Pontiff Sulyvahn

Pontiff Sulyvahn
Location	Irithyll of the Boreal Valley
Drops	Soul of Pontiff Sulyvahn
Health
NG	5,106
NG+	7,777
Souls
NG	28,000
NG+	63,000
Weaknesses, resistances, immunities
	W
	-
	W
	W
	w
	R
	R
	R

Pontiff Sulyvahn is a character and a mandatory boss in Dark Souls III.

In-Game Description

Long ago, when Sulyvahn was yet a young sorcerer, he discovered the Profaned Capital and an unfading flame below a distant tundra of Irithyll, and a burning ambition took root within him.

Description

Sulyvahn is a tall humanoid clothed in torn ceremonial robes but has nothing on his feet. He wears a crown and is adorned with a necklace of his eye rings. His skin is pale and seems to be decayed and covered in large cracks. His face is covered in dark roots and when he is brought to half of his life masses of similar roots and branches emerge from his back.

Sulyvahn wields two greatswords: the Profaned Ultra Greatsword in his right hand and the Greatsword of Judgment in his left. When the Ashen One enters the church, Sulyvahn is standing still with his two swords and when approaches his swords start to glow and he advances towards the player before quickly charging with an overhead slash.

During the fight, Sulyvahn can be heard grunting and growling in a deep, distorted voice.

Location

Sulyvahn is located in the large cathedral at the end of Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.

Lore

Sulyvahn develops new frost sorceries when he was but a young man.

Sulyvahn was a humanoid creature born from an inhabitant of the Painted World of Ariandel and raised inside of it. Despite the isolation from the outside world, he demonstrated incredible intelligence and talent for sorcery even as a young man as he managed to create new frost-based sorceries, using the cold climate of his home to strengthen weapons or create clouds of freezing mist. At some point Sulyvahn became dissatisfied with living inside the Painted World, as he had not experienced the loss or despair of those who ended up there to seek refuge after having lost everything else, and decided to abandon it, leaving behind the sorceries he developed to seek for knowledge and experiences of the outside world.

The young sorcerer would end up in the city of Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, inhabited by descendants of the old gods, and would be welcomed among them despite not having divine blood, even obtaining a manor at the outskirts of the town. He was able to earn the favor of the "king of the gods" Dark Sun Gwyndolin thanks to a crude replica of his magical catalyst, presenting it to his Darkmoon Knights as a ritual spear, demonstrating his talent, creativity and ambition even if he lacked resorces.

Sulyvahn finds an everlasting dark flame.

One day, when Sulyvahn was still young, he found the Profaned Capital underground the outskirts of Irithyll, curiously the place where the city's sewege system dumped its waste and above which the sorcerer's manor stood. In the ruins of the city he also found the Profaned Flame, an inextinguishable but cold flame that had been created from humanity and which despite having destroyed the Profaned Capital had been preserved by the survivors. Sulyvahn would have managed to obtain the sinful flame and an unquenchable ambition would have burned his heart, as the young man understood how this artifact could represent an element of immense political and religious power in a world where everything revolved around a fading Flame while his was infinite.

With great foresight and manipulation, Sulyvahn thus began his rise to power within Irithyll: the sorcerer used the Profaned Flame to enthrall the city's holy knights, corrupting their hearts with the unquenchable version of the fire they venerated. His influence thus expanded even to the troops they commanded who became Sulyvahn's personal knights, reporting directly to him, acting first as his watchful eyes and spies and then as killers at his command, effectively becoming his private militia and secret police. Those who were once holy knights became "fire witches" who carried the Profaned Flame of Sulyvahn on Immolation Tinders, also catalysts for the sorcery once so abhorred by the clergy, while the swords of the soldiers they led were imbued with the frost magic of their leader.

Sulyvahn thus continued to climb the ranks of the Way of White's clergy and increase his influence until, at one point, Gwyndolin was "stricken by illness" and was forced to retreat from the government of the city, leaving command of the Blades of the Darkmoon to his younger sister Yorshka. The sorcerer took advantage of the situation and proclaimed himself "Pontiff", the legitimate representative of the god, thus acting as the ad interim ruler over the realm of Irithyll and head of the Church. Obviously this was a lie and the Silver Knights still faithful to Gwyndolin and the Blades of the Darkmoon serving Yorshka could have acted against him: however, Sulyvahn had imprisoned the god in the old cathedral of Anor Londo and his sister on the tower of her church, thus creating a stalemate in which neither group could act for fear of seeing their leader, held hostage, killed.

Having gained power in Irithyll, Sulyvahn set about cleansing the city of potential enemies, exiling or killing the Blades of the Darkmoon until there were no knights left in the order, eliminating the Painting Guardians and even turning the Giants who worked in the city into slaves. The Pontiff would also build an immense dungeon underground near the Profaned Capital, employing its survivors as cruel jailers in his service and building the prisons for humans around the oldest cell of a giant. In addition, Sulyvahn erected a magical barrier around Irithyll, to prevent anyone from entering or leaving without his permission, giving special dolls to his most valued subjects to move through it, an artifact which nevertheless reminded them that their "home" was always going to be the Boreal Valley. Despite his coup and the partial schism that saw the Church of Carim establish itself as the alternative political and religious center of the Way of White, Sulyvahn continued to remain an ally of Lothric, donating the Gargoyles he found in the Profaned Capital to the country and leaving their knights and scholars access to Irithyll. This powerful alliance thus allowed the Pontiff to gain international legitimacy and political leverage to strenghten his position and keep other human realms and high members of the clergy faithful to his faction.

Sulyvahn twisted experiments.

Now in absolute control, Sulyvahn continued to rule his church and city, holding in his right hand the ceremonial Profaned Greatsword infused with the power of the dark Profaned Flame that had fulfilled his ambitions and in his left hand the ceremonial Greatsword of Judgment, a symbol of his authority as Gwyndolin's judge, but actually infused with moon magic very close to dark sorcery: both swords thus representing not only the violent way in which Sulyvahn ruled, but his true dark nature as well. In fact, the Pontiff spread the practice of sorcery even among the highest ranks of his clergy and his knights and began to carry out various experiments on darkness. The humans who worked on the city were turned into slaves and reduced to conditions of extreme misery and their Dark Soul appears outside their ghostly bodies, monstrous beasts with human faces appeared in the streets. Meanwhile, in the prisons, he tried to transform people into pale dragons, but only managed to produce unrealized Wretches, victims of stunted development that manifested a faded strenght of the ancient creatures and feeble tailbones.

Sulyvahn's dark eye rings.

Sulyvahn would also create dark eye rings giving them to his Boreal Outrider Knights, an order that was sent in foreign campaigns, that was the equivalent to being exiled. The pontiff experimented on them, giving them with his rings that would boost their attacks and recover their health as long as their fighting persists and that turned them into raving warriors who only knew how to serve as mindless guards, thus ensuring Sulyvahn total control over them and preventing them from betraying. The knighs who peered inside the black orbs would be in fact lured into visions of endless deadly battles and go insane, transformed into frenzied beasts. However the effect of the rings, whose black eyes constantly hound the knights, continues over time, first fusing their armor with their own hide and then devolving them into a literal beast under the complete control of the Pontiff. At a certain point, Sulyvahn even forced a direct daughter of Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight to serve as a "dancer", bestowing upon her a set of paired enchanted swords, as a symbol of her new subjection to the tyrant, as they were enchanted with dark magic in the right-hand, and fire in the left, mirroring those of the Pontiff.

Sulyvahn's feral knights for foreign campaigns.

When Prince Lothric refused to link the First Flame and his kingdom fell into ruin due to various internal problems, Emma, the High Priestess of Lothric, would send out messengers bearing the banner of Lothric to ask from help from allied countries to resolve their internal situation. Sulyvahn would thus respond to the call, ordering his Dancer to serve as a Boreal Outrider Knight before sending her sent to Lothric together with a division of Boreal Outrider Knights and under the watchful eye of Vordt of the Boreal Valley. Here she positioned herself to guard the Cathedral and High Priestess Emma while Vordt guarded the main gate of the city and the Ourider Knights infiltrated inside and around the city of Lothric.

As the First Flame continued to fade and Prince Lothric refused to link it, the Lords of Cinder of the past were exhumed from their graves to once again be used as fuel. Among them was Aldrich who, however, had no intention of sacrificing himself again as his reflections on the state of the world had led him to understand that an Age of the Deep would soon arrive, motivating him to try to devour the gods themselves to erode their hold on the Flame and accelerate the coming of his vision Gathering an army of deacons from the Cathedral of the Deep led by Archdeacon McDonnell, Aldrich would thus move toward Irithyll to devour the king of the gods himself. However, he would find his way blocked by Sulyvahn and his knights, as the pontiff had no intention of relinquishing the source of his control over the city and the Way of White so easily. Despite the battle, Aldrich emerged victorious, slaughtering Sulyvahn's troops and defeating the pontiff, forcing him to clear the way for the ruined cathedral of Anor Londo leaving the old god to be devoured by Aldrich.

Sulyvahn remains in his cathedral even with torn clothes.

Despite having lost the source of his religious and political power, Sulyvahn, still wearing his torn robes from the battle, remained in the city's cathedral. The pontiff slowly began to bring his knights back to life through necromancy and use them to patrol lower Irithyll as frigid spirits. In addition, his beasts would have resumed controll over the access of the city and have isolated Archdeacon McDonnell, who was leading Aldrich's legion, into the Water Reserve, implying his attempt to bring back the city under his control while Aldrich was still busy digesting Gwyndolin.

Artifacts

• Snap Freeze
• Frozen Weapon
• Golden Ritual Spear
• Profaned Greatsword
• Greatsword of Judgment
• Small Doll
• Pontiff's Right Eye
• Pontiff's Left Eye
• Soul of Pontiff Sulyvahn

Strategy

Once you enter through the fog gate, be cautious as you approach Pontiff as he will likely leap at you with his sword from a distance. With good timing, this attack can be parried, immediately giving you the upper hand.

As most of his combos are mid or mid-long range, two-handed shield-less builds should roll behind him because the only attacks that hit behind his back are turning pirouette attacks (or jump and plunge attacks in the second phase) that are easier to dodge than his multi-hit combos. Pontiff also overcommits to some attacks and can be combo-locked giving a player from behind the chance to deal free damage. He will turn around but his turn is slow enough that a player can reposition behind his back. If Pontiff moves to mid-range, close the distance from the side and reposition behind his back.

During the fight, it is advised to not extend one's attacks for more than two swings as you would need your stamina to dodge or absorb Pontiff's aggressive retaliation. Sulyvahn's attacks can be difficult to avoid due to varying delays, rapidly chaining combos and large distance that they can cover. Watch out for the downward strike and impaling slide attacks that he performs - they are telegraphed and have long recovery time, giving you time to strike back or heal up.

Once Pontiff loses half of his health, he enters the second phase. The transition animation deals area of effect damage over its duration. At this point Pontiff starts using new attacks, including area of effect ground slams, long-range lunges and magic projectiles. At some point, he will summon a phantom copy of himself that performs each of the Pontiff's moves moments before he executes them himself. While it is possible to slay the phantom, the damage it takes is not drained from the Pontiff's own health, and as the Pontiff is also capable of re-summoning the copy should it die, one should avoid exclusively attacking it unless it's at low health already.

Pontiff Sulyvahn is extremely susceptible to parrying, each riposte dealing upwards of 1000 damage. A couple of his moves can be easily exploited as the swings of his flaming sword are usually telegraphed and can be predicted. Utilizing parry and riposte throughout the battle can end the fight quickly, leaving him close to death just as he begins to summon the phantom.

An easier method that forgoes parries (and even rolling) is to simply circle around him clockwise while raising a shield that offers 100% physical absorption. Circling left (Sulyvahn's right) will avoid almost every attack and allow you time to land one or two hits after most of his attack patterns. When he begins to summon a phantom start attacking immediately to kill the phantom as quick as possible and resume circling clockwise. Since this strategy allows you to steadily attack throughout the fight, it will typically end before he tries to summon another one.

Good fire and/or magic block, such as the Dragon Crest Shield, is recommended.

Summons

• Black Hand Gotthard: His summon sign can be found directly outside of the fog wall leading into the boss arena.
• Londor Pale Shade: Can be summoned if the player is following Yuria's questline. His summon sign is located on a balcony just left of Gotthard's sign.
• Anri of Astora: Anri's summon sign is located on a balcony opposite to the Londor Pale Shade (if they have not been killed yet).

Drops

Item	Soul of Pontiff Sulyvahn
Drop Rate	Guaranteed

Notes

• Sulyvahn can be parried and riposted in both stages of the fight.

Trivia

• "Sulyvahn" sounds very similar to the Irish name "Súileabháin" (related to the more common, Anglicized name "Sullivan") which means "One-eyed" in English. It can also mean "little dark eyed one" in Irish, which matches the black rings he gives to his knights to devolve them.
  • Both names are ironic, given that he lacks eyes.
• Pontiff is another word for "Bishop". Pontifex in Latin.
• There is a statue in the High Wall of Lothric that resembles Sulyvahn, in the square patrolled by the Winged Knight. It depicts a bare-footed man in the Robe of Prayer wielding the Profaned Greatsword and wearing bracelets, both of which are on the right wrist, similar to Sulyvahn's own bracelets.
  • It is although more likely that the statue is an example of propaganda through symbolism, where the young Prince Lothric, embodyment of the hopes of all realms, would carry on the legacy of the Linking of the Fire armed with the Pontiff's Sword, symbol of the support of the Church, strenght of Faith and power of the Fire.
• The Pontiff seems to lack a face, and the front of his head is instead covered in what looks like roots. Removing his armor and the the root-like formations shows a completely featureless face.

Gallery

Pontiff Sulyvahn close-up

Japanese version

Videos

Pontiff Sulyvahn Boss Fight - Dark Souls 3