"Dark Souls 2" - The Iron Keep Quiz

Answer: Infinite

Falling into the lava is an instant kill regardless of gear or stats. Magma, on the other hand, can be survived but also doesn't show up outside of the building nor does it show up much at all inside.

Answer: Forlorn

If Forlorn does end up invading, it will occur right outside the front entrance. As always, there is a 10% chance for this to take effect at any given moment when entering this area.

Answer: Dragon Remnants

In order to join this covenant, the player needs to give Magerold the Petrified Egg. The Petrified Egg is found in the Dragon Shrine, a late game area, and while it is possible to go there before coming to the Iron Keep, the method needed to achieve this is so tedious that the average player would likely never think to or want to do so.

As such, most players will not be able to join this covenant upon meeting Magerold for the first time, and will need to return later.

Answer: Fourteen

There is one which will greet the player immediately on a bridge leading to the building, two that will attack once the player sets foot inside, two which will attempt to snipe the player from a distance once they enter a wide open iron production room, three that will attack the player as they approach the bridge lever, another two which will try and snipe the player from the other end of the bridge this lever opens, and the remaining four will attack the player just before they can access the boss room.

It is possible to get to the boss without fighting every single one of them, but given how aggressive these knights are and how tanky they are, this is easier said than done.

Answer: Blacksteel Katana

The Blacksteel Katana begins at +0 already having an A scaling in Dexterity, with a modest 25 in Dexterity needed to use it. It's durability is on the lower side, sitting at just 40, but this is otherwise a great katana the player could easily use for the rest of their playthrough if they're lucky enough to receive one.

Answer: Yes

Old Iron King named these knights after Sir Alonne, the man who trained them amidst his endeavors at helping the king. They do serve the Old Iron King, but because he did not train them how to fight, their fighting style is distinctly different from the king's.

Answer: No

While it is not strictly mandatory to defeat the Smelter Demon in order to reach the Old Iron King, it is highly advised to do so. Right after the demon's boss room is a bonfire the player can use as a checkpoint. The demon must be defeated to access this bonfire, and it is the only bonfire the player will receive as a checkpoint until the end of the area. If the player is slain before reaching the end of the area, they must then go through the entirety of it starting from the very beginning all over again. By defeating the Smelter Demon and unlocking the aforementioned bonfire, the player can ease the punishment of death by having that checkpoint to fall back on, rather than having to endure the entire map all over again.

Answer: Lucatiel of Mirrah

This boss fight does count towards Lucatiel's questline, for better or worse. This is also definitely the hardest boss of the ones Lucatiel can be summoned for that count towards her questline. As such, if the player only cares about her questline, they may want to leave her on the bench for this one.

Otherwise, she is a solid helper who can provide moments of respite in distracting the demon as the player heals, buffs or the like.

Answer: The Pursuer

Back to make sure you didn't forget about him, The Pursuer is much stronger here than his previous appearances. This is reflected by enhanced loot he drops when defeated here. In addition to the usual Twinkling Titanite, he also drops the Ring of Blades +1, an upgrade to the +0 version dropped by him when he was a formal boss fight in the Forest of Fallen Giants.

Answer: He is an Old Great One

Much like The Lost Sinner, The Rotten and The Duke's Dear Freya, The Old Iron King is an Old Great One. He is one of four bosses which must be slain to open the Shrine of Winter and access Drangleic Castle.

Answer: Manhunter O'Harrah

The king is a giant demon capable of residing in lava the entire fight, and cannot be approached with melee weapons up close. Because of this, Manhunter O'Harrah's exclusive usage of the Alonne Greatbow allows her to deal damage from a distance, making for a sensible NPC summon.

Unfortunately, she can easily be knocked into the lava for immediate death, which can make her fickle and inconsistent in this one.

Answer: Smelter Demon

While it is often casually referred to as "Blue Smelter Demon" due to it being the same thing, just colored blue, the game actually refers to it as just 'Smelter Demon' without the color distinguishability. As such, it is a completely different boss which drops the same soul, due to its identity clearly still being the same.

Answer: Damaging an opponent even if they parry you

Attacks with this hammer are overhead slams. They are slow and easy to parry, but this simplicity is a red herring, as anyone who parries a user of this weapon can expect to take massive damage, if not outright be killed for doing so. The weapon's overhead slams ignite the hammer, causing it to spew out magma.

This magma does a lot of damage, and it will come into effect even if the weapon is parried. As the enemy would be doing the parrying, thus rooted in place and briefly unable to move, they will take this damage guaranteed every single time.

Answer: Dragonslayer Greatbow

This Greatbow is wielded by Silver Knights in Anor Londo. In this game, it is also wielded by the boss Cerah the Old Explorer. It requires 30 in Strength and 20 in Dexterity to use, though because it can only be used with two hands, it essentially only requires a 20 in Strength to use. With a B scaling in Strength and a C in Dexterity, this is undoubtedly the best bow in this game by a country mile, with excellent scaling properties, absurd damage output, and reasonable stat requirements.

The only potential drawback is that it needs Petrified Dragon Bones to upgrade, but the player can easily render this a non problem by simply using weapons which do not need this resource, thus conserving it for the bow. And believe me, though there are plenty of great boss weapons in this game using Petrified Dragon Bone, a decision to put them in the back burner for this bow would be a respectable one.

Answer: Blinding Bolt

Blinding Bolt is basically Heavenly Thunder on steroids and adderall. Like Heavenly Thunder, this spell starts by casting a small orb to float slowly in the air. When the orb is in position, it will violently shoot lightning bolts basically everywhere and obliterate anything that dared exist in the player's proximity.

Heavenly Thunder does this, minus the whole 'dared exist in proximity' part, as it's damage output, while impressive, doesn't come close to putting the fear of Gwyn into its foes like Blinding Bolt does.

Unfortunately, albeit fittingly, wielding such a spell will require an extreme commitment of 65 Faith to use.