Smelter Demon in the DLC

So, I don't have any of the DLC but I've watched a notorious YT let's player fail through the DLCs and I noticed Smelter Demon was brought back for the DLC. Is there an actual reason to this? Is it somehow explained why you have to kill that thing twice
or did From get lazy and just copy-paste a boss giving it just a new color?

:)

 

Scholar of The First Sin: Anybody buy it yet?

Since I've beaten Dark Souls 2 this third playthrough for me was a cake walk. Not one boss or area got me stuck (smelter demon gave me the most trouble though, as usual) and so when the end credits roll, I start my DLC playthrough and I got my ass kicked over and over and over again.

 

Scholar of The First Sin: Anybody buy it yet?

Why didn't you play the DLC on the first playthrough?

 

From has some dumb explanation about it, but yeah, they totally just copy-pasted a boss with a color palette swap. He also does magic damage now instead of fire, has a lot more health (almost double) and does more damage. His hit box is still terrible
too, so you get hit by his overhead swings even when you're behind him. He can also hit you with jumping attacks even if he's nowhere near you.

They did add one ability to him, which is an AoE that he casts when buffing himself for the first time, so that you can't get free damage on him (because his hyper-armor that causes you to do about 30% of your normal damage during his buffs wasn't enough).
He can also cast this AoE at random times during the fight, but it's rather rare.

It's really, really stupid, lazy, and terrible game design.

Edited to Add...

I should add that the rest of this particular DLC has been pretty good, and the other bosses in the DLC are also pretty good. I have objections to some small things, but overall it was more enjoyable than much of the regular game.

 

It's not the first time they've recycled a boss.

 

^You mean the Old Dragonslayer? When I first saw what was waiting for me behind the fog wall I was like "really? Realy??! From you lazy *******s" At least I liked the battle against Ornstein & Smough so no complaints there, but I still was kinda let down.
But this Smelter Demon? Pfft. I don't even like the thing and then they recycle it in the very same game. At least Dragonslayer was brought back from the first title

 

From DS1 you could say that the Asylum Demon, Stray Demon, and Demon Firesage are all recycled versions of each other. And, you'd be correct.

That said, I feel like it was done better in DS1. As you got further in the game, you may have faced the same demon, but it would change tactics and force you to learn a new pattern. It was the game teaching you new ways to deal with familiar bosses.

In DS2 we get recycled bosses from DS1 (Old Dragonslayer, Gargoyles) as well as a second fight against the Dragonrider (with a second one around because adding more enemies artificially amps up difficulty) and now Smelter 2.0. I don't feel like the re-use
was lazy in DS1, but I do feel like it is in DS2, and that may be because I simply like DS1 better. But, Smelter 2.0 just feel lazy to me, especially with the hitbox issues that that boss has and that they ported over to the DLC.

Actually, they made it worse, because he now has more reach than before as the reach on his sword somehow grows with each buff. He'll stab you from 3/4 of the fighting space away - and the fighting space is the same as the fight against him in Iron Keep.
Yup, that's right, they didn't even change the arena you fight him in, except superficially by re-skinning it.

It's really a shame, because the other Iron King DLC bosses are pretty quality.

 

I agree with this boss being a lazy reskin. And all for some cheezy mask that has little to no purpose (because fire isn't that strong in this game)?

As for beating him, I managed to do the best soloing him to keep his health at a minimum and use lighting weapons with strike attacks.

The magic +3 ring helped a lot as well.

 

They also seem to have added a variable delay into his attacks, so you can't dodge exactly as you did for the first Smelter Demon, which can make things more difficult. You have to watch his swings. He also sometimes moves into his next attack quicker
than the original, so you don't always have time to heal.

I agree that the magic defense ring at +3 helped quite a bit. It was invaluable to me when I finally defeated Smelter with my sl 1. Without it, I found myself having to heal after every third or fourth series of attacks simply from the damage done by standing
too close. Having to heal a lot in this fight makes it much harder, because Smelter doesn't always give you a chance to heal.

Fun fact: Smelter doesn't always perform the body buff that causes you to take environmental damage at close range.