Demon's Souls players are able to go through the game's five Archstones in any order they want, but many players tend to follow through them in order by nature. With that in mind, the Shadowmen's Archstone tends to be one of the later ones that players tackle as the fourth in the line, and that's likely a good thing. Although players may want to brave world 4-1 early for great loot, this area throws unique challenges that low level players aren't likely to be equipped for, and it has some pretty tough bosses to boot.
To determine which of these is the toughest requires looking at the bosses objectively regardless of player progression. Like other bosses in Demon's Souls, there's an innate difficulty that will still be present regardless of how far into the game the player is based on the boss arena, the speed and damage of the boss itself, and other environmental hazards. Finally, character build goes a long way into determining how well players perform against some of these bosses, as they have major weaknesses that can be exploited much easier by some than others. Thankfully, the bosses in the Shadowmen Archstone are balanced well against various different builds.
Island's Edge - Adjudicator
The first area of the Shadowmen Archstone is brutal, pitting players against gold and silver skeletons that have way more defensive, evasive, and offensive capabilities than anything players have likely faced up to this point. It's surprising then, that the Adjudicator boss is actually rather easy, largely in part due to the design of its boss arena and an easily exploitable weakness. The Adjudicator takes major damage when attacking his head, and though it would normally be difficult to reach against a creature of this stature, the boss arena is layered and starts players off above the beast and out of his reach.
For ranged and magic based characters, winning this fight is as simple as standing at the edge and firing attacks into his head, and there's even a route back up for players that happen to fall. His long, sweeping tongue attacks can hit the player if they aren't careful, but there's a huge wind up and they are easy to predict. Melee characters may have more trouble with this enemy, though, as he's a ferocious foe up close capable of one hit KO-ing most players Even so, enough damage will knock him over, allowing players to deal heavy damage much like the Tower Knight boss fight in world 1-2.
The Ritual Path - Old Hero
After rescuing Saint Urbain and making their way through the Ritual Path, the Old Hero guards the entryway to the Monolith Forest vigorously. Depending on how players approach, can be incredibly difficult to defeat. Those that run up to the Old Hero and engage in a frontal assault will quickly find themselves overwhelmed by his flurry of powerful blows. Even ranged characters can sometimes be targeted and killed quickly if they aren't careful. This has the potential to be one of the hardest bosses in the game, but there's a trick that can make this fight trivial.
As it happens, the Old Hero is blind, and he can't track the player like other bosses can. Assuming the player is moving quietly, the Old Hero will just wander around the arena and attack randomly. Because of this, there's infinite time to heal up and regenerate mana between attacks, so the boss is actually rather easy as well. When paired with the Thief Ring, it's almost humorous how invisible players are to this enemy, as they'll be running circles around him and he won't even notice. Regardless of what build players have, this boss will be easy to defeat so long as players know this one trick.
Monolith Forest - Storm King
The Archdemon of the Shadowmen Archstone is the Storm King, a giant, sting-ray like creature of colossal size. Players have no doubt seen and been harassed by the similar looking but smaller Storm Beasts throughout the rest of the level, but this thing's size and damage puts them all to shame. Like other Archdemons in Demon's Souls, this is less of a standard boss fight and more of a puzzle. Players have to find a unique weapon, the Stormruler, in order to deal damage to it.
Since the Stormruler can be used regardless of the player's stats, characters with high vitality will handle this fight best as they'll be able to withstand the attacks of the Stormbeasts. Regardless, it's as simple as using the Stormruler's R2 attack to defeat all the Stormbeasts, and then doing the same thing to the Archdemon itself as it flies overhead to summon more. It's a visual marvel and a spectacular set piece to be sure, but in terms of difficulty it isn't terrible. At least it isn't quite as gimmicky as the Dragon God boss fight of world 2-3, and players are actually doing most of the damage themselves.
Demon's Souls - Archstone of the Shadowmen Hardest Boss
Surprisingly, all of the bosses in the Shadowmen Archstone have the potential to be really easy if players know the trick to beating them. A common theme among Demon's Souls bosses that isn't present in most Dark Souls game is that they each have a fatal weakness that players can exploit. Between these three offerings, it's most likely that the Old Hero is the most difficult of the bunch. The Adjudicator's big weakness is really obvious and easy to exploit, while the Storm King fight gives players several hints that they need to find the Stormruler sword.
By contrast, heading into the Old Hero fight, players aren't likely to realize that he's blind as they'll probably run up and engage immediately. When fought this way, he's an incredibly fast and hard-hitting enemy that isn't matched by many other bosses in the game. Taking him down can be a real challenge, and he definitely deserves the title of hardest boss in the Shadowmen Archstone, even if there are plenty in other Archstones that are much more difficult.
Demon's Souls is available now on PS5.
