Lionmen | Dark Souls 2 Wiki

Edit Lion Clan Warriors are phenomenally tough beast-men within the Shaded Ruins, armed with powerful axes and shields. Possessed of a fierce hatred of both humanity and the undead, they are both territorial and aggressive. Equipped with cursed battle axes, they can inflict curse status on an unfortunate undead in only a few swings, even through shields! They possess an incredibly strong resistance against magic of any kind; infused melee weapons will avail themselves little against these beasts, and they are highly resistant to both poison and bleeding. In exchange, however, they are somewhat vulnerable to physical damage, but their skill with both their axes and shields is daunting and they stand as some of the toughest foes one can face. They are especially vulnerable to backstabs and ripostes.

They can be extremely problematic if met at early levels. They do high damage, have high defense, and tend to aggro in groups, making them a challenge for the solo player. However, they do not seem to be overly quick and can be strafed for easy backstabs. May strike with high damage, long range, jumping attack if player is far enough away. They appear to be resistant to all types of magic except Yearn, which they'll blindly follow, resulting in an easy backstab opportunity, They are found in Shaded Woods. A stronger version of the Lion Clan Warrior is located near Tark in the shaded woods and has a gold headpiece to signify who he is. Also causes Curse to build. If you bait an attack from them, it can be fairly easy to sprint behind them for a backstab.

For casters, the easiest way of dispatching them is to cast Yearn and then finish them off with Shadow Dagger backstab, this will mostly result in instant kill at early NGs.

They tend to avoid interaction with people and reside at forest, as they despise their appearance, and the craftmanship of their weapon hinted that they were once intelligent creature, and yet they're now deformed into mindless beast, probably a result of Lord Aldia's experiment.