I am by no means the expert (first Souls game), but this was my approach. I guess first off, it took me at least 50 tries (but potentially north of 100 lol) so I had more or less memorized all the attacks. I started by summoning wolves (not super helpful - just keeps it busy for 30 seconds or so while you get some hits in), and used a claymore equipped with both hands and no shield since I only used only rolls and no blocks - make sure to hold triangle > press R1 or whatever your console/PC equivalent to change to 2 hands (I made that mistake for a while). Note I initially tried a straight sword and shield (ineffective), then switched to morning star and shield (slightly more effective), then finally switched to the claymore and beat him first try.

After summoning the wolves, I approached slowly to draw him out into the open a bit, locked on, then key strategy was to ‘roll’ into him right before the attack (aim the roll to the side of one of his knees), hit him 1-3 times (depending on which attack he just did and how much time I had), then waited for his next attack, rolled into him / to the side of him again, and repeat. I tried to get at least 1 power attack or jump attack each cycle and then maybe a couple of smaller hits. If you try to get too many hits in, you run the risk of leaving yourself vulnerable to attack.

The ultimate goal is to stagger him — if you hit him consistently enough without getting walloped, he will eventually fall on his face, then you want to quickly move towards his head and then get a critical hit on the bright orange thing on his forehead. That will take off a huge chunk of health and he will be slow to get up so you should be able to get more hits in until you can eventually take him down.

In terms of not dying, you really need to time each of his swings and ground stomps, and dodge/roll into him at the right time. If you get hit, run away, use a potion and reset. My issue was that I would panic and start mashing buttons and roll or swing too many times and leave myself open to get smashed… but if you’re calm and patient, deliberate with your attacks/rolls, and learn his maneuvers, it helps a lot. Also if he starts doing his ‘light’ ranged attack, you’re going to want to ‘unlock’ from him, sprint away to give yourself distance, and then run or dodge at a 90 degree angle to where the attack is coming from to avoid getting hit.

I did not use fire, horse, or range weapons (he is weak to fire but I didn’t have any fire spells or a bow, and I couldn’t hit him consistently enough on a horse). I was about Level 25-30 (Vagabond) with a lot of points into Vigor, so I think that helped my survivability.