Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC adds lots of new boss fights, taking place in the new “Realm of Shadow” map. This Shadow of the Erdtree Boss Guide will walk you through the best tactics to defeat all bosses in the game and the locations where to find them. The bosses can be encountered in any order. Below they are ordered by area but if you freely explore you will get a different order.
Being Level 150+ is recommended for the DLC. It’s also highly recommended to collect as many Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash Blessings as possible. They are hidden throughout the world and sometimes dropped by strong enemies. They can be used at Sites of Grace to obtain permanent damage negation in the Realm of Shadow. This will make a big difference in how much damage you receive. Having 15 Scadutree Blessings can turn an 8/10 difficulty boss into a 4/10 as you won’t die in 1-2 hits anymore.
If you are having trouble with the difficulty, spend some time exploring and leveling up your base stats. The bosses all give a lot of runes for leveling up. There is still free-roam after the story and you can still fight the bosses then. The only exceptions are quest-related NPCs, they all disappear upon burning the Sealing Tree (story event) which fails their questlines and associated NPC minibosses.
An easy character class is the mage, just like the main game. You can call your Mimic Tear ashes to distract the bosses, then shoot spells from a safe distance. This makes most fights easy. Any fights where you are on your own can be won by running close to the boss to bait it into attacking, let it miss a combo, then counter-attack with a Glintstone Shard spell or Carian Slicer, rinse and repeat. Rock Sling, Great Glintstone Shard, Comet, Comet Azur, Terra Magica are the must-have spells if playing as mage. The hardest boss by far is the final story boss, which is quite difficult as a mage. You can also summon co-op players if you get stuck but this will void the ability to call the Mimic Tear.
For non-DLC main game bosses refer to Elden Ring Boss Guide (Main Game).
Boss #1 – Blackgaol Knight
Location: Gravesite Plain > Western Nameless Mausoleum
Difficulty: 5/10
Strategy: This is the first side boss you can encounter in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. If you are a mage and haven’t played the game in a while, this boss can take a few tries. The fight takes place in a small room and you can’t summon any Ashen Spirits for help. Luckily, this boss has a very limited and predictable moveset. He has one ranged attack which is to shoot a series of crossbow bolts at you – they are easily avoided by walking sideways. Just don’t stand still because if you get hit by all of them you will get killed for sure, so avoid using spells with long cast times. His other moves are all short-range melee with a sword, which are easy to avoid by dodging backward. The best way, regardless of what class you play, is to run close to him (hold / to run), as soon as he starts to strike run backward. This way you can bait him into attacking which leaves him vulnerable. Attack him back with one or two hits, rinse and repeat. If you are a mage, use the “Great Glintstone Shard” spell, it’s quick to cast while also dealing good damage. It will take a while to whittle down his health, just keep baiting him into attack, dodge/run away, land 1-2 hits, repeat. Don’t use slow spells like Comet Azur or Rock Sling, he will just shoot you with the crossbow while you’re casting.
Reward: 70,000 Runes, Greatsword of Solitude, Helm of Solitude, Armor of Solitude, Gauntlets of Solitude, Greaves of Solitude
Boss #2 – Divine Beast Dancing Lion
Location: Belurat, Tower Settlement > Stagefront
Difficulty: 3/10
Strategy: Easy to defeat it as a mage. You can summon the NPC companion in front of the gate to the boss. After entering the boss arena summon your Mimic Tear to distract it, then consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana) and fire Comet Azur spell to deal it a lot of damage. Follow up with Rock Sling spell from a safe distance. While your companion and Mimic Tear distract it you can keep firing the Rock Sling spell from a safe distance so you won’t be at risk of taking damage. If you take damage heal back to full health immediately. The boss sometimes uses a gray breath that covers a long distance, but otherwise he mostly uses melee attacks around him.
Reward: 90,000 Runes, Remembrance of the Dancing Lion
Boss #3 – Ghostflame Dragon #1
Location: In a lake in the north of Gravesite Plain region, west of the “Greatbridge, North” site of grace
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: This boss is very weak to gravity spells. He’s easy to defeat as mage. Summon your Mimic Tear to distract the boss. Then shoot Rock Sling spell from a safe distance. It deals a lot of damage and often stuns the boss. Because the Rock Sling covers a long distance and homes in on the boss automatically you can stay at a safe distance the entire time.
Reward: 100,000 Runes, Dragon Heart x1, Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone x1
Boss #4 – Demi-Human Swordmaster Onze
Location: Belurat Gaol (go through the west of the lake where the Ghostflame Dragon boss is to reach this dungeon). The boss is in the last room at the very end of the Belurat Goal dungeon.
Difficulty: 2.5/10
Strategy: This bosses uses only melee attacks at short distance with his sword. If you are playing as a mage, start by summoning your Mimic Tear to distract it, then consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana) and fire Comet Azur spell to kill it in one attack. If the boss survives then keep shooting him with Rock Sling spell which will kill him fast. He doesn’t have much health but his combos are deadly if you take 3 hits in succession. If he gets close and starts an attack just roll away from him, then cast more Rock Sling spells from the other end of the arena while your Mimic Tear distracts him.
Reward: 80,000 Runes, Ashes: Demi-Human Swordsman Yosh
Boss #5 – Death Knight #1
Location: Fog Rift Catacombs (at very end of Catacombs in last room)
Difficulty: 4/10
Strategy: This boss wields dual-axes which he uses for close-range melee combos, and he also uses lightning magic attacks from a distance. He does a lot of combos in quick succession but the hits don’t inflict as much damage as other bosses. Immediately after entering the boss arena summon your Mimic Tear to distract him, then spam Rock Sling spell from a safe distance until he is defeated. If your Mimic Tear dies, dodge his combo and then fire a single Great Glintstone Shard spell, rinse and repeat. When you see yellow lightning charging up around the boss get ready to dodge sideways when he shoots it at you. When he does melee combos always dodge and run away to get some distance between you and the boss before firing a spell at him. At Level 150+ he shouldn’t pose too much trouble if your Mimic Tear stays alive during the entire fight. You can also consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana) then fire Comet Azur spell to deal it a lot of damage, but the boss jumps around a lot so it might not hit him. Rock Sling is the safer choice because it homes in on the boss automatically.
Reward: 110,000 Runes, Death Knight’s Twin Axes, Crimson Amber Medallion +3
Boss #6 – Rellana, Twin Moon Knight
Location: Castle Enis > Castle-Lord’s Chamber (at very end of the castle)
Difficulty: 8/10 (Level 160+ recommended)
Strategy: The hardest boss in the DLC so far. Rellana has high resistance to blue magic (but less resistance to purple magic). She has a ton of health and hits extremely hard, at Level 150+ she killed me in 3 hits. She is also very fast, leaving very little breaks between attacks, constantly casting ranged magic while simultaneously continuing her onslaught of long melee combos. After she takes damage, she will buff her weapons with magic and will shoot more magic missiles. She will also shoot Glintstone Arcs (that cover a wider radius) and a huge magic Greatsword with a devastating forward hit followed by a 360° spin that requires perfect timing to dodge (just before the attack hits you), but can also be avoided by staying far enough away from her. By far the most problematic attack is when she flies up and unleashes 3 blue orbs that drop to the ground and cause shockwaves over the entire boss arena. To dodge this, you have to JUMP UP (press / ) just slightly before the blue orb hits the ground. If you’re in midair you won’t get hit by the first 2 shockwaves. However, on the third shockwave Rellana will drop down and it will always hit you wherever you are in the arena, regardless of whether you’re in midair or on the ground. This can’t be dodged so always heal to full health to not get killed by it.
Before the fight, summon two of the orange NPCs outside the boss door (at least two of them will always show up even when you’re offline). Also bring Mimic Tear Ashes but DON’T use them until the two companion NPCs have died, this way you can call your Ashen summon midway through the fight to keep distracting the boss. If you were to call your Ashen summon right away it would die alongside the companions and then you’re on your own, so save it. For Talismans equip Spelldrake Talisman (greatly boosts magic damage negation) and Pearldrake Talisman (greatly boosts all non-physical damage negation). Erdtree’s Favor talisman is also good for more stamina and HP. If you’re a mage, equip Radagon Icon talisman for faster cast times, it will make it easier to kill the boss before all your companions die. Equip the spells “Rock Sling” and “Great Glitstone Shard”. For Flasks bring 9 Health and 5 Mana.
As a mage, spam nothing but “Rock Sling” spell the entire time. Let the two companions distract the boss. Try to take down at least 60% of the healthbar before your companions die. This will happen at probably the same time when the boss uses the 3 orbs that create shockwaves over the entire arena. Immediately when the second companion dies, summon your Ashen Remains, preferably upgraded “Mimic Tear” ashes, which create a copy of yourself. While this is active keep spamming Rock Sling. This spell is great because it covers a long distance, automatically homes in on the boss, does more damage than blue spells, and stuns the boss every few hits. Avoid using Comet Azur because the boss jumps around too much and is hard to hit with it, plus has too much resistance to blue magic anyway. Stay far enough away so the blue spinning Greatsword can’t hit you. Dodge any magic projectiles coming towards you. If the boss focuses on you, run away and let the companions bait her again. It’s recommended being Level 150+ for this. As a mage put 60 Vigor, 30+ Mind, 30+ Endurance, 70+ Intelligence (99 Intelligence would be best). The main issue you’ll have is that the NPC helpers die before finishing the boss. This is why you want maxed out Intelligence so you can deal damage fast enough to kill the boss. There is a slight element of luck to this because sometimes the NPCs get hit more and sometimes your Rock Slings miss, so it can take a few tries and is ultimately a matter of brute force.
If your companions and your Ashen Summon have died, cast only Great Glintstone Shard. However, the boss doesn’t leave many openings for attacks so carefully dodge her full combos, then you can maybe shoot 1 or 2 Great Glitstone Shards. Also keep an eye on your Stamina between dodging and using magic, you always want some Stamina left for an emergency dodge.
Reward: 180,000, Remembrance of the Twin Moon Knight
Boss #7 – Golden Hippopotamus
Location: Shadow Keep Main Gate
Difficulty: 2.5/10
Strategy: This is a big Hippo monster. It mostly uses melee attacks with its head, and sometimes ranged electric projectiles from its back. Its attacks are slow and easy to avoid by dodging sideways. As soon as you enter the boss room, summon your Mimic Tear ashes. Wait until the Hippo focuses on your Mimic Tear. Then consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana), cast Terra Magica for more damage, and fire Comet Azur spell to deal it a lot of damage. Follow up with more Comet Azur spells or Great Glintstone Shard spell. This will kill the boss very quickly and easily. Also, if the Hippo grabs you with its mouth it will sometimes bug out and stand still in place without moving or attacking (both times I tried this it happened each time). So if you’re lucky and the boss bugs out you can just keep attacking and it won’t do anything to harm you.
Reward: 200,000 Runes, Scadutree Fragment x2, Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns
Boss #8 – Sir Ansbach
Location: Shadow Keep > Storehouse, First Floor
Difficulty: 3/10 (using Carian Slicer to keep him stunlocked so he can’t attack)
MISSABLE WARNING: Killing Sir Ansbach locks you out of his questline (sometime he is hostile and attacks, sometimes he’s friendly and doesn’t attack). It’s recommended to NOT kill him. Do his quest instead to summon him as an ally against the final boss. See Ansbach Quest Guide.
Strategy: Sir Ansbach is technically just a unique enemy with a red name, not a proper “boss” with a health bar at the bottom of the screen. He still deserves special mention because he hits extremely hard and has quite a bit of health, and without the right strategy can be tricky. A super simple no-skill-required method is to use the Carian Slicer spell (magic sword). Run up to him and keep slicing him, it will completely stunlock him and he can’t move or do anything. When your stamina runs out, hide behind the table in the middle of the room, wait for him to come around the corner close to you, then rush in and use Carian Slicer again. Doing this 2-3 times should be enough to kill him (depending on your Intelligence stat and amount of Stamina). He drops a full light-weight armor set.
Reward: 3000 Runes, Wise Man’s Mask, Ansbach’s Attire, Ansbach’s Manchettes, Ansbach’s Boots, Ansbach’s Longbow
Boss #9 – Ghostflame Dragon #2
Location: South of Moorth Ruins
Difficulty: 3.5/10
Strategy: Just shoot it with Rock Sling spell from afar, call your Mimic Tear for help. This dragon is surrounded by other enemies with makes him slighter more difficult than other Ghostflame Dragons. Kill the archer enemies for. Also stay on your mount and ride in big circles around the dragon, it will kill most enemies for you.
Reward: 120,000 Runes, Dragon Heart x1, Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone x1
Boss #10 – Black Knight Edredd
Location: Fort of Reprimand (after going through the Fort, upstairs in last room)
Difficulty: 1/10 (using Comet Azur spell to instant-kill him before the fight starts)
Strategy: Just blast him with a Comet Azur spell before entering the room he’s in. You can one-shot him before the fight even starts. Can also consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana), and cast Terra Magica for more damage. He has very little health.
Reward: 4,446 Runes, Ash of War: Aspects of the Crucible ‘Wings’
Boss #11 – Chief Bloodfiend
Location: Rivermouth Cave (cave entrance is found in the north of Elac River where the Rivermouth Cave site of grace is)
Difficulty: 3/10 (using Comet Azur spell to kill it in one hit)
Strategy: You find this boss at the very end of the Rivermouth Cave. He is extremely aggressive and hits very hard, but has little health and can be one-shotted with Comet Azur Spell (at 70+ Intelligence). He is constantly attacking with a flurry of wield melee swings in a relatively small room. As soon as you enter, summon your Mimic Tear ashes (or any other ashes) to distract the boss. Then get behind his back, consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana), cast Terra Magica for more damage, and fire Comet Azur spell to kill the boss in one attack. This makes the fight trivial. However, if he refocuses his attacks on your while you’re still casting the spell, just run away and wait for him to attack your ashen summon again, then shoot him with Great Glintstone Shard spell to finish him off.
Reward: 80,000 Runes, Bloodfiend Hexer’s Ashes
Boss #12 – Ghostflame Dragon #3
Location: Cerulean Coast
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: Just shoot it with Rock Sling spell from afar, call your Mimic Tear for help.
Reward: 120,000 Runes, Dragon Heart x1, Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone x1
Boss #13 – Dancer of Ranah
Location: Southern Nameless Mausoleum (from Cerulean Coast site of grace ride west until you reach an old tree at the coastline, behind this tree drop down to the beach and there will be a tunnel going underground that leads to the neighboring island where this Mausoleum is)
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: Ranah uses only short-range dual sword attacks and sometimes a fire spell that has short reach but covers a wide radius. Run close to her to bait her into attacking, then dodge and hit her. Rinse and repeat. As a mage the best spell to use is Great Glintstone Shard because it’s quick to use and deals good damage. The enemy’s swords don’t deal much damage and it’s easy to dodge her attacks.
Reward: 80,000 Runes, Dancing Blade of Ranah, Dancer’s Hood, Dancer’s Dress, Dancner’s Bracer, Dancer’s Trousers
Boss #14 – Demi-Human Queen Marigga
Location: Cerulean Coast West (from this site of grace ride north and then turn left to reach a coast with this boss)
Difficulty: 1/10
Strategy: This boss shoots magic spells at you. It has very low health and will die in a few hits. You can shoot it with Comet Azur spell from a distance and it will die before the fight starts.
Reward: 100,000 Runes, Star-Lined Sword
Boss #15 – Putrescent Knight
Location: Stone Coffin Fissure > Fissure Depths (drop down the big crater at the southern tip of Cerulean Coast in the very south of the map, then go through the Fissure Cave, after Fissure Depths site of grace drop down the stone head at the end of the path where a ghost is praying)
Difficulty: 6/10 (Level 160+ recommended)
Strategy: This is a double boss consisting of a horse and knight. The knight hits very hard and can kill in 2-3 hits. The most dangerous attack is when he uses ice flame magic all over the arena which is tricky to dodge, he will cast 3 waves of ice flames in a row which will kill you if you get hit by all 3. The way to survive this is to be at full health and avoid at least one of the 3 ice flame waves, if you have 60+ Vigor you will survive. Always heal back to full health the entire fight. Being Level 160+ is recommended. When the knight leaves his horse, then the horse will appear out of nowhere from the ground to ram into you while the knight does a flurry of spinning melee attacks. Dodge at the same time he starts an attack to evade his melee. Overall he has a limited moveset and his attacks aren’t too difficult to dodge, it’s just that he throws a lot at you at all once while also needing to look out for the horse, so just constantly dodge when he does his combo. As soon as you enter the boss area, summon your Mimic Tear ashes. These will distract the boss. Then as a mage hang back and spam Rock Sling spell from afar. If the boss focuses on you, dodge all his attacks and run away from him until he focuses on your Mimic Tear. The good thing is that this boss doesn’t have much health. But he moves around constantly and jumps a lot, hence the Rock Sling spell is great because it homes in on him automatically, so with a mage build he shouldn’t be too much trouble if you’re sufficiently leveled.
Reward: 220,000 Runes, Remembrance of Putrescene
Boss #16 – Ancient Dragon-Man
Location: Gravesite Plain > Pillar Path Waypoint site of grace (1st fight) > Dragon’s Pit (2nd fight)
Difficulty: 1/10
Strategy: This boss appears twice in a row – first in his invader form (red) and once in his real form (human). First, follow the path southwest from Pillar Path Waypoint site of grace, where you find an NPC called Igon crying in pain. Along the path you will be invaded by the Ancient Dragon-Man. Just shoot Comet Azur spell at him to instant kill him before he gets close to you. Keep following the path south until you reach the Dragon’s Pit. Go all the way down into the pit until you reach a room with a broken bridge and a rune with a text that says to be brave and have no fear. You must drop down the black abyss, it won’t kill you, instead you will land safely at the very bottom of the pit. The boss will be in front of you. This time you fight his real form, which has a bit more health than the invader form. Easiest option is to spam him with Carian Slicer spell (the magic sword spell), it will keep him stunlocked and he won’t be able to move or attack, making this fight trivial. When you are out of stamina dodge away and walk sideways until your stamina has recharged then run to him and again spam your Carian Slicer until out of Stamina. Doing this 2 or 3 times should be enough to kill him. His only dangerous attack is when you casts a dragon head, which will instant kill you in 1 hit, all other attacks are easily dodged by walking sideways. After defeating the boss you will find a gate behind him, open it to reach the exit of the cave which leads to a new region.
Reward: 130,000 Runes, Weapon: Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana
Boss #17 – Jagged Peak Drake (x3)
Location: Dragon’s Pit Terminus (reached by going through gate after Ancient Dragon-Man boss)
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: There are multiple copies of this dragon boss type, found throughout the Jagged Peak area which is the mountain in the southeast of the map.
Jagged Peak Drake # 1 – When approaching the dragon, consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana) and fire Comet Azur spell to deal it a lot of damage. If you’re lucky it will kill it in one use. If it survives, summon your mount and your ashes. While the ashes distract the dragon, ride around it and keep shooting it with magic (Great Glintstone Shard, or Rock Sling). It will die pretty quick from magic.
Reward: 90,000 Runes, Dragon Heart x1, Draconscale Flesh x1
Jagged Peak Drake #2 & #3 – While going further up the Jagged Peak, you will encounter two dragons fighting. Let them fight each other in the beginning, one will kill the other (or at least nearly kill it before it attacks you). Then you only need to fight the remaining dragon. Strategy is the same as before. It doesn’t have much health, just summon your Mimic Tear ashes and shoot it with magic from afar.
Reward: 120,000 Runes, Dragon Heart x1, Dragonscale Flesh x1
Boss #18 – Ancient Dragon Senessax
Location: Jagged Peak Mountainside
Difficulty: 6/10 (at Level 160+)
Strategy: This boss has a lot of health (about 4 times more than the Jagged Peak Dragons you faced earlier). It also attacks faster and hits harder, using red lightning. Easiest strategy is again with mage. Summon your Mimic Tear ashes at the start. Get behind the dragon, cast Terra Magica to buff your magic damage, consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana), fire Comet Azur spell to deal it a lot of damage. Then keep blasting it with Comet Azur from behind while your Mimic Tear distracts it. Always stay on your mount, don’t walk on foot. This makes it easier to get away from the dragon when it’s about to attack. Most of its red lightning attacks only affect the ground in a short radius around it and are easily prevented by riding away. Bring mostly mana bottles because casting Comet Azur will quickly drain your mana. Not getting hit shouldn’t be a huge issue after you familiarized with the dragon’s moveset and stay out of its danger zone. When your Mimic Tear dies, ride away from the dragon and cast Rock Sling spell WHILE FACING AWAY FROM IT. The Rock Sling will automatically home in on it, even when you look away from the boss. The dragon doesn’t attack as much when you are not facing it / riding away, because it will try to catch up to you to close the distance (as its attack have short range it can’t do much from afar). You just have to stay in the ideal range where it tries to chase you / doesn’t attack you, but your Rock Sling can still hit it, basically the outer perimeter where your Rock Sling can still hit. Always ride a little bit further in front of the dragon, shoot another Rock Sling, rinse and repeat. If the dragon attacks, dash away quickly ( / ) to build more distance, it won’t hit you then. If it flies up in the air for a charge attack, dash sideways on your mount and jump up before it lands ( / ), this will dodge it. Its other long-range attack is fire breath which it shoots in a straight line, easily avoided by riding sideways. If it makes the ground glow red or casts red spears in its hands just ride away as it’ll only hit the ground around itself over a short distance. Keep an eye on your remaining mana flasks, stop using Comet Azur when you only got 2-3 left and switch to Rock Sling spell then.
Reward: 200,000 Runes, Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone, Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone
Boss #19 – Bayle the Dread
Location: Jagged Peak Summit
Difficulty: 8/10 (at Level 150) – 6.5/10 (at Level 190+ having gotten 15+ Scadutree Blessings)
Strategy: Bayle the Dread and Promised Consort Radahn are the two hardest bosses in the game. Bayle is a huge dragon at the top of Jagged Peak. He hits extremely hard with AOE attacks that can be hard to dodge (but are dodgeable with perfect timing) and he has a ton of health. Before the fight, make sure you defeated the two smaller dragons at “Jagged Peak Mountainside” site of grace. After you did this, talk to Igon where you fought the two dragons, he will call out to you and gets marked on the map. He gives you his summoning finger, then you can call him after entering the Bayle boss fight, by interacting with the yellow sign after going through the gate to the boss arena (not before the boss arena). Also talk to the Dragon Communion Priestess at the “Grand Altar of Dragon Communion” site of grace, found by riding south from where you entered Jagged Peak area (after Dragon’s Pit), where the big Dragon Skeleton is on the border to Cerulean Coast. She gives you a blessing called “Ancient Dragon’s Blessing” which you can equip to your quickslots via the equipment menu. It’s only 1 use but when you used it you can talk to the Priestess again and she keeps giving the blessing repeatedly after each use. It consumes some FP but reduces the incoming damage for a few seconds – keep this for Bayle’s second phase. Now the fight itself: as soon as you enter the arena, summon your Mimic Tear and interact with the yellow summoning sign straight ahead from the entry gate to call Igon. Let these two distract the boss and shoot it with Great Glintstone Shard spell. Make sure you hit its head. You can also consume a Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana) and fire Comet Azur spell to deal a lot of damage, but you must time it perfectly after Bayle does an attack and stands still for a moment. If you hit his feet or other body parts you won’t deal much damage, always aim for the head. At half-health he will transform and gets more aggressive. He will fly up in the air and shoot fire projectiles at you, and comes crashing down with AOE damage. You can dodge his AOE attacks by rolling sideways just half a second before he lands/hits the ground. When he breathes waves of fire you can also dodge through it to avoid taking damage but the timing is a bit tricky. Because he dashes out so much AOE damage, your NPC helpers will likely die during his second phase. Just keep dodging, healing, and shoot him with a few Great Glintstone Shards in the head. How hard this fight will be depends entirely on your level and especially how many Scadutree Fragments you found and redeemed at sites of grace for Scadutree Blessings. These buff you with permanent damage negation. I first tried this boss at level 150 with no Scadutree Blessings redeemed and it was extremely hard. But after gathering 16 Scadutree Blessings and reaching Level 187, Bayle did barely any damage. The Scadutree Blessings are a game-changer here, so keep Bayle for last after you thoroughly explored all DLC areas for Scadutree Fragments. Also bring mostly health flasks, I put 11 health and 3 mana flasks. If you play as mage you should have 99 Intelligence to deal more damage, so the fight won’t last as long and you won’t run out of flasks.
Reward: 490,000 Runes, Heart of Bayle (can be redeemed and Grand Altar of Dragon Communion for a powerful Incantation)
Boss #20 – Death Rite Bird
Location: Charo’s Hidden Grave (from Grand Altar Dragon Communion drop down the ledge south to reach the red flower fields on top of Cerulean Coast)
Difficulty: 4.5/10
Strategy: For this fight you’ll want to stay on your mount the entire time (if it dies spend a health flask to resummon it immediately). At melee range the boss is absolutely deadly, but if you ride away you can avoid all its attacks. You can also use pillars in the area for cover. The death bird spawns in the middle of a puddle of water where many smaller bird enemies are. Before engaging the boss you’ll want to clear out the smaller birds because they shoot flames at you from afar. The boss will also hit the smaller birds which kills them. Summon your Ashen Remains at the start too, ideally your Mimic Tear. The boss jumps around a lot so hitting it for extended periods with Comet Azur is tricky. It’s somewhat resistant to purple magic so avoid Gravity Sling, it takes too long to cast for this fight and the Bird will often shoot stuff at you from afar that requires fast sideways dashing on your mount. Just use Great Glintstone Shard spell while your Mimic Tear distracts the boss. If the boss focuses on you, ride away until the Mimic Tear draws his attention again. If the Mimic Tear dies, ride in a big circle around the boss, always moving sideways, while continuing to hit it with Great Glintstone Shard spell when you get around its side.
Reward: 230,000 Runes, Ash of War: Ghostflame Call
Boss #21 – Lamenter
Location: Lamenter’s Gaol (go through Charo’s Hidden Grave area to reach it)
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: This is a very weak boss with a limited move set consisting mostly of short range melee attacks. He is small, his attacks don’t reach far, and he doesn’t deal much damage. The hardest path is reaching the boss, he’s at the bottom level of the Lamenter’s Gaol. Inside this dungeon will be 2 locked doors, each requires a key, both of which are also found inside the dungeon (the first on the path left of the first locked door, the second in a treasure chest in a room with many pots). As the fight progresses, the boss will disappear and creates copies of itself. You must attack them fast to figure out which one is the real boss. The copies will die in 1 hit. The real boss will remain if being hit, just watch the health bar at the bottom of the screen, if this goes down you know you found the real boss. Just shoot all copies quickly with spells (such as Swift Glintstone Shard) or melee them. If you don’t kill him in a single round, keep repeating this as he will continue to make copies of himself, each time you need to find the real one before he disappears again.
Reward: 160,000 Runes, Lamenter’s Mask
Boss #22 – Messmer the Impaler / Base Serpent Messmer
Location: Shadow Keep > Dark Chamber Entrance (at the very top of Shadow Keep, after going up all floors in the Storehouse)
Difficulty: 7.5/10
Strategy: Messmer is a main boss at the very top of Shadow Keep. He is extremely aggressive, has long combos that cover a medium range, uses fire magic, and the fight consists of two phases. He will change to his serpent form when his health reaches 50%. He only has one health bar overall. He is weak to blue magic, the best spell to use is Great Glintstone Shard. Don’t use Comet Azur or Rock Sling because they are too slow for this fight and Messmer jumps around too much. Bring 11 Health Flasks and only 2 Mana Flasks. His most dangerous move is when he grabs you, which can instant kill you. Always stay at full health, if you have over 60 vigor you might be able to survive 1 grab if you’re at 100% health (depending on your other equipment/stats). He leaves only short breaks between his attacks, focus on dodging and only attack after he finishes a combo. His moves to exploit are: in the first phase when you’re far away from him he’ll jump in the air and turn into a burning ball when he jumps on the ground near you. Dodge as he hits the ground, then you have a few seconds to attack. In the second phase whenever the big serpent has a burning mouth it will hit the ground with an explosive blast, then the Serpent transforms back to Messmer and he will be stunned for a few seconds. Also any other time he transforms from serpent back to human he won’t attack for a few seconds. As soon as the fight starts, summon your Mimic Tear ashen remains. During the first phase it should survive. Just wait for Messmer to focus on the Mimic Tear, then shoot him from behind with Great Glintstone Shard until you’re out of Stamina. If he focuses on you, run away until he refocuses on your Mimic Tear.
In the second phase he will always start as a Serperent with a burning mouth, then comes crashing down to the ground where you stand to create an explosion. You can quickly shoot 1 Great Glintstone Shard as soon as the 2nd phase starts to deal some damage before he crashes down. Just before the Serpent mouth crashes on the ground, dodge sideways to avoid the blast radius. Then he transforms into human and is slow for about 5 seconds, hit him with Great Glintsthone Shard repeatedly. If your Mimic Tear is still alive it might survive one or two more combos, enough time to let your stamina refill and shoot him with magic. After your Mimic Tear dies, focus on dodging all his attacks. This will take some practice to learn his moveset and to build muscle memory for perfect dodge timing. Generally: when he’s calling the serpent heads, dodge sideways just a moment before they strike you (don’t dodge while they are further away and not yet coming your way). When the floor is glowing dark, run/dodge backwards because a Serpent will come out of the ground. If he uses melee and fire, dodge backwards. Especially if he does stabs, you just need to dodge far enough back to get out of range, or dodge just before he is about to hit you. When he shoots fire around himself it gets a bit hectic and it’s hard to dodge perfectly every time. If you get hit keep dodging and heal after his combo is done. Your priority is to keep your health at maximum, only attack when your health is good, otherwise dodge and heal or he’ll kill you in a single combo. When he does his slow serpent attacks you have time to recharge stamina, then when your stamina is full and he changes back to human form you can blast him with Great Glintstone Shard until you’re out of Stamina. Being Level 170+ is recommended (I had 60 Vigor / 37 Mind / 30 Endurance / 85 Intelligence / other stats don’t matter as mage). Overall one of the tougher fights so far, just takes a while to learn his moveset and when to dodge, and takes some luck with what attacks he will do in his 2nd phase. Eventually you’ll get a good try where he does more of his slow attacks in the 2nd phase where you can deal him a lot of damage quickly.
Reward: 400,000 Runes, Remembrance of the Impaler, Key Item: Messmer’s Kindling (must be used on the sealing tree at Church of the Bud to advance story)
Boss #23 – Red Bear
Location: Northern Nameless Mausoleum (on hill south-west of Ancient Ruins Base, there’s a wind gust below the hill, must hit the wind stone near it, it’s up the path. Then you can jump in the wind gust to be catapulted up the hill where the boss is in a Mausoleum)
Difficulty: 4/10
Strategy: Red Bear is a human in a bear armor, he uses claws on his hands to attack. His attacks are all very short range. Sometimes he casts a bear head on himself which roars and causes shockwave damage, but hitting him will immediately make him stop. He is very agile and dodges magic projectiles most of the time. Best approach is to run near him to bait him into attacking. After he does an attack/combo you can land 1-2 hits, rinse and repeat. His moveset is very limited and he usually either does a jump attack or a multi-hit combo which are easy to distinguish. If you’re a mage just keep shooting him with Great Glintstone Shard, he will dodge about 8 of 10 but you will land a few as he can’t dodge everything perfectly. You can also melee him with Carian Slicer spell (magic sword) after he misses and attack, technically you could just take the damage while slicing away at him, heal back and keep standing your ground to deal as much damage as you can before your health gets low. If you die you can respawn from the Stake of Maria right in front of the boss.
Reward: 80,000 Runes, Red Bear’s Claw, Fang Helm, Iron Rivet Armor, Iron Rivet Gauntlets, Iron Rivet Greaves
Boss #24 – Rugarlea the Great Red Bear
Location: Rauh Base > Ravine North
Difficulty: 1/10
Strategy: Simply shoot it with Comet Azur spell from afar before the fight starts to instakill it. The fight will be over before it starts.
Reward: Road of Rugalae
Boss #25 – Death Knight #2
Location: Scorpion River Catacombs (from Ravine North site of grace head west to find the entrance)
Difficulty: 4/10
Strategy: This is another copy of the Death Knight found also in the Fog Rift Catacombs. This version is found at the end of Scorpion River Catacombs. His most dangerous move is when he buffs himself with wings and rushes in to grab you, this will drain your HP to restore his. He will restore half his health from this one move so avoid being grabbed, easiest way is to run backward to get out of range or roll to the side if there’s not enough time to run away. As soon as the fight starts call your Mimic Tear ashen remains. Then run away until he focuses on the Mimic Tear and blast him with Rock Sling or Great Glintstone Shard spells from a safe distance. When he uses yellow lightning roll to the side to avoid it. Another dangerous attack is when he hits the ground to create an electric shockwave, this covers a wide radius and deals a lot of damage, you have to run far enough away to get out of range. If your Mimic Tear dies you can run close to him to bait him into attacking, then run away while he attacks and shoot him with one Great Glintstone Shard, rinse and repeat to keep baiting him.
Reward: 130,000 Runes, Death Knight’s Longshaft Axe, Cerulean Amber Medallion +3
Boss #26 – Rakshasa
Location: Eastern Nameless Mausoleum (from Recluses’ River Downstream site of grace look down the cliff directly where the site of grace is, there you can drop down from one platform to the next until you reach the river below, go up the river to find the Mausoleum)
Difficulty: 4/10
Strategy: Rakshasa is a human enemy using a Katana for short-range melee attacks. His most used attack is a stab, which is easily dodged or outrun. He sometimes does a jump attack or a 2-4 hit combo. His katana deals quite a lot of damage but his moveset is very limited and slow. He will dodge a lot. Best strategy is to run close to him to bait him into attacking, let him miss his attack and counterattack. As a mage, shoot him with Great Glintstone Shard after he misses an attack, rinse and repeat.
Reward: 90,000 Runes, Rakshasa’s Great Katana, Rakshasa’s Helm, Rakshasa Helm, Rakshasa Armor, Rakshasa Gauntlets, Rakshasa Greaves
Boss #27 – Jori, Elder Inquisitor
Location: Darklight Catacombs
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: Jori is found at the end of Darklight Catacombs. This boss uses only ranged attacks, either shooting magic projectiles at you or magic the ground glow which then causes damage after a short delay. When you get close to this boss it will teleport away. It also summons some other spirits for help. Because the boss stays mostly stationary you can call your Mimic Tear to distract it, then fire Comet Azur spell and you might kill it in one attack. Otherwise just keep shooting Great Glintstone Shard spell at it. The boss doesn’t have much health.
Reward: 260,000 Runes, Barbed Staff-Spear
Boss #28 – Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame
Location: Midra’s Manse > Second Floor Chamber (accessed from Abyssal Woods)
Difficulty: 5/10
Strategy: Midra is found at the end of Midra’s Manse, upstairs in the last room. He first starts out as a weak small deformed creature which will die in a few hits, just don’t get close to him as his only attack is to grab you which builds up Madness. Killing him triggers a cutscene and he transforms to his real boss form. He will almost always start by shooting two waves of Madness spells at you, just dodge sideways. He will then usually follow up with a melee attack, start running away from him to the end of the room. Now you have a moment to summon your Mimic Tear ashen remains. Immediately heal back to full health. Run around the room until he focuses on your Mimic Tear, then keep attack him from behind with spells. Use Great Glintstone Shard spell only (Rock Sling is too slow and makes it hard to dodge his spells). Also cast Terra Magica to buff your damage. Your Mimic Tear will probably die when the boss reaches around half health. Just keep your distance from him and focus on dodging his spells. When he rushes in for melee attacks, run away again to build distance. Keep shooting him with Great Glintstone Shards between his attacks. His main damage comes from his melee attacks but they are easily avoided by staying at distance the entire time. His only long-range spell that can hit from anywhere is a yellow spiral he shoots straight at you in a line, but it’s easy to avoid by dodging sideways. All his other spells don’t reach very far. He has a decent amount of health but if you have 99 Intelligence stat the fight won’t last long.
Reward: 410,000 Runes, Remembrance of the Lord of Frenzied Flame
Boss #29 – Curseblade Labirith
Location: Bonny Gaol (from Bonny Village ride over the bridge southward)
Difficulty: 1/10
Strategy: You find this boss at the end of Bonny Goal, it’s a dancer enemy with blades and casts some dark fog which makes it harder to see. It has very low health and will die in a few hits, it’s one of the easiest in the Shadow of Erdtree DLC. It also doesn’t hit too hard. At the start of the fight summon your Mimic Tear, then just shoot it with Great Glintstone Shard spell a few times. The fight will be over in 20 seconds.
Reward: 100,000 Runes, Ash: Curseblade Meera
Boss #30 – Commander Gaius
Location: Shadow Keep, Back Gate
Difficulty: 6/10
Strategy: Commander Gaius is a knight riding on a boar. He can use purple gravity magic and melee attacks while riding. You are allowed to summon your spectral steed during the fight but it’s better to avoid this because he will aggressively ride after you and constantly shoot you with long-range spells. At the start of the fight, summon your Mimic Tear ashen remains. He will charge at you, dodge sideways for a chance to avoid it (the dodge-timing is very particular on this and takes some practice). Run away to make him focus on your Mimic Tear, then cast Terra Magica and shoot him with Great Glintstone Shard spells from behind. He will frequently refocus his attacks on you, dodge everything he throws at you and get away from him until he focuses on your Mimic Tear again. He does have quite a lot of health and his attacks aren’t the easiest to dodge so he might take a few tries. Your Mimic Tear might die during this fight, if it does keep dodging his attacks by rolling to the side and follow up with 1-2 Great Glintstone Shard spells when there’s a break, rinse and repeat. Stay at medium distance from him, just outside of his melee attack range but close enough that your Great Glintstone Shard can hit him. He when casts a purple gravity bubble spell on the ground it will pull you in and explode 3 times within a few seconds. Get away from this as fast as possible so it doesn’t pull you in. After he charges at you, he likes to turn around and shoot a purple spell at you in a straight line, which doesn’t leave enough time to drink a flask. It’s better to dodge his follow-up first after he charges at you, then you will have a break to heal. Always keep your health at the maximum. If you have trouble with this fight, collect more Scadutree fragments first and use them at a site of grace to receive more damage negation. Level 180+ is recommended for this fight.
Reward: 230,000 Runes, Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider
Boss #31 – Tree Sentinel (x2)
Location: Hinterland (from “Shadow Keep, Black Gate” site of grace turn to the right and enter the room with an altar/statue in it, use the “O Mother” gesture in front of it to open a secret wall leading to it – the gesture is found in northeast corner of Bonny Village)
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: This boss was already in the main game, he’s a golden knight on a horse. He hits hard but doesn’t have much health at this point in the game. Just call your Mimic Tear to distract him, then shoot Great Glintstone Tear spells at him from behind and he’ll die within a few seconds. There are two Tree Sentinel bosses on the same path close together here, but you can fight them one by one.
Reward: 120,000 Runes, Blessing of Marika x1 (same for each Tree Sentinel)
Boss #32 – Fallingstar Beast
Location: Finger Ruins of Dheo
Difficulty: 2/10
Strategy: This fight starts when you approach the purple orb in the crater. Before doing so, summon your Mimic Tear ashen remains and also summon your Spectral Steed. You want to ride on your mount for this fight. Equip the spells “Rock Sling” or “Great Glintstone Shard” (either is fine for this). Approach the purple orb and the boss will spawn, then ride in big circles around it, until it focuses on your Mimic Tear, then shoot it with spells from a safe distance. It doesn’t have much health.
Reward: 170,000 Runes, Spell: Gravitational Missile
Boss #33 – Scadutree Avatar
Location: Scadutree Base
Difficulty: 3/10
Strategy: Scadutree Avatar is a multi-boss consisting of 3 flowers. They have very little health and die in a few hits. Shoot the flower head with Great Glintstone Shard spells. Avoid its attacks by rolling to the side constantly when it attacks. It deals bleed damage, so avoid letting the bleed status reach the maximum. After one flower is destroyed another spawns. After the third boss the fight is finished (so in total it has 3 health bars and spawns a new flower each round). You can also summon your Mimic Tear to distract the boss.
Reward: 260,000 Runes, Miquella’s Great Rune x1, Remembrance of the Shadow Sunflower
Boss #34 – Metyr, Mother of Fingers
Location: Cathedral of Manus Metyr, the boss is only accessible as part of Ymir’s Questline.
Difficulty: 1/10
Strategy: Consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana), cast Terra Magica to buff your damage, then shoot Comet Azur spell before the boss gets close to you. It will die in one use before the fight even starts. Easy peasy.
Reward: 420,000 Runes, Remembrance of the Mother of Fingers
Boss #35 – Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers & Swordhand of Knight Jolán
Location: Cathedral of Manus Metyr, the boss is only accessible as part of Ymir’s Questline.
Difficulty: 1/10
Strategy: At the end of Ymir’s questline you will first fight Jolán. She uses short-range melee attacks with her katana. She doesn’t have much health. Count Ymir is the easiest boss in the game. He just stands around and summons some “hand enemies” which tend to crawl around him without attacking you. He his less health than many of the regular non-boss enemies and is completely defenseless.
Reward: 0 Runes, Ymir’s Bell Bearing, Maternal Staff, High Priest Hat, High Priest Robe, High Priest Gloves, High Priest Undergarments
Boss #36 – Divine Beast Dancing Lion #2
Location: Ancient Ruins, Grand Stairway (from this site of grace ride down the stairway all the way to the end and jump off the right side to find the boss)
Difficulty: 3/10
Strategy: This is a copy of the first Divine Beast Dancing Lion boss found in Belurat. As soon as you enter the boss area, call your Mimic Tear ashen remains. Then shoot the boss with Rock Sling spell while your Mimic Tear distracts it. You can also summon your mount here if you wish.
Reward: 180,000 Runes, Divine Beast Tornado
Boss #37 – Romina, Saint of the Bud
Location: Church of the Bud, Main Entrance (to get here exit Shadow Keep through its west rampart then follow the path through the Ancient Ruins until you reach the end of the path)
Difficulty: 3/10
Strategy: Romina is a hybrid being of a centipede with a woman attached to it. She mostly uses the centipede body to attack with melee. This has relatively short range and is easily avoided by running backwards. As soon as the fight starts call your Mimic Tear ashen remains, run away until she focuses on the Mimic Tear. Then blast her with Rock Sling spell from afar or Great Glintstone Shard. If you time it well you can also fire Comet Azur at her to deal huge damage when she’s not moving around. If she flies up and creates purple butterflies run away because they will explode. She is weak to damage and takes a lot of damage from spells so the fight should be over pretty fast.
Reward: 380,000 Runes, Remembrance of the Saint of the Bud
Boss #38 – Needle Knight Leda & her Allies: Hornsent, Dryleaf Dane
Location: Enir-Ilim > Cleansing Chamber Anteroom
Difficulty: 4/10
Strategy: To start this fight you must interact with the red summoning rune. Before doing this, interact with the orange summoning sign(s), depending on whose side quests you did your allies will join you during the fight. Then interact with the red rune to teleport to the fight. Immediately call your Mimic Tear ashen remains, then heal back to full health. Consume Wondrous Flask with Cerulean Hidden Tear (infinite mana), cast Terra Magica to buff your damage, then spam Great Glintstone Shard on the first enemy that spawns, called “Hornsent”. He will die within a few seconds, by the time the second enemy arrives (or very shortly after) he should have died from your Great Glintstone Shards. He’ll try to dodge but he doesn’t have much health and will quickly go down. Now wait for your stamina to fully recharge, then spam Carian Slicer spell on the second enemy, called “Dryleaf Dane”. Now the NPC you summoned before the fight should also join in, so it’s 3 vs. 1. If you are quick enough you can kill Dryleaf Dane before Needle Knight Leda arrives (or at least have him nearly defeated). When you’re out of stamina wait for it to recharge then run to him and again spam Carian Slicer until out of stamina, rinse and repeat. Don’t worry about taking some damage here, just overwhelm Dryleaf Dane with attacks and kill him as fast as possible, then it’s 3 vs. 1 against Leda. On her own she doesn’t pose much of a threat. Just shoot her with Great Glintstone Shard spell from afar while your teammates distract her. Cast Terra Magica again for increased damage. Leda will try to heal a few times but as long as your teammates are alive you can stay at safe distance and keep attacking constantly, she will try to dodge a bunch which leaves her unable to attack. Bring 5-6 Mana Flasks for this fight. After the fight you will return to your world, you can now loot the bodies of all 3 enemies for their armor sets.
Reward: 300,000 Runes – Hornsent’s Set (from his corpse after fight): Falx, Caterpillar Mask, Braided Cord Robe, Braided Arm Wraps, Soiled Loincloth – Dryleft’s Set (from his corpse): Dryleaf Robe, Dryleaf Arm Wraps, Dryleaf Cuisardes, Dane’s Footwork – Leda’s Set (from her corpse): Oathseeker Knight Helm, Leda’s Armor, Oathseeker Knight Gauntlets, Oathseeker Knight Greaves
Boss #39 – Promised Consort Radahn / Radahn, Consort of Miquella
Location: Enir-Ilim > Divine Gate Front Staircase
Difficulty: 9/10 – 10/10 depending on whether you finished Thiollier’s questline & Ansbach’s questline to summon them for the fight, what level you are, how many Scadutree Fragments you redeemed for damage negation, and your character build. This fight is extremely hard as a mage build, but can be quite easy with a good bleed build.
Strategy: The final boss in the DLC is Radahn. He is by far the hardest boss. He has two phases, he transforms at half health but in total he has only 1 health bar. He kills in 2-3 hits and does a lot of AOE attacks that are hard to dodge. He also has a lot of health. He is weak to bleed damage however. You have the best chance against him if you finished Thiollier’s questline & Ansbach’s questline, both of which are highly missable. If you didn’t do the required steps before burning the Sealing Tree and fighting Leda you can no longer do their quests and will have to face Radahn solo, which makes his second phase near impossible without overpowered game-breaking builds. If you call your Mimic Tear and have Thiollier and Ansbach to help then it will be 4 vs. 1 and they will draw his attention away from you, giving you time to attack from behind with bleed damage, dual-wielding melee weapons with bleed effect. If the bleed status builds up he will take huge chunks of damage at once. The downside of having Thiollier and Ansbach summoned is that Radahn will have 3 times as much health, as a mage you would run out of mana too fast and Radahn will be super tanky. If you are solo he has less health but he won’t leave you much of a break to counterattack. If you didn’t do the NPC questlines and are solo, you can try summoning a friend for help in co-op. If you know someone with a game-breaking build who finished Radahn before you might get carried through the fight, but won’t be able to summon Mimic Tear if there’s a co-op player.
For the fight itself: He will usually start the fight with a jump attack that does purple AOE gravity damage. Dodge just before he lands. Then quickly summon your Mimic Tear and heal back (don’t summon the Mimic Tear before he jumps, as he’ll hit you). Definitely have all or most of the Scadutree Fragments for damage negation, otherwise you can get one-hitted by Radahn. Dual-wield two powerful melee weapons with bleed effect, attack Radahn from behind. If you have enough faith stat you can also buff yourself using incantations.
His 1st phase attacks are: melee combos = dodge backwards / purple rock sling spell (shooting rocks at you from above) = run sideways and dodge sideways in last moment / jump with purple AOE splash damage = dodge sideways just before he lands / jump without magic = dodge sideways just before he lands (he sometimes does two jumps in succession so stay alert after the first jump) / gravity pull-in = be far away from him to not be affected or dodge backwards just before the gravity shockwave hits, it’s his most annoying move and if he pulls you in will follow up with a melee combo / he also does a variety of other AOE damage on the ground such as summoning purple rocks from the ground in a wide radius or punching the ground and pulling his swords up = dodge backwards and get out of range.
His 1st phase attacks are less aggressive than the 2nd phase. Try to learn the dodge timing perfectly to not take too much damage in the first phase. It can take dozens of attempts to master this but it’s ultimately a matter of pattern recognition and timing. His first phase isn’t too bad with using Mimic Tear.
His 2nd phase is absolutely busted and downright unfair. At the start he will always do two big waves of light damage from the floor. Keep running sideways until he lit up the floor twice. Then he will start incorporating light-based attacks into his other attacks. If you are solo against him you will just be busy healing and dodging and won’t have time to deal damage. Plus he’s constantly jumping around so he’s hard to hit. The way to success here is to have him distracted with one of the summoned NPC helpers or your Mimic Tear, and overwhelm him with bleed damage from behind. If he focuses on you run away and wait for him to attack your allies. If all else fails you can always try to summon co-op players online.
The following build is considered to be one of the most powerful, game-breaking builds in all of Elden Ring. It relies on Bleed and with the following loadout you can easily increase your damage by 50% and kill Radahn quickly.
Weapons
- Right Hand Armament 1: Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear +10 (can be obtained by trading Remembrance of the Blood Lord with Enia at Roundtable Hold)
- Left Hand Armament 1: Dragon Communion Seal +10 (can be found at Fringefolk Hero’s Grave, right at the beginning of the game)
- Right Hand Armament 2: Gargoyle’s Blood Twinblade +25 with Seppuku Ash of War and Blood Affinity (the weapon is dropped by Valiant Gargoyle, the Ash of War can be found east of the “Freezing Lake” site of grace in the Mountaintops of the Giants, dropped by an invisible scarab)
- Left Hand Armament 2: Gargoyle’s Blood Twinblade +25 with Seppuku Ash of War and Blood Affinity (the weapon is dropped by Valiant Gargoyle, the Ash of War can be found east of the “Freezing Lake” site of grace in the Mountaintops of the Giants, dropped by an invisible scarab)
- Right Hand Armament 3: Lusat’s Glintstone Staff +10 (found in Sellia, Town of Sorcery in Caelid, dropped by Nox Swordstress and Nox Priest)
Armor
- Head: White Mask (dropped by the Nameless White Mask red NPC in the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum, can be easily reached by going through Varre’s quest line which start at the beginning of Limgrave)
- Chest, Arms, Legs: anything that raises your stats, keeps a Medium Load and a Poise above 50. The higher the Poise, the less easily you get staggered.
Talismans
- Lord of Blood’s Exultation: dropped by Esgar, Priest of Blood in the Subterranean-Shunning Ground > Leyndell Catacombs
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: earned after choosing to assist Millicent and successfully defeat her sisters in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. Millicent’s quest line can be started in Caelid.
- Ritual Sword Talisman: dropped by Demi-Human Queen Gilika at Lux Ruins in Liurnia of the Lakes.
- Shard of Alexander: earned after completing Alexander’s quest line which can be started in Limgrave.
Flask of Wndrous Physick
- Greenburst Crystal Tear: dropped by the Putrid Avatar found at the Minor Erdtree in Caelid, east of Smoldering Church.
- Thorny Cracked Tear: dropped by the Putrid Avatar at the Minor Erdtree in the Consecrated Snowfield, east of Ordina, Liturgical Town.
Spells/Buffs
- Golden Vow (found in a hut in Mt. Gelmir)
- Howl of Shabriri (found at the top of Frenzy-Flaming Tower in Liurnia of the Lakes) -or- “Flame, Grant Me Strength” (found behind Fort Gael in Caelid, on a body between two Flame Chariots)
Great Rune
- Radahn’s Great Rune: raises maximum HP, FP and stamina. Make sure you have Rune Arcs in your quick selection wheel.
How to Use the Build
Before any challenging enemy or boss gate, do the following, in this order.
- Consume the Wondrous Physick
- Equip both Gargoyle’s Twiblades and press then then (:y: / / ). Do this one more time for the other Twinblade.
- Cast Howl of Shabriri or Flame, Grant Me Strength
- Cast Golden Vow
- Heal up
- Pop a Rune Arc
- Equip Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear
- While in the arena or right before a powerful enemy encounter, summon your Mimic Tear and let the boss/enemy aggro it.
- As the boss/enemy aggros the summon, get close to the boss and spam / to unleash the bleeding power of the Spear. You’ll start doing insane dame, especially if you’re level 300+. Alternatively, use melee attacks using dual-wielded Gargoyl’s Blood Twinblade.
Reward: 375,000 Runes, Remembrance of a God and Lord, Shadow of the Erdtree story finished.
For non-DLC main game bosses refer to Elden Ring Boss Guide (Main Game). For other guides refer to Elden Ring Wiki.
Phenie says
Just a note that Boss #10 – Black Knight Edredd gave me 80,000 runes. Might have been patched.