Summary
The Crucible Knights have become an iconic fixture ofElden Ring, with their presence across the Lands Between immediately signaling a worthwhile reward, along with an oncoming fight. While less prevalent than the base game’s Crucible Knights,theShadow of the ErdtreeDLChas introduced a new type of powerful knight-type boss enemy in the form of the ominously named Death Knights.
These Death Knights mostly appear as more traditional bosses than their Crucible Knight counterparts, without the same representation scattered around as non-boss obstacles. However, even with fewer interactions, the Death Knights still make their presence known inElden Ringwith some impressive fights that can easily topple players at close quarters or at a distance.
Death Knights Earn Their Ominous Title with Killer Moves
Forged in A Crucible of Lightning
The first major similarity between Death Knights and Crucible Knights comes in the fact that both use some ofElden Ring’smost powerful faith-based battle magic. This is also where Death Knights differ from Crucible Knights, with these spells leaning heavily on dealing lightning damage, as opposed to the holy leaning on the Crucible-specific spell list. Additionally, the lightning spells also come with an ability to cover a greater distance, generally being thrown projectiles that charge at the player in an array of bolts. Some of this lightning can even fan out around pillars, meaning that the normal methods of using the arena for cover don’t work perfectly against the Death Knight.
Even though the exact roster of available spells between the Death Knights and the baseElden Ring’s Crucible Knightscreates a rift between the archetypes, it’s how they use their spells to supplement powerful melee combos that unites these two boss designs. Both bosses swing their weapons with calculated precision, moving with slow, deliberate combos that will quickly catch players off-guard if they are wildly dodging to avoid damage. This sets both types of bosses to be imposing paladin-style enemies that can deliver heavy damage in a single hit, but some of those hits help to make Death Knights unique against their base-game counterparts.
Feeding on the Player’s Death
While the lightning incantations and steadily paced combos make up the framework of the Death Knight as an evolution of a previous boss, that isn’t the most impressive part of the enemy’s toolkit. That title would have to go to the aptly named Deadly Dash, an attack that emulates the winged charge utilized by the Crucible Knights, but also includes a grab that makes the Death Knight completely unique. What helps this grab to stand out is the fact that it doesn’t only damage the player, but it also heals the Death Knight at the same time. It is a similar attack to the legendary life steal that makesMalenia one ofElden Ring’s toughest bosses, although it is limited to a single attack instead of being attached to every swing of the Death Knight’s axes.
The Deadly Dash is a defining aspect of the Death Knights, quickly reversing a player’s progress if they aren’t able to quickly dodge out of the way of the attack. To a certain degree, this is mostly because the attack simply excels at the “rule of cool” thatmanyShadow of the Erdtreeweaponsand bosses push the envelope on with a number of new, visually impressive moves. However, it also isn’t the only attack available to the Death Knight that boasts a bombastic animation, even if it is the one that most uniquely demands the player’s attention. From the Death Dash to the Blinkbolt, the acrobatic animations included with the Death Knight’s attacks are what help it to truly elevate the Crucible Knight archetype.
Elden Ring
WHERE TO PLAY
ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
