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"Please, avert thine eyes. I will snuff out these ashes for good."
— Sister Friede

In-Game Description

Friede was the first Ash to enter the painting, but together with the good Father, they chose rot over fire.

Sister Friede is a character and a boss in Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel.

She is voiced by Amara Karan.

Description[]

Friede wears the Ordained Set and is armed with a scythe. She has burn marks on the right side of her face.

Location[]

Sister Friede is found sitting on a chair in Ariandel Chapel in the Painted World of Ariandel.

Lore[]

Elfriede is the eldest of three sisters who at some point entered into the service of the Primordial Serpent Darkstalker Kaathe[1]. Together with Yuria and Liliane, Elfriede became the maiden of Kaathe and the Primordial Serpent taught them his art of the Dark Hand, which was capable of absorbing the souls of their opponents[2]. Together they continued to follow Kaathe's goal of ending the Age of Fire founded by the gods to bring about the Age of Dark and finding a Dark Lord who would be strong enough to usurp the First Flame for themselves and use its powers to lead the humans into a new age[3]. For this end the three sisters founded the Sable Church with just their impressive strength[4], an organization that aimed to offer salvation to the Hollows[5], and Elfriede, as the eldest sister, became its leader[6]. Over time an increasing number of Undead and Hollows would find refuge with them, evolving into a society made up of those who have lived miserable lives, incredibly old people full of secrets and deceit[7]. This place would become known with the name of Londor, a place where hollows where able to live outside the oppression of other human society using purging stones to ease their condition[8] and even mining their stagnant Humanity to create Hollow Gems that they then used to forge weapons[9].

The Sable Church lead by Elfriede continued to grow and began to develop its dark miracles, forge its weapons and train knights completely loyal to their cause [10]. In fact the Londor Pale Shades, darkly shriveled and immortal Hollows who fought without honor or pursuit of glory but only to fulfill their duty to the Sable Church [11], were assassins and knights who are sent to the rest of the world to serve the interests of the Sable Church [12], even learning the power of the Dark Hand[13]. At some point Elfriede would accept Sir Vilhelm as her knight, bestowing her Onyx Blade to him[14] who became extremely loyal to her and her cold-blooded hangman[15]. To pursue the interests of Londor and realize their dream of an Age of Dark, Elfriede, as leader of the country of Hollows, finally attempted to usurp the First Flame[16]. However she only managed to take control of a spark, turning into a blackflame[17], before she ended up failing as the power of the Flame consumed her, burning her face[18] and leaving her as Unkindled reduced to ashes[19].

As the First Flame continued to fade and Prince Lothric refused to link it, the Unkindled were exhumed from their graves to hunt down the Lords of Cinder of the past that had refused to return to their "thrones" and serve as fuel for the Flame a second time[20]. Among them Elfriede return too however she renounced everything[21], leaving behind her role as leader of the Sable Church, Londor[22] and even her name, becoming known simply as "Friede"[23]. Having lost her role along with her home she was eventually drawn into the Painted World of Ariandel[24], where the forlorns, unwanted souls without a place to go, were welcomed and found refuge[25] and became the first Ashen One to reside in it[26]. Here she came to accept the frost of the Painted World and came to consider it her new home[27]. She discovered that she wanted to "protect" the people who inhabited the Painted World[28] and assumed the precise form that they yearned for[29], that of their mistress Priscilla, even going so far as to wield a great scythe that represented the symbol of a long-lost home for the inhabitants of the painting[30] like the one that Priscilla similarly wielded[31][32]. At a certain point her knight, Sir Vilhelm, found her in the painted world, returning to her service despite having been released his duty[33]

Over time Friede earned the trust of some of the inhabitants of the painting, to the point that the Corvian Knights who protected the village became infatuated with her[34], but above all she managed to get close to Father Ariandel[35], a great Corvian who had the task of guarding the Flame inside of the Painted World and to restore it using the fire when the painting began to rot, to bring it back to life and avoid the fate of the stagnant outside world[36][37]. However, just when the painting began to be corrupted and its inhabitants made up their minds to burn it away, Friede opposed their wish[38], preferring a slow death in the comforting rot to the renewing change of the Flame[39]. And so she convinced Ariandel to bury the Flame of the painting and hold back its strenght using his blood[40] while her Corvian Knights swore to "protected" the painting from fire and even killed their own brethren who opposed her[41]. At some point the Painter would be imprisoned in the library of the corvian village[42] and guarded by Sir Vilhelm[43] to prevent her from restoring the painting[44], prompting Slave Knight Gael to escape from the painting taking a rotten scrap of it and begin searching for another Unkindled[45] that would fulfill the prophecy stating that when the Ashes inside the painting became two the Flame would return and burn the rot away[46].

Friede thus remained in the cathedral of the painted world, protecting the Flame and Ariandel from anyone who tried to reach them, while the inhabitants of the painting rotted and filthy insects spread. When an Ashen One arrived in the painting she would kindly but firmly invite them to leave and return to the outside world, leaving the inhabitants of the painting in peace and forget about them[47]. When they ignore her advice and descend the cathedral to confront Father Ariandel she would be forced to wield her scythe and confront them, not before asking Father Ariandel to turn his gaze away from the imminent carnage. When she is defeated the first time, an enraged Ariandel sparks the Flame he bled so much to prevent it from rekindling in a desperate attempt to revive her. Now rekindled, Friede would come back from death to fight by his side again, their souls linked. After falling a second time, Friede would rise yet again thanks to her inner Dark Flame in one final struggle to defeat the Ashen One and prevent the painted world from being eventually replaced with a new one[48].

Strategy[]

First Phase: Sister Friede[]

Sister Friede

Sister Friede in the first phase.

First of all, it is suggested to use a light weapon (such as a straight sword, a greatsword, etc.) to avoid the risk of being stun-locked by her fast attacks, and also a greatshield with high stability to minimize some stamina damage.

After the beginning of the fight, be careful and learn her attack patterns while blocking with your shield (be careful anyway, because her scythe inflicts Magic damage).

Note that Friede will nearly always jump away after one or two hits, so it is not advised to go for more as it is very easy to disregard stamina and become open for a devastating counterattack. While she seems to have very little poise, she sometimes will almost completely ignore the player's attacks and poise through them with no trouble, guaranteeing the player gets hit if they are getting greedy.

Occasionally, she will turn invisible and move rapidly through the room, and after a short time, she will perform a grab with her scythe that inflicts heavy damage if not stopped and is difficult to dodge roll away from. It is possible to track her by paying careful attention to which way she jumps. She will either jump to the side, or over the player's head and land behind them. Another way is to run straightforward at her when she turns invisible, as being in close proximity to her or attacking her will cause her to reappear.

Second Phase: Father Ariandel and Friede[]

Sister Friede and Father Ariandel

Sister Friede and Father Ariandel in the second phase of the fight.

After killing Friede in her first phase, a cutscene will play in which Father Ariandel enters a berserk state, expands the arena, resurrects Friede, and begins to fight the player alongside Friede. During this phase, both Father Ariandel and Sister Friede will share the same health bar, and both will die once the health bar is depleted.

Sister Friede will fight much more defensively, opting to cast ice spells from afar instead of directly engaging the player. However, she will still attack if the player gets too close to her.

Father Ariandel fights by using his bowl like a weapon and uses it to try and crush the player. He also has several area of effect attacks that are best avoided by staying either away from him, or behind him. He moves slowly and will charge at the player if they are too far away from him to be hit by any of his attacks.

-If the player has used Slave Knight Gael's summon sign, he will be summoned into the arena once the second phase begins.

-The first time the player defeats this phase, they will be rewarded with a Titanite Slab

Third Phase: Blackflame Friede[]

Blackflame Friede

Blackflame Friede

After defeating the second phase, Friede will resurrect a final time. She will now fight with two scythes. Her original scythe will typically be coated in "Black Flame", and will deal significantly more damage than before. Her secondary scythe will deal heavy frostbite damage, as well as wielding multiple ranged attacks freezing the ground and building up your frost bite meter. She will also go invisible and continuously freeze the ground running up to you and won't stop until attacked. Many of her attacks will gain an area of effect and become incredibly damaging. She will also fight far more aggressively than before.

Attacks[]

???

Defenses[]

???

Drops[]

Item Soul of Sister Friede
Soul of Sister Friede
Titanite Slab
Titanite Slab
Drop Rate Guaranteed Guaranteed

Dialogue[]

Notes[]

  • Can be parried, backstabbed and riposted.
  • Ariandel can be poise-broken and riposted, if hit enough times in a short amount of time.
  • Friede is fully affected by the Sacred Flame pyromancy in all three phases of her boss fight.
    • However, she is only partially affected by the Dark Hand, taking the first instance of damage, but not entering the full animation or taking the full damage.
  • The Titanite Slab is a reward for completing phase 2 for the first time. It can only be obtained once per NG cycle.
  • Friede can be parried and riposted during all phases of the fight. However, parrying her can be tricky as she attacks very quickly.
  • During the second phase, one can use the Storyteller's Staff and Toxic Mist on Ariandel with almost instant activation.
    • Repeatedly casting the poison of the Storyteller's Staff on Friede as she burns and revives can poison her as the third phase starts, making the fight against her much less stressful, wherein one can get hits when they can and let the poison work at the same time.

Trivia[]

  • She has been known as "Friede" and as "Elfriede", although the reason is not certain.
  • If attacked (including kicking), while she is sitting in her chair, she will disappear until the area is reloaded, and will not mention having been attacked when spoken to in future.
    • If she is still absent when opening the path to Father Ariandel, she will also be absent for the cutscene and her voice lines will not be heard. She will, however, reappear when the player talks to Ariandel to start the boss fight.
  • Blackflame Friede bears several attacks that practically mirror those of Lady Maria, a boss in Bloodborne.
  • Despite having not had contact with Yuria for a long time, and having long abandoned the Sable Church, she, as well as Sir Vilhelm, recognizes the recently anointed Lord of Hollows.

Gallery[]

Music[]

Dark_Souls_III_Soundtrack_OST_-_Father_Ariandel_and_Sister_Friede_(Ashes_of_Ariandel)

Dark Souls III Soundtrack OST - Father Ariandel and Sister Friede (Ashes of Ariandel)

References[]

  1. Yuria of Londor dialogue and Billed Mask description.
  2. Dark Hand (Dark Souls III) description.
  3. Yuria of Londor dialogue and Billed Mask and Yuria's Ashes description.
  4. Yuria of Londor dialogue and Billed Mask and Black Set (Dark Souls III) description.
  5. Billed Mask description.
  6. Onyx Blade description.
  7. Dead Again (Dark Souls III) and Untrue Dark Ring description.
  8. Purging Stone (Dark Souls III) description.
  9. Hollow Gem description.
  10. Vow of Silence (Dark Souls III) and Vilhelm's Set description.
  11. Pale Shade Set and Poison Throwing Knife (Dark Souls III) description.
  12. Manikin Claws (Dark Souls III) and Pale Shade Set description.
  13. Pale Shade Set and Sneering Mask description and Londor Pale Shade
  14. Onyx Blade description.
  15. Vilhelm's Set description.
  16. Yuria of Londor dialogue and Soul of Sister Friede and Onyx Blade description.
  17. Onyx Blade and Sister Friede#Third Phase: Blackflame Friede implying that Friede, in order to have a dark flame within herself actually managed to usurp part of the First Flame and infuse it with her darkness as Ashen Ones normally no longer have fire inside of them (see Ashen Estus Flask).
  18. https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/File:Cw0GrBcXgAAxfSF.jpg
  19. Soul of Sister Friede description and Slave Knight Gael dialogue.
  20. Opening (Dark Souls III) dialogue.
  21. Ordained Set description.
  22. Yuria of Londor dialogue.
  23. Soul of Sister Friede description.
  24. Painted World of Ariandel#Enemies
  25. Storyteller's Staff description.
  26. Soul of Sister Friede description.
  27. Chillbite Ring description.
  28. Ordained Set description.
  29. Ordained Set description.
  30. Friede's Great Scythe description.
  31. Lifehunt Scythe description.
  32. Great Corvian Scythe desription.
  33. Onyx Blade description and Sir Vilhelm locations and dialogue.
  34. Crow Quills description.
  35. Father Ariandel dialogue.
  36. Forlorn Corvian Settler (character) dialogue.
  37. Rose of Ariandel description.
  38. Forlorn Corvian Settler (character) dialogue.
  39. Soul of Sister Friede description.
  40. Rose of Ariandel description.
  41. Crow Quills description.
  42. Contraption Key description.
  43. Sir Vilhelm locations and dialogue.
  44. Forlorn Corvian Settler (character) dialogue.
  45. Slave Knight Gael dialogue.
  46. Forlorn Corvian Settler (character) dialogue.
  47. Sister Friede dialogue.
  48. Sister Friede#Strategy
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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