beat everything legit up to the blade dancer boss,

Aww, that’s one of my favourites.

That said first time I beat her was with a pure sorcery build where I realised you could cheese her really easily by just standing behind a pillar, dropping a pestilent mist and just watching her spin pointlessly in the death cloud. Same for the Dragonslayer Armour at the end of Lothric Castle and the well it spawns in front of.