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Archdeacon Royce redirects here. For the regular enemy, see Deacon.

The Deacons of the Deep are a collective boss in Dark Souls III. Their leader, Archdeacon Royce, is a character in Dark Souls III.

In-Game Description

After Aldrich left for the Boreal valley, Archdeacon Royce remained in the cathedral with the high priests, to keep eternal watch over their master's coffin.[1]

Location[]

Found in the innermost chamber of the Cathedral of the Deep, where the tomb of Aldrich lies. The room is located further from the main praying area, beyond an immense and almost ruined statue concealed in canvas.

Lore[]

Royce was an archdeacon of the Way of White and one of the religious eminences of the Cathedral of the Deep[2], together with Archdeacon Klimt and Archdeacon McDonnell[3], managing the structure and the rituals of purification from the stagnant Darkness that took place there[4][5]thanks to a peaceful and sacred body of water[6].

At one point, the cathedral welcomed Aldrich, a priest from Irithyll that took pleasure in eating humans and continued to do it until his own body collapsed into sludge[7]. The abomination that was Aldrich shared his perserse behaviour to others in the cathedral[8] and sacrifices were brough to him to appease his hunger and grant him the strenght to be able to link the First Flame and become a Lord of Cinder[7].

Even after Aldrich linked the First Flame a cult formed around his figure[9], but the deacons of the cathedral found themselves fighting the abominations that emerged from this Deep: what was once the peaceful and sacred structure in which ritual purifications took place began to become an accumulation of corruption, where the darkness stagnated and accumulated until it became the final rest of many abhorrent creatures[10]. McDonnel found delight in the stagnation of darkness, realizing that it would become the foundation of the world[11] and thus abandoned his faith in the First Flame and in the gods to place it in the rising Deep[12]. McDonnel spreaded his new belief among the other clerics of the cathedral along with his sorcery as created staffs who channeled faith in the Deep to produce dark sorceries and in time the cathedral's deacons became both clergymen and sorcerers[13], embracing the cult of the Deep[14]. Royce too allowed himself to be corrupted by the putrid darkness that had invaded the cathedral and, in addition to accepting McDonnel's sorceries of the Deep, he began to venerate the Deep and its Saint, Aldrich[15].

When the First Flame began to fade and Prince Lothric refused to link it, Aldrich was awakened from his tomb to become fuel for it again but the previous Lord of Cinder refused[16]. Aldrich was in fact intent on returning to Irithyll to devour Dark Sun Gwyndolin and open the Age of the Deep[17], bringing to an end the Age of Fire and leaving in its place a realm of putrid and stagnant darkness in which the Saint would be at the top.[18] McDonnel, sharing Aldrich's ideals[19], cast off his white robes and replaced them with robes of deep blue[20][21]. The Archdeacon gathered an army of deacons and evangelists and thus abandoned the cathedral to follow the Saint of the Deep on his crusade toward Irithyll.[22]

When Aldrich and McDonnell left the cathedral for their crusade, Royce and the other deacons stayed to guard their lord's empty coffin from intruders, in the hopes that he would one day return.[23]. The Road of Sacrifices system that brought Undead from the Undead Settlement to the Cathedral and prepared them to be devoured by Aldrich[24] continued to operate[25], and Royce devoted himself to the study of the Deep, allowing the merging of his soul and those of the other deacons[26], and the development of dark sorceries close to the grave of their Saint[27].

Artifacts[]

Description[]

As their name implies, the Deacons of the Deep is a large gathering of Deacons, who mainly rely on pyromancies and close ranged melee attacks to attack the player. They will engage the player in combat, with one of the Deacons glowing with a red aura. Defeating this Deacon will deal damage to the boss's health bar, and cause the light to dissipate and search for another Deacon. Throughout the battle, new Deacons will spawn from Aldrich's coffin as they are defeated.

Once five glowing Deacons have been killed, Archdeacon Royce will reveal himself; Royce can be readily identified by the red glow, as well as the large blue-tipped staff and miter. He will spawn with two big and blue-robed Deacons and four additional heavyset Deacons, who will cast Force when near the player in order to protect Royce. At certain points, they will channel a healing spell to quickly regenerate Royce's health.

Summons[]

Strategy[]

Damaging or killing individual Deacons does not deal damage to the collective boss health bar, rather this is done by killing the Deacon with the red aura. Each time the target Deacon is defeated, roughly 327 damage is dealt to the health bar and the aura will move to another Deacon. For this reason, it is a viable strategy to try to reduce the health of the individual Deacons without killing them, as the aura may find a weakened one who can then be quickly dispatched. If the player does not kill a glowing Deacon within a certain amount of time, the aura may relocate to a different one.

Be mindful that while large sweeping attacks can hit and kill multiple Deacons at once, this can place the player in unnecessary danger. If possible, try to path around the crowd to attack the glowing Deacon directly, as this avoids the situation of being within melee attack range of multiple Deacons.

Once enough damage has been dealt to the boss health bar, Archdeacon Royce will appear, flanked by two large blue-robed Deacons as well as four red-robed ones. It is highly recommended to kill these two blue Deacons as quickly as possible, as they are considerably stronger than the others, can heal Royce, and will not respawn once killed. From this point onward, only damage dealt to Royce will subtract from the boss health bar.

Once Archdeacon Royce is on the field, the collective Deacons gain a number of Dark attacks to use along with their previous attacks. However, these attacks can be interrupted either through attacking the channeling Deacons or Royce himself.

Melee weapons are the best option for defeating the Deacons of the Deep without too much trouble. Any weapon with wide swings will deal great damage to multiple Deacons, allowing players to easily clear a path to the glowing one, however a fast-swinging straight sword gives less opportunity to be staggered by the Deacons' attacks.

Spellcasters can struggle with this fight as there are few area-of-effect spells available to the player at the time of encountering the boss. Additionally, the Deacons are resistant to Dark and Magic damage, making this fight a particular challenge to dedicated Intelligence builds. The pyromancy Boulder Heave is very effective as it deals physical damage in an area, along with enough poise damage to knock down any Deacons that get hit.

Alluring Skulls will distract all of the Deacons except for the one with the red aura, making it easy to separate it from the group and kill it.

Attacks[]

  • Fireball - When at range, Deacons will often raise their candlesticks and launch a straight-flying fireball at the player. These attacks deal relatively little damage, but their danger lies in the large number of Deacons who may simultaneously cast it, as well as its stagger, which can potentially combo the player along with other Deacons' melee attacks.
  • Force - The fat Deacons, as well as the blue-robed ones that flank Royce, will occasionally cast Force if the player is nearby, in an attempt to stagger them. This attack deals no damage, but can knock the player down and prevent them from approaching the red-glowing Deacon or Royce.
  • Curse Fog - A number of Deacons will begin channeling dark energy, and the entire arena will begin to darken, slowly building up the player's Curse resistance bar. Killing or staggering one of the channelers will break the effect, allowing the player's Curse meter to reduce.
  • Deep Soul - Royce will raise his staff and shriek, and several other Deacons will also begin channeling dark energy into an orb above Royce. This process takes several seconds, but when completed Royce will flourish his staff and launch a large dark orb at the player; it is very fast-moving and will ignore all obstacles, including pillars and Aldrich's coffin. The orb can deal significant damage, and inflict moderate Curse buildup on the player. Staggering Royce himself will interrupt the process.
  • Heal - The blue-robed Deacons that flank Archdeacon Royce can channel a healing spell that will restore a significant portion of his health, about 25% of the entire boss health bar. It can be very difficult to stagger them out of the spell, as players will have very few weapons with poise-breaking ability at their disposal at this point in the game. This ability is best countered by killing the blue Deacons as soon as possible, before they are given the chance to cast the spell.

Drops[]

Item Soul of the Deacons of the Deep
Soul of the Deacons of the Deep
Small Doll
Small Doll
Drop Rate Guaranteed Guaranteed

Notes[]

  • Affected by Rapport.
  • Affected by Alluring Skulls, with the exception of the deacon covered in a red aura.
  • Weak against the Hollowslayer Greatsword.
  • Defeating the Deacons of the Deep is required in order to obtain the Small Doll and with it gain access to Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.
  • The Archdeacon Set will appear in the boss room after defeating the Deacons of the Deep and reloading the area. It can then be looted from Archdeacon Royce's lifeless body.
    • With this, the Deacons of the Deep are one of the only two bosses in the game that leave behind their actual remains, besides their leader Aldrich. They are also one of only two bosses with unique dark blue souls, the other also being Aldrich.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Deacons_of_the_Deep_Boss_Fight_-_Dark_Souls_3

Deacons of the Deep Boss Fight - Dark Souls 3

Music[]

Nobuyoshi_Suzuki_-_Deacons_Of_The_Deep_(Extended)_(Dark_Souls_III_Extended_Original_Soundtrack)

Nobuyoshi Suzuki - Deacons Of The Deep (Extended) (Dark Souls III Extended Original Soundtrack)

See also[]

References[]

  1. Excerpt from the Soul of the Deacons of the Deep description.
  2. Archdeacon Holy Garb description.
  3. Archdeacon White Crown and Archdeacon Holy Garb and Archdeacon Set descriptions
  4. Deep Ring and Notched Whip (Dark Souls III) description.
  5. https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/File:Cathedral_Deep_Pus_Statue.jpeg
  6. Deep Protection description.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Hawkwood the Deserter dialogue: "Ooh, yet to give in, eh? Good. The Fire Keeper must be twitching with delight. But what do you really know about these Lords of Cinder, these supposed legends? Let's take Aldrich, for one. A right and proper cleric, only, he developed a habit of devouring men. He ate so many that he bloated like a drowned pig, then softened into sludge, so they stuck him in the Cathedral of the Deep. And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?" and "At the foot of Lothric Castle, an old path still runs below the tower in the Undead Settlement. It was used to transport sacrifices to the Cathedral of the Deep. You should see where it leads. ...If you've the stones for it." .
  8. Aldrich's Sapphire description.
  9. Soul of the Deacons of the Deep description.
  10. Deep Protection and Deep Gem description.
  11. Great Deep Soul description.
  12. Archdeacon's Great Staff description.
  13. Cleric's Candlestick and Archdeacon's Great Staff description.
  14. Deep Braille Divine Tome and Deep Soul description.
  15. Deep Soul description.
  16. Opening (Dark Souls III) dialogue and Soul of Aldrich description.
  17. Soul of the Deacons of the Deep and Soul of Aldrich description and Anri of Astora dialogue
  18. Deep Gem and Great Deep Soul and Soul of Aldrich description.
  19. Great Deep Soul description.
  20. Archdeacon White Crowndescription
  21. https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/File:Archdeacon_MCDonnell.jpg
  22. Irithyll of the Boreal Valley#Enemies.
  23. Archdeacon Holy Garb and Soul of the Deacons of the Deep description.
  24. Evangelist Set description.
  25. Anri of Astora and Hawkwood the Deserter dialogue.
  26. Soul of the Deacons of the Deep description and Deacons of the Deep#Strategy implies that their souls are merger, or rather shared in the Deep, since the main soul of Royce that allow to inflict damage to the boss pass between the deacons.
  27. Deacons of the Deep#Attacks
Bosses
Iudex GundyrVordt of the Boreal ValleyCurse-rotted GreatwoodCrystal Sage
Deacons of the DeepAbyss WatchersHigh Lord WolnirOld Demon King
Pontiff SulyvahnAldrich, Devourer of GodsYhorm the Giant
Dancer of the Boreal ValleyOceiros, the Consumed KingChampion Gundyr
Dragonslayer ArmourLorian, Elder Prince and Lothric, Younger Prince
Ancient WyvernThe Nameless KingSoul of Cinder
Ashes of Ariandel
Champion's Gravetender and Gravetender GreatwolfSister FriedeFather Ariandel
The Ringed City
Demon PrinceHalflight, Spear of the ChurchDarkeater MidirSlave Knight Gael
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