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As you explore the Land of Shadows inElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, you’ll find yourself interacting with several followers of Miquella. These fellow explorers are united in the goal of seeking out Miquella in the Land of Shadows, though as the story goes on this union is strained and ultimately fractured. This will ultimately lead to a fight between you and Needle Knight Leda, aided by the NPCs who remain on her side.
The difficulty of this boss fight is greatly influenced by your choices throughout the story, so this guide will include a short section explaining how to get each of the NPCs to come to the fight (or how to get rid of them early and make the fight easier, if desired.) InElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, the decisions you make ultimately have quite an impact on the endgame.
NPCs and Their Movesets
Needle Knight Leda
Needle Knight Leda will always join this fight, regardless of your actions up to this point.She uses a mix of Holy Incantations alongside her Light Greatsword, whose unique skill conjures needles in a ring to pierce enemies in front of her. These needles also purge all buffs and debuffs on anything they hit, so it’s important to dodge them if you want to hang onto buffs likeGolden VoworFlame, Grant me Strength. Leda strikes fast with her basic attacks, but she’s always the final NPC to join the fight, so try to isolate her by eliminating the others first.
Dryleaf Dane
Dryleaf Dane will always join this fight, regardless of your actions up to this point.Dryleaf Dane uses Dane’s Footwork to string together kicking attack comboswhile using Fundamentalist Incantations to hurl light rings at you. He tends to fight fairly aggressively, but his light armor means he staggers easily if you use suitably weighty weapons.
Redmane Freyja
Redmane Freyja will only join this fight if you help her decipher the texts she’s reading in the Specimen Storehouse, inside the Black Keep, by asking Sir Ansbach for help on her behalf. Failing to do this will result in her death prior to the fight. Freyja is a fairly well-armored fighter using a curved greatsword and a unique shield. This shield has the “Roaring Bash” skill, which is a shield bash that knocks back and staggers people in a wide radius in front of her. Her Curved Greatsword is equipped with the “Ash of War: Savage Lion’s Claw”, allowing her to perform a spinning slam attack that can be repeated a second time. This deals a lot of damage but is well telegraphed, offering you an opportunity to get behind her if you time your dodges well.
Sir Moore
Sir Moore will join this fight if you speak to him after Miquella’s Charm is broken and tell him to “Put it Behind You” when the dialog options are presented. If you instead choose “Remain Sad Forever” he will later show up dead near the Church of the Crusade.Sir Moore wears heavy armor, two-hands a huge shield, and uses Hefty Rot Pots to instantly inflict Scarlet Rot on anything he hits. Don’t let him catch you off guard and watch out for his powerful Shield Bashes. Circling behind him is the best way to reliably damage him.
Sir Ansbach
Sir Ansbach will appear as an ally in this fight if you keep him alive until the fight happens and also give him the “Secret Rite Scroll” after finding him in the Specimen Storehouse. you’re able to then activate his Summon Sign before triggering the fight to get his help.Sir Ansbach arrives with a mix of Bloodflame Incantations and brutal scythe combat, using his signatureObsidian Laminato build up bleed and tear through enemies.
Thiollier
Thiollier can appear as an ally in this fight if you help him to find St Trina and complete all of the available steps in his questline up to this point. He can be called on using his Summon Sign before triggering the fight. Thiollier specializes in poisons,using his Deadly Poison Perfumealongside “Thiollier’s Hidden Needle”, a fist weapon that inflicts eternal sleep and can deal bonus damage to those afflicted with sleep via its weapon skill.
General Strategy
This fight can be pretty nasty if you do it solo, especially if you’ve completed the steps to bring Freyja and Sir Moore into the battle. Additional opponents will join the fight at regular intervals, and it’s very easy to get overwhelmed if you aren’t watching your back. It is highly recommended that you use a Spirit Summon, or bring along Sir Ansbach and/or Thiollier to provide support. In the case of Ansbach and Thiollier, they’ll arrive part of the way through the fight, usually right after one of the enemy NPCs arrives.
In terms of priority, dealing with Sir Moore (If Present) and Dryleaf Dane should be prioritized due to the former’sHefty Rot Potthrows and the latter’s knack for comboing you to death.Leda is also a high-risk opponent due to her speed and damage output, though she fortunately waits until the final part of the fight before joining.
Spellcaster Strategy
As a spellcaster, you should take full advantage of Spirit Summons and the two NPC Summons available to keep the enemy’s attention while you blast away with high-damage spells. If you have access toScarlet Aeoniait can inflict Scarlet Rot on several targets when aimed well, withRotten Breath/Ekzykes Decay also performing well in this role.Builds with High Faith can take advantage of Lightning Damage to deal with Sir Moore quickly and easily, especially by usingLightning StrikeSpells to hit him from above and avoid his shield.Dragonmawcan also be effective at staggering enemies and cracking through Moore’s defenses.
Intelligence Builds can use the new Glintstone Nail Sorceriesto reliably strike multiple times, stacking up a lot of damage very quickly and foiling the NPC dodge AI. Night Sorceries will perform well for similar reasons. Naturally,Gavel of Haimaremains a fantastic option for turning your enemies into pancakes and this is especially noticeable in this fight.
Rewards
Depending on which NPCs made it to this fight, there can be a variety of rewards gained from this fight. Leda’s Sword will drop as soon as the fight is over, while her armor can be looted from her body in the hallway past the boss room. Dryleaf Dane, lying dead near the exit of the boss room, is holding “Dane’s Footwork”, a second Hand-To-Hand Art that focuses on strong kicks. If Sir Moore made it to the fight, his corpse can be found in the boss room and looted for his armor, shield, and bell bearing (allowing you to access his shop via the Twin Maiden Husks.) Finally,Redmane Freyja’s corpse can be looted for her armor and greatswordif she made it to the fight.
