Hive Knight

The protector of Hive Queen Vespa, bound to guard her even after her death. Hive Knight does not seem to be aware of Vespa's death, instead believing that she will wake up eventually. When The Knight defeats him, Vespa will mention that Hive Knight is freed at last.

Behaviour and Tactics
Hive Knight has a variety of attacks: Not an attack but Hive Knight will sometimes leap around the arena, doing somersaults as they go. This leap does not track The Knight.


 * Swarm Release: Hive Knight spews 12 Hivelings into the air from their mouth. These Hivelings disappear beyond the top of the arena but then only 7 fly down one after another in shallow arcs from random positions in the ceiling and slowly track The Knight's movement. The Knight can hit the Hivelings off course with their Nail (granting The Knight SOUL) and they can be destroyed with Spells. While the Hivelings are assaulting The Knight, Hive Knight will do a Lunge, then a Leap along with an additional varying third attack. One huge note about this attack: if Hive Knight dies after the first Hiveling starts their assault, the Hivelings will continue their assault while Hive Knight is dying. The battle is always started with 7 Hivelings descending with The Hive Knight not actually on-screen. This attack will only occur after Hive Knight has reached 550 hp.
 * Lunge: Hive Knight lunges along the ground with their needle. This lunge covers about 65% of the arena.
 * Surprise Slash: Hive Knight teleports near The Knight and slashes their needle. Hive Knight can appear on either side of The Knight. The slash covers a wide range and shifts Hive Knight forward a little bit. In addition Hive Knight can do this attack while the Knight is in the air. The slash covers about 35% of the arena (and a little more if they do this attack in the air).
 * Honey Spikes: Hive Knight jabs their needle into the grounds and creates three orbs of spike-filled honey. These orbs can appear anywhere within the top two thirds of the arena. Each orb contains 8 spikes and when it bursts the spikes travel in the direction in which they point. The orbs form rapidly one after another. No two orbs will ever occupy the same row or column and they will vibrate in their positions. The Knight can move the orbs when they strike them with their Nail but the orbs can't be destroyed. The orbs explode in the order in which they formed, every half second after the third and final orbs' spikes appear. The orbs are dangerous as soon as the spikes show up. Hive Knight will leap as soon as the first orb bursts. This attack will only occur after Hive Knight has reached 780 hp.
 * Leap: Hive Knight will leap as his main way of moving in the arena.

It is highly recommended to obtain Shade Cloak before the fight, as this makes it possible to dash through Hive Knight's Surprise Slash and Lunge attacks and makes handling the Infinite Bees attack safer. And with that, Sharp Shadow is a fantastic charm against Hive Knight.

Quick Focus makes it safer to heal. There are plenty of no-charm healing opportunities too: when out of range of a Surprise Slash or Lunge attacks, also if dodged early; during Honey Spikes (when in a safe location); at the beginning of Infinite Bees; and during Hive Knight's stagger.

Hive Knight is a light boss. As such, The Knight has more opportunities to move Hive Knight than many other bosses. Mark of Pride is strong against Hive Knight because it can keep players further away from Hive Knight while still dealing damage. Steady Body is very strong against Hive Knight because it allows players to maintain pressure. Quick Slash is also strong against Hive Knight, provided the player does only upward slashes (otherwise Hive Knight will be knocked away and the player will constantly have to chase). Quick Slash works best in combination with Steady Body and Fragile/Unbreakable Strength.

The spell Vengeful Spirit/Shade Soul is strong against Hive Knight due to its versatility. Desolate Dive/Descending Dark is okay against Hive Knight.

The Nail Art, Cyclone Slash is very strong against Hive Knight due to players being able to move laterally while repeatedly pressing the attack button.

Trivia

 * Hive Knight is the only DLC boss that is required on a complete base-game playthrough, therefore permanently raising the completion by 1% to 101% if the player decides to complete the entire game (excluding The Grimm Troupe and  Godmaster DLC content).
 * In the background of Hive Knight's arena the giant corpse of Hive Queen Vespa can be seen.

Рыцарь Улья