How to Beat the Tree Sentinel
6 March 2024 at 13:36:05
Details:
Health: 2,900
Resists: Holy, Fire
Weakness: Lightning, Parry, Poison, Rot
Immune: Critical, Madness
Rewards:
3,200 Runes
Golden Halberd
Best Strategy
There are two tactics that make this fight incredibly easy.
Strategy 1: Horseback
Once you have access to Torrent, dealing with a single Tree Sentinel becomes incredibly easy. All you need to do is create some distance and regenerate your stamina before closing in. The goal is to aim for one side of the Tree Sentinel, say his right side. Bait out a right-side attack, usually a halberd swing, but veer off to his left side instead and get some hits in while he completes his animation.
This hit and run tactic will have the Tree Sentinel down in no time, but be warned. If you get unlucky and get knocked off your mount, you will be vulnerable to some nasty damage and potential death if the Tree Sentinel follows up with some more attacks while you are completing the prolonged stun animation from being dismounted.
Strategy 2: Baiting
Another tactic that makes the Tree Sentinel very easy as early as right at the beginning of the game is to keep your distance. In this case, the match becomes a battle of attrition, as you are waiting for the Tree Sentinel to perform his charging attack. He will lower his halberd like a lance and run at you before swinging his halberd at the last moment to hit you. When this hit is coming, dodge diagonally backwards and to his direction. This will put you directly next to the Tree Sentinel while he is coming out of his attack animation, leaving him vulnerable to several hits before you create some distance again.
During the second phase, which typically comes in at about 60% health, the Tree Sentinel will start using shield slams. The rushing upward slam has deceptive range, and the jumping ground slam has a very large area of effect, both of which can one-shot you if you are straight out of the gate. Make sure you keep your distance at all times to bait out that charging attack, and don't get greedy with your attacks.
Movepool
Halberd Slashes: This move comes in combos of up to four swings. The Tree Sentinel will swing his halberd multiple times in wide arcs that are quite easy to see coming and dodge through. This is done more on his right hand side, but can also be done on his left in shorter combos.
Horse Slam: The Tree Sentinel will, with very little warning, swing his horse round sideways before having it slam you with its side. This deals moderate damage, but does leave you open to the Halberd Slashes, which the Tree Sentinel will usually follow this move with quite quickly.
Hoof Slam: This time, the Tree Sentinel will rear up his horse for a few seconds before having it slam its hooves down in front of it. If you have a fast weapon, you can get hits in both before and after the hooves come down, and it's quite easy to dodge.
Swing: This attack can come out either quickly or slowly. The Tree Sentinel will turn around, rear up, and swing his halberd to catch you off guard. On occasion, the Tree Sentinel will choose not to do the turn at the beginning, meaning the swing will come out more quickly. This is designed to catch you off guard at the end of one of his other combos.
Shield Slam: The Tree Sentinel will brace his shield and thrust it forward with surprising range. This deals very, very high damage and can easily one-shot a fresh character, so be warned. While it may look like one hit, this actually counts as two or three hits in extremely quick succession, making it harder to dodge, so be prepared.
Jumping Shield Slam: This is one of the Tree Sentinel's harder to avoid attacks. He will jump into the air with his horse before slamming his shield down on the ground, creating a wide-range shockwave. Again, this can easily one-shot you, so be careful and keep your distance. If you think you're far enough away when he starts this attack, get further away - it has deceptive range.
Deflect Spell: Sorcerers will have to resort to more uncivilised forms of combat for this fight. Any time projectiles are cast at the Tree Sentinel, he will case his version of Golden Retaliation, and he will hold this spell in place until you stop casting projectiles at him. Any spell projectile that hits the Tree Sentinel's shield while this spell is active will cause a bolt of holy damage to retaliate back to the caster, and it deals very high damage. Best to stick to melee for this fight.
Charge: This is highly telegraphed and only performed when the target is far away. The Tree Sentinel will lower his halberd like a lance and charge forward, performing a swing at the last moment to hit you. Dodge backwards and in the direction he is heading to avoid the hit and be placed right next to him for an opportunity to get some hits in.