The Best Boss in Elden Ring; Messmer the Impaler

Messmer is my favourite boss in any of the Soulsborne games. Throughout the first half of Elden Ring’s DLC; Shadow of the Erdtree (SOTE), he is foreshadowed as the big bad standing in-wait for you. But when you reach him, a much more tragic tale is unveiled. A son abandoned for lacking the grace of gold due to the power confined within him. A son who did unspeakable things in the name of his mother's cause. When you enter his chamber, he can’t quite believe that his mother (Marika) has sanctioned you, (a tarnished) as her lord. The line “Mother, wouldst thou truly lordship sanction, in one so bereft of light?” will forever live in my head rent free.

I spent several hours trying to defeat Messmer, but as each hour passed by, I slowly improved my dodges and whittled his health bar down further. Messmer is an incredibly challenging boss, but his moves feel fair as it’s evident where you have gone wrong by mistiming a dodge or attacking when you shouldn’t have. Once you’ve got his moves memorized, it’s really satisfying to get into the flow of combat and dance with Messmer. When you receive damage from him during one of his lengthy combos, a decision must be made on whether to attack or heal. I found the best approach to be continuing to play aggressive even if on low health, as my lack of stagger damage because of my weapon meant I had to deal consistent damage if I wanted a chance at staggering Messmer at all. Once Messmer was staggered, I was afforded time to heal and a large amount of damage to his health bar. This gameplay loop was awesome, and with each attempt I inched closer to defeating Messmer. I remember vividly at 2am shouting aloud when I finally succeeded and brought him down, something I think my girlfriend is yet to forgive me for, given she was sound asleep.