DARK SOULS: REMASTERED
41 Achievements
1,000
40-50h
Defeat the Four Kings
Defeat the Four Kings, inheritors of souls. Details for this achievement will be revealed once unlocked
25
25.35%
How to unlock the Defeat the Four Kings achievement in DARK SOULS: REMASTERED - Definitive Guide
This battle takes place in the Abyss, which is accessible from a tower at the bottom of the New Londo Ruins.
The Four Kings are one of four primary bosses that you must defeat to open the path to the Kiln of the First Flame which leads to Gwyn, the game's final boss. Take the lift below the Firelink Shrine bonfire to get to New Londo Ruins and cross a rickety wooden bridge to get into the actual area.
This area is full of ghost enemies that are initially immune to all damage. You can circumvent this hindrance by using a Transient Curse, which lasts five minutes and allows you to deal damage to ghosts. Make your way through this linear area to reach a large building with a ladder to the roof where you will meet Ingward, who will give you the Key to the Seal. Progress farther to find a door that this key can unlock and a lever behind it that can be pushed to drain water out of the area.
You can now access the lower part of the New Londo Ruins where you will encounter Darkwraith enemies that are pretty tough.
Progress farther through this area to reach a fog wall that leads into a circular tower with steps going down. You must equip the Covenant of Artorias in one of your ring slots (gotten by killing Sif, the Great Grey Wolf) to proceed down into the Abyss or you will instantly die. Drop off of the steps into the darkness below and the battle will begin.
The first of Four (or even more) Kings will appear shortly after you land.
The Kings have several different attacks. Time is of the essence in this battle because subsequent Kings spawn on a timer and engaging more than one at time is nearly impossible. Do your best to damage each King, who's individual life bar is about 1/4 of the main boss life bar. After you kill a King, keep attacking it as it fades away as this will allow you to do extra damage to the main boss life bar.
Ideally you can kill each before the next spawns. You will need to kill at least four in order to deal enough damage to the main boss life bar, and Kings will keep spawning in beyond a fourth or even a fifth if you aren't fast enough. Once you completely deplete the main boss life bar, the battle will end (with a brief cutscene) and the achievement will unlock. Good luck!
As always, refer to http://darksouls.wikidot.com for specific information relating to items or locations.
Once you acquire the Lordvessel you'll be given the task of filling it with the four souls of the great lords of the world so that you can finally challenge the game's final boss. One of these souls is the soul of the Four Kings.
The Four Kings are located the very bottom of the New Londo Ruins, in the Abyss, however to get there you'll need to first lower the water of the area and also have equipped the ring Covenant of Artorias (check the "Art of Abysswalking" trophy description for information on how to get it). The Abyss is located by jumping inside a deep hole in the area and the ring prevents you from dying instantly with the fall.
To lower the water of the whole area and clear the way to the Abyss entrance you'll have to release a seal that opens the huge doors that connect New Londo to the Valley of Drakes, however the seal is inside a locked door and the only NPC of the area, Ingward, is the one with the key.
To get to him you'll have to go through the narrow bridges and ghost-filled buildings in order to reach the roof of the biggest one where you'll find him. If you talk to him after acquiring the Lordvessel he will promptly give you the key, however if you get to him before doing so (one of the ways to enter the Darkwraith covenant) you'll have to kill him in order to loot the key, release the seal, and progress to the Abyss entrance.
Check the bosses section for more information on them.
After that, we head to Old Londo, and in one of the broken vases, we should find the item “Briefly temporary curse” (looks like a pale hand). With its help, we can kill the ghosts that live there. Let's use it and go on our way.
After activating the lever and draining all the water Outside, our goal will now go down where the opponents live - Dark Spirits. Having fully explored the location, we find the tower where the boss lives. We put on the ring that we received after defeating the boss - the Great Wolf Sif and jump straight down into the Abyss!
There are only 4 bosses, they appear after some time, so our goal is to quickly deal with one before another appears, otherwise it will be very sweaty and there is almost no chance of winning. After killing the boss, we get a trophy. And if you looked at my hint for the trophy - the covenant of Dark Spirits, then you will also see the huge protruding head of Kaas, which will invite us to join the covenant. Attention, you must be in Human form!