Surviving as a Spellcaster vs. Capra Demon in Dark Souls

Question

I managed to beat this boss on the 15th try as a melee character. There are two attack dogs and one Capra Demon (who has good attack range and an unblockable attack) in one tiny room.

How can a spell-casting character win this fight, considering the casting time needed for most spells?

Answer 1

Run up the stairs to the left of where you enter, and follow the walkway round - you can successfully snipe him from the end of this ledge whilst dodging most of his attacks. If he does manage to hit you, drop down and run back up again to get a few more shots in. You will need to take out the dogs first though, they make this fight really annoying if you don't, given the small space you have to fight in.

Repeat till he is dead!

Answer 2

Run up the stairs and blast the dogs. When the Capra Demons starts walking up the stairs drop down through the ledge. He should follow by jumping allowing you to get off a shot or two when he lands before you need to repeat the process.

In my experience walking out the ledge doesn't protect you from his unblockable attack. For a pure spellcaster it is fatal so don't stay on the ledge other than to allow you time to take out the dogs.

Answer 3

This is one fight where, as a spellcaster, you can benefit greatly from taking advantage of summoning in allies to help you fight. Enter the room, and dodge the monster long enough to allow your (hopefully melee capable) white/gold summons to engage the dogs, and attract the ire of the boss; you can then contribute by shooting the boss with your spells, and using your Estus Flasks strategically to keep your allies alive and fighting.

Answer 4

In my Soul Level 1 (Pyromancer) playthrough I managed to beat the Capra Demon by first using a Rapier augmented with Charcoal Pine Resin to defeat the dogs, then using spells to kill the demon itself.

I used the same general strategy as recommended by soulBit:

1. Run up the stairs and onto the ledge on the right side of the top of the stairs.
2. Concentrate on killing the dogs.
3. Once the dogs are dead, kill the Capra Demon

However my choice of character build presented its own challenges.

Taking out the dogs is much easier if you use a weapon that allows you to keep up your shield as you strike (eg. spear, rapier). My character couldn't use any of them because of the Dex requirements. I ended up using a rapier anyway, because, even though my stats were not high enough for its use, it did not slow down my attack animation (as the spear did when I tried it). I applied the Charcoal Pine Resin so I would still do damage.

The toughest part of the battle was getting to the ledge. It took me many tries to get past the demon and the dogs just so I could climb the stairs. Don't give up trying.

Once the dogs were dead, I shot soul arrows at the demon, only stopping to raise my shield when the demon had climed the stairs. After it strikes it usually falls off the stairs, giving you an opportunity to heal and resume spell casting. Keep this up and his death is your reward.