Dark Souls 3 – Beat the Dancer of the Boreal Valley

The boss battle against the Dancer of the Boreal Valley can be trigger at any point once you speak with Emma, High Priestess of Lothric Castle in the High Wall of Lothric area. If you have not defeated the necessary Cinder Lords, you can still initiate the boss battle by killing Emma. However, it’s likely you will be a bit under-leveled to fight the Dancer.

Once you have defeated the necessary number of Cinder Lords, you are automatically teleported back to the High Wall of Lothric, in the room where you first met Emma (near the Vordt of the Boreal Valley bonfire). Speak with Emma, who is dying on the floor, and she gives you the Basin of Vows. Approach the statue directly ahead to begin the boss battle.

While the Dancer can inflict significant damage in a short time, once you get the timing of her attacks down, this fight isn’t overly difficult. Many of the Dancer’s attacks are telegraph and are slow to initiate. As soon as you see the Dancer shift from her normal movements, an attack is coming. Be prepared to dodge and you won’t have much issue with the battle.

Usually the Dancer attacks two or three times in a row. Many of her attacks cover a wide radius around her body, but if you try to stay as close to her back as possible you can still avoid most of her attacks. She will place a ring of fire around her that covers all but her back side, so be ready to move if she drags her sword along the ground. In addition, if the Dancer begins spinning continuously, it’s best to back away as far as you can because this onslaught of attacks can be difficult to dodge or block.

It’s also very important to dodge if the Dancer tries to grab you with her free hand. This grapple attack will kill most characters because it inflicts so much damage. Even if you’re poured a considerable amount of points into increasing your health, the attack will still drain at least 70 percent under the best circumstances.

Continue to move in circles around the Dancer at close range, dodging her attacks when necessary, but attacking at all other times (unless you need to replenish stamina). Before long the Dancer will be down to 50 percent health and she will pull a second sword out of the ground. Move away as soon as the Dancer stands after obtaining the second sword. A devastating circular attack follows that will kill anyone who remains too close (unless you have exceptional dodging ability).

At this point her range is extended even further and she starts using a cloud of dark magic that hits anyone in close proximity and occurs twice in rapid succession. Dodge away when you see her hand go down to avoid the dark magic. You can roll through the second blast and get in a few attacks before the Dancer returns to her normal attack rotation.

Defeat Dancer of the Boreal Valley to obtain the Soul of the Dancer, light the Dancer of the Boreal Valley bonfire, then approach the statue once again and place the Basin of Vows. This reveals a ladder that leads up to a new area.

For more boss battles and other information on Dark Souls 3 head back to our walkthrough and guide!