Dark Souls 3 High Lord Wolnir- Who is He and How to Defeat Him?

Dark Souls 3 High Lord Wolnir is a boss, with an appearance of a skeleton wearing beautiful jewelry and a few shreds of clothes. He is the leader of skeletons, and defeating him is mandatory to proceed into Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.

Where to Find High Lord Wolnir in Dark Souls 3?

To get into a battle with this colossal skeleton, go to the very end of Catacombs of Carthus past the suspension bridge. Here you will find a goblet on an altar. Go and interact with it to start a cut scene. The Cut scene will ultimately lead you to a battle with High Lord Wolnir.

Dark Souls 3 High Lord Wolnir’s attacks and abilities

It’s always best to know what you are against to prepare with all the tips and tricks to win. Keeping this in mind, we have compiled all the attacks and abilities of High Lord Wolnir to help you trounce him.

#1 Dark Vapor Cloud Breath

Before attacking his dark vapor cloud breath, the skeleton tilts his head back in a tedious manner. Thus, keep an eye out for this sign and immediately run uphill. This is because if he leans over and hits you with the dark vapors, you will be toast! 

#2 Skeleton Minions

High Lord Wolnir will bring in his skeleton minions who are weak enemies. So, you don’t need to really worry about them. In fact, they are quite similar to the flimsy skeletons you came across in Catacombs of Carthus. We will advise you to ignore them since Wolnir’s attacks will be more than enough to kill his loyal minions.

#3 Wolnir’s Holy Sword

This skeleton has several tricks up its sleeve. He can bring a huge sword whenever he wants in the fight to give you a hard time. He will use this Holy Sword to slash and stab you to manage to give you some damage. However, if you stay alert and notice how the sword winds up before each swing. You will be able to save yourself. Dodge and roll to try and evade these swipes. There will come a time when this boss will want to get rid of the sword. At that moment, he will cause an AOE attack by plunging it into the ground and causing an eruption. It would be best if you run away from the scene at that very moment to save yourself from an incredible amount of damage. 

#4 Crawling Charge

Remember not to get very far away from Wolnir because if you did, you might die. This is because if the Ashen One gets too far away from him. He will claw his way uphill angrily and chase down his foe, i.e., you. Moreover, when he does this, you might end up with boss area hazards. So, stay close to him towards the sides of the boss room and save yourself.  

#5 Hand Slams & Swipes

This is one of the common attacks of Wolnir that he will do now and then. In fact, they are more annoying than deadly as they don’t do very much damage. It can be quite difficult for you to save yourself from them since this skeleton’s hands are gigantic. All you can do is try to roll and dodge them as much as you can.

#6 Vomit Attack

This attack is quite deadly since the abyss matter that Wolnir vomits outdoes some serious damage. Although, during this attack, Wolnir’s hands are quite still. So, you can either take shelter under them or get some damage while attacking his bracelets. The smart thing would be to get shelter and use some ranged magic to damage his bracelets a bit.

#7 Static Dark Cloud

Static Dark Cloud is less of an attack and more of something you need to stay away from at all times. It is the same dark vapors that Wolnir uses in his breath attack, except for this time, they are always around his rib cage. We would advise you to maintain a distance from his rib cage at all times to save yourself from this haze which can cause you a lot of damage.  

Different Strategies to Defeat Dark Souls 3 High Lord Wolnir

Melee Strategy

This strategy revolves around hitting High Lord Wolnir’s bracelets with the help of a melee weapon that has high single hit damage. Since these bracelets can take quite some damage. Players should go completely prepared and be ready to put on a fight. Moreover, we recommend players first aim for the line bracelet, which is present on the right arm of high lord Wolnir (since this is the dominant arm), meaning getting rid of this bracelet first will make the rest of the battle a little easier.

Moreover, carry any melee weapon with you to this fight. This weapon should be the type that focuses a lot on doing great damage in a couple of hits in an attempt to break the bracelets as fast as possible. Remember that breaking the bracelets depends on how great the damage provided is and not how many hits have been striked. While smashing the shiny trinkets, you should not look at them but instead, keep an eye on Wolnir’s head so that you can avoid any potential deadly breath attack coming your way.

Poison Cheese Strategy

Go to the Corvian Storytellers on the Road of Sacrifices to get your hands on Storyteller’s Staff. Also, re-allocate most of your current charges to an Ashen Estus Flask. Your next step to success would involve you leveling up to 12 Intelligence so that you have the power to wield the staff. Now it’s time for you to come face to face with High Lord Wolnir. First, you will walk to your right to reach Wolnir’s left arm.

Next, you will use the storyteller’s staff’s weapon, which you had taken before, and continue to do so until your enemy is poisoned and once again repeat the procedure when it wears off. As you continue fighting, make sure to restore your FP via your ashen Estus flask so that you can win. You can repeat this technique as many times as it takes to kill High Lord Wolnir. However, remember that it is next to impossible for you to carry out this strategy and get too close to him if he is awake. Overall, this method is the best choice for low-level builds and is trying to get past catacombs.

Using Pestilent Mist Strategy

This is one of the best strategies. All you will have to do once the battle begins is go towards Wolnir’s left hand and start using the pestilent mist. Do this around five times, and shall defeat the boss. Keep in mind that while going for this strategy, you cannot use any other material or weapon besides the pestilent mist to succeed easily.

Spellcaster Strategy

Trying to escape Wolnir’s attack is going to be one hell of a task. Hence, you have no option but to fight him. So, why not try and be clever to win easily. This is exactly what this strategy is about. Since Wolnir is immune to the darkest damage, poisons, and frost build-up, a sorcerer should know the exact spell to use to win, and we are more than happy to share them.

Opt for Soul Greatsword sorcery as it has the ability to damage both the bracelets on Wolnir’s left arm simultaneously. This is because this spell results in wide, extremely damaging slashes.

Another great spell to opt for is the Lightning Stake miracle, as it will damage the boss’s health greatly with just a short burst of lightning.

Rewards After Defeating Dark Souls 3 High Lord Wolnir

Besides the satisfaction of defeating the High Lord Wolnir, you will also get amazing rewards which include the Soul of High Lord Wolnir and a Grave Warden Pyromancy Tome. However, to get your hands on the Grave Warden Pyromancy Tome, you will have to explore a bonfire room which shall get activated as soon as you defeat the powerful skeleton.

Conclusion:

Now that you know everything related to High Lord Wolnir, it’s time for you to prepare yourself, defeat him, and move ahead in the game.