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At the close of the Gaping Jaw, the Darkdrift Knight made his debut inElden Ring Nightreignas the second official Everdark Sovereign. Given only one week to try their hand at defeating him, players from all over attempt to put the centaur in his place. Unfortunately, like Gaping Jaw’s Everdark form, Everdark Fulghor is no pushover.
A tanky threat with the ability to seemingly fire nuclear weapons from his holy bow at a whim, this explosive fight will have you screaming to the edges of the arena with clouds of fire at your back. If you want to survive Darkdrift Knight and claim his unique prize by the end of his challenge, a good strategy will be a must.
How To Prepare For Everdark Sovereign: Darkdrift Knight
Before you walk into this Everdark Sovereign’s fight blindly, there are a few things you shouldtake the time to settle first:
This is a tough fight, and while doing it solo is an option, this is a fight we absolutely recommendbringing a team of threefor.
For incantation casters like Recluse and Revenant, the only way besides random boss drops (which are rare) to reliably acquire seals with Lightning damage are in the basements of broken cathedrals and in a hermit’s shack.
Recommended Characters
Whilemany of our suggestions remainfor the Darkdrift Knight, the health and damage increase, as well as the knight’s movement call for someslight tweaks in strategy.
Many squishier characters struggle against the knight without skilled gameplay, asone or two shots are common. But, these squishy characters are the ones that can chip through damage the best.
Therefore,an optimal teamfor this fight looks like:
Keep in mind that any spellcasters shouldchoose their spells carefully,as Fulghor’s constant movement can make targeting tricky. Spells withtracking or large area attacksare optimal.
If you have a talented frontline unit that can keep Fulghor’s aggression consistently, you can get away with two ranged supports and one frontline.
Recluse and Revenantare excellent ranged supports as theymelt through the boss’s HP. You typically want at least one of them to end the fight in a reasonable time.
However, they both have the same problem:poor Staminafor dodging and theinability to take a hit.
Revenant has the benefit of her summons and her amazing revival Art, butFP regeneration for such a long fight is problematicwithout sufficient starlight shards.Recluse fairs a little betterwith the ability to use the Lightning element for high-damage Magic Cocktail and slightly better HP.
Wylderis an excellent choice for this fight (perhaps the best), able todeal damage while also taking it. He canapply Firefor more sophisticated Recluse cocktails orrun interferencefor Ironeyes and Revenants.
His main appeal is in hisability to keep upwith the constantly-moving Fulghor. While other classes spend their stamina vying to keep up with the Darkdrift Knight, Wylder does it with ease thanks to his clawshot.
Guardian and Executorfall into similar roles as a needed tank. While Guardian is great at taking the hits, Executor can parry several attacks and deals damage better than Guardian.
Guardian will operate well for more defensive teams, enjoying an Art that can revive teammates at three bars.Executor will be for more offensively-inclined teamswith the ability to revive teammates with his Art while also dealing decent damage.
Ironeye and Duchess can be weak for this fight. While Duchess performs well atdodging the attacksandcan apply status effects early on, shefalls off sharply by Phase Twoand instead becomes a tool for reviving teammates and keeping aggro.
Ironeye fares a little better with hisability to stagger and apply Poisonfrom a distance, but he alsostruggles to take a hitfrom the knight anddoes not deal impressive damagewhen compared to other characters.
Wind-Up Tells And Attack Description
Suggested Counters
Dramatic Introduction
This appears as the only new move in Phase Two (which he begins the fight with). This happens at the beginning of the fight, Darkdrift Knight appearing from the sky and slamming down on the center of the arena with a purple cloud. It releases a medium-sized shockwave.
When reaching the Everdark Knight, eitherhold backon your running forward ortake a side approach.
Phase Transition
At approximately 60-70 percent health, Fulghor will rise into the air shrouded in gold. This deals no damage as he softly lands back on the ground. Gold From Above always follows up after this transition.
Set off ranged attacks. Do not back away and let go of the opening. Prepare for his follow-up.
Gold From Above
Raising his golden bow above his head, Fulghor shoots into the sky. Waves of arrows begin to fall and slowly move outward from around him, spreading out and creating openings between. Getting struck by these arrows can easily stagger and add-up damage quickly.
Continue using ranged attacks if a support character, andrun or sidestepout of the way when they reach. If in melee,back up and look for an openingbetween the arrows as the waves split to dive back in.
Golden Shot
Holding out his bow as he rears, the centaur fires a quick holy arrow toward a target in his sights.
As he rears, hold for breath and thendodge through the arrow.
Waves of Wind
Gathering wind energy around his spear, Fulghor lets out three waves of wind energy along the ground with each swing of his weapon. The pattern is a slow 1-2-3, with the centaur spinning in a full circle between each attack.
Dodge forwardthrough the wave just before it reaches you. If close enough in melee,press into Fulghor’s side and dodgeinto that side with each attack to avoid being struck by his weapon.
Gold Spears (Simple)
Without rearing, Fulghor’s spear is cloaked in gold to appear like a twinblade. He performs a diagonal
Backstep twice, mindful of the slight delay between audio and visual cues.
Golden Spears (Complex)
Fulghor rears up and cloaks his spear in gold to give it the appearance of a twinblade. He spins twice, attacks around him as his blades swirl, and then leaps into the air for a third attack: a downward stab.
Dodge backas the blades near you, mindful of the slight delay in the second attack. Then,dodge forwardas Fulghor lands on you.
Fulghor’s Assault
Holding his golden twinblade above his head, he performs a quick rapid series of crossing diagonal slashes numbering a potential of seven hits in total. Then, he holds his twinblade above again and circles around for four more attacks, circles a third time, and closes out the combo with a dashing two-hit combo.
If not the target, stay far away and wait for the combat to end; the strikes can hit behind him. If the target,backstep dodge(or parry, if Executor) the first seven attacks. Then,begin dashing awayto put in as much distance as possible during his circle. If needed,backstepthrough the next four attacks. Then, rest and wait tododge forwardthrough the final two-hit combo.
Rushing Nightglow
Stomping his feet, Fulghor begins to charge and cloaks himself in gold. He races toward his target, dealing damage on impact but also leaving a wide, delayed explosion trail of holy damage along his path. He repeats this three times. After the third charge, Fulghor turns around and unleashes a final short and extremely wide wave of gold in front of him.
Lock on and prepare tododge roll to the sidejust as he passes.Run out of the golden wave’s rangebefore it explodes. After the third pass, begindashing diagonally forwardto Fulghor’s far side to avoid being in the way of the final wave of gold.
Leaping Strike
Jumping into the air, Fulghor performs a single downward plunge that creates a small shockwave on impact.
Dodge forwardjust as Fulghor lands atop you.
Simple Strike Combo
Fulghor rises onto his back feet and pulls his blade back over his head. He performs a lunging upward slash followed by a turn and a forward lunging stab. This combo can also be taken apart, allowing both moves to be performed individually.
Dodge forwardthrough the slash and then again through the stab.
Interrupting Slam
When in melee combat with Fulghor, he may rise onto his back feet and perform a quick slam on the ground that generates a short shockwave.
Dodge forwardas his feet hit the ground.
Tactical Arrow Nuke
Raising into the air like his phase transition, the centaur chooses one target marked with a red icon. He then begins to race in a circle in the air before pausing and drawing his bow. After a delay, he unleashes the arrow to cause a large and devastating explosion on impact.
Keep locked on to the centaur and race toward him to keep close. As he charges his attack,sprint under him and as far as you may to his other side. If not his target and you’re too far away, dash away from him as far as you can go.
Fulghor feels like an entirely different fight with hisnew third phase- perhaps a more faithful representation of a proper second phase to his original fight.
Rather than his slightly difficult and unpredictable dark attribute from the second phase, this new formintroduces Holy damageand large sweeping attacks that can hit players that aren’t even his target.
Fulghor’s Assaultis the most dangerous of these sweeping attacks. It is a13-hit combination attackthat swirls a twinblade around him, potentially hitting fellow party members that stand too close.
To effectively dodge this attack, you’ll have tobackstep quickly,sprint awayduring his first cool down, and then try tododge forwardthrough the last two attacks so you’re able to get a hit in. Dodging forward through the first wave risks getting hit on Fulghor’s backswing; don’t risk it.
And the most devastating attack you must absolutelylearn how to avoidto survive is theTactical Arrow Nuke. The name is a joke, but the attack is not.
To survive this attack, you mustruntowardDarkdrift Knight and under him, running as far as you can to the other side. Otherwise, you’ll look sort of like the purple puddles he leaves in Phase Two.
Total HP
43,000
While the first part of Darkdrift Knight’s fight is business as usual, you need toconserve resourcesfor the much larger and more dangerous third phase. Items like the Boiled Crab or Boiled Prawn should not be used at the beginning.
Likewise, you should either:
As Darkdrift Knight begins that third phase, you’ll be tempted to run away like you have for other boss phase transitions. However,this one is completely harmless.
While melee characters might not reach him,ranged characters should press the attackwith confidence, as this is the best opening for ranged characters to get good damage in.
Beware that the phase transition is always followed up with the rain of golden arrows. So, melee characters should keep distance while ranged characters should be ready to cease attacking and look for a better position.
Yourbest openings for attacksare after the following attacks listed in the section above:
These attacks have wide windows of opportunity for damage that any character can take advantage of.
Ranged characters also have more flexibility, allowing for opportunities to attack even during combos targeting other players. They shouldremain aggressive, dealing damage quickly to shorten the fight.
Standard tipsfor this fight to always keep in mind are:
Your reward for clearing Darkdrift Knight’s Everdark Sovereign version will be25 Sovereign Sigilsand unlockinga new relicat the Collector Signboard vendor:
