Amana Shrine Maidens are enemies in Dark Souls II.
Description[]
These enemies will be provoked by the player from long distances, causing them to bombard the player with cast after cast of Homing Soul Arrow.
Lore[]
Amana Shrine Maidens are former priestesses who were tasked with performing the rituals that kept the Demon of Song imprisoned. However, the line of maidens eventually disintegrated through death or became hollow; and with no one to maintain the seal, the Demon was unleashed from its prison.
Strategy[]
Amana Shrine Maidens pose a large threat from a distance. There are some instances, however, where the player will be able to use a bow to snipe a Maiden without provoking them to attack. Even if the Shrine Maiden does aggro, they have no Poise so landing a successful hit on them will stagger them, interrupting their ability to cast.
Should the player get within melee range of a Maiden, she will pose little threat and fall in a few hits.
Poison can be used to effectively kill the Maidens as well. The player just needs to inflict the status effect on the Maidens, then get out of spell range and wait for the Maidens to die.
If they are knocked down (such as by the Smelter Hammer's spinning attack, or the Great Club's and Large Club's two-handed heavy attack) they will not stand up again.