Dark Souls' madafakin' Capra Demon

[DarkhoIlow]

Boss took me less than 3-4 tries to beat actually.

I would suggest watching EpicNameBro's channel over at the youtubez. He has a lot of Dark Souls videos either let's plays or Lore videos which I recommend.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Just want to jump in; how much of a time sink is this game?
Been really looking into it because it looks brilliant to be honest, but I'm curious about how much bang I'll get for my buck?

And also is it the sort of game that's best in marathon stretches or little and often?

Whatever works for you, really.

As long as you don't go loopy and let Dark Souls take over your dreams and your waking life, you can play it, live it, breathe it for as long as your stamina, mental health and pee breaks allow.

You can stick to playing it hours or days at a time, or you can snort it up in homeopathic dosages. One part is exploration, one part is figuring things out (all by yourself or with the aid of a wiki, use at your own discretion), one part is memorizing things... everything, really. Enemy positions, paths, shortcuts... everything. If you have memory issues, this is the sudoku of your life.

If you like Takeshi's Castle, consider this game to be one huge test for everything you yourself bring to the table.

OP: It took me a couple of times to understand what's asked of me. There's a position from which you can execute the pouncing attack... it's also the only safe position to take a two second break and heal up if things turn out very hairy. The dogs absolutely need to die. If you find it hard to figure out the movements of the goatman demon dude, it's because there's not enough room. It's a make-it-or-break-it moment. If you find it impossible and yourself raging hard, take a break. Come back some other day.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Just want to jump in; how much of a time sink is this game?
Been really looking into it because it looks brilliant to be honest, but I'm curious about how much bang I'll get for my buck?

And also is it the sort of game that's best in marathon stretches or little and often?

You can do it in both marathon stretches and in little bits. To me, there isn't much of a difference. I pre-ordered Dark Souls back when it was released the first time and to this day, about a year and a half later, I still play it.

To put things into perspective, I've had 6 90+ hour characters, 8 45+ hour characters, 5 25+ hour characters and enough 6-10 hour characters to fill every character slot 3 times. Of course, I really love the Souls series. Souls to me is like Ōkami to Daystar Clarion. So depending on how much you love the game, it can be quite a time sink.

Crapra Demon only killed me twice. He killed me the very first time I went to fight him because I was caught by surprise. He rushes you the moment you enter the area(but anyone telling you that Crapra kills you before you gain control of your character is lying because you get your control back LONG before he can hit you at all), has a Poison Dog on both his flanks and the area in which you fight him is cramped. And that's putting it nicely.

Now when I fight him, I ignore Crapra and immediately slay the two dogs. The dogs are much faster than Crapra is so as long as you avoid being hit by the big boss, the dogs themselves become little trouble.

Of course, you can also cheese him by running up the stairs on the left and kill the dogs as they follow you up, since Crapra's path finding has a hard time reaching you while you're at the top. But cheesing is for losers.

I see people complaining ALL OVER THE PLACE about this game. And it's been rebalanced since its initial release. I remember playing it before ANY patches were made. I dare anyone with a console version to play it completely unpatched, if they haven't already. Dark Souls was significantly more difficult before its rebalancing.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

He received an awful lot of hype so I was dreading him but then once I got to him, he went down like a chump. The only boss in the game that is even remotely difficult in my eyes is Ornstein and Smough.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

Capra's not too hard once you learn to use the stairs at the back of the arena for a plunging attack. Getting past the dogs is mostly luck-based, but if you run/roll straight past them you can face them one by one instead of being rushed by them and Capra. I think it took me about an hour to defeat this guy the first time, which of course was mostly walking back from Firelink after being roflstomped.

 

[Doclector]

Capra demon?

Pfft.

I'm still stuck on those two gargoyles.

Yes, I do suck that much.

Though, I will say that previously, I had went the wrong way and attempted to kill the capra.

And that was the first time I rage-traded in Dark Souls.

I have promised not to do it again. It's like doom. I love it BECAUSE it kicks my ass. Like stockholm syndrome. For games.

...Ravenholm syndrome?

 

[Shocksplicer]

I found Capra Demon to be very easy. All I did was dodge his attacks, hit the dogs till they died, then duelled the Demon til he ran out of health.

Don't really have any advice other than "Have Better Reflexes."

 

[viranimus]

So fellow Escapee, how long were you stuck on this overgrown goat?

I've been trying to kill him for 2 hours and can't seem to get him. I'm playing a SL 27 thief and he owns me everytime.

I think it's bound to be the worst and cheapest boss in gaming history due to the two chihuahuas, the small arena and the dumb camera angles.

After how many tries did you manage to down him?

LOL I put him down on the first try. Capra is one of the few I encountered that I didnt at least need a second try on.

Really it baffles me why people have so much trouble with him. Yes there are yard trash mobs. Yes the camera is rough in such tight confines, but come on, its basic evade till you get an opening in a very firmly rectangular room.

Is that really the problem? Inability to adapt to a camera? I dont know, it really didnt seem that big a deal for me. I simply ignored the camera, stop trying to look at the mobs, move on the assumption that they were on me when I couldnt see and waited for openings to attack when I could see. I have to assume people are too busy fuxing with the camera and in the process leaving themselves too open.

 

[Sordin]

I usually have a bit of trouble when starting a new character but once the dogs are dead he is insanely easy. I usually just go up the stairs stay on the arch kill the dogs then wait for him to come attack me a few times and fall off then I plunging attack him. Rinse and repeat. Of course getting onto the stairs is the difficult bit but time your dodges right and you can pull it off.

 

[Broderick]

Capra demon?

Pfft.

I'm still stuck on those two gargoyles.

Yes, I do suck that much.

Though, I will say that previously, I had went the wrong way and attempted to kill the capra.

And that was the first time I rage-traded in Dark Souls.

I have promised not to do it again. It's like doom. I love it BECAUSE it kicks my ass. Like stockholm syndrome. For games.

...Ravenholm syndrome?

The gargoyles can be hard if you do not take out the first one quickly before the second one spawns. The second one only spawns when you get the first below 50% health, so take your time before then. If you have not upgraded your weapons, you should probably do so to make it easier on you. The following information is information spoilers; if you wish to find out stuff for yourself, please disregard the following. You can upgrade your weapons by finding andre in the undead parish(initially, before buying a weapon smith box), or from rickert in the new londo ruins(area with the ghosts below firelink shrine). Get to your weapon of choice to +5, and maybe get a resin if you have one. Pop it on your weapon and your are good to kick some gargoyle tush.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

Capra took maybe 5 times because I had no idea what the room was like or that there were stairs. Basically as long as you can avoid getting stunlocked by the dogs long enough to take them out its easy.

With Kalameet I was really dissappointed. I had watched the pc release of the DLC on a livestream and it took the guy maybe 40 tries to kill it and get the tail. I did it the first time with my Great Scythe.

On Seathe I always had a hell of a time cutting his tail. I'd not be hitting the tip and end up killing him instead of the tail. Pricilla's is even worse if I can't one shot it before the fight starts >_<

The only bosses I had a hard time with were the Centipede Demon, the Firesage, and 4 Kings. Centipede because of the small area and his ass taking up most of the screen made it had to see anything. Plus on my first playthrough all he did was spam the grab move over and over. Took me like 30 tries.

4 Kings, when I'm NOT using magic is always a *****. Only fight in the game that ruins my otherwise good runs. They bring my game to a crashing halt every time, and I always need several attempts. I hate how its basically just a DPS check, you need to just tank the damage and go nuts on them as fast as you can. You can try dodging but I suck at it in that fight, and they like to use that aoe/grab quite often on me. The fact that you really can't judge your distance due to the abyss is the most annoying part.

Getting the Shrine Guardian's tail was also a real pain.

Nito is weird in that sometimes I can kill him in under a few sec, and other times he just manages to spam the blade eruption and juggle me to death.

 

[runic knight]

well, you can play online and summon someone, the signs are usually right at the front of the fog gate. That makes the fight a lot easier assuming you can survive the first 10 seconds for the other guy to walk in and take the dogs down.
Single player, it is trickier. Kite around, use the stairs, kill dogs off before the demon, you'll do alright.
Got his second attempt myself. First I just got staggered and then couldn't roll far enough away from a jump attack. Second was close but managed to kill him with the stairs tactics.

 

[Candidus]

I'm playing a SL 27 thief and he owns me everytime.

Heya.

Characters in DS become far more powerful based on equipment than based on SL. On your second run, you'll probably find that you only increase your SL in order to meet the demands of your desired gear, or for a *slight* increase in stamina and HP. I've got a PvE pyromancer that does about 1,100 damage per hit with a +5 lightning Zwei and Power Within. I'm on NG+ and I'm Slevel 18. Some people have gone to NG++ at Slevel 7, and perhaps even lower.

My advice for this fight is to grab a +5 weapon and +3 your armour. Go to the merchant in the tunnel before the depths and pick up a modifier as well, to increase the damage of your weapon further.

When the fight starts, run forward and a little to the right. It'll probably do a leaping swing. Wait until it's begun tracking your movements while swinging before you roll. Too soon and he'll hit you.

If you get past him, you've basically won. Sprint up the stairs and get on the arch over the door to your right. The dogs will be able to follow you. Kill them. When the demon swings he should fall off the stairs into the space beneath the ledge. Do a plunge attack, rinse and repeat. Good luck!

 

[SwimmingRock]

Not to be all gloaty or whatever, but I don't understand why people have so much trouble with the Capra Demon. I beat him on my first try with only 2 Estus and honestly thought he was like a mid-boss or something. I was baffled when the internet appeared to agree he was the worst ever. It's Boba Fett all over again.

As for beating him, just keep running up the stairs, shoot him with arrow, then roll down once he gets up there. He'll do a jump attack to get down, which leaves him vulnerable to melee for a short bit. Run up the stairs again. Repeat. Piece of piss, me old China.

 

[Casual Shinji]

There's your problem; You're a thief. Suggesting you probably don't have the best defenses. In which case Capra will slaughter the shit out of you. Either summon some online companions to help you or, if you have the Master Key, circumvent him entirely by going down to the New Londo Ruins, through the Valley of the Drakes, and straight to Blight Town.

Or you can start from scratch and play as a tank, making the fight (and most other Boss fights) way easier.

 

[Lucid_Camel]

Dude if its the black Skull 2 sword guy, run back up the stairs, there is a little edge to the right let him follow you, then jump down the fall should hurt him a good enough amount, then go back and up the stairs and let him follow again and jump off, repeat till he's dead. U might need some healing potion but this makes the fight easy if not repeative

 

[IronMit]

on my first playthrough I needed like 8 x with my faster character . It was very very frustrating. Second playthrough I tanked him with my warrior with black knight sword and stone armour. But I got the crest in the forest to get said armour.

Tips;

you really should run straight up the stairs but you may find your path blocked;

Build - you are using a thief so I guess tanking is out of the question. Have you considering swaping in a bigger shield for the higher stability. or upgrade a shield. This will ensure he doesn't guard break you in 1-2 hits. Balder shield dropped by the bigger shielded balder knights is a decent shield. rare drop.

roll speed - if trying to make a mad dash to the stairs - under 25% equip burden for faster running and roll speed.

Strategy - I found NOT locking-on at the start and rolling to the left asap helped me reach the stairs. Locking on-and off against bosses at the right time is very very useful and most players don't even consider it.
also releasing block so your stamina regenerates between his slow powerful hits.

If you manage to get up the stairs- if you stand at just the right spot on the ledge...the capra will walk half way up the stairs jump at you fall down and be open to a plunging fall attack

summoning - people leave summoning signs before the fog gate and the other shortcut entrance

armour - There's elite knight armour, eastern armour and stone armour all in the forest. Might want to considering changing armour for the fight.

If your a bit of a sorcerer - fighting the hydra in the basin and then the crystal thing , will unlock the opportunity for more spells. one of them being hidden body. The dogs won't run at you immediately if you cast this before stepping through the fog gate.

 

[King of Wei]

3 or 4 tries with my first character. Remember he kicked my ass twice with a thief around the same level as the OP, then I bought aural decoy to try it out and owned him while he was attacking the decoy. Since then I've beaten him with an SL 10 thief with just the knife, but aural decoy was a godsend when I was still learning the ins and outs of the game.