Cleanrot Knights is an enemy in Elden Ring.
Overview[]
A knight who vowed to fight alongside Malenia, despite the gradual and inevitable putrefaction of their flesh.[1] They each carry a Winged Sword Insignia talisman, representing the beautiful and relentless blade of Malenia, in honor of their service to her.[2] All Cleanrot Knights wield a Cleanrot Knight's Sword as a secondary weapon to complement their long-handed armaments.[3] This allows them to land multiple attacks in quick succession, triggering the Talisman's blessing to strengthen them even further.
Most Cleanrot Knights wield a Cleanrot Spear which bears a small shield on its shaft. They will imbue their spear with gold prior to performing their more deadly attacks. Such as grabbing their enemy with the spear tip and infecting them with Scarlet Rot, and summoning forth a golden palisade from the ground.[4] They can also brace their spear with their sword to absorb an incoming blow and quickly retaliate with their own.
Cleanrot knight commanders wield the Halo Scythe.[5] They prefer ranged combat over direct confrontation, and will repeatedly fire Miquella's rings of light at a distance.[6] Upon more direct confrontations, they may vomit Scarlet Rot.
They are quite resistant to Slash and Holy damage, taking 35% and 40% less damage from these types. They have no resistance to Pierce and Lightning damage and will take 20% extra damage from Fire attacks unless the scythe-wielding variant has cast its resistance incantation.
Bosses[]
Background[]
A lone Cleanrot Knight, encountered in an alcove at the very end of Stillwater Cave that has been partially flooded in poisonous waters.
Strategy[]
Most of the room is full of poisonous water so it's advisable to quickly run to the small island of safety just left of the boss, in the middle left to far left section of the room.
Since this boss is the spear-wielding variant and this fight will most likely happen early in the game it's extremely important to avoid its Scarlet Rot-inducing, charging grab attack (signified by its spear glowing a bright gold). This is most easily done by rolling diagonally forward to get to the other side of the boss. Since the boss is vulnerable to backstabs
Background[]
A Cleanrot Knight and its commander, both encountered in an alcove at the very end of Abandoned Cave that has been partially flooded by scarlet rot. The remains of numerous Abudctor Virgins lay scattered around the arena.
Strategy[]
As the fight starts only the spear-wielder is present, with the scythe-wielding commander rising from the rot pool to the left within 12 seconds of starting the fight. As such it is best to spend that opening either summmoning a Spirit or rushing down the spear knight to try and at least severely wound it before the scythe knight can join the fray.
Of the two combatants, the spear knight is more aggressive and will try to restrict player movement with its Sacred Phalanx and inflict Scarlet Rot with its charge while the scythe knight will harass from afar with Miquella's Ring of Light and buff both of them with a unique combination of health regeneration and extra Fire resistance to cover for one of their weaknesses.
If fighting alone, try to pull the spear knight to the right so that the hill blocks the light rings and buy extra time to kill it.