@bestyhammar (and @matcauthon): I agree with you that Souls games can be enjoyed in multiple ways. But they can not be enjoyed fully in all ways at once. My disappointment comes from Jan beating (and learning!) so much about the game by himself, and then giving up at the very last %. [1]
I started out myself as "summon for everything"/"cheese whenever possible" over 10 years ago. I think both those options are totally valid and amazingly fun ways to enjoy Souls-games. I still cheese bosses that I find lackluster or simply a roadblock I don't have time to deal with. But some bosses are just so darn well designed that beating them co-op takes away from the experience. It makes an awesome, unique, character-building encounter into "just another multi-player experience". (In contrast to something like WoW, where raid bosses are what builds character and bring the most "pure" experience.) Imagine if you could summon players for Owl or Isshin — it would make those encounters so different that they would not be recognized as "the same game".
[1] I don't fault him for doing so, but I'm also a human and, as someone following along for the journey, allowed to be disappointed. I think the ending of this story was a letdown. I think we should be able to show feelings, good or bad, to content creators the same way we would any other medium. Forcing the range of emotions that can be expressed in a community sounds like a bad take to me. (As long as it's not vitriolic hate, but I hope we agree my comment did not cross over to that.)
@pnutz83: Same, that was a huge letdown. Especially after Jan getting so good at it. He was a few more tries away from getting into the same groove with phase 2 as he had locked in on p1.
Now he'll always remember this boss for the million tries, not the heart-pounding-victory.
I used to not care that much, but I think Sekiro changed me. Played the DS3/BB DLC recently and Kos, Gael, and Midir are such amazing boss fights that really shines when soloed.
I'm sure you've realized this by now but KOS is the hardest boss in the game, by far. The fight has many similarities to some of the very best (and hardest) fights from DS3 and Sekiro in terms of flow, and by learning how to beat this boss now you will level up your "soulsborne"-game forever.
My advice:
You need more patience. A classic way of learning souls-bosses is to just treat it like a dance. Your goal is not to defeat the boss…just partake in a dance and avoid taking damage for as long as you can. When you get a grip on that, you can start getting some hits in here and there. But, make every hit count! Hit once — then get out of range. Don't ever trade blows. (There are BB builds that can trade blows, but yours is not one of them).
Study someone really good at the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zz6Ke66u-A I don't advise you to approach the boss in the same way, but you can study his positioning. (If you're a fan of fighting games, you can treat any souls humanoid boss as you'd do a street fighter game.)
If you do the above, you will develop a Stockholm syndrome-like relationship with this boss fight. Once you beat him, you just want to get in there again. Just one more dance.
Bonus: Level up your VIT. Some extra HP can really make a difference in this fight.
Good luck and please play Sekiro/DS3 after this.
PS. You are already a beast at dodging. You will have an amazing time in DS/3 with a DEX-focused build.
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