Without a doubt, one of the toughestSoulsbosses of all time is the Orphan of Kos, a terrifying fetus that uses a placenta as a cleaver to beat you with. It doesn’t get much gorier than that. I bring this up because I feel like this boss must have somewhat inspired the Putrescent Knight that the player will find in the Stone Coffin Fissure inElden Ring.
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There are multiple side quests in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, but no other involves a deadly beauty such as St. Trina.
This boss behaves a lot likeBloodborne’stoughest combatant, but only this guy happens to ride on horseback, making them even more mobile and aggressive. Thankfully, this boss screams a lot less than the Orphan of Kos, so your ears will thank you for that, but even still, this boss will likely frustrate you to no end. So we want to curb this as much as possible by offering a detailed guide on beating the Putrescent Knight.
Where is the Putrescent Knight in Shadow of the Erdtree?
The Putrescent Knight is a boss found in the Legacy Dungeon within the Cerulean Coast region of the map, known as the Stone Coffin Fissure. To reach the Putrescent Knight, players will need to carefully platform down into the hole leading to this undersea area. Then, they will need to navigate an area with loads of undead enemies, laser-shooting Stone Caterpillars, and will eventually get to the Fissure Depths Site of Grace.
This will seem like a dead-end, but if you head over to the horned head statue up the stairs and leap off, you’ll land in the Deep Garden of Purple, the boss arena where you’ll find the Putrescent Knight.
How To Prepare For The Putrescent Knight
The Putrescent Knight mainly relies on two types of damage in this fight. They will use physical attacks, and magic attacks that inflict Frostbite build-up. So you’ll want to use theDragoncrest Shield Talisman +2, theSpelldrake Talisman +2, and theStalwart Horn Charm +2. Plus, packing someThawfrost Boluseswon’t hurt either.
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As for your build, this enemy is particularly weak to Lightning, Holy and Bleed damage, but Holy seems to be the pick of the bunch. So, we would urge players to infuse their weapon with holy damage or pivot to a weapon that does this naturally, such as theGolden Order Greatsword, theBlasphemous Bladeor theBlack Knifefor best results.
Then, as for summons, you’ll be able to use spirit ashes, and as per usual, theMimic Tear Ashesis the one for the job at hand. WithLhutel the Headless Ashes,Black Knife Tiche Ashesand Swordmaster Yosh being fine alternatives. Plus, if you have spoken toThiollierand heard that he is heading south, then you’ll be able to use a summon sign to bring him into the fight as well, if you so choose.
How To Beat The Putrescent Knight
When you land in the Deep Garden of Purple, the fight does not immediately begin, so you may use your Wondrous Physik and summon your Spirit Ash before the fight begins. When you step forward, the Putrescent Knight will emerge from the cave housing St Trina and will charge at you, performing an early melee attack to set the tone.
Shortly after this, the Putrescent Knight will leap into the air to perform a cleaver slam attack, which can be easily dodged with a timed roll. But be wary, as the horse they hopped off is still active, and will perform a series of charging attacks while the Putrescent Knight performs spinning melee combos. So, do your best to roll back and away from the Putrescent Knight while monitoring your position to ensure the camera is on the Knight’s horse, allowing you to dodge their advances as well.
When they return to their horse, they will only have a handful of rather basic but hard-hitting melee attacks to choose from, such as a double slash and cleaver slam, a double slash, or a ranged attack where they throw their cleaver like a boomerang. All of these are best avoided by dodging away from the enemy or trying to dodge around them to get a shot from behind.
After you whittle them down to about 50% health, however, this is when the fight gets tough. The Putrescent Knight, in their second phase, now has access to frostbite ghost flame attacks, and they will begin their second phase by rising high from their pool of putrid rot and performing the Putrescence Vortex incantation, which casts a series of Putrescence projectiles that explode into ghost fire.
This attack happens in two stages, landing to the side of the enemy first, before landing at the front and back of them a second after. The best way to avoid this is to stand at the intersection between and roll from left to right to avoid both waves.
The Putrescent Knight will also have similar frost flame attacks like an attack that will shoot of blue flame straight at the player, and a ring of fire attack that will form a wide circle around the Putrescent Knight, and then close in on the player. These are best dodged by rolling left and right, or jumping as the circle closes in, respectively.
Aside from these new additions, their melee attacks remain more or less the same, and in the second phase these are the moments where it’s easiest and safest to land consistent damage on this boss. So, in short, when they are casting blue flame attacks, the further you can get from them, the better, and unless they are using their attack where the horse is also in play, these are the moments you want to become more aggressive to end this fight fast.
Plus, in the second phase, if you do get inflicted with Frostbite, do your best to run away and pop some Thawfrost Boluses to ensure it doesn’t become a long-term issue as the fight continues.
Rewards For Defeating The Putrescent Knight
If you manage to beat the Putrescent Knight in Shadow of the Erdtree, you’ll earn the following rewards for your efforts:
As far as remembrance items in the Elden Ring DLC go, the Remembrance of Putrescence is one of the harder choices to make. The player will have the option of choosing either theVortex of Putrescenceincantation, or thePutrescence Cleaver
Both are excellent options as the Vortex of Putrescence is a brilliant Incantation that affects the environment with ghost flame which can be great against groups and more static enemies. Then the Putrescence Cleaver is a strong physical melee weapon with a great guillotine Ash of War.
Objectively speaking, however, we have to say that the Vortex of Putrescence incantation is the better option here, as while the Putrescence Cleaver is arguably one of the coolest weapons added in the DLC, it flatters to deceive a little with weapons like theAncient Meteoric Ore Greatswordbeing a far superior option.
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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware’s groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.
