Dark Lord/Extended strategies

Additional advice and extended strategies for battling the Dark Lord in The Ancient Gods, Part Two.

Strategies
Although there are similarities between fighting the Dark Lord and a marauder, there is a significant difference between the two. Whereas the marauder will continuously try to get closer to the player to melee assault them, the Dark Lord will tend to keep his distance and attack from afar. The player must get closer to the Dark Lord in order to trigger his melee attacks so as to create an opening to deal damage. Of all melee attacks he uses only the side swipe exposes him to being stunned, neither the downward swing nor the shield dash will work for a counterattack and they both must be dodged by dashing to the side, as even the downward swing has misleading range and can cause players to be hit if they try to dash back.

The overall structure of the fight therefore should be to avoid the long range attacks of the Dark Lord while getting closer. Carefully observe the melee attack to be used by the Dark Lord and either dash away or attack accordingly. If HP and armor or ammo are lacking, kill the ever spawning zombies. Players are recommended to use the super shotgun as the standard weapon to employ, as it can easily kill the Dark Lord's summoned wolves and it can be used in conjunction with the ballista for massive damage through quick-switching. The meathook can also be advantageous to resupply using the zombies.

As the battle progresses the Dark Lord will become more challenging and more aggressive, employing new attacks: summoning more demons along with or apart from the wolves, incorporating his shield attack (from phase two onward) and worse of all, drastically increasing the HP regained through his melee attacks. During phase four and onward, the Dark Lord can summon a horde of demons which can be easily destroyed with the Sentinel Hammer. Players are, however, encouraged to resist the temptation to group kill them instantly, especially if the Dark Lord is nearby (which is typically the case when he is summoning them) as using the Sentinel Hammer, disables the player from doing anything else during the sequence, and they can leave themselves exposed to the Dark Lord's melee attacks while being largely unable to evade as a result of the brief delay after using the Hammer. At this point in the battle, being hit by the Dark Lord's melee can almost regenerate his entire HP bar and thwart the player's progress. As such it is recommended to isolate the bigger threats (like the tyrant or baron) and then deal with them if they are too problematic. Fortunately neither has as much HP as the originals and they also fade over time.

With 5 regenerating HP bars, this will largely be a battle of attrition and patience. The player must take advantage of every opportunity that arises to deal damage, but they must also avoid recklessness lest they ruin their progress by regenerating the Dark Lord's HP. There are fortunately several checkpoints throughout the fight. Circle around the stage for all the HP, armor and ammo that players might need before tackling on the Dark Lord openly. Whenever the Dark Lord is stunned, always use the Sentinel Hammer to extend its stun and leave him open to more damage. As such it is recommended that players always have their Hammer charged before trying to attack the Dark Lord so as to guarantee the maximum damage possible.