Havel the Rock

For the Dark Souls III enemy, see Havel the Rock (Dark Souls III).

Havel the Rock
Lore
Status	Hollow
Gameplay
Located in	Undead Burg
Other
Appears in	Dark Souls

Havel the Rock is an enemy in Dark Souls.

Location

At the bottom of the tower before the Taurus Demon boss arena, the player can use the Watchtower Basement Key or the Master Key to find him waiting at the end of the final staircase; alternatively, the tower can be accessed adjacent to the Hydra's area in Darkroot Basin: when entering, the knight is waiting for the player at the right side of the door.

Lore

Havel the Rock was a close friend of Gwyn, and a general in what was presumably Gwyn's army. Havel was a steadfast and resilient man, inspiring his men to do great things. He, and his warriors, donned armor carved from solid rock and wore rings bestowing them with the ability to carry a heavier load.

Havel despised magic users, thus creating the miracle Great Magic Barrier to counter them. Havel's own magic was only of a defensive nature and his shield was imbued with it. Havel also had an intense hatred for Seath the Scaleless, grandfather of Sorcery, who was his sworn enemy.

Artifacts

• Havel's Set
• Havel's Set (Dark Souls II)
• Havel's Set (Dark Souls III)
• Havel's Greatshield
• Havel's Greatshield (Dark Souls II)
• Havel's Greatshield (Dark Souls III)
• Havel's Ring
• Havel's Ring (Dark Souls III)
• Great Magic Barrier
• Great Magic Barrier (Dark Souls II)
• Great Magic Barrier (Dark Souls III)
• Dragon Tooth
• Dragon Tooth (Dark Souls II)
• Dragon Tooth (Dark Souls III)

Strategy

Havel proves to be a very dangerous and very powerful enemy, capable of easily killing lower vitality players, low armored players and drain large levels stamina in a single attack: his overhead strike can both break through guards and inflict critical damage, and he takes very low damage from most starting weapons and tools (aside from pyromancies and weapons buffed with Gold Pine Resin). However, his rather predictable and slow attack patterns mean that he is particularly susceptible to backstabs and parrying. Chain-parrying is arguably the fastest way to kill him, but is the riskiest, as it requires the player to directly confront the attacks and any minor error will likely mean instant death.

Should the player choose to fight in melee combat, it is highly recommended to move to the level above, so should the player die, they can safely access their bloodstain before trying again.

The Drake Sword can prove to be invaluable to low-leveled players, as it can be obtained nearby and is likely the only weapon that can deal bearable damage in this fight at such an early point in the game, especially with critical hits.

He is unusually evasive for such a defensive NPC, favoring rolling when players use magic or ranged attacks - combined with surprisingly good timing, damage could be difficult to deal. A rapid series of rolls will however drain a majority of his stamina, so one or two kicks from the player can easily be a guard break if he blocks with the Dragon Tooth. On top of this, the overhead attacks will be almost guaranteed to miss if the player stands directly across from him and constantly strafes to either side, leading to an easy backstab. Like the Capra Demon, this NPC is very easily distracted with Aural Decoy.

He will not pursue the player beyond the threshold into Darkroot Basin or either doorway, providing a quick escape route if necessary. The Aural Decoy strategy and/or toxin/poison can be used as a safe dispatch method here. Additionally, he can be lured to the top of the stairs: jumping off the side of the stairs when he attacks will make him fall off, inflicting fall damage - some means of healing or Fall Control, can be used to survive the damage the player takes - and can be repeated until defeat.

Character information

Health and souls

Health		Souls
NG	NG+	NG	NG+
1,034	1,592	3,000	6,000

Defenses

Physical Defenses				Elemental Defenses			Resistances
371	335	406	371	284	297	257	C	C	A

These stats are sourced from FuturePress's Official Dark Souls Strategy Guide.

Equipment

• Weapons
• Armor
• Rings

Right Hand	Left Hand
Dragon Tooth +5	Havel's Greatshield +5

Head	Chest	Hands	Legs
Havel's Helm	Havel's Armor	Havel's Gauntlets	Havel's Leggings

Rings

Havel's Ring

Drops

Item	Havel's Ring
Drop Rate	Guaranteed

Gallery

Waiting to ambush

Concept art

Havel with his helmet off