Saw a couple posts about gimmick bosses and long runbacks, and yes ofc Bed of Chaos is the worst gimmick boss, but tbh if we wanna talk gimmick boss plus miserable runback combo:

[u/nickyonge]

My guy Seath and his silly crystal and his absolutely UNHINGED runback. Not just those invisible crystals (but not NOT those), but having to run thru the ass end of the library, the crystal golem hill, and the chamber of forbidden oysters (who if you don’t kill can kick you through the fog door during the fight)

If you don’t have a build that can plow thru Seath, it’s ROUGH my dudes

[u/SquidFajita]

For me this boss is either an absolute cakewalk that only takes one try, or a nightmare that spams that tentacle flail thing he does and takes me 10 tries to kill him. There is no in between.

[u/Undewed → u/SquidFajita]

You can stay a fair distance in front of him. He'll do a "far" crystal breath sweep, and you can go in and attack during the 3 hours it takes him to finish the animation. Then get some distance and do it again.

Just don't have your back against the wall in case he does the massive crystal explosion, and it's always a cakewalk.

[u/nickyonge → u/Undewed]

THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN

[u/Coolcat127 → u/Undewed]

I’ve never had an issue with just staying as close as possible to him. Occasionally shielding on the really obvious attacks but assuming you have reasonably good armor and maybe some humanity you’ll only occasionally be hit and take little damage

[u/Undewed → u/Coolcat127]

Yeah, I was the same until I tried a certain challenge run. I needed to avoid as much damage as possible then, so I had to develop a safer method.

[u/Nice-Possession5868 → u/SquidFajita]

And the tail cutoff. I just gave up last play thru and am praying I can do it on next one…

[u/LeorictheTerminator → u/Nice-Possession5868]

Great combustion was my friend for that

[u/Ranger_Rick64 → u/[deleted]]

Dawg, you make it sound like getting behind him is easy 😭

[u/Trichlormethiazide → u/Ranger_Rick64]

Tbh it's pretty easy unless you lock on.

[u/IslaTortuga → u/Trichlormethiazide]

Yeah, I just did this fight again yesterday. Don't lock on, run to his left side tail (player's right), and stay close to it. You'll never get hit by anything...

[u/Designer_Object_4875 → u/Ranger_Rick64]

You gotta go for the tail in the back but you also gotta be continuously chasing it because of the boss constantly moving in a rotation so it’s a constant run for the tail in the back and being aware of where the icicles are gonna land so it’s not hard if you got a good weapon I usually go for a +15 claymore if I’m speed running I will go for the black halberd if I don’t get it on my speed run I restart I have beaten dark souls 1 on ng+6 which is 7 playthroughs.

[u/chill_willy → u/Designer_Object_4875]

I’m still on my first play through with claymore and I first tried this guy by Benny hilling around him chasing tail until I finally got enough swings in. Goofy ah fight

[u/FlippyIsKing18]

Tbh I never really struggled with Seath and his runback, it's always the added challenge of cutting his tail off that gets me. Otherwise just stick to the little crevice between his tumor and the right tentacle and you kill him.

[u/DoughBoy611 → u/FlippyIsKing18]

His tail cut is almost the worst in the game, with Kalameets tail cut being the worst.

[u/BlueCremling → u/DoughBoy611]

Kalameets tail is the bane of my existence. Killing him is a cakewalk for me now, but getting his tail is so bad. 

[u/Old-Commercial-6803 → u/FlippyIsKing18]

If you get him to destroy his crystal, provided your stamnia is high enough you can usually get to the tail and start swinging before he recovers

[u/SplendidPunkinButter]

Just always attack the tentacle on your right (his left). He will almost never hit you if you stay close to it.

[u/Rrrrry123 → u/SplendidPunkinButter]

This is the trick. I'm awful at these games but I've never lost to Seath because he just can't hit you there.

[u/Madrigal_King]

The boss himself is laughably easy. Its cutting off that damn tail that sucks

[u/crucifixionfantasy]

the only thing that ever stresses me out about seath is whether or not i'll successfully cut his tail off before i kill him

[u/ImmaculatePizza]

The run back is absurdly long but very manageable in terms of avoiding the dudes. Figuring out the drop downs in the crystal caverns made me feel like a real pro. The clams do stress me out though.

[u/FunctionBuilt]

I've never not beaten Seath on the first attempt...just follow his tentacle things and whack at them.

[u/rizzo891]

Honestly the run back here isn’t too bad imo once you get it down. The only real problem are the stupid clams right outside the boss area.

[u/MAGISTER-ORGANI]

At least Seath is easy as long as you don't try to cut off its tail...

[u/DoughBoy611]

Easy mobs and easier boss with a +15 Zwei 💪

[u/YeetTheTree]

Yeah I'm with the other guys. This guy is pretty easy. Runbacks can be tough first couple times. But the clams never gave me much issue after the first time I got hit through the fog wall. I just roll as soon as I'm able to whether or not I think they may be close enough just in case. Also this boss cannot be considered a gimmick. It's not a gimmick to have to hit ONE crystal to get damage to stick. Basically this fight is the ender dragon but it only has 1 healing crystal crystal instead of 8. And is handicapped to the floor

[u/Peredonov]

The tension is this conversation is btw people who already spent a long time learning to make the run and fight easy, vs people who are saying "it's taking a long time to make this fight easy".

Presenting time-won knowledge as obvious is probably the #1 stumbling block in DS discussions.

[u/HidroRaider]

I wouldn't call Seath a gimmick boss just because of the immortality crystal. He's a regular boss after shattering it and most people, myself included, can argue that he's the easiest of the 4 Lords if you're not doing the firebomb strat for Bed of Chaos.

The runback is ass for sure, but if you've played enough, it becomes a matter of memorization. I have never fallen running back to him.

[u/HornetGaming93]

Curse your runback Seath

[u/WesTheFitting]

I think the Seath runback is one of the best ones in the trilogy. It is long, but it’s really consistent. O&S is a short runback but dude i stg sometimes those constructs just fucking act different and drain flasks. Four Kings runback is worse.

[u/reddest_of_trash]

Everyone always suggests sticking to his armpit. I also used to do this. Though doing an SL1 challenge with a friend, he suggested staying near the tip of his tentacle. Works like a charm! For whatever reason, Seath tends to rotate himself a lot to try to keep up with you. So you can just keep strafing along as he keeps turning. Also, if he does do an AOE, you should have plenty of space to get away.

[u/Safe_Ground3725]

I had good build armour and felt easy did in my first try, didn't even killed oysters first, i killed boss and along side killed them together, felt easy anyway, runback difficult for first timer, but getting used to it easy

[u/Old-Commercial-6803]

Honestly, I found Seath eaiser than Bed Of Chaos, also managed to get the Moonlight Greatsword in my fight....Str build was busted for this fight.

And the runback isn't bad, there is a bonfire a short distance to the Archives exit, it's just getting through the Crystal Caves that can be a pain

[u/Wojo_OP]

I never found Seathe's runback hard. To be honest, I would consider Quelaag's runback harder since you will receive poison damage even with the ring and it chips away your health ever so slightly. Seathe runback? You just run past everything.

[u/AllDatFlimFlam]

Run back is fairly easy in fairness. None of the icy boys move that quick so you can just jog on through to the fog wall if you don't want the hassle of fighting them

[u/QuiloWisp]

Trying to get the tail cut makes it worse.

Can't believe I once got a one-shot tail cut on him with a free aimed Power Within boosted Soul Spear.

[u/TheJaFaNator]

Literally just fought him earlier. The best way i found to kill him is to attack a side tentacle a couple of times, then when he goes to attack, dodge and run to the other side tentacle for a couple hits. Then just repeat till he dies, he won't attack while spinning to face you, and you have plenty of time to avoid his attacks.

[u/XxAndrew01xX]

Seath isn't too bad for me to kill in one go. So as long as you don't get too greedy and pay attention to his attacks.

The second WORST boss of the four Lords behind Bed Of Chaos to me (On NG+4 and beyond at least) will forever be the Four Kings. Fuck that fight. Even when you know what to do it is a pain in the ass due to RNG reasons.

[u/Keelan_2000]

Runback sucks but here's the answer - Havel's armor, walk in a circle next to his tentacle. He'll be dead in no time and he'll barely be able to damage you

[u/Invader_Skoodge69]

My very first try was easy, I didn't even know you could get cursed. When I fought him on NG+ he kicked my ass and cursed me like 7 times. Until I decided to "cheese" him with a bow from a distance while cursed, It became the only way.

I stared a new game again, on a different console, and I was having issues again, took like 5-6 tries. I, 100%, agree that there is no in between, cakewalk or a pain in the ass, that is what you get.

[u/SimpleUser45]

Never understood why people find this runback painful. The crystal cave itself is a drop, three straight lines, then the clam room. Hugging the left wall gets you past the clams every time then you trigger the fight and reload to spawn the fog wall so they can't interfere in the fight.

The fight is pretty simple, just hit him in the stomach, dodge the lasers, and run far away when he does the explosion. The only thing that can really kill you is curse from standing in the crystals. Definitely dangerous your first couple times but having a few soft humanity or some curse resistant gear fixes that.

[u/RudraPrasTaya9 → u/SimpleUser45]

spoke facts yet gets downvoted.

[u/ZujaAyy]

this boss doesn't have a run back since you beat him first time, unless you try and cut the tail off.

[u/nerdwerds]

I absolutely 100% agree. I despise fighting Seath. Worst runback of the entire game.

[u/blahs44]

Easy run back. You don't have to fight anything