Stormveil castle first time

[Frayo]

How do I get past the knights? Been stuck at stormveil castle for 2 hours now trying different things like shields, stealth, bombs and trying to run past them but I keep getting destroyed by the knights with their wind magic and AoE attacks. What am I missing?

[purityloli]

here's what you're missing:
a rat.
go to altus and get a rat summon

[The Black Baron]

Originally posted by Frayo:

How do I get past the knights? Been stuck at stormveil castle for 2 hours now trying different things like shields, stealth, bombs and trying to run past them but I keep getting destroyed by the knights with their wind magic and AoE attacks. What am I missing?

I can help you if you want to do this in co op

[Frayo]

Originally posted by The Black Baron:

I can help you if you want to do this in co op

Thank you for the offer but I don't want to bypass it, I want to beat it. If that makes any sense...

[Xengre]

Not played in a while but is this the one in the dining room? One has a halberd right? Isn't there a gap where the other one is separate from the halberd user? If so you can kill or lure the halberd user close to the entrance and beat it solo then move to the next one. IIRC its weak to backstabs and has significant openings after some attacks to either punish or backstab it.

You could also simply try jump attacks or weapon arts that poise break it than riposte it in the stomach for massive damage. Another option is if you're struggling just use a shield. Using a shield means you aren't learning the enemy as effectively, necessarily, but it does give you a more relaxed chance to observe in exchange and then act on that observation or simply to ease the difficulty of a given enemy and move on with the game. Those knights aren't that common, anywyas, in the game so not learning them isn't a huge loss I suppose if you simply opt to use whatever easy solution works for you rather than learning to reliable kill them. As for shield, its not "bad" to use one its just a bit too strong and makes the game easier which inversely means you're not likely to learn dodging and timing as well but shield users are still valid even if you play the entire game as shield.

You could also just use magic and change up your playstyle a bit for that enemy. Heck, you could even find a Ash of War that is effective on that enemy, swap some HP flask to FP flasks, and spam ash of wars to beat them. Be flexible.

[ivoryjreed]

Wait for them to do the jump attack time it right and dodge you wont take damage and you can punish

[Tanko]

Are you taking the alternative passage or are you running up through the gate (that someone opened for you)?

[Honk1]

I'm assuming you are a new player, so I'll try to give some more detailed explanations.

If you hit a normal soldier type enemy with a light attack, he will flinch and his attacks are interrupted, so you can just mash light attack to stun lock and kill him. These knights on the other hand are unimpressed with a lot of attacks and will just attack through them instead of flinching, dealing massive damage while you only deal a small amount of damage to them. Thats the main reason they are hard.

Also, the timing of some of their combos is quite rough: If mistime your dodge, you get hit, then roll and get hit by their second attack.

Here are some things you can try:

- If you are using a light weapon (for example a straight sword), try 2-handing your weapon and using heavy attacks. This makes it easier to make them flinch like normal soldiers and stun lock them.
- You can also switch to a heavier weapon. If you are using e.g. a great axe, then any light attack will stun lock them, so after hitting your first attack (or after starting the fight with a jump attack), you can just mash light attack and kill them without problems. I think this probably also works for greatswords - you should have the lordsworn's greatsword and be able to wield it 2-handed, so you can just try that out.
- It is also very rewarding to parry them, but if are a new player, you will probably have to practice this. Use a small shield or a buckler for this; medium shields have very low active parry frames, so the timing is very unforgiving.
- If you are using a medium shield and a light weapon, you can also try guard counters.
- You can sneak up to and backstab almost all knights in stormveil castle. This will not kill them, but give you a head start in the battle. While they are on the ground, you can charge up a heavy attack and hit them when they get up. During the fight, you can also try to circle them while dodging their attacks and backstab them.

If you try to stun lock them, you also have be aware that they are harder to flinch and interrupt during some of their attack animations.

I don't know which knight you are stuck on. If it is the very first in the room that's locked behind you, I would recommend just grabbing the key from the corpse and ignoring the knight. If it is the second one at the base of the stairs, sneak past him, there is a grace upstairs. As soon as you have unlocked that grace, you can just go down the steps again and practice against the knight patrolling there so you don't have to deal with several minutes of walking time for every try.

As general advice for new players, I also recommend leveling vigor as a priority, this makes these kinds of fights and boss fights a lot more forgiving.

[Ermitaum]

Those can be very difficult at first. I suggest you explore more of Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula to the south before you take on Stormveil Castle. Level up your char and weapon (up to +3 at the anvil on the church of Elleh). Killing the minor bosses in the caves, mines and catacombs in those two areas will help you a great deal.

[Frayo]

Originally posted by Tanko:

Are you taking the alternative passage or are you running up through the gate (that someone opened for you)?

I murdered a certain someone because I knew their intentions. And yes, I took the alternative route.

[Frayo]

Originally posted by Ermitaum:

Those can be very difficult at first. I suggest you explore more of Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula to the south before you take on Stormveil Castle. Level up your char and weapon (up to +3 at the anvil on the church of Elleh). Killing the minor bosses in the caves, mines and catacombs in those two areas will help you a great deal. :praisesun:

I will, thank you for the advice.

[Frayo]

Originally posted by Honk1:

I'm assuming you are a new player, so I'll try to give some more detailed explanations.

If you hit a normal soldier type enemy with a light attack, he will flinch and his attacks are interrupted, so you can just mash light attack to stun lock and kill him. These knights on the other hand are unimpressed with a lot of attacks and will just attack through them instead of flinching, dealing massive damage while you only deal a small amount of damage to them. Thats the main reason they are hard.

Also, the timing of some of their combos is quite rough: If mistime your dodge, you get hit, then roll and get hit by their second attack.

Here are some things you can try:

- If you are using a light weapon (for example a straight sword), try 2-handing your weapon and using heavy attacks. This makes it easier to make them flinch like normal soldiers and stun lock them.
- You can also switch to a heavier weapon. If you are using e.g. a great axe, then any light attack will stun lock them, so after hitting your first attack (or after starting the fight with a jump attack), you can just mash light attack and kill them without problems. I think this probably also works for greatswords - you should have the lordsworn's greatsword and be able to wield it 2-handed, so you can just try that out.
- It is also very rewarding to parry them, but if are a new player, you will probably have to practice this. Use a small shield or a buckler for this; medium shields have very low active parry frames, so the timing is very unforgiving.
- If you are using a medium shield and a light weapon, you can also try guard counters.
- You can sneak up to and backstab almost all knights in stormveil castle. This will not kill them, but give you a head start in the battle. While they are on the ground, you can charge up a heavy attack and hit them when they get up. During the fight, you can also try to circle them while dodging their attacks and backstab them.

If you try to stun lock them, you also have be aware that they are harder to flinch and interrupt during some of their attack animations.

I don't know which knight you are stuck on. If it is the very first in the room that's locked behind you, I would recommend just grabbing the key from the corpse and ignoring the knight. If it is the second one at the base of the stairs, sneak past him, there is a grace upstairs. As soon as you have unlocked that grace, you can just go down the steps again and practice against the knight patrolling there so you don't have to deal with several minutes of walking time for every try.

As general advice for new players, I also recommend leveling vigor as a priority, this makes these kinds of fights and boss fights a lot more forgiving.

I am stuck on the sword and shield knight outside the church with a magic friend inside, followed by another halberd knight - followed by the freaking tutorial boss. Still sounds rough all things considered, but i'll try. Maybe I can do it, thank you.

[Honk1]

If you make it to the tutorial boss, you can run past him first and take the elevator to open a short cut back to the grace. That way you can fight it without the pressure of losing the progress you made.

[Aertes]

Keep middle distance with them, if you stay too close of them their whirlwind attacks will knock you. YOu have to read their moves to dodge their attacks and then hit them. Two handed big weapons can make a good job at knocking them and even stunning, specially if you can land jumping heavy attacks.

[Clail]

Two handed R2's will stagger them for combo's during openings on most weapons.

Best strat depends on your build somewhat. Learn when their moveset leaves them open and what needs to be dodged/blocked. Typically after their wind magic attacks, they are open to a backstab.

[Scuzz]

Originally posted by Ermitaum:

Those can be very difficult at first. I suggest you explore more of Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula to the south before you take on Stormveil Castle. Level up your char and weapon (up to +3 at the anvil on the church of Elleh). Killing the minor bosses in the caves, mines and catacombs in those two areas will help you a great deal. :praisesun:

This is good advice. Go south before taking on the castle.