Beat Erlking in Overture
Three phases, a Cathy coffin cutscene, and a Normal-clear Redcliff unlock.
Erlking is Overture’s headline raid: a Limbus Company Erlking Heathcliff homage with production that the rest of the HOURS clone does not attempt. You vote the Erlking gamemode on an online 25-player server (solo is allowed; the instance is still multiplayer) and fight a three-phase duel. Beat it on Normal and the Erlking badge unlocks Redcliff. That is the published requirement — not Hard, not a hitless run.
If your dash still goes left, stop. Read the controls guide and the getting started page. Erlking punishes panic dashes harder than Equinox does.
How the fight is actually won
Overture has no Tempos. You cannot freeze the duel. Health regenerates between strings; stamina is what you spend to be in the right place. The design of Erlking is wait for the damage window, then leave.
The main window is sheathe / endlag. After a committed melee string, Erlking returns the sword and sits there. That is when you walk in and spend M1s. If you swing during the string you will lose a trade you cannot Tempo out of. Percent-based damage is halved in this mode relative to a naive HOURS reading, so chip is slower than it looks. Do not compensate by staying in for a full combo through the recovery — take the window, dash out (hold W, then Q), let stamina and health come back.
Red ranged slash is the wipe. It is a long-range, high-damage (effectively one-shot for an unprepared host) projectile / slash that is not a base melee. You sidestep or dash out of the line. You do not parry it as if it were a jab. Drifter auto-parry only works on base attacks. It will not eat the red slash, ranged hits, or AoE. If you brought Drifter because auto-parry sounded like a cheat code, you have a trap kit. Manual parry still exists for the jabs; save it.
The mid-fight spectacle is the Cathy / coffin cutscene and the coffin stun that follows. This is a clash check, not a cutscene skip. A three-charge M2 can clash with that coffin stun. Redcliff is built for this language; that is why the no-death community reference clear is a Redcliff solo, and why chat often names Equinox and Redcliff (Heathcliff) as the cleanest solo hosts. Charge the M2 so it is ready when the coffin commits. If you dump the charge on a random poke, you eat the stun.
Phase flow in public videos is consistent enough to plan around:
- Phase 1 — readable melee, sheathe windows, the first red-slash lessons. Stay greedy only on sheathe.
- Phase 2 — more range and overlapping strings. Ping starts to matter; a late dash on a 150+ ms connection is a hit. Play the recovery, not the startup you see locally.
- Cathy / coffin cutscene — watch, then clash or leave. Do not mash M1 into the coffin.
- Phase 3 — denser mix of sheathe, red slash, and AoE. Windows still exist; they are shorter. Reset stamina between them.
You can die in phase 3 with the boss nearly empty because you spent the bar on a dash that was not an i-frame. Treat dash as spacing. Details are on the controls page.
Hosts, lobbies, and the Redcliff unlock
Before you own Redcliff: Invader teaches the sheathe punish if you can live in melee. Equinox (early roster in Overture footage) has the durability and lifesteal language that community solos like. Witness can play a safer mid-range if your ping is ugly. Bloxxer can poke if you refuse to stand in slash range, but nail travel time plus ping is a bad mix. Do not bring a brand-new Vestige unless you already unlocked it from Resident Mind and can actually aim.
After you own Redcliff: go back in. The class is the reward and the retry tool. A donation-menu ClassDen swap is the Erlking NPC kit, not Redcliff. ClassDen is exclusive, awkward without extra upgrades, and does not grant the badge. Badge rules are on the class unlock guide. Use the class unlock tool if you just want the checklist.
Lobbies of 25 can trivialize or ruin the fight. Extra damage shortens phases. Extra bodies also mean extra corpses if someone keeps the boss facing a red slash into the pile. If a host is using the donation menu to heal the boss or swap mid-fight, leave. Online multiplayer means another server exists. You do not need a full raid to get Normal credit; a quiet duo or a true solo is often cleaner.
Console players: binds may be missing. Learn the verbs (dash, M1, M2 charge, parry) on whatever the UI shows. Incomplete console support is not an excuse the boss respects.
There are no codes that skip Erlking. The codes page has no public working list; Discord and the WIP Trello are on the links hub. Scripts will not clash a coffin for you.
After Redcliff is yours, spend it. Rank the kit on the class tier list. Compare the fight to Cazerdus on the boss tier list — Cazerdus has more endlag and fewer windows, which feels easier or harder depending on whether you greed. Then take a starter through HOURS mode for Vestige, or start a deathless Timeless climb if Drifter is the next target. The guides hub is the rest of the map. The Redcliff page is the kit aftercare.
Frequently Asked Questions
Codes, class unlocks, modes, and raid questions in short form.
What do I get for beating Erlking?
The Erlking badge, which unlocks Redcliff, requires a Normal-difficulty clear. See the class unlock guide for the rest of the roster.
When am I supposed to attack Erlking?
On sheathe / endlag after a committed melee string. Do not swing through the string. Percent damage is halved, so greedy extra hits are not worth eating the recovery.
Can Drifter auto-parry the whole fight?
No. Drifter auto-parry only works on base melee. It does not cover ranged attacks, AoE, or the red slash. Many players call the passive a trap for that reason.
How do I deal with the coffin?
Treat the Cathy / coffin beat as a clash. A three-charge M2 can clash the coffin stun. Redcliff is the kit built for that interaction.
Does ping really matter on Erlking?
Yes. Hitboxes follow the server. High ping makes sheathe windows and red-slash dashes feel late. Play the recovery you know, not the startup you see.
Is Erlking harder than Cazerdus?
Different. Erlking hides windows behind sheathe and a one-shot red slash. Cazerdus gives more endlag but fewer chances. Compare them on the boss tier list.