Soul of Cinder
Maximum souls: 743,580
This boss can be easy or difficult depending on how you fight him. Here are some strategies to deal with Cinder, assuming that you first cast Sacred Oath or use the weapon art of the Sunlight Straight Sword, and cast Deep Protection:
- Equip the Sellsword Twinblades+10 in the right hand. The left hand should be equipped with the Old Wolf Curved Sword and the Sunless Talisman+5. In the slot for "Quick Item 2", equip Gold Pine Bundle. Cast Sacred Oath and Deep Protection, buff the Twinblades with Lightning Blade, switch the left hand weapon to the Old Wolf Curved Sword, 2-hand the Twinblades, and L1 the boss. Also equip these rings for bonus damage output: Lloyd's Sword Ring, Lightning Clutch Ring. You might need to equip the Ring of Favor+3 to maintain a weight ratio below 30%. During the first phase, when the buff from Lightning Blade runs out, use Gold Pine Bundle as necessary. As the second phase begins to initiate, buff the Twinblades with Lightning Blade. If time permits, also cast Sacred Oath. Use Gold Pine Bundle whenever necessary.
- This boss can be tricky to spam L1 or R1. If you find yourself doing an L1 or R1 every now and then, you might as well equip the Lothric Knight Greatsword+10 in the right hand. In the left hand, equip a Blessed infused Caestus+10 and the Sunless Talisman+5. Equip these rings: Chloranthy Ring+3, Ring of Steel Protection+3, Sun Princess Ring, Ring of Favor+3. In the slot for "Quick Item 2", equip Gold Pine Bundle. Cast Sacred Oath and Deep Protection, buff the Lothric Knight Greatsword+10 with Lightning Blade, switch the left hand weapon to the Caestus, 2-hand the main weapon, and wait for an opportunity to R1 the boss. As the second phase takes effect, buff your main weapon with Lightning Blade. Whenever the opportunity arises, also cast Sacred Oath and/or Deep Protection. Consume a Gold Pine Bundle as necessary. An ultra great sword is effective for poise damage against the boss. After a few R1, Cinder would be stunned for a few seconds, giving you an opportunity for a fully charged R2.
- Attune Chaos Bed Vestiges and equip these rings to boost your pyromancy: Witch's Ring, Great Swamp Ring, Lloyd's Sword Ring, Fire Clutch Ring. Be at a decent distance away from Cinder and throw a Vestiges every now and then. Don't get greedy and spam Vestiges at the boss.
Attune Homing Crystal Soulmass and Crystal Soul Spear. Equip these items to boost your sorcercy: Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring, Young Dragon Ring, Lloyd's Sword Ring, Magic Clutch Ring, Crown of Dusk, Scholar's Candlestick in the left hand, Court Sorcerer's Staff+10 in the right hand. For extra damage output, cast Carthus Beacon but this pyromancy would cancel Tears of Denial. Two-hand the staff and buff it. Cast Homing Crystal Soulmass. Be at a decent distance from the boss and cast Crystal Soul Spear. The next video demonstrates this strategy.
Trigger the fight, quit out, and restart your game. You should now be in front of the fog wall outside of the boss arena. Equip the Red Tearstone Ring and Flynn's Ring. Use Pestilent Mist, Symbol of Avarice, and/or Bloodlust to decrease your HP enough to trigger the effect of the Red Tearstone Ring. Equip the Morion Blade in the right hand and the Millwood Greatbow+5 in the left hand. Use the weapon art of the bow to cheese Cinder from outside of the boss arena. Once the first phase is over, either use the same cheese to defeat Cinder or enter the arena to fight the boss. The video below demonstrates the Millwood Greatbow glitch.
Soul of Cinder NG+32 Millwood Greatbow cheese, Dark Souls III
