How to beat Putrescent Knight in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring‘s long-awaited Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is finally here, and it’s brought with it all manner of new threats for our characters to deal with. One of those is the Putrescent Knight, so here’s everything you need to know to put it to the sword.

The Putrescent Knight is one of the more formidable foes in Shadow of the Erdtree, with a varied set of attacks at its disposal. With the occasional assistance of his warhorse mount, there’s a lot to keep an eye on, and windows for effective damage output are limited.

As an optional boss, taking the Putrescent Knight on directly isn’t mandatory for progression, but what is life without a little challenge?

Read on for our full breakdown of how to track down the Putrescent Knight and kill it.

Putrescent Knight location

Of all the boss fights in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, the Putrescent Knight might be the most awkward to get to. In short, head to the Fissure Depths Site of Grace. From there, run directly up the stairs and jump off the bull’s head statue. You should immediately be able to see the Knight roaming around on his horse.

To get to the Fissure Depths in the first place, start at the Cerulean Coast in the South of the map. From there, head West and then follow the coast South until you reach The Fissure Site of Grace. Jump into the large hole in the ground and you should be able to easily find the Stone Coffin Fissure Sirt of Grace.

Then, it’s simply a case of heading directly East until you come to the aforementioned Fissure Depths. Move forward, leap into the abyss once again, and get ready to face your next foe.

How to beat Putrescent Knight

Before taking on the night, it’s important to note the boss’ relationship with Frostbite. Not only is it largely resistant to damage of this type, it also dishes out Frostbite if you get hit by some of his attacks. Resistances and other outgoing damage types are critical to success here.

Phase 1: Watch out for the leap attack

The very first thing the boss will do when seeing you is to charge across the arena on its horse. As soon as you land, summon anything you have prepared to assist in the fight (Mimic Tear is, as always, a great option,) then roll away from the initial salvo.

To get the more timid efforts out of the way first, the main regular attack sees the Putrescent Knight throw his weapon. It’s easy to roll under, but you won’t have much time to react, so look out for the small animation as it winds up.

Additionally, it will repeatedly charge as it did at the start of the fight, slicing as it goes. Dodging is the easiest thing to do here, but blocking is also possible, with the latter being the better option when it comes to returning damage at the same time.

The major thing to watch out for is a two-part combo that will quickly bring the fight to a close if you get caught by it. Initially, the Knight will leap from his horse and slam his weapon down on the ground. Though this is relatively easy to avoid by rolling away, there isn’t much warning, and it deals spectacular damage, so stay vigilant.

From there, the Knight will do a bizarre spinning charge on foot while his mount runs full tilt at you twice. Again, all of these attacks can be blocked or dodged, but in this case, you are much better off just staying as far out of the way as possible rather than trying to get any damage in here.

The end of this two-part combination attack is your safest chance to get some heavy strikes in. It’s also a great opportunity to heal up if you need to.

Phase 2: Avoid the waves

The second phase of the fight is where things are going to get tough. When the Putrescent Knight crosses 60% health, it will begin to levitate in preparation for its blue flame attack. This sees three pulsing waves of fire that deal significant damage and inflict Frostbite buildup.

If you feel comfortable with the rhythm of the pulses then you can roll forward as the shockwave arrives. This allows you to jump over its effects. The much safer option is to roll as far away as possible, pushing your character to the edge of the arena. This will move you out of the area of effect and keep you safe from Frostbite.

After completing that cast, the Putrescent Knight will continue his usual rotation with one added difference. He will occasionally blast another wave of flames that you will need to roll over in this case, as you likely won’t have time to get out of range.

From there, take your time dealing damage, don’t get greedy and strike while the boss is recovering from heavy attacks or lengthy casts. That’s all there is to know about defeating the Putrescent Knight in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

NPC allies

It is not possible to summon any NPC allies for the Putrescent Knight fight, so you’ll have to rely on Mimic Tear or other Spirit Ashes.

Putrescent Knight rewards

After defeating the Putrescent Knight it should drop the following rewards:

• 220,000 Runes
• Remembrance of Putrescence

The Remembrance of Putrescence can be traded with Enia at Roundtable Hold to unlock the formidable Putrescence Cleaver or the Vortex of Putrescence sorcery.

Putrescent Knight weaknesses

The Putrescent Knight is vulnerable to the following damage types:

• Scarlet Rot
• Holy

It’s also important to note that he is resistant to Frostbite so you may want to change things up if your build revolves around that damage type.

If you’re unsure whether Elden Ring and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is for you, then you can check out our thoughts on what it has to offer. We’ve also prepared a full guide to all the new boss locations in one handy list.