Elden Ring Bloodhound Step: How To Get The Bloodhound Step Ash of War
The Elden Ring Bloodhound Step Ash of War is a handy dodging tool, making the player vanish for an instant as they dodge. Elden Ring has many nods to previous Fromsoftware games, and while Dark Souls had its fair share of fancy dodges, it’s hard not to feel the Bloodborne vibes from this one. The Bloodhound Step can be very useful for dexterous characters, but it isn’t easy to get. Here is what you need to know to get to stepping with the Elden Ring Bloodhound Step.
- Finding your way around is important, especially when seeking out particular bosses like the Night's Cavalry. To make life easier, here is Elden Ring Map: Where To Find All Map Fragment Locations.
Elden Ring Bloodhound Step: Where To Find It
Click to enlargeThe Bloodhound Step is less found, more earned, as it is a reward for beating a boss. The enemy in question is the Night’s Cavalry. These field bosses are dark riders who roam certain areas at night. They are mounted knights riding large black horses, and if you see one early on you might want to give them a wide berth, or travel during the day.
There are members of the Night’s Cavalry in almost every region, and for the most part, they are a reasonable challenge relative to the area they are in. Unfortunately, we are going somewhere very unreasonable today. The cavalry member we need is in Dragonbarrow, north of Caelid. Don’t be fooled by this place being connected Caelid; the enemies here are significantly tougher.
The first and easiest way to get to this area is to take the teleporter to the Bestial Sanctum, in the far north of Dragonbarrow. Go to the Third Church of Marika, in the east of Limgrave. Outside that church to the north is a stream, go to where the stream ends just east of you and you will find a portal. From the Bestial Sanctum, head southeast. If you follow the road you will come to a bridge with a dragon on it. From here, go east to the lower area, then south to another, shorter bridge below. At night, the Night’s Cavalry can be found here.
- Before you take on any of the Night's Cavalry, you should practice with the Tree Sentinel. For tips on the first mounted boss of the game, check out Elden Ring Tree Sentinel Boss Fight: How To Beat The Tree Sentinel.
Elden Ring Bloodhound Step: How To Beat The Night’s Cavalry
Click to enlargeFighting the Night’s Cavalry is really a test of your mounted combat. They exist to test your mastery of riding Torrent, so you really need to be sharp with your horse here. Luckily, these enemies aren’t too frantic with their attacks, so watch carefully and you should learn their movements pretty quickly. This area is very high level though, and skill will only take you so far.
If you are not high enough level for this yet, but you really need that Bloodhound Step, there are other ways to do damage. You could try status effects, such as poison or bleeding. It seems like bleed might not work as well on the rider himself, but it certainly seems to work on his horse. If you can kill the horse, the rider will be thrown to the ground.
This is a prime opportunity to get a critical strike on him and take a decent chunk of his health. He will get up and fight back, but be warned when you see him charging an area of effect ability. This attack does big damage close to him, and is also how the rider respawns his horse.
- If you feel like your character isn't quite suited to taking on the Night's Cavalry, you might want to consider reallocating your skill points. For more on this, check out Elden Ring Larval Tears: How To Respec Your Character.
Elden Ring Bloodhound Step: How To Beat The Night’s Cavalry (The Easy Way)
Click to enlargeOkay, you didn’t hear this from us, but there is a way to make this particular Night’s Cavalry look like an absolute chump. The first thing you want to do is make sure you grab the Lenne’s Rise site of grace at the southern end of the bridge. The handy thing about the Night’s Cavalry is that they only appear at night, so come here during the day to get to the site of grace unhindered. Look to the bridge from the south, and on the right side, you will see a tree that arches over the bridge. Well, it turns out horses can’t climb trees.
Trigger the boss fight at night to get the Night’s Cavalry to follow you, then retreat to the end of the bridge. Climb on top of the tree and hey presto, the Night’s Cavalry cannot touch you. From here, you are free to pelt the knight with every ranged attack you have. This is an easy method for ranged players, but if that isn’t you then stock up on kukris and poison darts. Regardless, you shouldn’t have much issue taking down this Night’s Cavalry.
With that, you shouldn't have too much hassle getting your hands on the Elden Ring Ash of War, Bloodhound Step. For more tips on how to get ahead early, why not check out How To Get 70k Runes In Elden Ring In Your First Hour.
