LOCATION OF THE ROTTING KNIGHT
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
Finding and defeating the Rotting Knight will be a little easier if you followed our guide dedicated to a character named Tiolier, whose quest is directly related to this boss .
It is located at the southernmost point of the map on the Cote d’Azur, where even after death it guards the entrance to the Rift in a stone sarcophagus. However, you still need to get here, and before you go on a long journeyjourneyto the south, you must first drop by the Shadow Haven – this is a huge black fortress to the northeast of the starting location.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
You don’t need to go deep inside to meet this boss. Just drive to the main gate until you see the message “The Great Rune has broken somewhere” on the screen.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
After that, you’ll need to head down to the lower reaches of the Ellak River, which is easiest to do from the Place of Grace before the bridge to Ensis Castle. Head southeast through the gorge, then take a counterclockwise detour through some swamps, and in the rock behind the last giant poison flower, you’ll see a passage that will lead you to the Cave by the Ellak River.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
From there, you’ll first get to the southern part of the map, and then to the peninsula where the boss resides. Ignore the giants and dragons , continuing southwest until you come across some ruins that contain a Place of Grace, Rift Depths, with a staircase and a giant horned statue over a bottomless ravine. To get to your date with the Rotting Knight, there’s just one more step left… into the abyss.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
Don’t worry, you won’t die. That is, you won’t die from the fall, but at the bottom you will most likely be sent to the next world by the inhabitant of these depths. To prevent this from happening, carefully read the next point of our guide.
WEAKNESSES OF THE ROTTING KNIGHT
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
The Rotting Knight may seem intimidating when you first meet him, and it seems like he’s simply impossible to kill again, but he does have two major drawbacks.
- Vulnerability to bleeding: One of the most subtle, yet most significant weaknesses of a fleshless skeleton is, oddly enough, its vulnerability to bleeding. And as we all know from the movie Predator: “If it bleeds, it can be killed.” Therefore, if you have weapons, spells, and equipment that allow for bleeding, you will have a significant advantage over this opponent.
- Vulnerability to physical damage: Also, this skeleton can have all its bones broken even with a series of normal attacks. If they do enough damage, the boss will simply lose its balance, like a normal mob.
While the Rotting Knight’s defensive abilities are not impressive, he is a formidable attacker in his own right. You must be extremely focused during the fight with this boss. Otherwise, you will die often.
HOW TO DEFEAT THE ROTTING KNIGHT
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
Now that we know his weaknesses, it’s time to finally dispatch this walking dead man. While the Rotten Knight has a few tricks up his sleeve, he’s still relatively easy to fight if you don’t make unnecessary moves or get into trouble. Let’s take a look at the most important things to keep in mind during the fight:
- You don’t have to fight alone: We have no doubt that you can defeat him on your own, but if you suddenly can’t, remember that in addition to friends and NPCs (namely Tiolier, if you complete his quest), you can always call on spirits for help. And there’s nothing wrong with that: firstly, all the bosses in Elden Ring were originally designed with co-op play in mind, and secondly, he himself was not shy about riding on a warhorse. Speaking of him.
- Watch Your Horse: When the Rotting Knight dismounts, his mount doesn’t just stand back, it rams you, distracting you from the boss’s actions. The only thing left to do here is stay vigilant and rely on your reactions, dodging when necessary.
- Off-horse, he’s even more dangerous: Yes, the Rotting Knight will periodically jump off his horse and charge at you, swinging his bone cleaver. The best way to dodge him is to bravely roll towards him, not away from him.
- Warm Up: As you’ll quickly notice, the Rotting Knight deals a fair amount of frost damage, so you’ll want to protect yourself as much as possible from this type of attack with the appropriate gear and a Crystal Tears Miracle Potion if you have one. If not, some protection from standard physical damage is also a good idea.
- Beware the boomerang blade: The Rotting Knight will sometimes throw his giant bone blade like a boomerang. This means you have to dodge it twice. In fact, if you’re brave enough to roll straight into the blade, that’ll be enough.
- Beware of the Frost Flame: Sometimes the boss will suddenly rise up and start bombarding you with ice napalm from above. Getting caught in this barrage will inevitably result in frostbite. Therefore, jump when the flames spread to the ground.
Following these tips, you will definitely be able to defeat the Rotting Knight. The main thing to remember is that the boss’s horse is no less dangerous than the boss himself.
REWARD FOR DEFEATING THE ROTTING KNIGHT
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide – How to Defeat the Rotting Knight
Besides 220,000 runes, the main reward for defeating the Rotting Knight is a memory. Naturally, we mean an item that can be exchanged for runes or equipment with Enya, the Reader of the Fingers in the Fortress of the Round Table .
The first of the two trophies you can get for killing the Rot Knight is his Rot Cleaver. This weapon deals 141 physical damage, 42 magic damage, and generates 55 Frostbite, but requires 28 Strength, 10 Dexterity, and 15 Affliction in exchange.
Alternatively, you can get a spell that allows you to shoot the same icy flames that the boss himself used to pester you with.
Based on materials from beebom.com