There are a lot of interesting lore implications with Roundtable Knight Vyke, from the fingerprints on his armor to the fact that he’s a “Lord Contendor”. Of course, what’s important for this guide is how to kill him, and we’ve got a few strategies for ya!
General Tips
Vyke appears to be immune to all status effects (Bleed, Frostbite, etc).
Once Vyke buffs himself with lightning, he does more damage, but will take increased damage from Lighting attacks.
Speaking of Lightning, Vyke does quite a bit of Lightning damage, so any gear/talismans you have that boost your resistance to said damage type will be useful.
Vyke often stabs multiple times in a row with his spear, so rolling backwards while already close to him can cause you to get caught by a followup attack. Instead, if you’re close, try to roll towards/past Vyke — the exception to this is when he does a leaping attack.
Strategy
We’ve got strategies for both melee and magic builds, and then we’ll go over Vyke’s moveset. At the start of the fight, make sure that you take advantage of the window when Vyke is targetable but still spawning to get some free damage in.
Melee
For players with a weapon that has decent range (think greatsword or longer), you can use your weapon’s thrusting/poking (or just its longest) attack to catch Vyke when he runs in, which he loves to do.
If you have a shorter weapon, you’ll need to use a different technique. Equip your shield with the best combination of physical and lightning defense, and hold block while walking backwards — you should still try to roll away from Vyke’s attacks, but holding block means if he does his Rapid Swipe you’ll block most of the damage. Once Vyke misses an attack, use a jumping heavy attack on him, then immediately input a roll — roll a few more times to create some space and regain your stamina.
If you’re doing OK on HP and flasks, you can also be agressive with your leaping attacks instead of only waiting for Vyke to miss
“Ranged”
This isn’t exactly a ranged strat per se, but since most purely ranged builds are mage builds, this should be relevant to those players. Vyke is very good at dodging projectiles when he isn’t winding up an attack, so while you can use ranged attacks against him, it will take forever. Instead, Intelligence builds should use Carian Piercer in this fight. The range is much longer than Vyke’s spear, and it will knock him down if fully charged. It also has good poise while casting, so even if you mistime it you should still be able to get the spell off.
If you don’t have/don’t want to go get Carian Piercer, Adula’s Moonblade is a decent replacement — it’s range isn’t as good, and it isn’t as FP effecient, but it will also interrupt Vyke and so is safer than the other melee-style spells. You can also use Glintblade Phalanx and just run away from Vyke, slowly wearing him down, but this is method will take a while.
Note that Faith builds can and should use the Lightning Spear or a similar spell on Vyke after he’s used his buff (he’ll be crackling with red electricity). He’ll roll these type of attacks, so wait until he’s in the middle of an attack animation to use these spells on him.
Moveset
Rapid Swipe – Vyke swings his spear horizontally — this is often done after Vyke rolls. Can be blocked fairly safely, but is hard to see coming — the best defense is to be out of range.
Charging Thrust – Vyke charges with his spear, doing damage upon contact and for a bit after — he finishes this move with another stab, doing additional damage. Roll towards him to avoid, as rolling backwards will make you eat rest of the move. You can strafe/roll past Vyke as he charges, and backstab him when this attack finishes.
Strong Stab – Vyke stabs once times with his spear. Roll in any direction to avoid.
Stab Combo – Vyke stabs three times with his spear. You can roll past him to make the second attack miss most of the time, but you’ll need to roll again to avoid the final strike.
Whirlwind Leap – Vyke channels a whirlwind around him, staggering you if you’re too close to him — he then leaps in the air and plunges his spear downward. If you’re caught in the initial whirlwind, you’ll always eat the second part of this attack. You can actually block this combo fairly effectively, but the best counter is rolling out of the whirlwind. After this attack ends, you have a large window to attack in.
Vyke’s Dragonbolt – Vyke buffs himself, raising his spear into the sky and calling red lightning down upon his body. After he does this, his attacks will do lightning damage, but he’ll take more lightning damage as well. You can and should attack him when you see him cast this spell.
Lightning Strike – Vyke raises his fist and it crackles with electricity, while a yellow dragon appears in front of it. He then calls down a lighhtning bolt on you — he can cast this multiple times in a row. You can run sideways (perpendicular to Vyke) to avoid, or you can roll.
Fortissax Lightning Spear – Vyke jumps and floats as he throws two lightning bolts sequentiallly at the ground. You can jump over or roll through the lightning waves, but the easiest way to avoid this is simply running away.
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
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