Putrescent Knight is one of the optional bosses in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. While not the most difficult, this horse-mounted skeleton knight can give you a run for your money if you take him on without knowing what you are up against.
Found in the depths of the Stone Coffin Fissure, the Putrescent Knight has more than a few tricks that he in the battle against you. With this guide, we are going to help you prepare for the battle against this boss in the Elden Ring DLC. Grab a saddle because this horse isn’t going to run wild for long.
Fighting Putrescent Knight
The Putrescent Knight can be found in a secluded location, The Fissure, that initially won’t be accessible. You can only enter this region once you have broken Miquella’s charm by entering Shadow Keep either during Needle Knight Leda’s quest or Thiollier’s questline.
The latter will take you deeper into the region where you will find the boss in a deep underground lake, Stone Coffin Fissure. So without further ado, let’s dive right into the details about the Putrescent Knight.
Moveset
- Double Blade Slash: The attack starts with the horse neighing while the knight double-hands his blade and smashes it on the ground. He will do this attack twice either on its own or in combination with another attack.
- Counter: Roll forward into the attack to dodge. Putrescent Knight will take a bit to recover. You can use this chance to land some hits.
- Horse and Knight Combo: Putrescent Knight will dismount his horse by jumping and smashing on the ground. Furthermore, he will lunge towards you while his upper body spins thrice along with his blade. Immediately after this, the horse will run toward you and will try to ram you from the left. The boss will make the spin attack once again followed by horse ram but from the right.
- Counter: Roll forward to avoid the initial smash. Take a small pause then again roll forward to dodge the spin attack. You can roll into the horse, regardless of the direction it comes from, to avoid getting head-butted.
- Swing From Horse: This is a generic knight attack where he will charge at you with his horse while leaning on either side with his blade and end the attack with a swing.
- Counter: Roll to the left to dodge the attack.
- Cleaver Chop: This is similar to Double Blade Smash but this time he will be charging toward you on his horse. Be careful as sometimes follows it up with a couple of simple blade swings.
- Counter: Roll forward for the blade smash and roll to either side to avoid the following swings.
- Cleaver Throw: If you are constantly at medium to long range, Putrescent Knight will throw his blade towards you like a boomerang.
- Counter: If you roll forward at the right moment, you can duck underneath the blade. You will have to do it twice; when it is going away and when it comes back.
- Horse Roar: The boss’s horse can tilt its head down and roar, sending a shockwave that can knock you a few steps back with the potential to break your stance.
- Counter: As soon as the horse lowers its head, roll back a few times to get out of the effective zone.
- Putrescent Vortex: This attack is specific to only phase 2. As soon as the second phase starts, the Putrescent Knight will summon Putrescence Mass that will he smash on the ground which will send out a wave of Putrescence that expands outwards. He can use this move thrice, consecutively.
- Counter: The best way to avoid taking any damage is to jump over the wave. As soon as he starts to collect the mass, take a few steps back and wait for the wave. As soon as it is about to hit, jump, and you will be able to dodge it.
- Putrescent Circle: This attack is quite similar to the Putrescent Vortex but with a slight twist. Instead of an outwards expanding wave, there will be a circle that will close inwards. The giveaway is that the Knight will not smash the Putrescent Mass on the ground but rather chuck it at a distance.
- Counter: You can dodge this attack the same way, by jumping at the exact moment the wave is about to hit you.
- Putrescent Stream: The Putrescent Knight will pick out some mass from his head that he will use to summon flames on the ground in a straight line.
- Counter: Roll to either side to dodge the attack.
Weakness
The Putrescent Knight is weak against Magic (Holy) and Scarlet Rot.
While taking down the Putrescent with almost any weapon is possible if you are looking to exploit its weaknesses then Poleblade of the Bud, Rotten Crystal Sword, or any weapon that can deal holy damage will do the job.
If you leaning more toward spells or incantations Rotten Breath, Ezykes’s Decay, Rotten Butterflies, Blade of Death, and Erdtree Slam are some really good options.
Strategy
Here is how you should approach the battle against the Putrescnet Knight in the Elden Ring DLC.
Phase 1
If you have taken on any of the other bosses in the Elden Ring DLC then you will quickly pick up that this fight is on the slower side. There is a significant gap between the preparation and the actual attack. As soon the battle starts, the Putrescent Knight will dash towards you on his mighty galloping steed.
The first attack is usually a simple swipe which can easily be avoided by rolling towards the boss. In fact, the majority of Putrescent’s Knights’s attacks can be avoided by rolling into the attack.
The Double Blade Slash will be the most common attack throughout the first phase. While the attack, if it connects, deals a massive amount of damage, has a downside as well.
The knight more or less slams his blade on the ground and he has to put some effort into pulling it back out. Make sure to bank on this opportunity and deal some damage. This is only possible if you have correctly dodged the attack by rolling towards the boss. That way you are close enough to deal damage.
We do suggest using summons such as your Mimic to divide the boss’s focus, allowing you to come up behind him and do a heavy attack.
Aside from the time when the boss gets off his horse to attack you from two separate directions, always try to stay close to his body because right underneath his blade, there is a safe zone where he can’t reach without readjusting his positions.
If you are a magic user and rely on ranged attacks, this fight should be much easier for you. All you have to do is dodge, gain some distance, and attack him before he closes the gap. Rinse and repeat until the health drops down to 50% and the next phase starts.
Phase 2
The second phase is more or less similar to the first one except for the AoE attacks. There are three new attacks in the second phase of the battle all three of which utilize Putrescent Mass. The only thing different in each attack is the direction of the wave the Knight sends out.
One wave grows outwards, one closes inwards, and the third one shoots out in a straight line. Jump at the right moment to avoid the first two and get out of the way for the third one.
You should be good to go. Other than that, you can follow the same strat as the first phase and you shouldn’t have any problem taking down this undead knight.
How to Cheese Putrescent Knight
If you are on a quest to quickly pace through every single boss and aren’t willing to spend a whole lot of time of time on a boss like Putrescent Knight then you are in luck because there is a simple way to burn through his HP with minimal effort.
For the strategy to work you will need the following items:
- Blasphemous Blade
- Crimson Amber Medallion
- Erdtree’s Favor
- Shard of Alexander
- Fire Scorpion Charm
If you haven’t already tried the Blasphemous Blade then you are missing out on a great weapon. With proper scaling, this sword is no less than a cheat. When paired with the above-mentioned items, Putrescent Knight will not stand a chance.
As soon as you drop down into the arena, wait for the boss to run up. As soon as you catch a glimpse of him, run to right towards the wall after summoning your mimic. If you are up against a wall, it will restrict the directions the Knight can come from.
As soon as the Putrescent Knight is within attack distance, start spamming the Taker’s Flame skill of the Blasphemous Blade. Keep spamming either until you are out of FP or the boss can no longer stand. If you have all the items and your build is scaled evenly according to the weapon, the battle will end before you know it.
Rewards For Defeating Putrescent Knight
You’ll get the following rewards for defeating the Putrescent Knight:
- 1x Remembrance of Putrescence
- 200,000x Runes