If you would like tips I beat him with parries. Basically all his attacks other than his special wind slash and follow up can be parried. I Basically never used parry before and found he was a good enemy to practice until I was consistent.
If he wips out the crossbow stay at range and run to a side when he fires. Don’t need to roll and don’t want to close the distance until he is done.
I have seen other people use big wepons to pancake or stunlock him too.
Not to start a war about hardest boss and haven’t beaten DLC yet but Elden Ring has what alot of people would say is the hardest boss in the franchise. Like Elden Ring did open things up to more people with the open world making it easier to go around or bypass walls, but it isn’t easier.
Like there isn’t a single boss in DS1 or 2 that comes anywhere close to fighting Melania. IMO Bloodborne and DS3 have contenders but if you are 100%ing the game Elden Ring is just as hard as any other souls game. Although the horse and teleporting does make some of the zones easier to explore, there are still difficult dungeons.
I think alot of people remember DS1 being much harder because we were also learning the system, how it plays, how to win.