Concierge — deadcells

The Concierge is the first tier 1 boss in the game. It is encountered on the Black Bridge.

Moveset

In 1+ BSC, the Concierge goes straight to the second phase.

Attacks

Stab

Description: The Concierge stabs in front with a long windup.
Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.

Fire strike

Description: The Concierge slams his hand into the ground, shooting fire in a line to the barrier in both directions.
Can only be dodged by jumping over it.

Leap

Description: The Concierge crouches down and jumps at the player, damaging on contact.
Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.
Can be avoided by crouching, but only at the peak of the leap.
Is often used after Fire Strike.
Can be used after Aura of Laceration is activated.
- This makes it impossible to crouch under without taking damage.

Defenses

Shout

Description: Used when the Concierge is at certain HP thresholds to transition to the next phase.
Stuns player if in range.
- Does not stun biters which will still attack him, but can't damage him.
- Does not stun turrets.
Activates a force field to become immune to damage and status effects for a few seconds.
Cannot be dodged, parried, or dodge rolled but can be outranged.
Typically uses Aura of laceration after this.
If the Concierge is stunned while he uses this defense, he will not summon the aura or start moving until the stun is over.

Aura of laceration

Description: The Concierge charges and creates a red aura around it that damages on hit.
Can be rolled through but requires precise timing.
Can be used together with Leap

Strategy

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerable to magnetic fields, but can still leap at the player.
Doesn't focus attacks on turrets, unlike most enemies.
Most attacks can be cancelled by stun effects.

Primary attacks

Stab

This attack has a long, clear telegraphed wind-up, so it's easy to prepare any viable counters.
- The attack can be blocked and dodge-rolled but the best option would be to parry it, resulting in a short stun.
The boss will prioritize this attack if you are within the melee range of it.
- This will make it possible to deal melee damage, parry the Stab and continue your combo.
  - In the second and third phase, this can be used to stop or delay the use of Aura of Laceration but it is not a perfect strategy because being slightly too far away will make the Concierge use the aura.
  - It will perform a Shout when going into the next phase which will push you away.

Fire strike

This attack has a long, clear telegraphed wind-up, so it's easy to prepare for it.
This attack can only be jumped over or blocked and doesn't severely open up the boss to a counter-attack as he will continue attacking before the fire reaches the edges of the arena.
The best option is long-range attacks or skills.

Leap

The leap can be crouched under at its peak and be parried at any point during its duration.
- The leap can be interrupted by a Wolf Trap if close enough to the starting point of the leap.
In later phases, the boss will use this attack after creating an Aura of Laceration which makes it so crouching under or parrying it still result in damage to the player.

Defensive attack

Shout

This is attack is performed during phase changes and cannot be interrupted or blocked, only avoided by being out of range.

Aura of Laceration

Unlike the other attacks, this one has a short wind-up and the only hint that the Concierge is using it are little red particles.
- This still distinguishes it from the other attacks and thus is still clear that the aura is the upcoming attack.
- This attack will only be used if you are out of melee range of the boss.
As the aura does multiple ticks of damage on contact, it is impossible to do any close-range damage, so far ranged attacks are the best option here.

Weapons/Skills

All weapons are viable against this boss as long as you can dodge. You may want turrets and bombs, or Spiked Boots to stun it. Parrying is very effective against both Stab and Leap. Wolf Trap is also a viable skill to take against the Concierge as it negates all of his attacks and leaves him vulnerable for long periods of time.
Long range weapons are helpful, as they can continue consistently damaging the boss even when he is using his Aura of Laceration ability.
Wolf Trap with Heart of Ice can completely trivialize the fight, leaving him almost permanently rooted and unable to retaliate as long as you stay behind him.

Lore

The Concierge was the prison's warden, Castaing. He was in charge of controlling the prison's entrance and managing prison guards^[1].
Castaing received secret orders from the King to stop controlling entrances to the Prison^[1] and to keep all prisoners inside, even those who had finished their sentence^[2]. He publicly posted a sign asking for citizens to report any signs of infection or odd behavior but was scolded by the King for making his secret orders public.^[2]
The King later asked Castaing to focus on preventing imprisoned villagers from crossing the bridge and escaping back to their homes^[3], by force if necessary. It is unclear if those prisoners were infected, but it seems they were not guilty of any crime.
Castaing became ill from the Malaise, which led to him mutating into the Concierge monster^[3].
It is implied that Castaing was taking bribes^[2] from an unknown person and at least partly disobeying the King's orders. His motivations are unclear, but it seems Castaing needed money to support his lazy, rich lifestyle, as indicated by his sunbathing crib on top of his offices in the Promenade of the Condemned and the Ramparts^[2].
Castaing had a number of offices around the Island, notably in Prisoners' Quarters^[1], the Promenade of the Condemned, the Ramparts,^[2] and the Prison Depths.
Castaing had a book titled "Directing a Prison for Dummies"^[1], which includes a chapter on "bridge construction", referring to the name of his arena, Black Bridge.
He was sometimes referred to as "Commander Castaing" in a letter found from a body of the deceased Royal Gardener. He warns the Gardener to stop, as his actions are an inconvenience to him.
One lore room contains a letter from Castaing to his soldiers, which the Beheaded states is a direct copy from "Managing soldiers: How to earn their respect without using torture", one of the books Castaing has.

Trivia

Before the Baguette Update Alpha, the boss' name was The Incomplete One. During the earlier stages of development of the Baguette Update, he was known as The Caretaker.
A concierge is a person in charge of a building's entrance. The Concierge is fought on the bridge that leads to the island's prison, making it an apt title.
The Concierge is always the boss in the Daily Run. This specific version is less durable and never uses his defensive abilities.
The enemy derived from him is the Sweeper, who imitates his flame strike attack.