Elden Ring is a massive game, and with that comes dozens, if not hundreds of bosses to test your metal against. While many of these bosses are unique, offering new designs, movesets, and ways to end your journey to become Elden Lord, some are adaptations of early-game bosses.
The Misbegotten Crusader is one such enemy, an adaptation of the Leonine Misbegotten boss found in the Weeping Peninsular, this enemy offers a new challenge by wielding an extremely powerful holy blade. This boss, with its interesting lore implications, can be tough due to its speed and high damage, but with a well-practiced strategy, it can be overcome.
Misbegotten Crusader Overview
| Misbegotten Crusader | |
|---|---|
| Location | Cave of the Forlorn, Consecrated Snowfield |
| Optional | Yes |
| Summons | Yes |
| Drops |
|
| Weak To | Slash attacks, Stagger |
This is a tough one. Found in what is one of the highest-level areas in the Lands Between, at the depths of a dungeon named the Cave of the Forlorn, the Misbegotten Crusader takes everything that was tough about the Leonine Misbegotten and amplifies it tenfold. Just as fast as its early-game counterpart but with a huge pool of health and staggering damage, you will want to only take this boss on with a late-game character build.
Strong against holy, lighting, and magic attacks, this boss utilizes what is seemingly the sword of Radagon, the game’s ‘final’ boss, in order to murder you, over and over.
The best approach here is to go for staggers. Low poise is the main weakness of this foe and with a weapon that deals high stagger buildup, it can be defeated. A shield can also be of great use here, as can your trusty summons.
| Misbegotten Crusader Attacks |
|---|
Slice Then Leaping Sword Slam
The boss will sweep his blade before jumping in the air and slamming his sword deep into the ground.
Counter: This is one of the few attacks that is punishable with more than a few hits in this fight. Roll through the first sweep, and away from the slam. Following that, punish away.
Roar
A weak attack, the boss will roar dealing damage to the area around it
Counter: Roll backwards to avoid, or block.
Establish Order
Using a spell available to the player, the boss raises his sword to the side before releasing an extremely delayed projectile.
Counter: Wait until the last second and roll through the incoming attack.
Melee Combo
The crusader will quickly attack with its claw, before enacting a long combo with its sword.
Counter: With this attack there are two solutions. Firstly, learn each swing and its respective roll timings. Secondly you can book it, creating as much distance as possible from the combo.
Sweep
The boss will aggressively slam its foot on the ground before sweeping its blade in a circular motion.
Counter: Roll away from the stamp and then through the sweep or use a 100% physical block shield.
Strategy
The melee approach to this fight is one of patience. This boss does not have many openings to get a large amount of hits in, so look for opportunities to hit him once or twice. With these hits, your goal should be to build the crusaders stagger meter. To do this, hit with jumping attacks from hard-hitting weapons such as greatswords or the Moonveil's extremely potent L2.
Importantly, be it ranged or melee, you will need to become accustomed to this enemies speed. It will leap around the arena at a frightening pace.
The combo is the bosses most dangerous attack as many of its sweeps and swings have an extremely long ranged. Similarly to the melee approach, ranged players will want to take their time. Chose a spell with a short casting time, or up your dexterity, to not get caught by the crusaders speed.
In short, learn this bosses quick attacks, avoid being greedy with your punishments, find a shield that has resistance to holy attacks, and utilize the enemy’s low poise. If you are still struggling, utilize a spirit summon to divert its attention.
General Tips
- Using jumping attacks to build stagger.
- Keep your distance during the combo.
- Bring along a summon.
- This is a late-game area.
- Avoid the rune arc projectile at all costs.
