Gave up on the Pursuer after 2 tries because I was annoyed at how little damage my weapons do. I know myself, even if his attacks are easy to dodge it requires like 3 rolls per combo and if I have to do that 30 times I'm going to choke right at the end. The upshot is that I was playing a dex/dodging build (albeit with no spoilers or guides besides looking up what the stats do) and I didn't have anything good against armor. Both the paths of advancement I could find require fighting 15 foot tall knights in full plate, so yeah.
Anyway, the own is that I found the fire longsword unspoiled. Which required doing something rather brave IMO. Anyway, with my newfound ability to actually do damage I carved a path of death through Heide's Tower of Flame. I fearlessly dodged around and into the giant knights, then beat the boss on my second try (the first was me severely hollowed).
Secondary own, but I beat the
true area boss. The white knights in the area, with the swords, are decently hard. However, the single one with what looks like a boar spear has an entirely different moveset that is crazy bullshit. He has the same intentionally strange attack timings as sword guys, but unlike them his combos are long and his attacks long and varied ranges. He also combines thrusts and horizontal swings (?), and his weapon doesn't have sweet spot. Him hitting you with the wooden bit does as much damage as the pointy end. He is so much harder than the boss and I think he has over half as much health. I made it a point of pride to beat him and I finally did... the reward did not impress me. But I got a good laugh out of it, and quit while I was ahead.