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Pinwheel is a boss in Dark Souls.


Location[]

Pinwheel is found in The Catacombs. Players must defeat this boss in order to reach the Tomb of the Giants.

Description[]

Pinwheel is a necromancer wearing three masks of those that compose them: the Father's, Mother's and the Child's mask. Their body looks swollen and has three pairs of "arms", hinting that they are composed of three bodies or skeletons fused together.

Lore[]

Pinwheel is a necromancer and pyromancer[1] composed of the fusion of a father, a mother and a child[2][3][4][5]. At some point they arrived in the Catacombs with their servants and Necromancers and managed to steal Gravelord Nito's Rite of Kindling[6][3], a ritual created by the Lord capable of further bolstering bonfires using Kindlings so that Undead can collect even more Estus from them[7], and part of his power[2]. Pinwheel would use them to continue studying necromancy[4][5] and reign over the Catacombs[2] with his servants and Necromancers who employed the area's skeletons as their army.

Summoning[]

It is possible to summon Paladin Leeroy to help out in the fight. His summon sign is on a ledge the player has to drop down on, above the Skeleton Wheel area before Pinwheel's room.

Strategies[]

Pinwheel is a very frail boss, with the fifth lowest hit points of any boss in the game.[8] However, he can quickly become dangerous as he can summon an unlimited number of clones, all of whom deal the same amount of damage as he does. Therefore, a good strategy for fighting Pinwheel is to rush at him right when the fight starts and do as much damage as possible. When he teleports after summoning his clones, it is still possible to land some hits on him before he disappears. A simple tactic to identify the clones from the real Pinwheel is to lock on to him when possible.

Pinwheel's high fire damage can be greatly reduced through the use of Flash Sweat and shields with high fire resistance like the Black Knight Shield or Dragon Crest Shield. However, caution is advised as taking multiple hits at once will still deal a large amount of damage to the player, especially if they are trying to block while surrounded.

Boss information[]

Attacks[]

Quick Fireball[]

Dmg phy Dmg mag Dmg fire Dmg lght Attack Type Parryable Tracking Speed
0 0 291 0 Normal No Both Medium

His six arms will glow and spin before firing it. This is easy to dodge with the right timing.

Pinwheel-Quick-Flame

Cleansing Fireball[]

Dmg phy Dmg mag Dmg fire Dmg lght Attack Type Parryable Tracking Speed
0 0 326 0 Normal No Both Medium

Slower, larger fireball that does more damage and has a bigger hitbox, though it takes Pinwheel longer to charge. Note that Pinwheel can also use this while jumping at a downward angle.

Pinwheel-Big-Flame

Combustion[]

Dmg phy Dmg mag Dmg fire Dmg lght Attack Type Parryable Tracking Speed
0 0 384 0 Normal No Both Medium

A close range melee attack that does big damage. Pinwheel will telegraph this by moving in close and begin spinning and igniting his arms.

Flamethrower[]

Dmg phy Dmg mag Dmg fire Dmg lght Attack Type Parryable Tracking Speed
0 0 291 0 Normal No Neither Medium

Extremely powerful mid-range attack. There is a long delay before this attack is executed. Blocking it is unwise, as it hits multiple times, breaking the player's guard, and potentially dealing a fair bit of damage.

Pinwheel-Flamethrower

Clone[]

Pinwheel will spin in the air and give off a purple light before conjuring an identical clone of himself. The clones are exactly the same as Pinwheel and there's no easy way to distinguish one from the other without keeping track of the original. The clone can also use all of Pinwheel's attacks but will disappear instantly when hit. There is no known limit to how many clones Pinwheel can spawn.

Pinwheel-Clone

Vanish[]

When the real Pinwheel is approached, he may attempt to flee by disappearing, leaving the player at the mercy of his clones. A short time later he will reappear in a fashion similar to the spawning of the clones.

Pinwheel-Vanish

Defenses[]

Physical Defenses Elemental Defenses Resistances
Regular Defense Strike Defense Slash Defense Thrust Defense Magic Defense Fire Defense Lightning Defense Poison Toxic Bleed
151 151 151 151 128 121 99 B B B

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


Drops[]

Item Rite of Kindling
Rite of Kindling
Mask of the Child
Mask of the Child
Mask of the Father
Mask of the Father
Mask of the Mother
Mask of the Mother
Drop Rate Guaranteed 1 of 3 Guaranteed 1 of 3 Guaranteed 1 of 3 Guaranteed

*One of the masks will always drop, never more than one

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Pinwheel_Intro

Pinwheel Intro

Pinwheel's boss intro

Music[]

Pinwheel_-_Dark_Souls_Soundtrack

Pinwheel - Dark Souls Soundtrack

References[]

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