The Putrescent Knight is a stand-alone Boss in the Shadow of Erdtree DLC of Elden Ring. It is a knight created from decaying flesh and affected by St. Trina’s nectar, putting it into eternal rest. Since then, it has served as St. Trina’s loyal knight and protector.
It is one of the more challenging and fun bosses in Elden Ring. It has a strong attack and weak health pool making it susceptible to heavy hits. It also has a plethora of slow attacks in its combat sequence.
1. Where to find the Putrescent Knight in Elden Ring?
The Putrescent Knight can be found at the bottom of Stone Coffin Fissure to the south of the Cerulean Coast in Elden Ring. The Thioller questline will lead to the location in the Shadow Realm.
The Putrescent Knight is an optional boss that can be defeated to obtain a Remembrance. But the battle has some storyline quest prerequisites. When you arrive at the location of the Boss, a message starting with, “A great rune has been broken…” appears on the screen. This means that you can proceed to fight the Boss.
2. Things to Keep in Mind Before the Boss Battle
2.1 Summon Thioller to assist
You’re led to The Fissure by following Thiollier’s quest. If you do so, you can also summon Thiollier to fight alongside you, although it’s not mandatory to complete the quest. Whether you have or haven’t moved forward with his quest, you can enter the fight.
Once you have reached the Stone Coffin Fissure area, keep going down until you find the Fissure Depths Site of Grace. Move forward and jump from the massive head to reach the arena.
The Putrescent Knight is an optional Boss in the Shadow of Erdtree DLC. It has the appearance of a giant deformed knight wielding a two-handed weapon on horseback (ghastly horse with the hind part melted).
2.2 Get a good magic mitigation shield and Talismans
The Knight has a low health pool but has incredibly annoying attacks. This is due to their characteristic of being very slow and confusing. Don’t underestimate the Putrescent Knight! If a player is patient, the Knight can be defeated using a good shield with magic mitigation.
2.3 Roll toward the Boss
One miss and it is game over as the combo attacks by the Knight deal massive damage. The Putrescent Knight spends much of the encounter riding around you, creating a dynamic battlefield where he strikes intermittently. Observing the knight’s sword movements is crucial.
His attack patterns are often telegraphed by how he grips his weapon. His combination usually ends when he regrips with both hands, whereas he is likely to attack when he removes one hand from the blade.
3. Putrescent Knight Attack Patterns and Counter Strats
3.1 Close Range Attacks
The Drive-by: This is the most repeated attack of the Knight. The Knight rides by quickly and swings its weapon around the terrain. After the first swing, he spins and delivers a slash or two. Watch his hands for cues on the next swing. To counter, dodge into the slash to evade and then quickly attack him before he rides off.
Triple-Hit Combo: When you are next to the knight, he unleashes a powerful triple-hit combo. The first hit is when he leans back and swings with delayed timing. This is quickly followed by a second strike, and then another delayed third swing. To counter, stay close to the knight and roll and strike during the slow swings.
3.2 Long-Range attacks
Slam-Sweep: When the Knight lifts his sword vertically overhead, know that he is going for a long-range slam attack followed by a sweep. You can roll into both attacks to dodge them. After he is done with the combo, you will have time to execute a powerful attack.
Earth Slam: When the Knight raises his weapon over his head with both hands, he is about to slam the ground in front of him twice. The first is slow and can be evaded easily. The second one is very quick, shield or dodge toward the Knight. You can land an attack during the first slam but time it carefully.
Boomerang Sword: When the Knight is riding at a distance, the Knight may throw his sword like a boomerang. You can dodge this by rolling through it as it comes. Be careful because the Knight follows the sword to retrieve it and will sweep attack you in the process. Roll into the slash to evade easily, and counterattack for a sizable amount of damage afterward.
Dash Attack: The Knight randomly performs a dash attack. The cue is that he positions his sword behind his back before lunging towards you. As with his other attacks, rolling into the cut is the best way to avoid damage. The timing might seem hard at first, but you’ll grasp it after a couple of interactions.
Leap Slash: The Putrescent Knight’s longest attack sequence. He first leaps off his horse and crashes down with a powerful slash. This is followed by rapid dashing cuts. When he jumps off his horse, you should directly run away from him to dodge the upcoming attacks.
Make sure to dodge the horse’s attack as it appears to strike you from the ground at any point afterward. After the horse attacks, the Knight takes time to re-mount and this is the time to land powerful hits to shave off a lot of HP.
3.3 Mount Attacks
When you approach the Knight in close quarters, the Knight’s mount may execute two types of attacks.
Hoof Stomp: The horse raises its front legs up and stomps down on the earth forcefully. Dodge towards this attack to avoid taking any damage.
Horse Shriek: Here as well, the horse raises its front legs but shrieks afterward. It is difficult to differentiate from the Stomp attack but you can take it head on as it deals little damage. Be mindful of the timing and recover to dodge the Knight’s follow-up strike.
3.4 Special Attacks at 60% Health
Frost Flame: When the Putrescent Knight’s health drops to 60%, there are additional new attack patterns. The Knight summons blue flames on the ground, causing significant damage and frostbite. These flames can be evaded by jumping over them or using a shield to withstand the waves.
Dark Tendrils: The Knight gets atop an earthen platform and sends black tendrils into the air, which then form flames on the ground. The flames appear in these fixed directions- first forward, then left and right, and finally forward again. Maintain a distance to react more quickly to the flames, but you can risk it and stay close to get in some heavy hits.
These new patterns will be incorporated into the attacks of the Knight until the end. Once you get a hang of the gaps between the attack patterns, you can deal damage effectively. Stick to the strategy and counterattack calmly without rushing when the Boss is very low on HP and you can take him down with no sweat.
4. About Elden Ring
Elden Ring is a major title released by FromSoftware in 2022, the developers of Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, and the Dark Souls franchise. Set in the ‘Lands Between’, players are on a quest to repair the Elden Ring and become the new Elden Lord.
Shadow of the Erdtree is a full-fledged expansion for Elden Ring added in June 2024. It is a whole new map with new Weapons, Sorceries, Ashes, and Craftables. It is a challenging DLC and as players continue to explore the map, they find surprises and easter eggs left by the developers every day.
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