Black Shuck

Learn how to defeat the Black Shuck, a legendary beast in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Get tips on its attacks, weak points, and the best strategy to take it down.

Alright, so you've stumbled upon the Black Shuck in East Anglia, huh? This guy's one of those legendary animals hiding out in some Roman ruins northeast of Sutton Hoo. Think of him as a super-fast, super-rabid dog that's going to make you work for it. He loves to zip around his lair, making him a tricky target for arrows. But don't worry, we'll get him!

The Black Shuck’s Attacks

This beast has a couple of main moves you need to watch out for:

• Light attack (orange): He'll back up, then lunge to bite you. It's quick, but you absolutely want to parry this instead of dodging. If you nail the parry, he'll be stunned for a bit, giving you a chance to either shoot his weak points or get some melee hits in. Keep parrying and hitting those weak points to drain his stamina bar. Once that's empty, you get a massive stun attack!
• Charge attack (red): This is his big one. He'll sprint to a corner of the arena and then charge straight at you. You cannot parry this, so you'll need to dodge. If you've got the 'Brush with Death' skill, time will slow down, letting you get some free hits in. If you mess up the dodge, he'll knock you down and start biting. You'll need to mash your attack button (left click on PC) to break free, but he'll still do a good chunk of damage.

Most of the time, he'll be using those orange lunging attacks. Honestly, don't chase him around the arena. Let him come to you so you're ready to parry. Trying to shoot him when he's running wild is a waste of arrows. Focus on parrying to stun him, then unload on his weak points. Remember, his limbs are his weak spots, and he's got four stamina bars to drain. Once he's at half health, he'll start using that charge attack more, but just keep dodging it, and you'll be fine.

Warning: Don't get too trigger-happy with the dodge button! It's tempting because he moves so much, but your best bet is to stay relatively still and only dodge when you absolutely have to, either for that charge attack or if you miss a parry. If you do get caught out and run low on rations, there are some mushroom patches in the lair you can use to heal up.