This week, the official From Software Steam page dropped an Elden Ring nugget on Steam, in a mysterious news post asking “Who Did the Crucible Knights Serve?” It’s a short post with an enticing header image, with upwards of 800 comments (as of this writing) of speculation, asking the developer for certain features (servers and ultra-wide support seem to top the list), sun-praising and such. It reads:
“The majority of these powerful warriors served but one master. Think not of the outlier, gone to the Volcano Manor. His exception demonstrates the rule.
And you, did you defeat this vigorous knight? ⚔️”
Very mysterious, FromSoft.
The Crucible Knight is a field boss in one of the Evergaols — and a variation appears in various places throughout the game. Including Stormhill Castle, Siofra River and Siofra Aqueduct, as well as even later in the Leyndell and Crumbling Farum Azula nightmare areas. I personally died to the one in Crumbling Farum Azula so many, many times… Crucible Knights are kind of notoriously tough.
From the Root Resin and Crucible Tree Helm item descriptions, we can tell the Crucible Knights are known to hold primordial powers from the Great Tree before it got intertwined with the Erdtree. Whatever this Crucible force is — whether an order, a being, or a state of mind — it was extremely powerful and probably came from the Great Tree.
Crucible Knights are looked down upon in the current Lands Between, during the events of Elden Ring, and text from the Crucible Knot Talisman reads “A vestige of the crucible of primordial life. Born partially of devolution, it was considered a signifier of the divine in ancient times, but is now increasingly disdained as an impurity as civilization has advanced.”
There are also a number of Crucible Knight bosses, like the Crucible Knight and Misbegotten Warrior encounter in Redmane Castle, the Tanith’s Knight quest boss (which refers to the particular Volcano Manor knight), Crucible Knight Ordovis (the boss of Auriza Hero’s Grave), and Crucible Knight Siluria.
Could this Steam post be a teaser for Elden Ring DLC that’s related to the Great Tree and the Crucible Knights’ source of power?
Who knows, really. But FromSoft hasn’t posted any similar raw lore blurbs on its Steam page like this before. It’s also the first “news” on the page at all in nearly two months (the last update on the page was a notice for Patch 1.05). Though it does mostly match an official tweet from July 5. Albeit with the added question about defeating the knight(s).
This could all just be someone’s clever way of drumming up interest in the game again in a way that has nothing to do with actual future plans. If so, it’s a good marketing gambit either way.
While I ultimately ran all the way away from these assholes, especially in their later-game iterations. But I also enjoyed the game more as a bizarro platformer/adventure game/exploration fest, since I was more enthralled with the Turtle Popes and wild landscapes and sheer, brazen oddness than, really, the combat. I’ll play any and all DLC so long as it gives me more places to explore and cavort around (and eventually fight things, but only once I’m over-leveled).
For all things Elden Ring, including our guides, top-notch tier lists and feature content, check out our Elden Ring hub. You can rest assured we’ll be staying on the case of the mysterious, potential Elden Ring DLC Crucible Knight here.
Special thanks to my colleagues Funk-é Joseph and Nerium, who contributed to this post!
