Maiden Astraea is one of the final bosses that you’ll face in Demon’s Souls. She’s not actually much of a boss, though she is guarded by a fierce enough warrior. There are a few different ways in which you can kill her, some of which are more of a grind than anything. While this boss may feel anticlimactic, she’s also incredibly important. In this guide, we’ll show you how to kill her. We’ll also provide some tips that will see you defeat her while taking no damage.
Where is Maiden Astraea?
You’ll find this boss hiding out in an area past the Dirty Colossus Archstone. You need to go down a series of ladders and keep heading forward until you can see her sitting on a stone. Her guardian, Garl Vinland, is the one who will cause you trouble.
If you attack the boss, Garl Vinland will start to attack you. It doesn’t matter what you do or how fast you are, the soldier will hit you and try to hurt you. However, there is a tactic that you can use to avoid all of that hassle. We’ll cover every option that’s available to you now.
Illegitimate Strategy
The way that most players tend to take this boss on is by using a cheese strategy. Before you reach the boss, you can see her from a platform on your way down. You’ll need to kill a couple of worshippers to see her, but you can do it.
From here, you can then use a bow or magic to slowly deal damage to the boss. When she’s dead, you can quit out of the game and quickly reload. This will cause Garl Vinland to kill themselves, and you’ll just be awarded all of their loot.
This strategy isn’t necessarily illegitimate, but it’s not the true way to kill the boss. If you choose to use this strategy, no one will judge you. In fact, many speedrunners prefer to use this method because of the speed. If you want to get your hands dirty though, there are better fights to be had.
Melee Strategy
For this strategy, you’re killing Garl Vinland first. Head down to the boss and begin fighting the guard. They will respond and chase you down. However, they have a limited range. You can’t draw them too far away from the boss. This is because they’re guarding her, and won’t leave her exposed to you.
The best method here is to draw the guard as close to you as possible, then wait for them to return to the boss. As they go, get a few hits in and run away again. Perform this method a few times over, and you’ll quickly kill the guard.
Ranged Strategy
There are two ways you can use bows to kill Garl Vinland. The first is to stick to the upper platform where you can see the two targets. From here, shoot arrows at Vinland until they die. They have a high resistance, so it will take about 100 arrows for this to work. However, you’ll never take a hit of damage by doing it this way.
The second ranged method is to head down to the boss. Get close enough that you can hit Garl without them being able to leave the boss and hit you. Now, all you need to do is fire arrows into the enemy’s face. Keep doing this, and eventually, they’ll die. This leaves Maiden Astraea open for you to kill.
Magic Strategy
This final strategy is very similar to the ranged one. You can use magic to kill Garl Vinland from high up on the platform, shooting all kinds of attacks as fast as possible. As long as you have enough items that restore your mana, this will be easy. If you don’t, you might need to head in with a sword to finish the job.
The second magic method is to get as close to Garl Vinland as possible. Find the sweet spot where they will chase you to but can’t go any further from. Then, fire magic at them until they die. This is a very easy way to kill the boss, and it’ll reap all the rewards you seek.
What Happens When Garl Vinland Dies?
If you kill Garl Vinland before you kill the boss, she will kill herself. She does this because she has no way to defend herself. She also says that you can have the soul she possesses if you really must. It’s a tragic story, but one that’s essential if you’re going to complete the game.
What Happens If You Attack Maiden Astraea?
Should you rush in and attack the boss, she’ll use a magical attack called God’s Wrath on you. She will also then try to convince you to spare her because she has no real way to defend herself. Many fans of the series think that it’s interesting that she uses God’s Wrath, indicating that players are killing a god for their own selfish gains here.
Lore
When Astraea heard of the Valley of Defilement, she went there with Garl Vinland to try to do some good. She found her little resting nook and waited for the souls who expected to die. There, she comforted them and offered the blessings of her god. However, her god was then corrupted, and the Deep Fog descended.
Within the Deep Fog, she became an archdemon. Astraea did this because she believed that she could do more good by surviving. This act causes her to be worshipped, which you can see as you enter the area today.
When knights and soldiers heard of what the lady had done, they headed down to kill her. They were killed, and their souls were offered to her instead. She used those souls to retain her sanity, and that of Garl Vinland. Until players find her and kill her, she is still offering comfort to those damned souls who occupy the realm.
If you’re struggling with bosses in Demon’s Souls, check out our guides on Phalanx, Armored Spider, Tower Knight, Penetrator, Old King Allant, Flamelurker, Dragon God, Fool’s Idol, Maneater, Old Monk, Adjudicator, Old Hero, Storm King, Leechmonger, and Dirty Colossus.