The Blackgaol Knight can be fought right off the gate when you start playing Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtre. He is found in the Western Nameless Mausoleum, close to the starting Gravesite Plain Site of Grace. This is a textbook bulky knight heavily inspired by Guts from the Berserk manga.
The fans will be delighted by the likeness, and the knight will pose quite a challenge reminiscent of its source. Fear not; we are here to help you put an end to this Black Swordsman cosplayer!
Fighting Blackgaol Knight
Fighting the Blackgaol Knight in Shadow of the Erdtree is similar to fighting an invading NPC or player. It has stats, attacks, and equipment that even you can wear. He wields a greatsword in one hand and a Repeating Crossbow in the other.
If you have played with one, he has all the moves of a greatsword. Expect heavy slams and strikes of the giant melee weapon with some weapon skill usage similar to the Vaccum Strike from the base game.
The uniqueness of this faceoff comes from the repeating crossbow. This ranged weapon fires 10 arrows continuously instead of the single shot or burst crossbow we saw in the vanilla Elden Ring.
All in all, it’s a pretty standard affair, but since everything hits like a truck in the DLC, and this is your initial outing in the Land of Shadow, expect to be clobbered a couple of times before you get the hang of things.
These are some additional details that might come in handy for the boss:
- This is an optional boss.
- You cannot summon any NPCs or spirit summons during this fight.
- Blackgaol Knight will try to heal himself using his flask, but he can do it only once.
- You should level up your Scadutree Blessing to at least 1 or 2 to increase both your chances of survival and damage out.
Moveset
Blackgaol Knight has the following attacks and how you must respond to them:
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Machine Gun | He takes out his Repeating Crossbow and shoots 10 arrows at you like an automatic gun. Usually, it is the first attack of the fight or when you are at a distance. | When you see him load the crossbow, choose a side and start running until all the arrows miss you. If you are quick enough, you can run up to him when he is busy reloading the bow and attack to stagger him out firing. You can also shield the whole barrage. |
| Vacuum Strike | Like the ash of war, he raises his sword, charges it up, and then performs an overhead slam in front, sending a projectile at you. He then swiftly charges at you with a wide sword swipe. | Wait for the charge and dodge to the side when the projectile is fired. Immediately roll forward into the follow-up attack. Exploit the long recovery time. |
| Quick Combo | He swings his sword in each direction and ends with an overhead slam. | Keep rolling backward until it’s over. |
| Poke | If you are staggered, he will thrust his sword at you. Has a surprising amount of range. | Try not to be staggered since it’s hard to dodge this attack, which usually spells disastrous for you. |
| Jumping Attack | Like the player character, he jumps in the air and slams his sword into the ground. | Roll to the side as he is about to land. The attack has a long recovery time, so do some damage. |
Weaknesses and Resistances
The Blackgaol Knight is resistant to the following damage types, so try to avoid using them:
- Sleep
- Madness
- Holy
- Fire
The boss is weak to:
- Lightning: Lightning weapons or, preferably, lightning spells will electrocute this fool.
- Magic: The Night Comet sorcery is invaluable during this fight.
- Strike
- Pierce
You can parry all of his melee attacks, which can be easily followed by a devastating critical strike. You can even move behind him during the fight if you are quick enough to perform a backstab critical strike.
Boss Strategy
The Blackgaol Knight’s move set is extremely basic. It’s just the standard Greatsword moveset that hits hard and has some range on its pokes, plus a jump attack and his weapon Skill. He can combo after any of his normal attack swings, so regardless of what kind of build you’re using, the most important rule is to avoid using basic attacks even if he’s staggered.
His attacks can come out of a stagger very quickly and deal a huge chunk of damage. It’s also very tough to heal in this fight as the arena is small, and he will be constantly on you like glue, either by chasing you or firing arrows at you, when you try to retreat and heal.
You’ll need to look for opportunities to land jump attacks, charge attacks, backstab, or riposte, as he’s very vulnerable to parries.
The Claw Talisman increases the power of jump attacks, and the Axe Talisman increases the power of charge attacks. These are two very useful Talismans to have in this fight. I recommend using charged attacks more since this guy gets easily staggered.
Here’s some advice: You don’t want to trade blows against the Blackgaol Knight. Instead, be patient and bide your time for safe punishment opportunities. The most obvious one of these windows is when he’s done firing his crossbow. You can easily land a fully charged heavy attack as he recovers from this attack.
You can run away from him, bait him to use the crossbow, and continuously take advantage of this.
The jumping attack is the next opportunity to look for. When he goes airborne, roll into the incoming attack, putting you right next to the boss as he recovers. You can take this time to perform a jump attack, or you can take a bit of a risk and try to run to his back and get a backstab.
The weapon skill, Vacuum Strike, can also be exploited. As he charges his sword, dodge the projectile to the side and then be ready to dodge through the follow-up. You can once again land a jump attack here or attempt to behind him for a backstab.
For regular attacks, you’re taking a big risk by trying to attack him after any of them. He can delay his combos and catch you when you think his attack is done. I recommend only attacking with a jump attack after he whiffs one of his basic attacks. If you block an attack or dodge, just keep moving back and wait for his next move.
You can also try to punish him when he is busy with his healing animation at around 50% HP. It is hard to do, so don’t put yourself at risk because he will try to heal again later, and this time, his flask will be empty, and that whole animation is stupidly long. Run in at this point and unleash all your charged attack glory.
For parry aficionados, his attack timings are very consistent, so once you find the parry timing, you can very reliably just parry all of his basic attacks. Try circling to his right side so you have a second more to see his attack coming.
As soon as you see him move his arms to ready his sword, press the parry button. Don’t get greedy after you land the follow-up critical strike. Just back away, reset, and wait for him to come in again.
A Buckler Shield makes parrying even more effortless.
If you are a sorcerer, the Night Comet spell is a godsend. You can keep firing this thing from further away, and the Blackgaol Knight won’t even react to the incoming projectile since it’s invisible. Hit and run all the way, baby.
The Carian Grandeur ash of war is another thing you can equip on a weapon if you are more of a spellsword.
After dodging the initial barrage of crossbow bolts, you can charge a level two attack of this ash of war, pummel the knight on the ground, and then charge up another one to level two before he gets up. Rinse and repeat until you’re out of stamina, and then do it again when you can attack.
Rewards For Defeating Blackgaol Knight
You’ll receive the following items for beating the Blackgaol Knight in Shadow of the Erdtree:
- 70,000 Runes
- Greatsword of Solitude
- Solitude Armor Set
- Helm of Solitude
- Armor of Solitude
- Gauntlets of Solitude
- Greaves of Solitude
Side note: You don’t get the Repeating Crossbow from this boss. You’ll get it later in the Elden Ring DLC, next to the Ghostflame Dragon north of the Moorth Highway.
How to Cheese the Blackgaol Knight?
Who would have thought cheesing the Blackgaol Knight in the Elden Ring DLC could be so straightforward? All you need is the Giant Hunt ash of war. You can pair it with any giant melee weapon of your choice; I equipped it with the Greatsword for the sweet irony of Guts getting thrashed by his trusty Dragonslayer.
This ash of war will send the knight flying in the air and knocking his butt on the ground. When you’ve knocked him down once the fight is as good as over. You can continue to stun-lock him by spamming the ash of war, knocking him down over and over as he tries to get back up. The poor thing won’t ever stand straight if you do this right.
Chances are you will push him toward a wall while spamming; just be careful at this point since the boss will hurt you if he lands on you while falling. Make it a habit to back off after using the ash of war, and you will be safe. Also, recover some stamina in between so you are not left out of breath in the middle of the cheese.
Sorcerers can also apply this cheese without any investment in STR. You just need an upgraded staff and the Carian Piercer spell. Although this spell won’t send the Blackgaol Knight soaring, he will be knocked on the ground with each hit, and it has a much longer range, so you are safer.
The spell has a longer casting time, so prime it before the boss tries to stand up. If you get the spam timing right and have enough FP, the boss will fade away before you know it.
We have already witnessed Guts’ iconic sword in the base game, but when I saw the Blackgaol Knight whip out that crossbow coupled with a lesser version of the aforementioned sword and the likenesses in the armor, the Berserk theme started playing in my head. This is one of the most direct references to Berserk in Shadow of the Erdtree, and I loved it.