Executioner Goblin Counters
What this page helps you decide: whether to fight the Executioner Goblin or walk past it, and why your skills are the wrong tool for this specific enemy.
The Executioner Goblin is the enemy that breaks the usual rules of engagement, and the official Starless Forest guide calls it the Elite Axe-goblin, so you will see both names. It is rated medium danger with medium health, it is purely melee with no ranged attack at all, and it cannot be stunned. Two pieces of official advice about it are unusual enough to be worth stating plainly: trading basic attacks with it is the fastest way to kill it, and side-stepping past it lets you skip the fight entirely. Almost nothing else in this game gets that pair of recommendations. This page covers when each applies, why it usually appears next to a Crossbow Goblin, and where it gets stuck.
Why basic attacks beat skills here
The advice looks strange until you line it up with two other official facts. First, the enemy has medium health, not high, so the total damage needed is small. Second, the sub-stat page warns that Base Attack Bonus - the sub-stat that raises only basic melee damage - is the one it recommends carrying none of unless you actually use basic attacks. Together they describe a specific situation: a fast, medium-health, stun-immune melee enemy that closes to your range anyway is exactly where a basic attack chain is efficient, because your skills are better spent on the ranged enemies you have to reach out to. Trading here is not laziness, it is spending the cheap resource on the cheap target.
The bypass, and when it is the better play
Side-stepping means holding a movement key while dashing so you travel laterally, and the Beastiary states you can pass this enemy with it. That matters most in two situations. In a room with a Crossbow Goblin, you can cross past the Executioner, delete the shooter in its long cooldown window, then turn back. On a difficulty you are farming for materials rather than clearing, skipping a medium-health elite that drops nothing published is simply faster. The counter-case is a mixed group: the Beastiary notes these often appear together, and running past several while a shooter is aiming means turning your back on the one enemy the game tells you to kill first.
Two names, one enemy
The official Beastiary lists it as the Executioner Goblin. The official Starless Forest guide, written by a different editor and edited on a different day, calls the same thing the Elite Axe-goblin when listing that map's elites. Neither page cross-references the other. This is one of several places where the official wiki uses two names for one thing - the ore called both Sand Rock and Sandstone is another - and it is worth knowing because searching for one name will not find guides written using the other. There is also a separate boss called the Executioner, which is a different creature with three moves of its own; do not confuse the two.
Step-by-Step
- Decide before you engage: kill it or bypass it. Because it has no ranged attack, a side-step past it costs nothing, and the Beastiary explicitly says it can be ignored this way.
- If you are killing it, use basic attacks rather than skills. The official entry says trading with normal attacks is actually the quickest route, which is the opposite of the advice for most elites.
- Do not plan around a stun. It is one of the enemies immune to stuns, which rules out the usual answer to a fast melee attacker.
- Handle the shooter first when both are present. It usually appears together with the Crossbow Goblin, and the shooter is the one with low health and a predictable window.
- Use the terrain. The Beastiary notes it gets stuck on scenery props, which converts a speed advantage into a free damage window.
- Keep your movement speed in mind. Its high speed is only dangerous relative to your own; a character with no movement bonus has fewer options against it than one that invested in the stat.
Data Tables
| Enemy | Stunnable | Best answer |
|---|---|---|
| Executioner Goblin | No | Basic attack trade, or side-step past it |
| Crossbow Goblin | Yes | Dash on the aim, then a full skill cycle |
| Minotaur | Yes | Outrun it and save it for last |
Source: official wiki Beastiary and Guide (Starless Forest). Each of these three answers is different, which is why the group order matters.
Tips & Notes
- This enemy is the clearest argument for keeping a movement speed roll somewhere in your kit, since the Beastiary frames its threat as a speed comparison rather than a damage one.
- The Beastiary rates it medium danger, the same as the Crossbow Goblin, which tells you the game considers a fast melee attacker and a slow shooter equally dangerous for different reasons.
- Kills drop health pickups, so clearing a pack of these is also how you refill after a bad boss attempt rather than something to avoid at low health.
FAQ
Can you stun the Executioner Goblin?
No. It is listed as not stunnable in the official Beastiary, which is why the recommended answers are trading basic attacks or side-stepping past it rather than locking it down.
Is the Elite Axe-goblin the same as the Executioner Goblin?
Yes. The Beastiary calls it the Executioner Goblin and the official Starless Forest guide calls it the Elite Axe-goblin. It is not the same as the Executioner, which is a separate boss with a whirlwind, a leap and a six-hit ground slam.
What is the fastest way to kill it?
Trade basic attacks. The official entry says normal attacks are actually the quickest route against this enemy, which is unusual advice in this game and follows from its medium rather than high health pool.
Sources
- Official Official Iron Soul Roblox Wiki - Beastiary — Danger, health, stun immunity, no ranged attack, the basic-attack trade advice, the side-step bypass and getting stuck on props.
- Official Official Iron Soul Roblox Wiki - Guide (Starless Forest) — The alternative name Elite Axe-goblin and the map's elite roster.
- Official Official Iron Soul Roblox Wiki - Sub-stats — Base Attack Bonus affecting only basic melee damage, used to explain when the trade is efficient.