Dark Souls is beloved for many good reasons. It features an exceptional world both in terms of level design and art direction. It's brimming with an interesting, albeit oblique, dark fantasy story. And all of this is packaged in gameplay designed to challenge the player and create a feeling of empowerment when challenges are overcome.
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The game also has a number of innovative takes on the traditional boss fight. One in particular that stands out is Crossbreed Priscilla. She is only found in an optional area of the game, but meeting this enigmatic character is not an encounter you'll want to miss—nor will you want to miss out on these secrets around her.
10 You Don't Have To Fight Priscilla
To get the most obvious out of the way first: you don't have to beat Crossbreed Priscilla and not just because she's an optional boss. If you end up getting sucked into the Painted World of Ariamis, you'll quickly realize you can't warp out of the area. This means you'll have to get to the end of the level of escape.
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That said when you do reach the end of the level and cross that last fog gate to find Priscilla, a fight won't start right away. Unless you have attacked her, she'll recommend you toss yourself off the map. Doing so will get you out of there while also sparing her life. Isn't that nice?
9 Priscilla Was Originally Planned To Be Another Hero
Before Crossbreed Priscilla was confined to the Painted World of Ariamis (by the developers), she was planned to have a much larger presence in the game. In fact, she was originally proposed to be a companion character for the player and would have resided in the Firelink shrine similar to the way the Maiden in Black did in Demon's Souls. Ultimately, she was swapped out for the Fire Keeper. Still, it's a sign that she was intended to be a figure of benevolence, so again—maybe don't kill her.
8 Priscilla's Father Is Seath The Scaleless
While this factoid is lost in translation, the original Japanese text for the Soul of Priscilla clearly indicates that her father was almost definitely Seath the Scaleless. This is backed up by the fact that Priscilla has a white furry tail similar to that on Seath's tail. Seath is the dragon you encounter (and die to) in the Duke's Archive before you ultimately have to slay him in the Crystal Cave. There's no reason for feeling back after killing him, though. He did betray the other dragons of Lordran and colluded with the gods to lock Priscilla away in the Painted World of Ariamis after all. Shame on him!
7 Priscilla's Mother Might Be The Goddess Velka
This is never outright said in the game—Priscilla's mother is never revealed or even alluded to—but it would seem safe to bet that Priscilla's mother would be a prominent figure in Dark Souls lore. In addition, the Painted World of Ariamis contains a ton of allusions and visual references to the Goddess of Sin, Velka. Velka's primary symbol is a crow, and there is a whole bunch of crow-related imagery and items related to Velka specifically in the same area as Priscilla. Perhaps she isn't Priscilla's mother, but there is still definitely a connection between the two.
6 Priscilla Has The Best Bleed Weapon In Dark Souls
Perhaps it's preferable to practice pacifism, but if you do persecute Priscilla you will be able to get the best bleed weapon in the game. After defeating Priscilla, you can use her soul to upgrade any +10 halberd, scythe, or whip at the Giant Blacksmith in Anor Londo. This will give you the Lifehunt Scythe, which is one of only two weapons that does 50% Bleed damage. According to the lore, the Lifehunt Scythe was strong enough to even kill a god. Now imagine using it on some foolhardy invader.
5 Cutting Off Priscilla's Tail Yields The Second Best Bleed Weapon
Like all the dragon bosses in Dark Souls, you can cut off Crossbreed Priscilla's tail and unlock a secret weapon. In this case, doing so yields Priscilla's Dagger, one of only two weapons in the game that does 50% Bleed damage. There is actually a way to cut off her tail without killing her, too. To do so, you'll have to make it out of the Painted World once without killing her, then use the Lordvessel to warp back to the Painted World. Without using the bonfire, get to Priscilla and attack her tail until it falls off. Next, use a Homeward Bone to get out of there. Finally, you can request absolution from Oswald and have her forgive you for cutting off her tail.
4 Keeping Priscilla Alive Creates A Permanent PVP Zone
Multiplayer functionality is pretty obtuse in every which way in Dark Souls. For example, the game doesn't really tell you that you can only be invaded if you haven't yet killed the boss of a given area.
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Once you do kill any given area's boss, you'll no longer be able to either summon or be invaded in that area. But since you can get out of the Painted World of Ariamis without killing the boss, this area can be kept as a permanent site for invasions, which is pretty cool considering how beautiful the level is (and because maybe you shouldn't kill Priscilla).
3 Priscilla Has Barely More Health in NG+
Upon completion of Dark Souls, you wake up in the same jail cell you started the game in gearing to go for another round of the game, but this time with all the same gear and also exponentially more difficult enemies. Many of the bosses have huge boosts in their damage output and number of hit points. Crossbreed Priscilla, however, has one of the smallest increases. The number of hit points she has only increases from 2,300 to 3,611. This is despite the fact that the number of souls you get for defeating her jumps from 30,000 to 60,000 in NG+.
2 Priscilla Strongly Resembles A Past FromSoftware Character
Crossbreed Priscilla certainly is a strikingly designed character and a refreshing twist on the type of boss encounters you tend to get in Dark Souls, but she also bears an extremely strong resemblance to a character from FromSoftware's 2002 PlayStation 2 title, Shadow Tower Abyss. In that game, which already shows some of the game design DNA that FromSoft would use throughout the Souls series, you meet an NPC named Rurufron. Like Priscilla, Rurufron is also clothed in white and wields a gigantic scythe. It's certainly uncanny but hardly the first time FromSoft has drawn from previous artistic choices in their games.
1 Killing Priscilla Can Break Your Game
In case you're still rearing to go berserk on Priscilla and slaughter her despite her benevolent demeanor and tragic backstory, do note that killing her can soft-lock your game. If you manage to one-shot her (which is entirely possible considering her relatively low health and the potential to find her close to the end of the game), this can incur a glitch that causes her dying dialogue to repeat and makes it impossible to leave the Painted World of Ariamis by any means. It's not great to find a game-breaking glitch like this, but it does thematically fit with the lore of the area at least. So again: maybe don't kill her.
Next: Dark Souls: Interesting Facts You Never Knew About Gwynevere
