Jori Elder Inquisitor is the boss at the end of the multilayered and challenging Darklight Catacombs in Shadow of the Erdtree. He is the only thing standing between you and the secret area, Abyssal Woods. He may look like a regular enemy, but he might startle you with the tricks he has up his sleeves.
We will go over everything Jori will throw at you and what you must do to prepare for it. Together, we will clip the horns off this hornsent and gain access to one of the creepiest locations in the Elden Ring DLC.
Fighting Jori Elder Inquisitor
Jori Elder Inquisitor won’t strike any fear as you enter the arena. You might have faced the hornsent Inquisitors by now; he just looks like a slightly bigger version of them.
However, Jori’s real threat comes from his casting capabilities. He has a series of holy incantations that he will bombard you with. And don’t think you can close the distance and pummel this long-ranged boss; he happens to teleport away when he gets overwhelmed.
The next problem in this fight is his ability to summon help. He has two types of summons: Candle Inquisitors and Fat Inquisitors.
After you have chipped away some of his HP, he will periodically call upon these summons to take the heat of him. He will summon the Candle Inquisitors more regularly and the Fat Inquisitors infrequently as his health dwindles.
Both of these summons will either perform a single attack and vanish or hunt you down for a while and then disappear.
When his HP reaches 50%, things will get dire. He will start summoning groups of 4 Candle Inquisitors and 1 Fat Inquisitor, which could easily overpower you.
The fight is about outmaneuvering his spells while managing the crowd of enemies he sends forth.
These are some additional details for the boss:
- He likes to teleport a lot, so a light build will have little trouble staying up to speed with him.
- His summons die with a single hit. The Briar armor set can kill them instantly while you roll near them. The Fat Inquisitor has to be attacked a few more times, though.
- Most of his attacks deal holy damage, so wear appropriate armor. The Golden Braid talisman will help mitigate the damage.
- Use the tombstones in the arena to shelter yourself from his barrage of projectiles and safely heal.
- It would be best if you ignored his summons. There is no point in taking them out.
Moveset
Jori Elder Inquisitor and his summons will use the following attacks and how you should prepare for them:
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Golden Arc | He lifts his staff and fires a wide-arcing holy projectile toward you. Similar to the incantation. Maybe the first attack as you enter the arena. | Cover behind a gravestone or dodge forward into the projectile as it reaches you. |
| Jori’s Inquisition | He uses his weapon’s skill by pushing his staff forward and firing off a barrage of smaller holy arcs at you with slight tracking. He might use this as his starting attack. | There are numerous projectiles, so taking cover behind a tree or tombstone is best until he stops. |
| Golden Arc | He uses another incantation that sends out three midsized holy arcs in a fan shape. | Dodge through the arc forward as it approaches you. Or you can hide behind some environmental cover. |
| Spira | His last incantation. He will raise his staff, and the ground underneath your feet will start to glow. A pillar of light will then burst out of the ground. It will occur multiple times in a row. | When you see the ground glow, start running towards the boss. Run behind him and perform a backstab critical strike. |
| Teleportation | He grabs his weapon and poofs to another location in the arena. There is a slightly damaging AOE around the spot from where he teleports. | When you see him clutch his weapon, back off and prepare to bolt to his following location. |
| Poke | At close quarters, he thrusts his weapon at you. | This attack can be parried. Dodge to the side. |
| Swing | At close quarters, he will swing his weapon horizontally. | Parryable attack. Dodge right, into the incoming swing and attack the boss immediately. |
| Summons | ||
| Candle Inquisitors | He sends forth two Candle Inquisitors to hunt you. Occasionally, he will summon them directly at your location, and they will breathe fire at you. They can be killed or disappear on their own after some time. | Take them out ASAP if they are becoming annoying. Run away as they appear for the fire breath attack, and you will sidestep it entirely. |
| Fat Inquisitor | He will summon a Fat Inquisitor who will jump and try to perform a belly flop on you. He will also perform a tornado attack, launching himself at you while spinning at breakneck speed. He can be killed or disappear on his own after some time. | Ignore this summon and focus on the boss. Keep an eye on his movement until he expires. |
Weaknesses and Resistances
Jori Elder Inquisitor is resistant to the following damage types, so try to avoid using them:
- Nothing
The boss is weak to:
- Slash physical damage
- Fire – Magma Blade, Magma Wyrm’s Scalesword, and, of course, Blasphemous Blade are the best fire weapons to use.
- Poison
- Scarlet Rot – Scarlet Aeonia and Rotten Butterflies‘ AOE will help deal with the summons.
- Hemorrhage – Bleed weapons will eat away his HP. Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear is especially great at culling his summons.
- Frostbite
- Sleep
Jori is immune to Madness. His melee attacks can be parried. You can perform a critical strike when he drops to the ground after his poise is broken. Furthermore, like other NPC bosses, you can run behind the boss to execute a backstab critical strike anytime.
Boss Strategy
Jori can be overbearing, owing to all his tracking-ranged holy attacks. Although there are only a few of them, learning them is critical. We have listed them down above in the moveset section.
Another thing of note here is that he is very susceptible to backstabs. You can virtually run behind him after most attacks and perform a backstab. You only need to memorize the openings and be fast enough to exploit these windows.
At the start of the fight, he’ll either shoot a few ranged Golden Arcs at you and cast Spira at your feet or start the battle with Spira. For all ranged attacks in this phase, if you are far away, run to the right or left since there is a small window to avoid them, or move behind the many tombstones to block the projectiles from hitting you.
The best opportunity to backstab him is when he begins casting Spira.
You can sprint into him and go behind him to get a backstab whenever he starts casting this spell. He can’t turn around while casting the spell. After you backstab, don’t forget to put in a charged heavy attack as he recovers for extra damage. If you are fast enough, you can even use a light attack afterward.
If you start the fight like we suggest, Jori will teleport and begin summoning. For the most part, ignore them and focus on the boss. Only engage when they are stopping you from reaching the boss.
The Candle Inquisitors will die from a single hit. When he starts summoning the Fat Inquisitor, deal with them, or they will become a trip to an early grave.
Two of his major attacks, all of the spirit summons and the Spira, can be avoided if you start running in a circle around the arena. You only need to steer yourself slightly while running when he calls forth his summons, and they will not hit you at all.
Just stick to Jori like glue and spam attacks. He has fewer close-range/melee attacks, and most can be dodged into to avoid them. If you position your rolls right, you will end up behind him for another backstab opportunity.
When he summons his entire army at around 50% HP, I recommend running away to avoid taking unnecessary damage while trying to rush the main boss.
You can run behind gravestones for the ranged attacks and keep distance for when the big guy uses his Whirlwind spinning attack, and after a bit, they should disappear.
Rewards For Defeating Jori Elder Inquisitor
Taking out Jori Elder Inquisitor will reward you with:
- 260,000 Runes
- Barbed Staff-Spear
Jori Elder Inquisitor is one of the more deceptive bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree. He has many weaknesses and not many attacks to remember, but his constant barrage of spells and army of summons will make things incredibly challenging. It would be best if you kept your eyes on the prize and gunned down the boss as quickly as possible, and you would be golden.