Talk:Watcher Knight/@comment-25681255-20181109193418

In my original playthrough, I killed one with the chandelier and defeated them using a spellcasting build with Flukenest.

In my speedrun attempt, where you only have the 5 base masks and 4 charm notches, I used Mark of Pride and Defender's Crest (which is useless, but there's nothing else to use without Overcharming).

Killing the first Watcher Knight without taking damage and/or having full Soul when the next two begin is easy and basically required. You always want to save at least 1 spell cast for a heal, even though it's difficult to get one off without Quick Focus. Your best opportunities are if they both simultaneously roll away and you can immediately dash to safety, or if you killed one and the other rolls away. Healing after their melee combo isn't recommended, since it's possible to get hit.

Once two are up, keep track of which one eats the most damage and try to focus it down. Every time one dies, there's a pretty long delay before another comes up, and it's possible to heal 3 masks if the living Watcher Knight decides to walk a bit before rolling (if he just rolled away). Put out as much extra damage on the second knight alive, and just keep rolling them down, so you have more frequent opporunities to heal. Vengeful Spirit will damage them while they're rolling, so it can be useful if they're both on the ground and you don't need your Soul for healing.

The absolute best method for killing them while they're desynchronized is to bounce on them. If you alternate back and forth, you can bounce/dash out of the way if they prepare for a vertical/bouncing roll. This also keeps them in place, so you'll only need to dodge the other knight. It is *possible* to bounce back and forth on a single knight for a mountain of damage and he won't immediately attack or roll as he keeps changing directions, but this is very rare.

The other option for getting reliable damage is to get close enough to bait the melee combo and strike. You can get 2+ hits with Mark of Pride and easily walk or dash out of the way. They don't move much, so very little repositioning is required for this. Beware of the other knight being off screen, and always keep track of how long they've been out of view, as they'll very likely roll towards you.

Good luck. This is the first brick wall in the speedrun.