Spears of the Church

Spear of the Church

A green-rusted ornament of young grass, the crest of Princess Filianore. Equip to join the Spears of the Church covenant.

The Spears of the Church watch over the Princess' slumber, and when the church is compromised by a trespasser, the Judicator summons them as loyal spirits to eliminate the threat (Summoned automatically while this is equipped).

Loyal spirits summoned as Spears of the Church are granted a blessing of protection.

Spears of the Church is a Covenant in Dark Souls 3. It was added in The Ringed City DLC.  The covenant can be  obtained from defeating Darkeater Midir under the Inner Ring Wall bonfire. While a member of the Covenant, players wearing this Covenant badge will be summoned to become Halflight, Spear of the Church during the boss fight.

  

 Spears of the Church Information

  • Defeat Darkeater Midir under the Inner Ring Wall bonfire. The covenant item drops upon defeating Midir. Equip it to join the covenant.

 

Effects of Covenant

  • Players wearing this Covenant badge will be summoned to replace Halflight, Spear of the Church during the boss fight.
  • In order to be summoned, you must equip the Covenant badge. If the covenant icon is flashing white, you are eligible to be summoned.
  • Players summoned as a Spear of the Church are tasked with defeating the Disturber of Sleep. Defeating them will reward the player with a Filianore's Spear Ornament.  A second Spear Ornament will be given if an additional phantom is summoned (excluding Unbreakable Patches).
  • Players summoned as a Spear of the Church will receive increased absorptions proportional to the number of phantoms that the Disturber of Sleep summons, at the cost of being unable to use Estus Flasks, Siegbraus, or Divine Blessings. Healing miracles and other sources of regeneration are allowed.
  • Players summoned as a Spear of the Church are able to use the following items during the fight: Ritual Spear Fragment and Divine Spear Fragment. Using these items will cost no FP and are unlimited with a short cooldown.

 

Rank Requirements

  • Successfully defeating a Disturber of Sleep earns you a Filianore's Spear Ornament. They also rarely drop from Ringed Knights. Spear Ornaments can be turned in to the altar to receive rewards. The altar is located next to the Ringed Knight with the paired greatswords outside the Church of Filianore. The rank requirements are additive, meaning you only have to earn a total of 30, not 10 and then another 30, to obtain all covenant rewards.
Rank Requirement Rewards
0 Initial None
1 10 Young Grass Dew
2 30 Divine Spear Fragment

 Spear of the Church Boss Buffs

All values are with Young Grass Dew.

Opponents FP Stamina Poise Passive Poise Absorptions Resistances
1 +10% +10% +10 +0 +10% +20%
2 +25% +15% +20 +41 +45% +60%
3 +35% +20% +33 +63 +65% +110%
4 +45% +30% +50 +85 +75% +160%
  • Poise bonus is affected by poise scaling, it is not a flat increase. See the Poise page to apply the formula, substituting β with the poise bonus in the chart.
  • "Passive Poise" follows the same rules as regular poise, but it is active when you aren't attacking.
  • Resistances do NOT account for armor bonuses. Armor bonuses are a flat number applied after the buffs.

Achievements/Trophies

  • None.

 

Trivia

  • The summoning mechanics of this covenant are reminiscent of the Old Monk from Demon's Souls, whom Hidetaka Miyazaki, one of Dark Souls III's directors, claims to be his favorite boss encounter.
  • The title "Disturber of Sleep" will be given to the "host", or the player that entered the boss room. This title refers to Judicator Argo's dialogue, warning the player not to disturb Princess Filianore's slumber.
  • The various mentions of grass stem from a Japanese pun on the word "kusa 草" which means both grass and ninja.



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    • Anonymous

      This is maybe my favourite PvP that I’ve ever done- from the respect born from finally seeing a solo challenger best me to the frantic back and forth melee of a 1V3, it’s always super cool to be summoned for this.

      My personal build is dex/faith, using the dragon slayer sword spear and the Sellsword twin blades, with the pyromancy power within and the miracles great heal and force or emit force. Items that I use are the throwing knives for pressure, the divine spear fragment for area denial, and Undead hunter charms for ensuring that you’ll only be drinking one Estus at a time.

      Against solo people I save the twinblades and power within until the second guardian spawns to create a sense of phase 2 (and usually just don’t use the undead hunter charms at all) but against groups anything goes.

      You don’t need to follow what I did exactly or anything, but I’d highly recommend always bringing these things- the divine spear fragment, some sort of healing miracle, and a talisman (NOT A CHIME) to cast it from, since unfaltering prayer will let you cast through anything short of a launch or backstab.

      The divine spear fragment does good damage, but its AOE is very obvious. It’s much better as an area denial tool-you can move freely through the spears, your foes can’t. This is very powerful- cast it directly through the centre of your foes to split up groups, or cordon off a corner of the arena to make a safe zone for yourself to heal and buff up, or even lay it down right in the middle of the arena and use it as a wall to let yourself engage or disengage at will.

      Against a solo foe, you can pretty much fight normally. The painting guardians do makes solo fights kind of mean- I’d recommend just facing down solo foes in a 1v1, it’s more fun that way, and when the second painting guardian spawns use it as a distraction to buff up into your own phase 2.

      Against a Group of 2, use every advantage you’ve got. You’ll be on the back foot for much of it, as they tend to be aggressive, but you can sometimes capitalize on that to split them up or punish them for overextending. The 2v2s you can get when the painting guardians spawn push the power balance back in your favour, or at least to even odds, so try and

      Groups of 3 are a nightmare to deal with, but a win is possible. Groups of 3 are extremely aggressive, and they always have one or two guys who just sprint at you either swing or attempt to backstab. This is where the miracle “force” is helpful to earn yourself a few moments of reprieve. If they have a caster isolating themselves in the back , try to eliminate them first, as they tend to have low HP making them easy to kill. The Hyperaggresive ones are easy to bait, and I’ve even seen some willingly run into my divine spears. This leads into the last bit which is- these groups usually aren’t very good, which makes them predictable. They’ll fall for the same tricks. They’ll swing the same number of times. If you force one of them into a fight-or-run situation once, you’ll know what that one does in every fight-or-run situation, and that gives you more and more power as the fight goes on.

      Make no mistake, though, it’s still an uphill battle, and you’ll probably lose more often than not to a group of 3. (And then they’ll all point down and **** on you). Still, victory is possible, you’ll just need to bring every trick you can.

      • Anonymous

        Just got summoned as a Spear of the Church from the Farron Keep Perimeter area to Anor Londo, just above the stairs where Gwyn's Tomb is. I was purple like a Aldritch Faithful but I couldn't use my Estus Flask like a regular Spear. The host was still considered a Disturber of Sleep. Funny.

        • Anonymous

          Today I got summoned as a spear of the church while attempting Warrior of Sunlight CO-OP summoning. Had just entered Ringed City, did not have the covenant.

          • Anonymous

            Trying to co-op in the ringed city, putting down my summon sign as usual. Even tho I'm part of the sunlight covenant, I'm still getting summoned as a spear of the church. I don't even have the covenant yet lol

            • Anonymous

              just started a halflight cosplay build and never had so much fun with this covenant. its all fun and games when the host thinks theyre fighting npc halflight until phase 2 comes and i whip out the warmth spell and crucifix of the mad king. none shall disturb our princess filianore!

              • Anonymous

                I love it when the "Disturber of Sleep" tries to spawn camp me and eats a faceful of ritual spears right at the start of the fight.

                • Anonymous

                  A second Spear Ornament will be given if an additional phantom is summoned (excluding Unbreakable Patches).

                  Wrong, I just killed a white and then the host and only received one ornament. Who writes these entries?

                  • Anonymous

                    I would just like to point out that while I looked it up and found that 'kusa' was an archaic word for 'ninja', that's probably not what the Japanese is in reference to here. What is the point of inserting a pun to some random word?
                    Rather, after checking the Japanese wiki, the word specifically used is 若草 waka-kusa, 'young grass'. Looking into it a bit more, this term can be used somewhat poetically to refer to a young woman (for example, the Japanese title of Little Women is 'Story of Young Grasses'). As used in DS3 it is probably in reference to the maiden Filianore, not to ninja.
                    If I were to go a step further, young grass in its original meaning is the first grass of spring. The first herbs and grass of early spring were believed to have medicinal properties and collected for sick loved ones as an act of devotion. This meaning is famously used in Hyakunin Isshu Poem 15 (the specific term used is 若菜 waka-na, young herbs/plants): 'For your sake, I head out to the fields to collect the young herbs, with the snow falling on my sleeves'.
                    I'm probably reading too far into it, but the Spears of the Church collect young grass (woven in the spear ornament) for Fillianore as an act of devotion to ease the sickness of their maiden.

                    tl;dr: If there's any wordplay involved here, it's on 'Young Grass' meaning both 'maiden' and the connotation of 'medicinal herbs', not on the term 'ninja'.

                    • Anonymous

                      I recently got summoned as a spear of the church outside fillianore's church. The battle happened in the Ringed City streets instead of the usual place, and even a Watchdog of Farron got summoned at the same time.

                      • Anonymous

                        For those uncomfortable with the random PVP, you can exploit the summoning mechanics. If you're playing with a friend, have them lay down a summon sign just before you enter the fogwall by yourself. ANY summon sign has a chance of being summoned as a spear, which means your friend's sign will have a chance of being summoned to YOUR world, where you can freely off one another and get passed this boss for free

                        • Anonymous

                          So sad how inactive this has become with the population decline, I am still determined though. Waiting 40+ minutes for one encounter to defend my princess just to be faced vs a gank squad of tryhards

                          • Anonymous

                            honestly the poise buff should be even higher the more phantoms a host brings, with 3 or more good luck tanking through the endless flurry of blows coming your way any time you try to strike back

                            • Anonymous

                              Does this covenant have no active members anymore? I’m trying to get summoned for Midir but get forcibly summoned to be the Spear 9/10 times…

                              • Anonymous

                                i was getting summoned a lot and then ranked up and the rate i got summoned at dropped off HARD. probably a coincidence but potentially worth mentioning

                                • Anonymous

                                  From software's covenants peaked with gravelord servant, rat king servant and this one. All the others were absolute garbage.

                                  • Anonymous

                                    Ganktards always defend their ways saying "you deserve to be invaded, you re getting into someone's world."

                                    Now it's the other way around, for that is OUR church. What's your excuse now? Gonna grow balls and go on your own or keep whining about your summons being useless?

                                    • Anonymous

                                      it would be cool if when the spear got summoned, instead of the funny spears it would do a wrath of the gods spell like what happens in brawl, or maybe do both spears and wotg for ultimate coolness

                                      • Anonymous

                                        I left white summon sign as Sun Warrior and was summoned as Spear phantom to fight player.. It was my first time, i haven't find covenant nor killed Midir at that moment, so was quite confused ))

                                        • Anonymous

                                          I seem to get more regular summons with the white soapstone/red orb than I do with the covenant itself on.

                                          • Anonymous

                                            I really like this covenant, being a boss is very fun though I must say the covenant items are pretty dissapointing. I kind of wish the items were more substantial than just being useable in the fights. It would have been cool if the devine spear fragment was a spell or something instead of just a random consumable you can only use in boss invasions

                                            • Anonymous

                                              does everyone 2v1, 3v1, or 4v1 this? Seems pretty unfair for the Spears, the minor advantages given to the spears don't trump players ganking them and using 15 estus heals.

                                              • Anonymous

                                                Gotta say, loading in as a spear to find four people throwing Seething Chaoses at my feet is a better jumpscare than any horror game can provide

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  How I play Spears:

                                                  1 opponent: let them finish off the painting guardians at their leisure, and cast Great Heal without any safeguard(spear fragment, back to a wall, etc.)

                                                  2 opponents: let them kill the first painting guardian(it's usually dead when I show up anyways). Same as 1 opponent, but without letting them freely kill the second.

                                                  3 opponents: fight the second I leave the gate, first painting guardian is usually dead anyways. Can now cast Great Heal with safeguards(spear fragments and walls)

                                                  4 opponents: all out. Same as three opponents, but now I add Projected Heal into my bag of options.

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    Honestly love this covenant, it's like an alt form of PVP- and given how often folks do invasions in the ringed city, there's always a chance Argo calls them up for a fun little war.

                                                    For those that don't like PVP, either, it's not too much of a hassle to go to R/summonsign and find a team dedicated to spear crushing. If you lose, it's not a problem; you're at a point in the game where you can go and shred the lothric knights outside Vordt for a handful of embers.

                                                    The only time I feel it's actually unbalanced is for solo hosts- the Spear can camp behind their wall and heal, and they have the soulmasses to protect them. If they removed the soulmasses in 1v1 spears, I'd say this is pretty much a perfect covenant

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      Never had a good pvp experience, and hate the overpowered nature of Froms human npcs, so this boss just sucks ass.

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        "you re the one invading, go to arena, don't expect us to be fair in another person's world, stop ruining the other's experience (summons are already there for that), etc etc."

                                                        Such hypocrisy comes from someone who didn't ever use a red orb to be in the invader's shoes, but then they get reeeally quiet when you enter in OUR bossroom, inside OUR domains where the boss is one of US.

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          I had a different experience with this covenant fighting against me than other people in the comments.
                                                          I dont play offline and i dont summon help so ..yeah i got players invading ..and died many times.. untill i finally defeated the summoned player.
                                                          The npc boss summoned only one time for me, first time.. and i died to him...every other time there were players.
                                                          But.. there were a lot fun fights..even when i died there were about 5 or 6 fun fights in 10 to 15 times i repeated this fight...the most boring fight was with npc the first time.
                                                          Tips...
                                                          Some players will stop agroing you and let you kill those painted guardian summons... thats nice of them... but if not prioritize them, i died most to them actually not the player.
                                                          You can dispach first summoned painted guardian right away, before player will be summoned, with backstab if you stand right behind the spot where he will apear...there even messages sometimes on the ground pointing out the right spot.
                                                          Use pillars to your advantage...
                                                          Player has a tell when casting that spear thing... dodge sideways and towards the player because it will open a way for you to counter attack.
                                                          Dont be greedy... when you dispach a second painted guardian summon.. you have all the time in the world.. get in, get a hit, get out... rinse and repeat.
                                                          As with any boss.. so with players, any players... best time to get a hit is when they finnish their attack...watch carefully what they are doing and with what weapon...go towards them to provoke an attackand roll back right away...then roll towards them through the attack and get your counter attack from a roll and get out of the range imidiately.
                                                          Heal only when you have sufficient distance from the player and the player has started attacking and will miss you or is finishing attack animation..
                                                          Use buffs for weapons... dark is good against players generally...
                                                          Higher damage slow winging weapons in my experience proved better to get that one hit in... also it helps you dispach the painted guardian more quickly.
                                                          Sepparate the painted guardian and the player... guardian will be faster than the player and here you can use pillars to your advantage.
                                                          If you fail, try again... there is a good chance that you will get better with practice... you will get better at pvp in general and you may stumble upon a player that is at your skill level.
                                                          Good luck...you will win the fight eventually... slave knight Gael and Midir are harder than this fight...

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            "unfair, forced pvp, bad design, op npc, mimimimi..."

                                                            Welcome to the forgotten days of lordran where you had to take care of your business by yourself. All we're doing is getting an ornament for each player who doesn't want to learn.

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              got summoned to fight as a Spear of the Church while waiting outside the boss room with a white soap stone. i felt pretty bad having to kill them.

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                this boss is weird because it's the least fun boss if you're the one fighting it, but one of the most fun things in the game if you're playing as it

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  To the other covenant members who always defends ganking: "bRuH iT's JuSt A gAmE, iT's WoRkInG aS iNtEnDeD. ThE gAmE iS mEaNt tO bE pLaYeD ThIs wAy, yOu'Re ThE oNe InVaDiNg, bLa BlA bLa..."

                                                                  Doesn't sound that good now that it doesn't favor you, does it? Feel free to demonstrate your hypocrisy via your dislikes.

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    This covenant is the most demoralizing thing I’ve ever faced ngl. Sorry that I’m interesting and don’t just LKSS or PKCS every play through ;)

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      I got summoned as a Spear more when I didn't have the covenant equipped than when I intentionally equipped it to fight at the church lol

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        Imo this is how blades of the darkmoon should have been. I'd rather fight a hacker than a ganker because of how toxic host of embers are in general. Thinking they have impunity just because they take can advantage on from software's absolute incompetence at balancing multiplayer.

                                                                        • I love getting summoned as a spear. The host always brings at least 2 phantoms including patches sometimes, and they still usually struggle to deal with the guardians. I remember a time whenever I was fighting patches while the church guardian managed to nearly solo the host at sl120. It’s hilarious.

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            >The covenant can be gained by equipping the item Aldrich Faithful which is obtained from defeating Darkeater Midir
                                                                            ok

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              No coward hosts, white "stand" wannabes or blue prostitutes allowed in this church. Begone, disgraceful heretics.

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                i got summoned multiple times while being a finger and using red eye orbs inside ringed city, so you dont have to put down a summon sign

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  The covenant can be gained by equipping the item Aldrich Faithful which is obtained from defeating Darkeater Midir under the Inner Ring Wall bonfire
                                                                                  Aldrich faithful?

                                                                                  • Something using players as the base is inherently going to be a mixed bag. There are people below saying how hard this boss is, I used the Paired Greatswords strategically and won on my first attempt. I also killed a few players as part of the covenant. That surely means it's not that skewed towards one side, especially when people on both sides will say it's unfair.

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      Enjoyed this boss even though the first few people I encountered kicked my ass. Eventually resolved to get high enough poise to not get stunned by the painting guardian throwing knives and bum rush the boss while keeping the mobs at bay.

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        You know well what you've been doing the rest of the game, and it won't work here. Turn off online and do your job on your own for once.

                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                          Rant incoming:
                                                                                          Hands down the worst boss I've ever fought. Invasion bosses are always a red flag, and this one doesn't even try to escape that fate. Fighting two ganking painting guardians WITH HEALS, and a player, who can heal themselves with miracles is the absolute bane of my existence. I can take a gank, but i prefer a one on one duel. I just tried to beat it on my fourth run through the ringed city, but I've never had this much trouble. The same goddamn Farron ugs spammer, with the ethereal sheild with its passive heals, and a faith build for miracle heals, made this boss impossible. I would run around while getting stagger locked by the throwing knives, and the painting guardian swords, and then once i got the players health to even half, he would heal all the way from the guardians and himself. Every time he would heal i would be down about three estus, and after 5 minutes, I would die, no estus, both guardians alive, and the boss "untouched." Truly a terribly designed boss.

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            Ho, you're ganking me? Instead of trying to git gud you've brought your 3 phantoms against me? Despite the boss mechanics strengthening my absorption to the point where i'm almost unkillable, and all those bloodstains showing how useless gankers are in this church?

                                                                                            Ho ho, then burn as many embers as you like.

                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                              Sad they don't mention it but there is a way to restart infinitely this boss fight : go to the bridge in the undead settlement, go to the statue of Velka and you will be able to revive Argo. It works as well with the monument in the ringed city.

                                                                                              Personally, I really like this covenant, because it's a great training for invasions and mostly about dealing with ganks : side boss, you have resistances and side host also, because you have the heals and there are NPCs so for both you have to play wisely.

                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                Hey so I know that whenever you equip a covenant that auto summons you, the covenant thing in the top left flashes to let you know you are being summoned. This one just flashes infinitely does someone know why

                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                  This is the bossfight that filters good, experienced players from absolute donkeys. If you see 2 or 3 phantoms don't bother with being unpredictable as they can't think ahead of their finger tapping the r1 button.

                                                                                                  Really, they can't.

                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                    These fights are almost as chaotic as rampant invasions, but slightly tuned towards the 'boss' player if they play their cards right. As an invader, there's a world of difference between just treating it as normal PvP, and treating the fight like a Spear. Utilizing your helpers, the pillars in the arena, as well as the useable spear item, all help contribute towards being more than just some guy with no Estus.

                                                                                                    Depending on how many players are involved, the engagement changes. 1v1, the challenger is outnumbered due to the church helpers, but there is no damage resistance given to the Spear -- while it is tempting to say the Spear has the advantage in terms of numbers, the Spear can be cheesed by high damage combos, or a backstab/parry to end the fight immediately. Closer to a duel, but the Spear will receive a trickle of healing from the NPC helper, while the host will have Estus.

                                                                                                    In 2v1 and larger, the Spear is aiming to divide up the challengers while also protecting their NPCs. One does not have to be a miracle build to heal, as the NPCs can cover healing, as long as the Spear keeps them safe. When outnumbered, this is also where the Spear wants to use their Ritual Spear Fragment in order to divide up the challengers, preventing them from helping each other out, or protect the NPC. Conversely, the challengers want to rid themselves of the NPC as fast as possible in order to cut off the healing the Spear is receiving, while also keeping an eye out to make sure that the Spear doesn't attack them from the back.

                                                                                                    The fight tends to be wrapped up in one of two cases: the Spear's NPC dies, in which case the sheer number of opponents and access to healing overwhelms them. The other is that a phantom takes a death, and the host is forced to deal with a buffed Spear that can trade with them but they cannot trade favorably in return. This is not to say comebacks cannot happen, but this is when the pacing of the fight tends to shift.

                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                      Here are praticals advises for being a good spear of the church :

                                                                                                      - Have a decent knowledge of PvP (used other covenants, invasions, duels...)
                                                                                                      - Have a build with regen./heal included (paladin / chaos...) since you have 3 estus for your fp
                                                                                                      - Use your ritual spear fragment when they rush you, to help your NPC, to cast spells
                                                                                                      - Players will most of the time focus the NPC first. Try to use it to punish them as much as possible
                                                                                                      - Once they are half HP, people usually want to heal. Use this time to punish them or chase them as a bait to attack the others behind you.

                                                                                                      Hope it helps ! It's my favorite covenant by far and I have 99+600 Ornaments x)

                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                        To be summoned as much as possible, I recommand being at around lvl 90, which is the most active.

                                                                                                        Also a very good place to learn how to PvP, since you have a summon to help, gain a lot of resistances against ganks and you don't have to worry about quit out, blues and re-summoning, which are the most annoying things when you are invading. You don't have estus so you have to learn how to dodge and punish your opponent, which are the basics of invasions.

                                                                                                        The only problem I have is the soulmasses you get. I really don't like them, because it made me fail a lot of combos/parries. It's annoying, but still manageable.

                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                          "You are summoning phantoms to beat this bossfight, so as the boss i'm powered up to counter your gank and you will die time after time until you learn how to do your job on your own, wich will probably be when you run out of embers."

                                                                                                          -Every boss in the game, but specially this one.

                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                            I love invading a gank squad in a tiny room while being unable to heal while they can chug as much as they like. It's a good thing you at least get the one painting guardian that dies in a single hit to help you. Brilliant design From, absolutely flawless, truely.

                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                              This covenant is awesome. I love it when i have to fight 3 opponents. Never had trouble with it to be honest. I slowly take them out one by one and when only the host is left, i just play around with him. Like poison him run after him with a two handed shield and mashing L1. It is just so much fun and the buffs you receive are more than op. DS1 poise comes to mind <3

                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                To any gonker who cries around here saying "stupid forced pvp bla bla bla", (those idiots need help to walk in a straight line):

                                                                                                                Look back at your whole playthrough. If you summoned for every boss and ganked every invader, serves you right. Delete your character and start over if you want any right to talk sh*t about what's right and what's wrong.

                                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                                  Long preachy spiel incoming. Read at your discretion.

                                                                                                                  So basically, this is basically a duel, but is treated as a boss fight.

                                                                                                                  On one hand, you have the Spears.

                                                                                                                  They get minor buff per number of opponents. They can't use estus, but may use miracles, which is risky depending on their opponent. They can also use items, especially Undead Hunter Charm to level the playing field. Though that is largely situational. They have the covenant items which they can use strategically in the fight.

                                                                                                                  They have 2 NPC helpers who can also heal, but are about as useful as regular NPCs. The 2nd helper is summoned midway, but can be coaxed into appearing though means such as Bloodlust/Rose of Ariandel WAs, and forcing the host to damage you.


                                                                                                                  On the other hand, you have the host.

                                                                                                                  They can heal AND do everything the Spears can, apart from the covenant items. They can also summon a gank squad to tip the odds in their favor.


                                                                                                                  So let's be frank here. Assuming that both parties are of the same PvP skill level, playing as the Spear in inherently disadvantageous, because the host can heal and prepare against you like any other boss. Even summoning 1 phantom or even Patches for the fight makes this fight significantly easier. Patches is built like a tank, and is enough to distract at least 1, while the host juggles between dodging the Spear and killing the other NPC, which is fairly manageable. This becomes all the more easy with each player phantom the host summons.

                                                                                                                  In the worst case scenario, the host maxes out 3 summons. They kill Argo, then kill the Painting Guardians in a snap, and come for you next. The covenant items and the boss buffs don't matter much anymore at that point. People argue this is a boss fight, but the Spear is still a player, can panic all the same, and you can stunlock a player much more easily than a regular boss. It's always hard to fight when outnumbered.

                                                                                                                  In the best case scenario, the host comes in by themselves alone, juggles between you nipping at their heels while they kill the Painting Guardians, and then deal with you ALA PvP duel while also withholding their own estus from there. That's basically what this all is; a PvP duel with the facade of a boss fight.

                                                                                                                  TLDR; the Spears of the Church is even more of a grey area compared to the Undead Arena. One side agrees to be buffed slightly and experience being a Souls boss somewhat, but is also severely handicapped, while the other comes in normally and can choose the level of handicap the Spear endures.

                                                                                                                  If you can endure gank squads as a Spear in spite of no estus, awesome. You're PvP skills are unmatched and the host and his posse are idiots for losing a 2-4 VS 1 set-up.

                                                                                                                  If you face against a lone host, but let him kill your helpers, then fight fair, bless you for being modest and considering the other guy in spite of your disadvantage.

                                                                                                                  If you go in alone, kill all the helpers, then go at it with the Spear in a classic PvP duel (which it basically is,) then bless you too for your skill and consideration.

                                                                                                                  I know that experiences are mixed depending on all the circumstances out there, but ultimately there is a degree of control exercised by both sides here. Since voice chat isn't native to the game, and there are only gestures and carvings, in the end our actions reflect both our characters in-game and real life.

                                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                                    This covenant is great, but I wish there was some control over getting summoned or not. Spent about 6 hours today helping people with Midir, but got summoned almost 2 dozen times even without the covenant equipped.

                                                                                                                    Thank god only 1 so far was a gank squad. And another guy had a sunbro who was just wanking around because he somehow disabled his hitbox.

                                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                                      This has been my favourite covenant since it first arrived. Went back to the game recently and quickly remembered why I love it so much.

                                                                                                                      To all the people on PS4 I’ve smashed this week with the FUGS, I’m not sorry.

                                                                                                                      Also, if the heal spamming knob who wasted about fifteen minutes of my life just running around the room while not making any attempt to fight me is reading this, I hope to one day find out what you look like without your skin on.

                                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                                        I absolutely HATE this boss simply because I can't control whether or not I'm summoned as a Spear of the Church! I just want to do co-op, not this forced PvP bull ****.

                                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                                          Reminds me of the Looking glass knigh, being summoned to that bossfight was one of the best mechanics of DS2

                                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                                            I had not yet defeated midr and got summoned into a bossfight I as of yet knew nothing of. How come? ... I only had the ritual spear.

                                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                                              Killed the Halflight very easily. I initially thought it was an AI before reading about the covenant. Underwhelming boss fight.

                                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                This covenant is worth it just for things like what happened the other day:

                                                                                                                                "Oh, so you re one of the blues that were sticking around pontiff and the swamp? One of those *******s, huh? Too bad your 3 little phantoms just died. I'll take my time ripping your hide off."

                                                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                  Other covenant members: i'll put my sign/invade in the ringed city and see if i can help/kill a host.

                                                                                                                                  Argo: come here, you!

                                                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                    When doing this boss solo, I can confidently say that Halflight presents a bigger challenge than any player Spear. It feels weird to say that.

                                                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                      While i was waiting to be summoned as a defender. Shortly after i killed this boss and went out so i could be summoned ( i am farming the covenant items killing the boss ). I got the dialogue lines and heard "Make Haste" couldn't skip it. Anybody else got it?

                                                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                        Alright I'll be straight. If you people are out there AFK when it's your big moment, you shouldn't be a Spear.

                                                                                                                                        Take out your covenant.

                                                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                          I got summoned more often for spear of the church by using the red eye orb than actually using the covenant item...

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