Elden Ring - The Crucible Knight - Review

The Crucible Knight is basically the Pursuer of Elden Ring. The boss is extra special to me because it's the first boss I used a parry tool that finally met my timing preference which is the Buckler found in Storm Veil so this week is mainly focused on parrying. I'm not going to parry every boss that allows it because it starts to gain a presentation repetition and I want to explore more i-frames than that. You'll see as the next bosses come out that I'll parry significantly less compared to this fight.

My main strategy for this fight when applying a parry tool was to achieve, leave and reprise. Doing this primarily prevents dangerous attacks that could compromise the fight like the stomp attack, two handed attacks, Eagle Charge and the Tail Sweep. Doing a no dodge run was complete luck because the only time I applied it was when I approached for another parry attempt however the Crucible Knight would perform a shield bash causing me to walk away and start again. My favorite attack to evade from was the giant Tail Sweep because finding the timing and range was very satisfying to discover. I think a dodge focused strategy would have actually made this boss less engaging just due to the lack of staggering and level of aggression. I'm not saying that the boss needs stagger sensitivity however a few brutal attacks with a recovery opportunity to reward the player is always something I highly appreciate in boss fights.

I really loved this fight. It was a great introduction to my parry timing preference in Elden Ring and I can not wait for the duo fight later in the game. I don't know if it's a reoccurring theme but it seems that the bosses that come from the Abnormal Stone Cluster platforms are parry focused but maybe it's just a coincidence so far.