Defeating Moonlight Butterfly in Dark Souls

I am really having trouble defeating the moth boss in Dark Souls, I am using a melee character and its attacks go right through my shield, how can I best avoid damage?

Solution 1:

I'm assuming you're talking about the Moonlight Butterfly, encountered in Darkroot Garden:

The Moonlight Butterfly is a slightly annoying boss for melee characters as they cannot damage it until it lands. Strafe along the bridge and roll to dodge its attacks, although it might take several tries before you get used to the timing. Alternately, you could get a shield with high magic resist, such as the Crest Shield.

Summoning Beatrice will also help as she has ranged attacks. You can find Beatrice's summon sign at the bottom of the stairs, hidden by some shrubs.

Whenever it lands, go ahead and two-hand your weapon as it has no attacks when it's on the ground and cannot hurt you.

Solution 2:

The Moonlight Butterfly's attacks do magic damage, so equip a shield with decent magic block, like the Crest Shield (80% block) or Caduceus Round Shield (65% block).

Note: The Red and White Round Shield and Warrior's Round Shield have the same stats as the Caduceus Round Shield, so you could try one of these as well.