Dark Souls 2 - Scorpioness Najka, boss guide
Magic and melee warriors need to take a different approach to the Najka boss fight. We've got a guide to winning with both styles of combat.
It pays to read ahead a little when preparing for the fight against the Scorpioness Najka, as she has a few sneaky moves that can really knock you off your feet. If you're a magical fighter, you'll want to use a slightly different approach than that taken by melee players too, so have a good look through our comprehensive guide to this tense boss battle.
How to kill Scorpioness Najka
Don't hang about when you enter the lair of the Scorpioness. Run straight towards her and start whacking away at her while she's caught up in the sand. That's not the only reason to get stuck into this fight right away either: if you stay too far back, she'll start shooting ranged attacks at you, and these are very tricky to avoid. Once you've got a few solid whacks in, start backing up as she emerges from the sand. If you're too close to Najka when this happens, you'll take a fair bit of damage.
You shouldn't find it too tricky to block or evade the enemy's handful of attacks. If you're good at dodging out of the way of magical damage, hang back at maximum range and evade the projectiles she flings your way. If she ever gets too close to you using this strategy, simply back up to create more distance.
If your skills lie more with melee weapons, try to keep just outside of her own melee attack range. She'll make use of a triple-hit combo at times, and it consists of two mandible bites, followed up by a spear lunge. Just block those first two attacks when they come, then evade the spear before getting stuck into her with your own counter-attacks.
"Keep an eye out for when she shakes her tails a little, and make sure you back up quickly to avoid the incoming damage."
Keep an eye out for when she shakes her tails a little, and make sure you back up quickly to avoid the incoming damage - they can drain a significant amount of health from you. Once both tails have been planted into the ground, throw a fair bit of damage her way, as she's very vulnerable at this point.
Should she burrow underground, make sure you're standing on any of the stone sections that are spread around the sandy area. There's a particularly large piece in one of the corners, but you can use the smaller pieces if they're a bit closer. If you don't manage to get to safe ground in time, she'll burst back up through the sand, and hit you for a pretty nasty chunk of damage.
You can expect this pattern of attacks to continue all the way throughout the fight, but note that you can cut those tails off if you want to eliminate the attack she uses them for. Just keep in mind that his will force her to use more of her magical attacks instead. If you struggle to deal with that kind of damage, focus on hitting her back at all times, and avoid making contact with the tails whenever possible.
When the creature's dead, make your way through the door that's over in the corner, then head up the stairs towards the Doors of Pharros.
We've got all the tactics you need to successfully kill the Rotten in Dark Souls 2. Alternatively, head back to the first page of our Dark Souls 2 walkthrough for more guides.