Seath the Scaleless

Seath the Scaleless (白竜シース) is a mandatory Boss encountered in The Crystal Caves.

Description

An albino dragon without scales, granted the title of Duke by Lord Gwyn for his assistance in defeating the Everlasting Dragons and given a fragment of a Lord Soul. Seath was driven insane by his research, which revealed that it was scales that made dragons immortal. Ironically, he is now an immortal himself, specifically Undead, by means of his research into the Primordial Crystal, which he stole from the dragons when he defected.

His servants, the Channelers, assist him in his research by kidnapping undead to be experimented upon. The Pisaca is the result of one of those experiments. He can also create life from scratch using sorcery, resulting in the Moonlight Butterflies.

He is the area boss of the The Duke's Archives and Crystal Cave.

Location

The Duke's Archives
At the topmost floor accessed by an elevator. The narrow corridor leading to him is guarded by the Crystal General. This fight cannot be won, as his HP keeps regenerating. Because death is required to progress, Ring of Sacrifice or Rare Ring of Sacrifice can be useful. The players can exit the fog gate and put it on outside if needed
Crystal Cave
This is where you properly fight him. The boss arena is at the end of the path, behind the area with the Man Eater Shells. Initially the boss arena will be open, but after you approach the Primordial Crystal, a cutscene will play and the boss fight commences. After the cutscene plays, the next time you fight him (after you died or teleported back to the bonfire), a normal boss fog will be there as he's already in the arena.

Drops

• Bequeathed Lord Soul Shard (Seath the Scaleless)
• Moonlight Greatsword - automatically added to your inventory after you cut his middle/back tail
• Humanity

Resistances

Physical resistances

Elemental resistances

Auxiliary resistances

Sourced from the Future Press Official Dark Souls Strategy Guide

Notes

• Although the item description of the Six Eyed Helm of the Channelers notes that Seath is blind, avoiding making noise using the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring or casting Hush has no effect during the boss fight. Seath simply attacks where you last attacked from.

• The dragon Seath and the Moonlight Sword are based on From Software's earlier King's Field series. In addition, the Moonlight Sword's special ability (exploding energy wave) may be based from Armored Core series' Moonlight laser sword's signature energy wave.

Bug Notes

• During the first time you fight Seath, there's a rare bug where the boss fight doesn't start, and Seath just sits there doing nothing. He still regenerates health, however, but will not start a battle when you attack him. In order to fix this bug, just quit and reload. The bug can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vcXwdJmUEc

• The "Seath doesn't attack" bug can be reproduced reliably, though it has no real use because he is still invincible. Encounter him once, normally. Play through the Archives until you reach the back bonfire. Rest there, return to Seath's room, start the "fight," then leave the room through the fog door you came in from. Run back to the rear bonfire, rest, and return to his room a third time. The third visit resulted in no healthbar appearing and Seath not attacking at all.

Attack Patterns

• Pauses and unleashes a breath attack right around his torso. This breath attack carries the curse status effect and is unblockable because it comes from beneath the player.
• Pauses and unleashes a breath attack from (player) left to right (heavy damage on the left, there is space between Seath and the emerging crystals).
• Minor (side) tails lash.
• Primary tail lash that does more damage than his minor tails. This is the tail behind Seath, not visible from its front.
• Lashes and swipes with all three tails for a short duration, causing heavy damage in an area behind him.
• Bends down and swipes with his left arm in front of him.
• "Nova"-style area-of-effect crystal wave attack centered on himself. This can be dodged easily by backing off some paces. Deals heavy physical and curse damage if the player is not fast enough to get out of range.

Strategies

In The Duke's Archives

• When you encounter Seath for the first time in The Duke's Archives, he regenerates all damage dealt to him. Do not waste arrows or consumables on this fight.

• Equip Ring of Sacrifice with high curse resistance or equip a Rare Ring of Sacrifice if you want to keep your humanity and souls.

• If you entered the boss room without making proper preparation (as you're intended to die here), there are several places in there for you to be able to safely customize your equipment or quit your game (you'll spawn outside the fog gate after you load your game):
  • You are able to turn right around and go through the fog gate, thus exiting the room if you feel this isn't a good time to fight him
  • Immediately in front of the fog, after you enter the boss room; provided you do not move, Seath does not initiate his attacks
  • In the far upper left corner, at the bookshelves
  • A slight gap just in front of Seath (you need to get really close). if you stand here, most of Seath's breath attacks will not hit you
  • If you don't have a Rare Ring of Sacrifice it's fairly easy to be killed by the attacks themselves as long as you don't stand on the crystals. It is advised to bring a Purging Stone just in case.

In Crystal Cave

• The first time you encounter Seath in the Crystal Cave, there is no fog wall and the Man Eater Shells sometimes make their way into the fight if not killed, although Seath can kill these Man Eater Shells with crystal breath quite quickly. Stay near him and be wary of any enemies you didn't kill.

• The Primordial Crystal (the glowing crystal shard on the far side of the room) must be destroyed to keep Seath from regenerating his health. You can destroy it yourself, or let Seath destroy it himself with his crystal breath. On subsequent attempts to kill Seath, you need to run behind Seath at the beginning of the encounter to destroy the crystal.

• It is strongly recommended that you equip curse-resistant equipments, as Seath's main attacks inflict curse.

• If you don't mind going in heavy, Havel's Set provides high resistance to both Magic and curse. If you have the Strength to wield it, Havel's Greatshield can help you block Seath's crystal breath. However, the crystal breath is fairly easy to avoid in light armour, and lack of mobility can result in death.

• If you want to cut his tail for Moonlight Greatsword, when you start the fight, run to the crystal, but don't destroy it right away. Wait for Seath to approach and bait his breath attack. He will destroy the crystal himself. Once the crystal is destroyed by Seath, he pauses momentarily, which gives you time to run around him and attack the very tip of his middle/back tail. Seath's tail is about 15% of his total HP, so use a powerful weapon with a long attack.

• Seath always attacks if and when he stops moving or turning. If you stand at mid range, he will attack accordingly and breath in the mid range, use this to run in (or out if you were close to him) and deal damage. Works especially well if you aren't worried about cutting his tail.

• His attacks don't quite reach his smaller leg/tails on the side, and will constantly adjust to face you. Follow them, attacking as you go, and none of his attacks will hit you. (As long as you dont get stuck against a wall)

Melee

Using this method you will take little damage and if you are caught it will likely be the curse that kills you anyway, thus armour is almost completely useless. For this fight equip whatever light armour you have with curse resistance and two-hand your weapon. If you picked up the Maiden Set after Seath's first encounter it is perfect, even without upgrades. Even better is the Crimson Set from Blighttown if you have it handy. You can also equip the Grass Crest Shield for some extra stamina regeneration while it is on your back.

If you get cursed don't worry about curing it, you should be taking little damage anyway, you can run past all the enemies straight to the boss fog, and the two options of curing it are expensive or difficult. Wait until you kill Seath and then cure it.

If this is the first time you are entering the area, simply back up near the crystal and wait for him to approach and start his breath attack. It will break the crystal and halt his regeneration. If you're entering through the fog door, approach him until he starts his breath attack and then run around him on your right to the crystal and either break it or bait out another breath attack to break it.

Now when he starts using a breath attack, run up to him and get a few attacks on his chest. Run back when you see or hear the crystals (that his attack left on the ground) start to shatter. He will either use a melee attack and miss or will start charging a light to his chest. If you see the light, RUN as far away as you can, then once those crystals shatter you can get close enough to bait out another breath attack and repeat.

Faith Tank

Using this method you will tank everything he can throw at you. Recommended gear includes: replenishment or bountiful sunlight, high magic resist armor(Havels is good, shield included. The curse resist is a huge bonus), the Spell Stoneplate Ring along with the Ring of the Sun Princess. Sun Princess ring is less important if you can use Bountiful Sunlight.

Before you begin the fight cast replenish/sunlight. This along with the high magic resist should keep you alive and well through all of his magic attacks. Once you have replenish up, melee him to your hearts content. Blocking when he does his Nova attack, if he does, is highly recommended. Most of his melee attacks should whiff if you are close enough to him, but it's a safe idea to block if you're not confident in your luck. Have fun!

Bow

Seath's attacks are short-ranged enough that you can stay out of range and retain lock-on with a bow. Bring a bow and approximately 100-200 arrows. Keep Seath in the middle of the area, lock on and circle around him, firing arrows as you go. Be sure to stay out of range, and if he comes too close, dash past him to the other side of the area, where you will be out of range again. Seath doesn't speed up or become more dangerous as he gets closer to dying. With a Raw Black Bow of Pharis +5, you can deal approximately 42-45 damage per hit with a Hawk Ring equipped, and killed Seath with a little over 100 arrows. This method works for any character build, not just archers.

Alternatively, it is easier to run to either side of the arena and get a few headshots as he makes his way back to the other side. Run back and forth from the fog wall and the area where the glowing crystal was. With 40 dexterity and a Black Bow of Pharis +14 it takes less than 50 Large Arrows (headshots). This strategy prevents his attack animations.

Tail Cut

To cut off a tail it's necessary to deal a certain amount of damage against it. The HP of the tail increases with higher NG cycles and is based on the HP of the respective enemy.

In case of Seath, the tail has about 14.93% of his HP.

Equipment load under 25% is highly recommended to cut his tail.

Lure Seath as close as possible to the crystal. It is ideal to kite Seath close to one of the walls, so that when he attacks with his breath, you have plenty of room to move around his other side. Once Seath is close enough to you he will pause and begin his breath attack; immediately run behind Seath. Run to his left side (your right), as he breathes his crystal breath from his right to his left. Seath will destroy the crystal with his own breath attack and be stunned temporarily. Without locking on to him, target the tip of his back (middle) tail and attack it while two-handing your highest damage weapon or using fast strong spells.

Use weapons that have vertical slash when two-handed: katanas, straightswords, greatswords, ultra greatswords, etc. Slash the tip once or twice, then run away. Provoke him to attack with his crystal breath, run to his tail, slash once or twice again, then repeat.

You can also use fast spells to cut his tail. Unlike using weapons, it is recommended to retreat from the boss battle (Homeward, Homeward Bone, or quit game) if you fail to cut it on the first try after breaking the crystal.

• Great Combustion:
  on NG, with Pyromancy Flame +10, you can cut his tail in about three Great Combustion casts. on NG+, an Ascended Pyromancy Flame +5 is recommended. Wear Crown of Dusk and Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring for stronger pyromancies.

• Wrath of the Gods:
  Maximize Wrath of the Gods' damage by using Darkmoon Talisman with 50 Faith and wearing Crown of Dusk and Ring of the Sun's Firstborn.

Make sure you don't attempt to cut it at the base or middle of the tail, but rather the tip, as this is the only place where it can be cut off, plus he will likely kill you with tail slams, tail swipes, and his Nova crystal attack if you are close/mid range behind him.

Information

Strategies

Drops

Lore

Notes

Trivia