Blackgaol Knight (Shadow of the Erdtree)

This was the first hard fight I encountered in SotE. I watched ‪@FightinCowboy‬ spend 40 minutes trying to get this guy in his very first Let's Play ( • Elden Ring Shadow of t... ) so I knew what to expect. Then in his walkthrough he used a "guard boost/shield/retaliation" strategy which worked great so I thought I'd try that. But Cowboy must have had astronomical poise because I couldn't face the guy toe-to-toe. Finally I settled on a very defensive strategy with the Dragoncrest Talisman +2 for defense and the Bulls-Head for poise, getting me to 96 poise. Baiting the crossbow and then retaliating with Takers Flame seemed my best option, plus some giants flame for the knockdown (when it hits). A really great fight, used every flask and came extremely close to dying at least once.