Why Margit is so good at killing you in Elden Ring

Elden Ring's first gatekeeping boss Margit the Fell Omen is a real jerk. Players can run into him early in their playthrough, before they've really explored Limgrave and gotten the Good Loot, but Margit poses a challenge even for seasoned, leveled-up Souls veterans. So what is it about Margit that makes him a challenging fight, and is he REALLY the hardest first boss that developer Fromsoft has ever put in a Soulsborne game? Polygon's own Pat Gill, Soulshead extraordinaire, investigates Margit's moves and puts him to the test.

0:00 What's up with Margit the Fell Omen?
0:45 Stormveil Castle
1:56 Analyzing Margit's moves
4:03 How Margit chains moves
5:49 Margit's broken rhythm

The Margit Doctor has Logged On.

#EldenRing #Margit #Fromsoft

[polygon]

Okay there seems to be two kinds of people in the world: people who struggled with Margit, and people who struggled with Godrick. WHICH ARE YOU?

[notaspider]

I'm proud to say I have never once died to Margit. That may of course have something to do with the fact that I don't own Elden Ring but still.

[kabobawsome]

One thing I always love about Souls teacher-bosses is that they always have 2 phases.

Phase 1 is "Here is a boss specifically designed to teach you how to fight in a Souls game" (And in Elden Ring, that gets extended to "Here is a boss specifically designed to force you to learn how the game wants you to interact with the world).

Phase 2 is "Eat shit and die."

[theman]

Here’s some lore reasons why as well: he has been protecting the erdtree as margit since the wars, and he was able to whoop the ass of General Radahn, the man who could stop the stars.

[varsoonhks]

Showed up at level 15, went "Oh, I hit this dude for a drop in the pot, he slaps me for half my health."
Then I left and did everything else and came back at level 40 with +3 sippy and +5 weapon and put his foolish ambitions to rest.

[Occultist_Anonymous]

tip for killing him: dodge his attacks and hit him until he dies

[KapteeniKetza]

Best thing about the and this boss is you can pretty much decide yourself how difficult encounter Margit is. Knowing I could had just overlevel, -gear and abuse summons to easily defeat him but instead decided to use HOURS learning his moves, patterns and bashing my head against to wall ust to beating him using 2handed club without a shield. It was love/hate relationship at its best.

[michaeldiaz]

Delayed attacks that punish panic rolling and an AI that knows to use knife throws when you're about to heal also add to its difficulty as well.

[brianash]

I've said to a friend that the Limgrave is like a mini-Breath of the Wild, and you can charge Margit (Ganon) as soon as you'd like, but its better to search the corners of the map and find tools you need to handle him. Limgrave was designed to have this giant obstacle in Margit, to encourage the player away from rushing straight through the plot bosses and get them to explore the world more. I think the whole game is brilliantly designed, but you can really tell how much thought and planning went into the first area.

[TigerBears]

It’s kinda funny how even though Morgott is a much harder fight than Margit, but people will usually spend way longer fighting Margit. It makes sense, people will be more used to the game and way more appropriately levelled by the time they reach Morgott, but it’s still kinda interesting to think about.

[glasnost]

A FromSoft game, Bruce Lee, fighting game concepts; this is truly the Dark Souls of Pat Gill videos.

[michaelp]

I hate long wind-ups. Especially ones that have arbitrary wind-up times for the seemingly same starting moves, and keeps you guessing which it is. Combine that with one-shot/fast combo/stunlock, and there you go, a recipe for anger.

[mischiviousteefmonster]

I just love his phase two transition dialogue that's goes, "ah, thou art of passing skill, " IDK why I just think it's a huge flex because anyone new to the game will immediately get the confidence they built up through phase one pushed straight back in.

[DelatoDarion]

The beginning of Elden Ring almost feels like a red herring or a mean trick. You do the tutorial and the game says follow the light of the grace and almost makes you take a linear path. That path leads to Margit who beats your ass. Like he's meant to be saying, "What are you doing here? It's an open world game! Go explore and face me when your stronger!" It's okay to leave a boss fight and come back later if you are having trouble. You'll be less stressed about the game. I promise.

[TheAsinineAutistic]

It took me like two or three days to beat him and then I beat Goodrich in three tries. Margit managed to become my favorite character in the game so far though. The omens are so cool

[SnugglesConquererofWorlds]

Margit really is the culmination of Fromsoft design. Its probably why I can't stop playing this game, even though there are still some bosses that arent perfect, Margit is a boss that just feels like Fromsoft really loves to kill us, and that warms my heart.

[mRibbons]

I feel like the reason that I died so many times to this fairly predictable boss is because I'd come close to winning, get greedy, die, sloppily rush the fight again in frustration, get close again, die again.

[bizmonkey]

Margit is such a beautifully cruel “first boss.” He reminds me of Owl, Father with his start-ups and how he adapts to the player.

[steviejeets]

Literally beat him two hours ago after starting Elden Ring on day one. I’m a souls newbie and he is the first boss I’ve defeated. I’m so proud of myself. (‘:

[nekonari]

One thing that always hold true so far in my journey in Elden Ring is that stronger and bigger the foe, you roll *forward* not back. My instinct always makes me run back, and the game never fails to punish that.