False Knight

Hunter's Journal
 

''A maggot driven mad by a strange force. Inhabits a stolen armoured shell.   ''

''Weak creatures love to steal the strength of others. Their lives are brief and fearful, and they yearn to have the power to dominate those who have dominated them.''

False Knight
The False Knight will slam the ground with its mace, either being a normal slam attack always preceded by a jump, or a slam attack followed by a shockwave. The shockwave version takes a bit to charge.

A peculiarity of this boss is that attacking its armour doesn't give any soul to the player.

The False Knight can jump around, attempting to make the player into a pancake.

Infected rocks can occasionally fall down, they can be hit at the False Knight, even if they do not harm it.

The False Knight can jump then hit the ground with it's mace, but it uses the mace only after jumping forward, never backwards.

After enough damage is dealt to the armour, the False Knight reveals its true form: a maggot.

When the maggot takes enough damage, the False Knight will slam the ground with its mace, alternating left and right rapidly in anger. Then it will resume its normal attacks. The rocks previously mentioned will fall more often here.

Tactics
Your best bet at fighting the False Knight is to keep moving, attacking the armour when you can. When the maggot pops out, heal if necessary then get in as much damage as possible. When the shockwaves appear, simply jump over them.

Keep the exit on the left under control, after a certain point it will become breakable, granting the player the chance to flee, get the vengeful spirit, proceed as much as wanted and come back later to get the City Crest.

Thankfully, after taking three phases worth of damage, the Failed Champion will fall to the level below, and the maggot will always be revealed.

Failed Champion
Same attacks as the False Knight, however it will spam its attacks near constantly (like the Lost Kin and Soul Tyrant), while rocks will fall quite often; it also does 2 masks of damage per hit. It gives 300 Essence when it is defeated

Extremely oppressive, it won't give the player much time to heal

Tactics
Since hitting the armour doesn't give any soul, it is suggested to use Joni's Blessing and an oppressive strategy. Fragile charms work well as they don't break when dying in Dream fights. Quick Slash and Steady Body, Spore Shroom are effective as well.

Using spells is fine, but they should not be wasted, never use Vengeful Spirits/Shade Souls, always go for the Descending Dark spell.

Try to dash past him when he is jumping towards you. This will create an opening to attack him from behind and dodge his smashing attacks. This is more effective with Shade Cloak equipped.

Another reliable opening to attack is when he jumps backwards. He never lands with smashing attack when jumping backwards. But remember to dash away after attacking. It's quite difficult to dodge his shockwave attack when being close to him.

After getting knocked down he always goes in the middle and throw a fit, that is the best moment to quickly go over it and use Descending Dark, this makes the player invulnerable for some instants after the spell is used, so one can use the nail once and flee without taking damage after using the spell.

Never try to heal during normal attacks, unless with Quick Focus or Shape of Unn.

Dream Wielder shines in this boss battle. While it is almost impossible to gather enough SOUL from the Failed Champion to heal reliably through conventional means, when it falls, you should amply have time to Dream Nail it three times before attacking it. This should fill your SOUL gauge to the max or almost, even if you have additional Vessels. Then, while the Champion is throwing a tantrum in the middle of the room, heal with Quick Focus.

Trivia

 * The armour the maggot stole actually belongs to Hegemol, one of the legendary Great Knights (mentioned by Nailmaster Sheo).
 * The reason the maggot took the armour was to protect its fellow maggots, not because of the infection plaguing Hallownest.

Dream Nail Dialogue

 * "I'm braver than all of you!"
 * "This great shell...It belongs to me!"
 * Failed Champion: "I'm finally strong!"
 * Failed Champion: "I'm the strongest now!"
 * On its weapon: "Free at last!"