Elden Ring: How to Beat Bloodhound Knight Darriwil

If you’re exploring all that Limgrave has to offer, you may find yourself in need of a guide to beat Bloodhound Knight Darriwil.

Although Bloodknight Darriwil isn’t one of the mandatory boss fights in Elden Ring, it’s one that a lot of players will be facing off against early on. If you’re exploring Limgrave to its fullest, it won’t be long before you come across one of the most difficult boss fights in the early game.

Make sure you’re fully prepared for combat by checking out our guide on what to do and where to go in Limgrave at the start of the game.

You can also collect the best possible Ashes of War in Elden Ring to assist you in your fight against the powerful enemy.

Once you’re ready, head to the Forlorn Hound Evergaol, situated in South Limgrave.

Best Strategy to Beat Bloodhound Knight Darriwil

Here’s what you need to be wary of when fighting Bloodhound Knight Darriwil.

First, it doesn’t matter even if you have the best early game spirits in Elden Ring, none can be summoned in this boss encounter.
We do recommend you prepare thoroughly by upgrading your flasks as much as possible to stand the best chance of survival.
When heading into the boss encounter Bloodhound Knight Darriwil will spawn in the glowing purple area. Take advantage of this for an easy early hit or setup accordingly.
Darriwil is an extremely aggressive encounter, so ranged players will struggle. If you’re a magic-user, try and use close-range AOEs over slow, long-range attacks that can easily be dodged.
It might also be worth switching temporarily to a melee build, or leaving this encounter for when you have better options in terms of spells.

Using a shield is a good choice but it’s often better to dodge the Bloodhound Knight’s attacks with invicibility frames on your rolls. However, parrying is a high-risk, high-reward situation that’s not too hard to master for devastating damage to the boss.
Whenever the boss runs towards you, dragging a claw along the ground, you’ll want to roll away as he leaps up, and then roll towards him as he slams back down. This is an easy counter attack waiting to happen.
Don’t dodge-roll until the moment you see an attack actually coming towards you. Like many bosses in Elden Ring, BKD likes to bait rolls by holding back on his second swings in a combo.
Another important combo to punish is Darriwil’s 3-slash attack. The boss slashes one way, holds for a moment, slashes the other, and then plunges into the ground from above. This is usually a good punish opportunity, but be wary – sometimes the enemy attacks a 4th time just to mess with you.

Bloodhound Knight Boss Loot – Bloodhound’s Fang

When you finally take down this tricky boss your reward will be substantial. The Bloodhound’s Fang curved greatsword is one of the best early game weapons in Elden Ring!

Make sure you upgrade the Elden Ring sword to have a weapon capable of carrying you to the end game!

In case you hadn’t noticed, there are an insane amount of bosses in Elden Ring. But if you can get past this one, you’re in a great place to take on everything else the Lands Between throws at you.

You should also check out this insanely easy way to get nearly 80,000 runes for free in Elden Ring! And best of all, it’s not an exploit.

Take a look at this in-depth boss walkthrough by Fextralife below to see the fight in action.