How to defeat the Black Knife assassin in Elden Ring

THE Black Knife Assassin in Elden Ring is an optional boss in the Black Knife Catacombs.

This Elden Ring enemy is significantly stronger than his Catacomb colleague Deathtouched and hides behind a hidden wall in the catacombs where you need to go down to the lever that opens the door to the real boss of the dungeon.

The assassin is so fast that it is difficult to understand his animations at first. But let’s do our best and go for it. So, with that in mind, here is how to defeat the Black Knife assassin in Elden Ring.

How to defeat the Black Knife assassin in Elden Ring

Firstly, it is very difficult to block all his attacks

. Not only do they require a lot of stamina, but they are also difficult to control due to the high frequency of hits.

ring ancient black knife assassin boss jump attack — Jump attack. The classic. | Image credit: Eurogamer/FromSoftware

If your weapon isn’t too sluggish and sluggish, you can get a counter defense in (which makes blocking interesting again), but it will probably take a while to master his spinning and dancing attacks.

Don’t try to counter the defense in the middle of a combo, as he will continue to be unimpressed and your move will miss him.

Elden Ring Player fights a black knife assassin in the catacombs — It’s not easy to hit him. | Image credit: Eurogamer/FromSoftware

Your best chance to strike comes when he does the jump attack and rams his weapon into the ground.. You have as much time to hit him as it takes to get back into position. And fortunately, he is knocked back with every blow.

Although he can be interrupted in his animations by a swipe, many of his movements occur too quickly for a safe timing window to be identified (this is usually the case at the end of a swipe animation) .

He often jumps elsewhere immediately after a hit and if your weapon is too slow you will hit the void. Additionally, he will immediately move on to the next attack during the animation and give you a bad time.

Former ring player caught in black knife assassin attack — This attack is extremely nasty: it grabs you and pierces you in an animation without you being able to defend yourself. | Image credit: Eurogamer/FromSoftware

For melee fighters, it is advisable to grab the weapon with both hands and stab if you get the chance. The recoil animations ensure he can’t get away so quickly. This allows you to hit him multiple times in a row.

Then, dodge him again until he makes the jump, and continue repeating the strategy above until he is defeated.

Your reward for defeating him is 1600 runes, Cerulean Assassin’s Dagger and the Black knife print (for Rogier and Fia’s quests).

That’s all for the moment! If you’re looking for more help with Elden Ring bosses, check out our pages showing you how to beat Mohg the Omen or, if you’re further along in the story, how to beat Astel Naturalborn of the Void.