How to Beat the Judge Cleric
Details
Location: The Empyrean
Resists: Holy, Smite (Phase 1), Fire, Burn, Ignite (Phase 2)
Weakness: Holy, Smite (Phase 1), Fire, Burn, Ignite (Phase 2)
Summons: Damarose, Kukajin
Rewards
Remembrance of Judge Cleric, the Radiant Sentinel
10 Umbral Scourings
1 Vestige Seed
How to Beat
To defeat the Judge Cleric, you will need to adopt a bit of a hit-and-run playstyle. Fortunately, with a few different methods of doing this, the fight doesn't need to be too difficult.
Phase 1: The main thing you need to consider here is avoiding the various areas of effect that the Judge Cleric has access to. Actually avoiding the Judge Cleric's melee attacks isn't all too difficult, and the AoE slam and light beam are relatively easy to dodge as well.
The arrows and thorns are your priority to avoid. These cover wide areas, sometimes stack, and the Judge Cleric can summon them both at range and at her location. Stay mobile and look for an opening to close in, bait a melee combo, back away, then close in again for some hits before backing away again.
Poison works exceptionally well in this fight, allowing you to passively deal some extra damage while you are forced to keep your distance from the Judge Cleric. That will make the fight go much faster, meaning less room for error.
Phase 2:
Things work similarly in phase 2, but there are a couple of extra things to consider. The first is the totem that the Judge Cleric summons that will constantly fire projectiles at you. This needs to be put down quickly as a priority, or the fight will get far more difficult than it needs to be.
Next is the Judge Cleric's melee coverage. The same hit-and-run approach applies, but you need to be extra careful about the pyroclastic rock attacks that the Judge Cleric uses, dodging forwards through them to avoid the damage.
Most of the Judge Cleric's moveset is very similar to phase 1, although it looks different. The AoE blast still occurs, but now shrinks back in, requiring a second dodge, and instead of the light beam, she has those pyroclastic rocks.
Just keep your distance at the edge of Judge Cleric's range and bait out the melee attack, then as soon as she is in recovery, close in and get your hit in before backing away again. Poison still works exceptionally well here, so make use of it - the Poison Weapon and Septic Heave umbral spells will work wonders here.
Movepool
Phase 1:
Sword Combo: The Judge Cleric can attack with swift swipes from her sword, usually from side-to-side. This will typically be in combos of up to four attacks, and can transition into other attacks. Dodge into each attack, or make some distance.
Spear Combo: The Judge Cleric can attack with swipes and thrusts from her spear. If any of these are empowered with a golden glow, they will deal more damage and may have more range. Each attack can be dodged sideways.
Arrow Barrage: The Judge Cleric will summon arrows to drop in specific areas. If a golden circle appears on the ground, avoid it as a priority, as arrows will soon begin to land there, dealing high damage.
Wall of Thorns: The Judge Cleric will perform a cross swipe attack and back away, creating a v-shape shield of thorns to keep you back. This also obscured your view of her, meaning you may get hit by a surprise attack.
Holy Blast: The Judge Cleric will rise up and slam down, creating a fast shockwave outwards. Dodge forwards through the edge to avoid the damage.
Holy Beam: The Judge Cleric will charge a beam similar to Tancred's. This will fire over a prolonged period, and the Judge Cleric will sweep the beam from side to side across the arena. Dodge through the beam to avoid the damage.
Dash Strike: The Judge Cleric can dash forwards and strike with either her sword or spear. Dodging to the right will avoid the damage.
Phase 2:
Melee Flame Extension: Melee spear thrusts and sword swipes can now be extended both in range and damage by a follow-up flame blast.
Fire Blast: The Judge Cleric can create a fiery explosion outwards, which is avoided by dodging forward through the barrier. However, the shockwave will retract after a couple of seconds, and must be dodged backwards through once again.
Standard Totem: The Judge Cleric will create a totem that will continuously fire projectiles at you. It doesn't have much health, and must be destroyed.
Pyroclastic Stone: The Judge Cleric can create bouncing fireballs either in a conal shape in front of her or in a circle around her. These will bounce multiple times outwards and deal a lot of damage. Dodge forwards to avoid.
Eruption: At your location, or at the end of the Judge Cleric's reach for any melee attack, a circle may appear below you which must be dodged before a flaming crystal erupts from below.
Fiery Variant: The Judge Cleric can perform most of the attacks from phase 1, but as a fire variant instead of holy.