Pinwheel

Pinwheel is a boss in Dark Souls.

Location
Pinwheel is found in The Catacombs. Players must defeat this boss in order to reach the Tomb of the Giants.

Description
Pinwheel is a necromancer wearing three masks: The Father's, Mother's and the Child's mask. His body looks swollen and has three pairs of "arms", hinting that he's composed of three bodies or skeletons fused together.

Lore
Not much is known about Pinwheel, but there are some clues about his nature and goals. This being is seemingly composed of three separated consciousnesses; after noticing the Chosen Undead, the three masks look at each other and twitch lightly as if discussing what to do with the intruder. Judging by the amount of tomes and skeletons (all shackled to the ceiling and one on the operating table) inside his lair, one can assume that he isn't hollow and is doing some kind of necromantic research. It is said he stole the power of the Gravelord, and that he reigns over the Catacombs.

Summoning
It is possible to summon Paladin Leeroy to help out in the fight. His summon sign is on a ledge the player has to drop down on, above the Skeleton Wheel area before Pinwheel's room.

Strategies
Pinwheel is a very frail boss, with the fifth lowest hit points of any boss in the game. However, he can quickly become dangerous as he can summon an unlimited number of clones, all of whom deal the same amount of damage as he does. Therefore, a good strategy for fighting Pinwheel is to rush at him right when the fight starts and do as much damage as possible. When he teleports after summoning his clones, it's still possible to land some hits on him before he disappears. A simple tactic to identify the clones from the real Pinwheel is to lock on to him when possible.

Quick Fireball
His six arms will glow and spin before firing it. This is easy to dodge with the right timing.



Cleansing Fireball
Slower, larger fireball that does more damage and has a bigger hitbox, though it takes Pinwheel longer to charge. Note that Pinwheel can also use this while jumping at a downward angle.



Combustion
A close range melee attack that does big damage. Pinwheel will telegraph this by moving in close and begin spinning and igniting his arms.

Flamethrower
Extremely powerful mid-range attack. There is a long delay before this attack is executed. Blocking it is unwise, as it hits multiple times, breaking the player's guard, and potentially dealing a fair bit of damage.



Clone
Pinwheel will spin in the air and give off a purple light before conjuring an identical clone of himself. The clones are exactly the same as Pinwheel and there's no easy way to distinguish one from the other without keeping track of the original. The clone can also use all of Pinwheel's attacks but will disappear instantly when hit. There is no known limit to how many clones Pinwheel can spawn.



Vanish
When the real Pinwheel is approached, he may attempt to flee by disappearing, leaving the player at the mercy of his clones. A short time later he will reappear in a fashion similar to the spawning of the clones.



Drops
* One of the masks will always drop