Bell Gargoyle | Dark Souls

Bell Gargoyle Attacks

The first Gargoyle will primarily attack with its axe for physical damage, but breathes fire if the player tries to hide. It will whip its axe-tail when the player is behind the Bell Gargoyle and also while flying.

After its health is halved, it will start breathing fire, and a second Gargoyle will also join the fray. The second Gargoyle spawns with half health, and mostly breathes fire.

Bell Gargoyle Hints

• If you are human, you may summon Solaire of Astora, both online and offline, to help with this boss fight. His summon sign is found right before the fog to the rooftop.
• Once rescued, Knight Lautrec of Carim can be summoned to assist in the Bell Gargoyle fight. His summon sign can be found on a ledge across from the ladder below the fog gate to the Bell Gargoyle.
• It is also a good idea to summon a player if you are not hollow. Common summon sign locations include at the bottom of the stairs inside the church next to the elevators, and outside the church at the end of the path leading down to the blacksmith (where three hollow soldiers are located).
• Player summons are useful here as well because, unlike most bosses, the cinematic will not trigger when the host enters the boss gate, but rather when the host is approximately one third of the way across the roof towards the bell tower. This allows player summons to also enter the area through the boss gate and then run ahead of the host and get in position on the roof before the boss appears. This will then give the summons a few moments to immediately cut off the first Gargoyle's tail before he begins flying around. If you have summons with you, give them a few moments to join you on the roof and run ahead of you before you trigger the Gargoyles.
  • For summons running ahead of the host to get the Gargoyle Tail Axe, a good place to position yourself is just past the perpendicular roof that juts off the main roof roughly halfway towards the bell tower. If you run past the side roof and then turn perpendicular to the main roof (so that the gargoyle's bell tower is to your right), when the gargoyle first appears, you will have a free swing at his tail right in front of you. The gargoyle's cutscene in which it jumps down on the roof also gives a good approximation of where it will actually be standing when the fight starts. Using a two-handed weapon with an overhead swing can cut the tail off with one blow.
• Using a Gold Pine Resin will make this fight substantially easier, as the Gargoyles are extremely weak to lightning.
• If you can get your hands on it, and if you can use it, the Black Knight Sword can be really useful for this fight, as it can cut the tail in one or two swings and deals massive amounts of damage, killing the second gargoyle in two or three hits.

Bell Gargoyle As Minibosses

There is a Miniboss variant of these "Bell Gargoyles", with the exception that they have lightning breath instead of fire breath.

This version can be found in Anor Londo; there are only two, and they are separate from one another, so you can fight them one at a time. So if you missed the helmet drop from earlier, good luck!

Bell Gargoyle Strategy

A good shield will block most of the Gargoyle's attacks, but the fire will still deal some damage even when blocked, so try to stay out of its range when the second one joins. Focus all attacks against the first Gargoyle, even after the second one appears. Run away if they start ganging up, to divide and conquer. When one is killed, get in close to the second Gargoyle, and its fire breath will be useless.

Despite breathing it, the Gargoyles are vulnerable to fire, so a few Firebombs will help during this fight.

If you have summoned a helper, it can be useful to split attack duties between the two Gargoyles, as it is far easier to keep from getting ganged up on when each Gargoyle is focusing on a separate target. For example, if an NPC is attacking the first gargoyle (and you have already chopped off its tail), go after the second one and let the NPC keep the first one's attention. Since the second gargoyle is exceptionally fond of using fire breath, you should have plenty of opportunity to assault its flank and take it down quickly - and you won't get a surprise blast of fire on your backside.

At the opposite end of where you start the fight, at each side of the bell tower there are narrow paths that seemingly make for a good hiding place. Do not go there! The gargoyles can't reach you with their weapons, but their fire breathing will. Additionally, they block you inside, making it exceedingly difficult to break out.

A very easy way to beat the Gargoyles is by summoning Lautrec and Solaire. After talking to Solaire and getting the White Soapstone, find the mystery key and free Lautrec in the church. Quit the game, talk to him in Firelink Shrine, and go to the Gargoyles' 'fog gate'. Solaire's sign is right before the door, while Lautrec's is on the opposite side of the room, one ladder down. They're both pretty hard to miss, and if you use these two phantoms, the Gargoyles become very easy to defeat. Lautrec is nearly invincible against them with his heavy armor, and Solaire can dish out a fair amount of damage with his Lightning Spears.

Bell Gargoyle Notes, Tips, and Trivia

As you will notice, the second gargoyle has only half the health of the first one. It is also physically smaller, lacking a helmet (I think) and has had its tail removed. There are three likely culprits to have inflicted the injury:

• Knight Lautrec the Embraced is initially found locked in a cell in the undead church. Who put him there - and why a church has a cell in the first place - is a mystery, but it is possible that he attempted to reach the bell tower and engaged one of the gargoyles. After being injured, the gargoyle called for his fellow to assist him. Even the zealously devoted have some consideration for their own hides.
• Knight Solaire of Astora reaches several parts of Lordran before you, so it wouldn't be a surprise to find that he had fought his way through the undead in the church while you were shooting the breeze with Andre. Although his prowess in battle is legendary - and rightly so - a 2v1 match with stone-skinned demons is enough to sway the bravest heart.
• Oswald the Pardoner is nowhere to be found after you kill the gargoyles, only appearing after you ring the bell of awakening. One explanation was that he was the one to injure the gargoyle, in an attempt to get to the bell tower for his own reasons.

However, the most likely explanation is as follows: the second gargoyle was a juvenile. Gargoyles are a rare type of sentient draconian descendants, like drakes or serpents, that kept imperfect versions of the scales of immortality but were hunted to near extinction. Therefore, the second gargoyle you fight isn't actually wounded at all: it's a baby, and therefore uses more cowardly tactics like spraying you with fire while its mother protects it.