A Field Boss Battle In Elden Ring: The Bonebeckoner Mariner

Elden Ring has many boss battles. These range from very small battles between two players in a cove, cave, or catacomb to large-scale battles with dozens of other characters in the legacy and main dungeons. Other boss battles can also be found both in mid-tier and open dungeons. Although many of the players got the chance to fight a dragon in Network Test, Eldenring, an open-field boss, was our first encounter with Elden Ring. This ghostly mariner is located in the middle of shallow lake. There’s no indication you will be entering a boss battle, other than fairly serious environmental clues. If you’re exploring organically, you may have also encountered the NPC “D” nearby, who hunts the undead and warns you that this small town has been beset by this ghostly fiend. Other than that, there’s just a big shallow lake with a glowing boat in the middle. It’s pretty safe to assume you’re wandering into dangerous territory, but it’s certainly possible to just be oblivious to everything around you and wander into the middle of the lake. 

What makes it different than a regular boss arena fight? First, there’s a lot more space to traverse; it’s a big lake. The water’s nature makes movement difficult, so it is worth finding small areas of ground to help you move if fighting on foot. Fighting on the spectral steed helps alleviate the hindrance to your mobility a ton and also lets you manage the fight much better overall – but you’ll have to accept that battling on Torrent is much different than standard melee combat. It took some time to get the timing and position of my weapons right, but I eventually was able to weave in and out easily of combat, dealing heavy hits with the Mariner from his boat.

The enhanced mobility while riding Torrent is a great boon in this battle due to the Mariner’s moveset. As with many other necromantic creations, the Bonebeckoner Mariner will summon a multitude of skeletons in order to harass you. The skeletons are a little like the spider hordes in Bloodborne. They can be endlessly long and take up tons of space. The Mariner also can lift the boat high into the air and send it crashing down, spelling disaster if you’re underneath or in radius. The resulting crashing wave does significant damage and can send you out further into the lake, causing a brutal chain reaction where you can’t find your footing and are beset upon by a skeletal tide. However, the crashing wave may also cause damage to and death to the skeletons. You can try to bait the Mariner and make it go off the rails.

Torrent makes fighting like this much easier. The open field areas of Elden Ring contain battles designed for the player to stumble into and possibly others you may have to activate by meeting certain conditions.

Of course, this fight is absolutely optional, though beating it provides a useful spirit summon spell, the Skeletal Militiamen, and some other objects of interest to our undead hunter friend known as “D.” Speaking to D back at the Roundtable Hold hub after this event has been completed has him mark our map in red with a location of interest, but we didn’t have the opportunity to go check it out.