Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader recommended level

This section of IGN’s Elden Ring guide covers the Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader fight in West Liurnia's Moonlight Altar. This Black Knife Assassin boss can only be reached by following Ranni the Witch's Questline through Nokstella, Eternal City and the Lake of Rot - and using the Ring of Order to break the seal past Astel, Naturalborn of the Void to reach the Moonlight Altar high above the rest of Liurnia.

• Location: West Liurnia (Located upon the Moonlight Altar mountain along the northwest tip)
• Recommended Weapon Level: +15 to +20 (standard), +5 to +7 (somber)
• Spirits cannot be summoned for this fight
• Drops the Black Knife Tiche Ashes, and 80,000 Runes

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Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader Tips

Alecto, like other Black Knife Assassins, is a highly agile fighter, able to glide around you to strike at a moment's notice, and float out of reach when you try to retaliate. Alecto is an incredibly tough boss to fight, and is much more powerful then other bosses in the Liurnia region.

Unlike other Black Knife Assassins, Alecto utilizes a special type of flame imbued attack to both deal damage over time, and decrease your maximum health - which can be a lethal combination. You'll need to avoid these imbued attacks at any cost.

Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader Attacks

Alecto has a good range of floaty moves, some of which can be punished, and others that come in rapid succession.

• Dagger Swipes - Twisting her body, Alecto will employ 3-5 spinning slashes that can be hard to keep up with, and can follow up with additional strikes or a retreating glide back. It's better to dodge away and backpedal to avoid this combo or block what you can.
• Lunging Stab - One of the Black Knife bread and butter attacks, Alecto will usually employ this after a floating strafing dodge, before holding the knife behind her and lunging toward you in the straight line. This move can be easily blocked and guard countered before she can follow up with the next move.
• Lunging Grab - Similar to the Lunging Stab, Alecto will often strafe to the side, but hold back her left hand before lunging forward in a straight line for an unblockable grab ending with a backstab that can take off most or all of your help. If you're already at distance, you can usually backpedal + strafe outside of the range and attack one you see her fail to grab, or just attack range while she's unable to protect herself.
• Blade-Dragging Sweep - Plunging the knife into the ground, the Black Knife Assassin will slowly twirl along the ground while dragging the knife - emitting sparks - before sweeping it in front of them to deal major damage. The hit is often delayed, but will often stagger and deplete your stamina if you try to block, so it's better to backpedal and avoid the attack.
• Jump Attack - Alecto will leap high into the air and position her dagger above her head before crashing down to slam her knife into the ground. Blocking will likely stagger you, so it's better to dodge the strike, as she'll spend a few moments pulling the knife out of the ground.

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• Jump Attack (Death Imbued) - Using the same animation as the jump attack, Alecto will imbue her dagger with pale red flames before jumping up high and crashing down, sending out a large sphere of slashes around the landing spot. If you're caught anyhwere near you'll either be hit by multiple strikes and die, or suffer a damage over time that also temporarily lowers your maximum health - making it a lethal combo. The second you see the dagger glow, run the other direction to outpace the jump attack, and run in after the slashes fade to get in a few hits while she pulls the dagger back.
• Death Imbued Slashes - Raising the dagger behind her head, she'll imbue the dagger with pale red flames before slicing it in your direction that has the same effect as her other imbued attack (and will often follow up with the imbued jump attack). Knowing this, it's better to keep your distance and dodge the projectile while being ready for the jump attack follow up.

Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader Strategy

Like any other Black Knife Assassin fight, the fight against Alecto is a slow and patient one. Her floaty nature means you won't be able to pursue with your attacks, and the death-imbued attacks that melt your maximum health as well as dealing damage over time should be putting you in a very defensive position. Let Alecto come to you, and punish the attacks that leave an opening while avoiding the rest.

The best ways to get hits of your own in is to guard counter the lunging stab, outdistance the jump attack and grab, then run in with a leaping attack or strong strike. With a heavy weapon you're likely to also be able to stagger her as she tries to flee and get in a critical strike every now and then. Make sure you're keeping a reserve of stamina to dodge away from the multiple hit strikes and get away from the imbued attacks.

If you have a long-reaching weapon like a greatspear, you can sometimes even catch her mid-strafe to keep her locked down with repeated pokes, otherwise let her retreat and wait for her to come back to punish the next set of attacks. Don't press your attacks beyond a few hits, since you'll need to keep an eye if her dagger starts to glow and beat a hasty retreat out of range.

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If you're playing a magic or ranged character, the tactics remain mostly the same - since Alecto will float and dodge around most projectiles, you'll need to bait out the attacks she's forced to commit to like the lunges and jump attacks, and hit her when she can't dodge away. Having magic attacks that track and chase her can help you focus on rapid dodging while she gets hit.

There is a way to exploit this fight in certain circumstances if you're having trouble. After the fight begins, run onto the rocks to the left of the arena by the cliff, and Alecto will often have trouble pursuing you onto the higher ledge, and get stuck running into a low wall - letting you get off hits while keeping out of range of any counter attacks. If she jump attacks onto the rocks, simply hop off and get her to follow you until you can repeat the process.

Defeating Alecto will earn you one of the best Spirit Ash Summons in the game, Black Knife Tiche, and who can employ the incredible powerful destined death-imbued attacks Alecto did - but on your enemies instead! Just beware, it will cost 132 FP just to summon Tiche.