The Black Knife Assassins are terrifying enemies that can easily mean death for players as they adventure through the dark corners of Elden Ring. However, the boss version known as Alecto in the Evergaol on the Moonlight Altar stands as the most difficult version of these Black Knife Assassins, and one of the toughest encounters across The Lands Between.
Although this is another example of how Elden Ring reuses its bosses, sometimes recontextualizing fights as "normal" enemies, Alecto changes the Black Knife formula enough to be a quality evolution. This is followed by a reward that could help carry players through the remainder of the game by unlocking one of the best companions available.
Alecto's Solo Challenge on the Moonlight Alter
There are a number of aspects to the Alecto boss fight that make her the most difficult Black Knife Assassin across Elden Ring, from an enhanced moveset to a limited arena. However, for players that might rely on Spirit Summons or FromSoftware's classic Jolly Cooperation, the most impactful change is that Alecto has to be fought completely solo. While this is the case for most Evergaols, it is unique for the Black Knife Assassins, as all other fights against these enemies can be challenged with at least an NPC companion.
To compound onto the solitary fight, Alecto is the strongest and most aggressive version of the Black Knife Assassins, being able to deal enough damage to take out low-vigor builds in a single hit. Considering that Alecto is known as the ringleader of the Night of Black Knives, this increase in aggression and damage is already to be expected. Then the fight takes a left turn as many of her attacks are infused with the Rune of Death and can deal health-draining damage in more ways than any of the others using the same weapon.
The task of beating Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader isn't entirely impossible, though, as a number of her attacks do leave her open for even the slowest weapons to launch a counterattack. Similar to other Black Knife Assassins throughout Elden Ring, one of the best openings comes after her jumping attack. In the case of Alecto, however, this attack will often be followed by an AOE similar to Maliketh's Destined Death, but the chance for a player to respond is still there with proper positioning.
Unlocking the Strongest Spirit Summon
While the triumph of overcoming a challenge is usually the main goal for FromSoftware's most difficult bosses, Alecto is one of few enemies in Elden Ring that is worth hunting down for her rewarded item alone. Defeating Alecto rewards the player with the Spirit Ash for Black Knife Tiche, one of the most powerful companions that players can take into battle. While Tiche isn't as aggressive as Alecto is in her boss fight, the Spirit Summon does have a major advantage in the form of the Rune of Death attack that she can inflict on other bosses.
Similar to what is done to the player when being attacked by the Rune of Death, Tiche is able to reduce any enemy's total health by ten percent and add a fire-based DOT that ticks away for a few seconds. On her initial attack, this means that Tiche will usually deal more than a tenth of the target's full health in damage thanks to the reduction in maximum HP that doesn't recover after the effect ends. While this same effect can be accomplished with Elden Ring's Black Knife weapon earned by defeating a much easier assassin, bringing Tiche into a fight opens up other builds to make the best use of the Rune of Death. As a result, tracking down and defeating Alecto can be important to get the most out of some of the strongest builds available.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.