How to Beat Falstead Darak in No Rest for the Wicked

Darak is the second boss you face in No Rest for the Wicked. He has a very aggressive moveset and is annoying to deal with. This guide will show you how to beat Falstead Darak.

Falstead Darak is an imposing boss who wields a large sword. He is a tough early-game boss and really tests your reflexes in the boss battle. We recommend being at least level 5 when taking on the towering Behemoth. However, despite his size, he runs away when his health goes down to 25 – 30%.

How to Beat Falstead Darak

In true Soulslike games fashion, the best method to beat Darak is to dodge and roll away from his attacks. To do this in the most efficient way is to learn his attack patterns and dodge accordingly. The battle takes place in a few phases which we will break down.

Phase 1

The fight against Darak starts with Darak summoning a group of enemies to aid him in battle. Your first move should be to get rid of the weaker enemies before focusing on Darak. The best way to go about this is by letting Darak’s attacks take out his own allies. Darak has a large sword he swings around and it takes down his soldiers during his attacks. You can focus on keeping your distance from Darak and taking out the enemies that get close to you. Once the weak ones are dealt with, it’s just you and Darak.

Phase 2

Darak will charge you with attacks once his goons are down. These attacks are slashes that come at you from the sides. He usually does a string of two attacks, one on each side, to try and hit you. These can easily be dodged and you can get behind him to do a counter attack. Darak becomes tired after doing a long combo so if you can dodge his attacks continuously, it becomes easy to wail on him later.

If you are running low on health, run to the opposite side of the ring to take a breather and heal up. Darak does not have a thrust attack which he can do to close the gap. Darak will charge towards you, however, but it is easy to dodge his attack and move behind him. You can then launch a series of three or four attacks. After taking three or four hits, he will try to kick you away which will knock you back. It can easily be dodged but we recommend parrying this hit.

Phase 3

Darak starts doing heavy attacks. During these heavy attacks, Darak smashes his huge shield and sword to the ground repeatedly. This does an area of damage but you can roll your way out of it. The attack is typically four hits long. If you want to reserve your stamina, it would be better if you run away to another part of the arena. The final attack Darak performs is an overhead slash with his sword. This attack is easier to parry and leaves Darak stunned which is perfect for a counter.

Taking down Darak is an easy but lengthy task. You can easily win the fight and make Darak scurry away as long as you time your dodges correctly and stay out of harm's way.
Improve your chances of victory by carrying tons of heals and items that do bonus damage.