Ok, you put effort into this reply. so Im going to respond
Look we had a danny in soul calibur who would simply juggle you to death without given chance to do something; which imho doesn't make hard boss but someone somewhere wanted to be a kant and thought difficulty is locking the person behind multiple attacks from multiple angles so much so that you just got raped by the camera.
Every single attack is dodgable in ph 1. i no hit a few times. ph 2 has a big issue, and its visibility. Yes i went 100 poise, but once i learnt him, stagger wasnt the challenge. never really had issue with the camera
Furthermore, *just* changing your build for a single boss is inasmuch a cop-out and not finishing the game. Ironically it's kill Nosferatu Zodd to access the dlc to kill Nosferatu Zodd again whom seems to be a reskin of Malenia water sport attack(s) with added friends benifits.
Whats wrong with changing a build, every single build is viable. why did i change? i hit him between the balls with starfists. my weapons of choice. and as i was learning the boss. i switched to something with better range, can i complain? no, because starfists are OP as hell, and the downfall is range. on my last challenge run i switched from starfists to utchi on maliketh for the same issue. I also had the greatsword as my second main, but once again i didnt know the moveset well enough. iv subsequently fought him with starfists and greatsword. and just a note, im so glad i tried something faster, more dex, because i enjoyed it so much im doing a full playthrough with less stance damage/bonk and more status.
I suppose being fisted to death without safewords is someone's "hard(-on)" and "jesus it took skill to kill"; if wanted this in a one punch setting then I'll just bootup ghostrunner requiring actual skill(s)...
Perhaps it's a really good time to relook what makes up a hard game, souls game and or sould like game other than applying one hard hitting gang rapists.
I have NO ISSUE with how hard he is. he took me more attempts than ANY from boss. including owl father lol. Issues i do not deny, visibility in PH2, terrain and such. His ghost attacks deal little damage to be honest. his nuke is easy to read and respond to. he can be frost and bled which is great.
I felt the same way you did the first 50 tries. then once i beat him i changed my opinion. My biggest issue isnt this boss. its the bosses leading up to him. Other than the inital boss or 3, the game bosses doesnt ramp up well enough. Romina, Mesimer was just too squishy. Midra is the best boss but also squishy, they all have maliketh syndrome, powerful and awesome but squishy.
I dont expect you to agree with me. thats fine, we have our opinions. at the end of the day there's plenty of builds to beat him with. and thats nothing new to souls games. i mean imagine you took on elden beast with the sipha (full holy). or the barrage of people with rivers of blood (i was one of them)....
Im far from a expert gamer. i probably had 100 glorious attempts and radahn. and i wish i could have my first run at him again