Elden Ring: Black Blade Kindred (Bestial Sanctum) 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.

Black Blade Kindred is in the lowest tier, Field Bosses, and is found outdoors guarding the entrance to the Bestial Sanctum in Dragonbarrow. 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.

Assuming you have already visited the Beast Clergyman and have access to the Site of Grace inside the Bestial Sanctum, you can sneak up on this boss from behind.

The boss is very agile and very hard-hitting. I’m not sure what level you’re supposed to face this boss at. I’m guessing I’m probably a bit over-leveled, but as a melee character, I actually found this boss quite difficult because it would constantly move out of range when I tried to hit it. Only afterwards did it occur to me that the fight takes place outdoors and that I could just have used Torrent to close the distance faster.

Instead, I once again called in Black Knife Tiche, which seemed fitting against a Black Knife Kindred. I’m sure the two of them have a lot of black sharp tools to talk about. Or they would have, if they didn’t immediately try to kill eachother. But to be fair, that is exactly what I pay Tiche to do. Just kidding, I obviously don’t pay her ;-)

This boss hits very hard and would easily take half my health in a single hit. It also has several ranged attacks that you need to watch out for. As mentioned, it has a tendency to try to move away from you if you try to melee it, but that can be countered with the use of Torrent or ranged attacks.

This fight had an interesting ending as the boss actually killed me, but in the few seconds that passed before I was resurrected at the nearby Site of Grace, Tiche’s damage over time effect killed the boss too. And for once everybody recognized who the main character is and gave me the win.

Although I generally have the stance that there is no such thing as a bad win, I would have liked a do-over on this fight. It just doesn’t seem right that I died first, but is still considered the winner. Unfortunately, Elden Ring does not allow you to do that once a boss is dead, so I won’t get another shot at this one until new game plus, if that will ever happen.

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 Chilling Mist Ash of War. My shield is the Great Turtle Shell, which I mostly wear for the stamina recovery. I was level 116 when this video was recorded. I’m not sure if that’s generally considered too high for this boss. Maybe a little. I guess it depends on how many times you want to die before you win. 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 ;-)