Elden Ring: Bell-Bearing Hunter (Hermit Merchant's Shack) Boss Fight

As you probably know, bosses in Elden Ring are divided into three tiers. From lowest to highest: Field Bosses, Greater Enemy Bosses and finally Demigods and Legends.

Bell-Bearing Hunter is in the lowest tier, Field Bosses, and is found at the Hermit Merchant’s Shack in the Capital Outskirts in Elden Ring, but only if you rest at the nearby Site of Grace at nighttime. Like most lesser bosses in the game, this one is optional in the sense that you do not need to defeat it in order to advance the main story.

The previous Bell-Bearing Hunters I have encountered in the game have been notoriously difficult enemies, especially the one at the Isolated Merchant’s Shack in Caelid. This one felt significantly easier, so it must be somewhat lower level. Having said that, Bell-Bearing Hunters are generally rather difficult for me. There is something about their combination of melee and ranged attacks, their relentlessness and their hard hits that just makes these some of the most frustrating bosses in the game for me.

Fortunately, on this one, I managed to get a juicy critical hit, cutting the fight somewhat shorter than I thought and leaving no time for jokes and roasts on the Hunter’s behalf in this video, sorry but not sorry about that.

And now for the usual boring details about my character. I play as a mostly Dexterity build. My melee weapon is the Guardian’s Swordspear with Keen affinity and Sacred Blade Ash of War. My ranged weapons are the Longbow and the Shortbow. My shield is the Great Turtle Shell, which I mostly wear for the stamina recovery. I was level 128 when this video was recorded. I think I’m a bit over-leveled for this content, but I don’t care, because Bell-Bearing Hunters are annoying and need to die as quickly as possible. I’m always looking for the sweet spot where it’s not mind-numbing easy mode, but also not so difficult that I will be stuck on the same boss for hours ;-)

Fan art inspired by this boss fight

Anime-style battle between Tarnished and Bell Bearing Hunter at Hermit Merchant's Shack Click or tap the image for more information.

Anime-style Elden Ring fan art of a Tarnished in Black Knife armor facing the Bell Bearing Hunter wrapped in barbed wire and wielding a massive two-handed sword near the Hermit Merchant's Shack by moonlight. Click or tap the image for more information.

Anime-style Elden Ring fan art of a Tarnished in Black Knife armor facing the Bell Bearing Hunter wearing a full helmet and barbed-wire armor, near the Hermit Merchant's Shack under a bright moon. Click or tap the image for more information.

Anime-style Elden Ring battle with Tarnished in Black Knife armor facing Bell Bearing Hunter Click or tap the image for more information.

Anime-style isometric Elden Ring scene showing a Tarnished facing a helmeted Bell Bearing Hunter wrapped in barbed wire near the Hermit Merchant's Shack under a large moon. Click or tap the image for more information.

Realistic isometric Elden Ring scene showing a Tarnished with a glowing blue sword facing a slightly larger Bell Bearing Hunter in barbed armor near the Hermit Merchant's Shack under a bright full moon. Click or tap the image for more information.

Dark fantasy battle between Tarnished in Black Knife armor and Bell Bearing Hunter with rusted sword Click or tap the image for more information.

Further Reading

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• Elden Ring: Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree (Miquella's Haligtree) Boss Fight
• Elden Ring: Godefroy the Grafted (Golden Lineage Evergaol) Boss Fight
• Elden Ring: Erdtree Burial Watchdog (Stormfoot Catacombs) Boss Fight