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Clawed Curses are enemies in Dark Souls III.

Description

Eerie phantasmagorical hands reaching out for the living. Clawed Curses suddenly emerge from the tomes stored within the library's many bookcases, their presence hinted by the sound of unintelligible murmurs from beyond the grave.

They are ethereal entities and do not actually exist in the physical plane, meaning they cannot be damaged by any means. However, they can, in return, inflict both physical and Curse damage if touched.

Both of these types of damages are actually inflicted in small amounts individually, but since they are always encountered in numbers, their effects increase exponentially the more claws are present, allowing them to drain high amounts of health in just a few seconds and to fill up the Curse bar at a dramatic pace. Needless to say, once the bar has filled up completely, the player will die instantly regardless of how much health they had left.

Grand Archives Scholars can usually be seen standing in areas where these spirits can provide them protection.

Locations

Only, although heavily, found within the library section of the Grand Archives. The more one proceeds throughout the inner chambers of the archives, the more numerous the groups they will be encountered in.

Strategy

The player should be cautious when walking near bookcases and always put attention if the sound of murmurs suddenly emanates from them, as that foretells of an imminent encounter.

Make sure to have one's own head covered in wax at all times while exploring the archives, especially when traveling near bookcases. Wax will melt away after a certain period of time has elapsed, though, and one must be wary if that could happen at an inopportune moment.

The layer of wax covering oneself will not be restored by dipping the head again in a wax filled vat before this period expires, though. One must wait for the previous effect to wear off before being able to apply a new layer.

It is also advisable to be acquainted with the level's layout and to open all shortcuts, thus giving easier access to all vats.

Notes

  • Cannot be harmed in any way, nor do they have drops nor yield souls.
  • The player will be completely immune to their attacks whilst they have their heads covered in wax.

Trivia

  • Grand Archives Scholars have their own heads covered in wax to protect themselves from these specters. They tend the many vats filled with this liquid found throughout the library.
  • In the official guide, there is a description for the Scholar's Shed Skin telling how "ivory wax" is made to prevent your "anchor of reason" from being damaged by the "foulness" of the texts. How this works in relation to the curse effect they give is not clear, but they could represent how the mind interprets the harm they do, though how exactly this harms people is uncertain.
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