Description

A flying, multi-masked necromancer who stole the power of the Gravelord and reigns over the Catacombs. Spawns multiple copies of itself and attacks the player with projectile blasts.

Location

The Catacombs
At the end of the area, after the Skeleton Wheel valley.

Drops:

One of the following three masks:

• Mask of the Child 34%
• Mask of the Mother 33%
• Mask of the Father 33%

Guaranteed drops:

• Rite of Kindling
• Humanity
• Homeward bone

Summoning

Paladin Leeroy
On the ledge overlooking Skeleton Wheels' area, near the corpse with a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier.

Notes

• It is possible to skip Pinwheel by using an exploit:
  1. Enter the coffin which brings you to the Gravelord Servant covenant.
  2. From there, use a Homeward Bone.
  3. Quit the game during the loading screen.
  4. If you load that character, you should end up right at the beginning of Tomb of the Giants.
  5. From there, you can turn around and fight Pinwheel, or simply continue down the Tomb of the Giants.

Attack Patterns

• Fireball - The lanterns hanging around him start glowing and he summons a fireball, launching it at the player after a short delay.
• Flamethrower - A powerful flamethrower spell, short ranged but deals high damage and can easily stagger.
• Clone - Creates clones of himself that can cast any of his attacks, they can deal damage but are dispelled by any attack. Typically Pinwheel casts this at the start of the fight, shortly after all his clones have been dispelled, and randomly through the fight.

Strategies

Pinwheel barely has more health than the enemies you fought through to get to him, but his damage potential is very high if his clones are allowed to attack. Either burst him down or take care of the clones before they can charge up their own fireballs.

You can watch a video on getting to Pinwheel here.

Fighting at the start of the game

If you want something from the Tomb of the Giants or perhaps a mask to start the game, fighting Pinwheel can be done the moment you land in Firelink Shrine.
Use the first bonfire and make your way down, you can use shortcuts and land near where you'd summon Leeroy to avoid the Bonewheels.
Drop into the fight and run forward and get a few attacks in, you won't do much damage as your weapon will likely be un-upgraded.
When he summons clones, focus on them first, it's much easier to dodge one Pinwheel shooting fireballs over four of them. Use fast running attacks to take out the clones without using much stamina.
Stay locked off, roll to the side of fireballs and cut away Pinwheel slowly, after a few minutes you should have defeated him.

Dodging and Blocking

A single fireball doesn't do too much damage but simultaneous hits from clones can instantly kill even high level players. Evasion is simple as they do not track but they can be blocked given your shield has good fire resistance. Try to ensure that the clones are not able to surround you as it makes both strategies much more difficult.

Note between the flamethrower's damage and holding you in place for the clones to surround you it is advisable not to stay in close quarters.

Any Build

Hit Pinwheel with your strongest attack. His health is nothing compared to other bosses and even many standard enemies throughout the game, and he is easily staggered. The biggest threat is the clones, either you want to kill him quickly before anything has a chance to attack you, or eliminate his clones first ideally with ranged attacks such as from a bow (any damage is enough to dispell them).

Melee builds should approach with a running attack and be able to kill him before he gets an attack off. Ranged builds should just lock on and fire away.

Paladin Leeroy can kill Pinwheel in just a few hits provided you take care of the clones first, this is recommended if you wish to kill Pinwheel immediately after reaching Firelink Shrine, or he can deal with the clones while you hit Pinwheel. The fight is not difficult but he does make it easier. If you want him to join the fight immediately you will need to take care of the Skeleton Wheels outside or he will be distracted by them for a short time.