Dark Souls Washing Pole – Chaos Witch Quelaag

Here is the video for the Quelaag boss fight with a Washing Pole +10.

Strategy for Washing Pole

The range of the washing pole along with its strike area and quick-hitting ability are very useful during this fight.  Quelaag is a difficult boss because of the large variety of attack patterns.  She has ranged lava attacks, up-close Fury Sword attacks and area of effect (AOE) attacks.  All are very powerful and the surrounding lava limits your movements.  You must anticipate each type of attack by learning the related animation.  This will likely take a few tries.

Lava attacks can be dodged by moving to her right side.  She is vulnerable while spewing lava and you should be able to hit her 2 or 3 times.  However, make sure that you can roll out of the way at any time (don’t consume all of your stamina attacking her).

Her sword attacks can be dodged by rolling to your left but the timing is a bit tricky.  The finishing move is a powerful straight forward thrust that has much more reach than her swinging attacks.  If you can stay very close to her body on her right, even with her sword hand, she will miss you altogether.  You need nerves of steel to pull this off.  The safest evading tactic is to roll far back, wait until her 3-hit combo ends and then rush in for a direct attack on her head, followed by a roll to the side.

The AOE attacks include a fire stomp with her legs.  It is easy to avoid by backing up a bit.  The second AOE is her most dangerous move of all.  She will go limp, rear up slightly and then down releasing a very powerful fire blast.  The hit area is spherical and does massive damage.  You must roll back at least twice.  If you are out of stamina, try to hold up your shield and pray you can survive.  After the AOE’s, she is vulnerable to a running attack.

Other strategies

Ranged attackers must be careful of her lava attacks.  If you are far and trying to lock-on, she can jump and spew lava at the same time.  This move covers an insane amount of ground and can trap you in a lake of lava.  She is also extremely fast and can close in strike you while you are trying to target her, even from what feels like a safe distance away.

Finally, the lava she spews will restrict your movement.  It eventually disappears but you need to be aware of the lava puddles.  I recommend running to a lava free area periodically.

She has very high fire and magic damage.  If you plan on using magic attacks, get ready for a long and tough fight.  Physical damage is your best bet.