If you’re here, you’re probably unsure of exactly how to beat Taylor, one of the first bosses in The Relic: First Guardian, and one that’ll happen upon you out of nowhere. Located at the end of an in-game Event called Traces of Darkness, you’ll want to have your wits about you if you want to succeed in defeating him. Thankfully for you, we have some tips, and maybe a trick or two, on how to beat Taylor, and make your life easier.
How to Find Taylor in The Relic: First Guardian
As mentioned, if you want to make finding Taylor easier, you’ll want to start the Event Traces of Darkness. This will then populate the world with a path of notes along the ground, that will detail the background of Taylor and how he came to be, and more importantly, how he became the frenzied boss you’re about to meet.
Follow the path of notes, and take in what they’re saying, until you come to the Cave of Despair, a cave at the end of a dead end path pictured below. It’s to the right of the second fast travel port in the Faded Forest of Mist, and a branching path of the main thoroughfare through the area.
Once you reach the Cave of Despair, you’ll notice a Tibelle’s Blessing right outside. Make sure you use this, as Taylor is very close by.
How to Beat Taylor in The Relic: First Guardian
Being one of the earlier bosses in The Relic: First Guardian, Taylor isn’t the most difficult of them. He’s a lumbering beast with a huge weapon that swings in large, slow arcs, and as such, not only is it easy to predict what he’s going to do and when, it’s simple enough to block when necessary.
He does have some looping combos that can seriously damage you if you’re not paying attention, but there are some simple ways to get the upper hand. The cave is small and claustrophobic, but it does have some fire barrels scattered around. You can use these to your advantage, either detonating them yourself with your fire elemental attack, or drawing Taylor into swinging his weapon and hitting them himself. This won’t fully defeat Taylor, but it will take a chunk of his health away and make it easier.
Once you’ve chipped away at his health allowing the fire barrels to do the hard work, you’ll now have to go on the front foot. As with anything in The Relic: First Guardian, every action takes time. Mistime a swing of your own weapon, and you’ll be unable to move or block the attacks from Taylor, so take your time, be patient with your attacks and never get greedy.
UPCOMING BOSSES
- Mog, The Deserter
- Stenor, The Butcher of Ash
Make sure to block what you can when you can, otherwise dodge (especially his unblockable red attacks) or run away, and only ever go in for one, sometimes two attacks at most. Any more and he will hit you harder. Now you’ve blocked enough and stunned him, go in and attack him with a combo or skill of your own. This is where you’ll be dealing the majority of damage. At the end of that, as he’s getting up, throw an elemental attack at him and deal a little bonus damage.
Now, rinse and repeat. Be patient, break his poise, and then strike when he’s stunned. With the fire barrels taking more than a third of his health away, if you managed to get him to attack them all himself (be careful not to get caught in the explosion yourself), this won’t take more than two, or three goes-round with breaking his poise, assuming you’re also chipping away with one or two attacks when possible.
This boss fight is a little more forgiving than others, and as such you can use the sword and shield for speed, the axe, if you have it, for weighty, if not slow attacks. A personal opinion perhaps, but I’d avoid the staff here.
Once you see Taylor fall to his knees, you’ve beaten him, and that means rewards:
- Fragment of the Corrupted Abyss
- Endless Hunger
- Taylor’s Scrawled Journal
- Relic Energy
On your way out make sure you use the Tibelle’s Blessing to rest, replenishing your items and health, and continue on your adventure.
For your next read, don’t miss our review of The Relic: First Guardian, our all-too-important tips for the game, or maybe missed Erdian, and need help beating him?
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
