After players beat world 1-1, the rest of the Archstones will open up, allowing players to progress through Demon's Souls in whatever order they please, though players must first find and speak to the Monumental. Naturally, many players move on to world 2-1 as the next logical step, but there's a surprisingly tough enemy waiting down this path. After their triumph over the Armor Spider in 2-1, they'll end up face to face with 2-2's boss, the Flamelurker.
If the levels leading up to this boss and the name itself weren't a good enough hint, Flamelurker is heavily fire-based. Demon's Souls players should keep that in mind when preparing for this fight, as it's crucial knowledge to have especially for certain builds.
This boss marks one of the first major difficulty spikes players will see in the game depending on the order they complete the levels. Most boss battles in Demon's Souls have some kind of gimmick or weakness that players must figure out in order to win, but the Flamelurker simply tests the player's skill in combat.
For starters, it's important to stack as much fire resistance as possible, as all of his attacks will light players aflame. By now players should have found a Flame Resistance Ring they can equip, and they should also consider purchasing the Water Veil spell from the magic users back at the Nexus. Both of these will help to drastically reduce the damage players take, but his physical hits will still hurt quite a bit as well. Finally, make sure not to bring any fire weapons or spells, as they'll be completely useless here.
Once in the fight, it's all about timing dodges and finding openings. The Flamelurker's moveset is very erratic so this can be difficult, but there are a few moves that tend to leave him very open. Watch out for any of the Flamelurker's big ground pound attacks that spawn waves of fire, as he's usually vulnerable to a counterattack after this. For ranged and magic builds, players can stay back and fire away but should be aware that he will hop around to dodge projectiles. This can be used to the player's advantage by timing projectiles for when he's about to land.
Perhaps most important to realize is that the Flamelurker is very weak to magic. Players can use spells and weapons that deal magic damage, but they also should have obtained a few sticky white slimes in the area beforehand. These can be applied to a weapon to add magic damage to it much like resin, making fight go much faster.
Demon's Souls is available now on PS5.
