Talk:Death/@comment-65.96.17.243-20150210191227/@comment-25604735-20150212194103

As you state, The Bloodless Stockade, pre-Daimon, is the most efficient place to farm Death. A Magick Archer with Ricochet Hunters can take out Death on Hard difficulty without Periapts by shooting through the grate of the concealed chamber. Since Death has very high stagger and knockdown resistance on Hard Difficulty, the Blackwing Bow (stagger and knockdown each 466) is, by far, the best weapon to use. One or two Barbed Nails that each increase both stagger and knockdown by 100 may be required if Death is able to extricate himself from the barrage of Ricochet Hunters.

There are two ways to prevent Death from retreating when he loses a little over a life bar. One is to keep him staggered and unable to execute his retreat. The other is to remain hidden. Death will not retreat if he does not detect an enemy. If you remain huddled in the far corner of the lower part of the chamber, you can shoot Ricochet Hunters in a southerly direction through the grate. You can hit Death before you can even see his lantern. As Death gets closer, the Ricochet Hunters will stagger Death and prevent him from getting close enough to detect you. Up to 4X Demon's Periapts will speed up the process but they are not required. Stagger and Knockdown are more important than Magick. You should not equip pawns with lanterns nor use one yourself since that will enable Death to detect you and he will retreat at the first respite.

On easy and normal difficulty, a full-health Death can be defeated in a similar manner in the Garden of Ignominy post-Daimon. Drop the Rancid Bait Meat, exit and reenter through the Bluemoon Tower Door. Before entering the courtyard, fire a regular shot to attract Death's attention. Then retreat down a few stairs. Death will teleport into the corridor. Spam Ricochet Hunters. A Magick Archer with the Blackwing Bow will stagger him easily and keep him staggered until defeated. So, on Easy or Normal difficulty, the only wasteful aspect of the Garden vs. the Stockade is the use of the Rancid Bait Meat.

On Hard difficulty, Magick Archer can stagger Death and knock him down. However, Death's stagger and knockdown resistance are so great that he can escape even under a constant onslaught of Ricochet Hunters. So, on Hard difficulty, whereas Death can consistently be defeated in one go in the Bloodless Stockade pre-Daimon, it is much more difficult to defeat him in one go on Hard difficulty. Having pawns with strong knockdown attacks can improve the likelihood of defeating him in one go. However, on Hard difficulty, Death is able to extricate himself from barrages that should keep him knocked down to the ground.

As you state, Blast Arrows and Periapts can be effective. However, when I go on a serious farming run, I don't want to be held hostage to resupplying tools. So, I employ methods Post-Daimon where the only thing I need to carry is a large quantity of Rancid Bait Meat.