moving, even their flying behind attack won't hit. Also, half way of the fight I realized that flasks took too long, so I switched to healing with lifegem only. It helped a lot, they can no longer hit me when I heal.

                                      • Anonymous

                                        Spent a hour+ trying to kill them with Company of Champions covenant, while also using a rapier
                                        I don't think I died to them this many times since I first played DS2 back in the release day?
                                        Were they always on so many layers of "any attempt at attacking will be instantly punished by gargoyles behind, consistent dodging is impossible because they're flying/burning/piercing everything on your screen, they will dodge most counterattack attempts and will fly 50% of the fight making it impossible to damage them with melee, while also removing your ability to see with their wings" type of bullshit?

                                        • Anonymous

                                          Spent over 20 minutes to defeat it for Covetous Gold Serpent Ring +2. Without spells, most of the time you can only run around hoping one gargoyle move out of the crowd. Worst boss experience ever.

                                          • Anonymous

                                            For anyone who can use it, a Soul Spear cast will hit multiple gargoyles if they are lined up (which isn't that hard to do). Can trivialize this fight in NG+.

                                            • Anonymous

                                              For some god forsaken reason, every time I create a new character I have something to farm and always choose these ****ers for the ring. Ng is not a problem being able to kill them fairly quickly and tank some hits. But Ng+ with a +6/+3 weapon is a god damn nightmare. You can't stand in front of them, you can't stand behind them, you can't stand beneath them, the only way to kill them is to run around hoping you can actually see one of them because of their huge ass wings that take up half the arena, looking for an opening to do a single attack before they gang rape you to oblivion. Oh not to forget that you can't aim for just any gargoyle if you don't want to spawn 4 of them.

                                              Conclusion: **** this boss, I'll do it again.

                                              • Anonymous

                                                I had to come here to see how many there were... I was expecting two. It was all such a blur I didn't get to count. Super easy but still had me on edge until I realized how quickly they went down. A lot of fun, honestly. But too easy.

                                                • Pretty easy boss tbh, especially if you're experienced with the DS1 fight. Also agree with other commenters, fairly lazy boss where they clearly had to up the numbers or Gargoyles to make it halfway difficult.

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    This fight isn't too complicated, call the friendly npc ghost and concentrate your attacks on 1 gargoyle per time to kill it and prevent the fight from becoming a gank. For this, you will need firepower to dispatch them as fast as possible. While this wiki says they are weak to dark, they are also to strike and thunder. Conveniently, the lowest str requirement greathammer is at the doors of the area (in the room with a pharros locking mechanism and a pursuer). Upgrade it the most you can at mcduff, equip it on 2-hands and bonk them hard with the strong attack ("R2"). If you are having difficulty, you can apply a thunder resin (Vengralf head sells it on shaded woods). If you want the golden serpent ring +2, burn a bonfire ascetic on the bonfire *after them*, and use a brightbug during the fight, otherwise you will only be strong enough to fight this buffed version on ng+ itself. Good luck.

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      There are quite a lot of things that make Dark Souls II a fun, enjoyable, and memorable experience.

                                                      I think we can all agree that bosses aren't one of them though.

                                                      • Alright these guys were wrecking my hexer build in NG+ until I remembered I had spells. (For some reason I always whack things and just use spells for buffs, idk)

                                                        Dark Hail is actually really really good against these guys. Their wings are super wide and they tend to stand sort of staggered horizontally, so 90-100% of the orbs connect even from mid-distance. Was doing about 700 damage per cast. Sometimes the damage was spread across 2-3 gargoyles, but it hardly mattered.

                                                        Anyway, pretty much any AOE spell is going to do some massive work here. I had Flame Swathe as a backup and that was doing pretty well too (about 750 damage I think).

                                                        So if you're struggling and you've got an AOE spell, attune it.

                                                        You can always run past all of them to the far side of the rooftop to get some space before casting. They're usually pretty slow to follow.

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          Fighting the NG+1 version, I used great magic weapon, a magic dagger + 10, and a crossbow with heavy bolts, as well as the summon.
                                                          If you use the summon, it's important to quickly kill one or two gargoyles while the summon is still alive. I think there's three left afterwards, and I killed them by being very patient, staying far away, and chipping them away with the crossbow.
                                                          If you don't use the summon as an opportunity to kill off some gargoyles, it'll be way harder because I'm pretty sure there's like 5 gargoyles in NG+1 and it's really hard to evade them all.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one, another one,

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              There are a lot of unnecessary, subjective statements in the article. Copying a boss from a previous game, then making the boss more annoying is not an improvement. One could say it is "like" a boss in Dark Souls, but that is about it. This boss also isn't particularly weak to lightning. Try fighting it at SL1 with lightning urns (which can be used to eliminate both the Rotten and the Old Iron King).

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                DS2 wants you to learn how to manage multiple enemies. Call it artificial difficulty if you want but I think they just wanted to keep people on their toes and provide more variety to the challenges. Gank squads are infuriating if you refuse to adapt and learn new strategies.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  Life Ring, Ring of Giants and a Chloranthy Ring Ring saved my Life with 20 Vigor and 17 Vitality with 22 Strenght.

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    Dark Souls is the only franchise that gets away with bad enemy design because of the fanboys.

                                                                    Compare this to Sekiro. Every encounter in that game is a skill-based masterpiece. Each boss is harder than the last.

                                                                    Half the bosses in DS2 are too easy while the other half are too difficult (but for the wrong reasons, in this case stuffing the area with 50 weak bosses instead of having fewer, more challenging bosses). The old ones are legit easier than some of the optional minibosses lmao.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      Because I beat them quite handily the first time, I thought it would be the same when I used the Bonfire Ascetic to fight them again. I needed that Covetous Gold Serpent Ring +2. Boy I got my *** whooped. They had longer lives, bigger damage, while my equipment didn't change much. Long story short, this became the hardest boss in my first DS2 run. My NPC summon dies after two gargoyles leaving me to fight Daddy, Momma, and Baby Gargoyle on my own (I'm in SotfS by the way). I didn't like their porridge anyway.

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        The fight is actually quite managable. They never took me more than two tries. Just focus down the gargoyles one after another... They die pretty fast...

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          50str & 29 vgr, about 1400hp I believe with life ring ring of blades chloranthy ring and a +1 craftsma. Hammer with aromatic ooze took out each gargoyle in 3 hits

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            Why does it say "weakness: Dark mist?" Wth is dark mist? Dark fog maybe? And I have no idea how you can be weak to a hex that simply instantly poisons the target...

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              Run circles around the outside of the Ring and they will gather in the middle, throw large fireballs to whittle down with aoe. When all come out use flame swathe 2-3 times they all die. Seems cowardly but saves me a load of trouble.

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming....

                                                                                • "Hey I heard you liked the bell gargoyles from the first game, so here have one, and another, and another, and another, and another...

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    If you ring belfrey sol before you fught them, they will be much harder with more health dammage, and a lighning attack. Took me by supprise considering i was not new game +

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      “Hey, you know those Ruin Sentinels? yeah, everyone’s gonna find them too easy, since we only stuffed a dozen and a half adds in close-quarters before their boss room, so here’s an even more EXTREEEEEME idea, let’s put double the enemies in both amount and bullsh*tery as the bosses of a PvP hellhole” -Tomohiro Shibuya

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        Lmao you all suck, just get the dragon rider twinblade and go to town on every gargoyle, they all dir effortlessly, I have 50 str and 20 dex with no INT or FAITH, speaking of the weapon doesnt even scale with the last 2. Dragon rider weapons are OP in general on the whole game.

                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                          Weird A.I. on these guys. They'll chase you down but prefer counter-attacking over attacking you while you heal. Ran to a corner to heal and every-time there'd be at least one or two of these guys just standing around right next to me just letting me heal and do zero attacking.

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            The best tip is to go slow. Wait for an opening on a single gargoyle and take a single hit. Then back right off.

                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                              It should be noted that the Belfry Gargoyles completely ignore the "yearn" spell and "alluring skulls" (because that would make too much sense), so don't waste an attunement slot on that spell.

                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                In the end, if the situation is that most of them fire without stopping and can not approach (if you are melee) use ranged attacks (spells, bows, etc.). They tend not to approach when they are low enough.

                                                                                                • hey i just wanted to mention a bug for the wiki to put on the page,And that bug is:You know before the boss there is an NPC invader invades you if you killed it and the other bell keepers then you stand at the fog when it says on the screen(The bell keeper has returned to there world) the fog will disapper and the boss battle is gone (i have the pc edition so if you are in another edition and it didn't work try it on pc V1.01)

                                                                                                Load more
                                                                                                ⇈ ⇈