Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel A Boss Guide To Defeating Sister Friede

The fight with Sister Friede can be extremely difficult if you don’t know the right moves to make. Personally, I spent over 3.5 hours on this boss and used up 22 embers before finishing her off. In my honest opinion, From Software really upped the difficulty with Ashes of Ariandel for both enemies and bosses alike. Considering this is the first main boss, I wasn’t expecting a three-part fight that gets increasingly punishing as time goes on. For those that believe soloing Pontiff Sulyvahn in Dark Souls 3 was a difficult task, you’re going to absolutely dread this boss fight.





To begin with, there is a summon sign by the bonfire entrance for an NPC that will help you during the second phase of the fight. In order to prepare, you must use the summon sign and equip the Estus Ring if it’s in your inventory. Although this boss mainly deals Frost Damage, I suggest equipping a ring that will assist you in withstanding heavy physical damage. In the first phase of the fight, Sister Friede will shoot lines of frost that explode after a few seconds and deal heavy frost damage. This can easily make your character become Frostbitten, so try to stay back when she performs this attack. 





Sister Friede’s signature move is going invisible and teleporting across the room. She will try to perform an execution move on you with her vicious Scythe, but this can be easily avoided if you listen to her footsteps when she teleports. You’re able to walk up to her before she fully charges her execution attack and break the invisibility spell. If you played the original Dark Souls, then you may remember the fight with Priscilla who also shares an invisibility move. Most of the time, attacking Sister Friede will break her own attacks. She is also vulnerable to backstabbing. By the time you finish this phase, make sure you have at least 10 Estus Flask charges or the next two phases will be brutal.





After the cutscene ensues, part two of this fight will start. Sister Friede has a companion at her side this time around. Luckily for her, so do you. The NPC you summoned prior to the fight will suddenly appear and begin attacking. Let your companion deal with Sister Friede while you focus on the real target, Father Lloyd. Begin hitting Father Lloyd by getting behind him, while simultaneously dodging his devastating melee and fire attacks. After some time, he will stagger and become vulnerable to a riposte. Both bosses share the same health bar, but attacking Father Lloyd will deal more damage, thus making the health bar swiftly deplete.





In this final phase of the fight, Sister Friede will transform into Blackflame Friede and begin dealing heavy dark damage, as well as frost and melee damage. This is the most difficult phase as of yet, due to her melee attacks gaining tremendous speed.By this point in time, your NPC companion will probably be dead but we don’t need to rely on him anymore because Father Lloyd is gone as well. Friede has a couple of new moves in this phase, including a beam of dark damage and a charged dark blast that can be potentially fatal if you get in the line of fire. She will also jump high into the air and try to perform an execution attack from above.





In order to win this fight, you must dodge backwards when she uses her melee attacks on you. If she tries to inflict frost or dark damage, immediately dodge to the left or right. Eventually she will temporarily slow down and you can use this as an opening to unleash a couple of attacks. Try not to get greedy here or you will quickly wind up dead. Friede’s signature move from Phase 1 returns with a twist. When she goes invisible, she’ll try to hit you with two lines of Frost damage. Suddenly, she will teleport to a random place in the room and start charging her dark blast. As soon as you notice this, begin dodging to the left and do not stop until you successfully dodge the blast. Repeat this process until you defeat her and then proceed to give yourself a pat on the back.