The Demon’s Souls tutorial boss is a rude awakening for beginners. After sauntering through the first area, the Vanguard Demon wrecks the player, sending them to The Nexus. The tutorial boss killing the player is part of the story, so no one should be ashamed of dying to it. But, it does have a health bar, which makes one wonder if the Demon’s Souls tutorial boss can be beaten.
We’ll cover whether or not players can beat the Vanguard Demon during the tutorial of Demon’s Souls below and when they can get a rematch with it during normal gameplay.
Can Vanguard Demon, the tutorial boss, be defeated in Demon’s Souls?
Yes, the tutorial boss can be defeated in Demon’s Souls. The Vanguard Demon has around 3,000 HP, but if players can avoid its attacks and plug away at it, it will die just like any other boss. This isn’t a task for the faint at heart. This is the strongest creature players will encounter for the next few hours, even moreso than the Red Eyes Knight, and the rewards aren’t the greatest. Also, our recommended beginner build is no use in the tight corners players must fight the boss in.
Defeating the tutorial boss gets players a Grey Demon’s Soul, which is handy for upgrades later in the game. Even if players don’t defeat him, the Vanguard Demon shows up later as the boss of the Shrine of Storms, so there’s no need to worry about missable items here.
When defeated, the Vanguard Demon will also turn into a secret Archstone that will teleport players to the hidden Unknown Egress area. There are some upgrade items that players can find there, but there’s also a much stronger foe than the tutorial boss awaiting as well.
At the end of the area awaits the Dragon King. Players might remember him from the cutscene. He’s enormous, and he’s here to propel the story forward by punching the player to death in a single blow. Unfortunately, there’s no fight here, just a cutscene where the Dragon King sends the player flying through the corridor to their death.
The plot has to move forward somehow. Since the Vanguard Demon didn’t kill the player, they’ve got to make it to The Nexus the hard(er) way. The Dragon God doesn’t play around with sequence breaking, and forces the game back onto the rails.
