The Elden Beast is the final true boss in Elden Ring, appearing right after you kill Radagon of the Golden Order. The arena for this fight changes completely from Radagon's fight. This boss is mandatory in order to complete the game and see any endings, but you'll still be able to traverse the Lands Between afterwards, and take on other bosses before choosing an ending you like.
The fight with Elden Beast can be frustrating, mostly because of its habit of diving underwater and retreating far from the player. Here is all you need to know about the Elden Beast.
Elden Beast Overview
|
Elden Beast Overview |
|
|---|---|
|
Location |
Erdtree, Leyndell, Ashen Capital |
|
Optional |
No |
|
Summons |
Players and Spirit Ashes |
|
Drops |
|
|
Weak To |
Physical Attacks |
The Elden Beast is located inside the Erdtree in Leyndell, Ashen Capital. This boss fight is the second phase of the true final fight in Elden Ring. After defeating Radagon, you will see a cutscene where the Elden Beast consumes Radagon and comes face-to-face with the Tarnished.
Defeating the Elden Beast will net you 500,000 Runes and the Elden Remembrance. You can turn the Remembrance in to Finger Reader Enia in Roundtable Hold to get Marika's Hammer (Hammer) or the Sacred Relic Sword (Greatsword). You cannot summon NPCs for this fight but can use Spirit Ashes. Online players who were present for the Radagon fight will be able to help you out in the second phase as well.
Elden Beast Attacks
The Elden Beast manages to keep its distance throughout the fight, shooting Holy beams from long range or flying up in the air to cause a massive AoE explosion. Attacks to look out for are the Magic Grab and Elden Ring Blast.
|
Elden Beast Attacks |
|---|
Holy Stab
The Elden Beast charges its sword with Holy energy and stabs the ground, causing an explosion.
Counter: As soon as you see the boss charging its blade, you need to run away to avoid the AoE damage. If you're close and unable run away, then try getting towards the back of the boss.
Sword Beams
The boss launches four Holy beams from a great distance, one after the other. The first two are relatively quick; however, the boss delays the last two beams.
Counter: The best way to avoid this is by rolling into the beams at the last second. You won't take any damage, and you'll get a little closer to the boss.
Spinning Sword Swing
The Elden Beast swims in one direction, while raising its blade and swinging the sword at the player.
Counter: Rolling forwards will allow you to avoid the attack, and get beneath the boss for a few free hits.
Flaming Sword Dive
The boss flies in the air while igniting its blade. It then dives down and swings the blade at the player.
Counter: Rolling forwards is the only option here, as the attack has a wide radius and deals a lot of damage if you fail your roll or dodge to any other direction.
Yellow Fire Breath
The Elden Beast raises its head up and breathes yellow fire around the arena.
Counter: If you are at close range, then you need to the position yourself behind the boss to avoid this attack. If you are at long-range, keep running to one side until the attack is over.
Sparkling Dust
The boss swipes its hand in a forward arc, causing clouds to form near it. These clouds explode after a short duration.
Counter: This attack is easy to avoid as the cloud takes time to explode, giving you time to roll away from the area as soon as you see the clouds form.
Wing Spears
The Elden Beast's wing starts to glow, and it launches tracking light spears in your direction. These spears fall on you for a couple of seconds.
Counter: Run to either side as soon as you see the boss firing the spears into the sky.
Galaxy Cloud
The boss launches a trail of Galaxy Cloud in front of it. These clouds persist for a short time before exploding.
Counter: You can roll to any side, staying away from the clouds to avoid the AoE damage.
Magic Grab
The Elden Beast creates a giant magic ball in its left hand, and tries to grab the player. If successful, you will see a small animation where multiple spears pierce your character, dealing a lot of damage.
Counter: You need to get away from the boss as soon as you see the giant energy ball in its hand. Getting hit by this attack can kill you, so try to avoid it at all costs.
Black Hole
The boss charges a Black Hole that explodes after a few seconds. Getting caught in the AoE range will cause you to take serious damage.
Counter: Run away from the boss immediately after seeing the Black Hole charging up.
Elden Stars
The Elden Beast launches Elden Stars, which are small in size and track your position for quite some time.
Counter: This is one of the trickiest attacks to avoid. The stars are vast in number and have good tracking. To avoid it, you will have to run in one direction until the stars get close to you, then roll through the big star and continue running in a different direction. Be sure to check what attack the boss is doing as a follow-up.
Elden Ring Blast
The boss flies up in the air and forms an Elden Ring in the sky. Another ring starts to form on the ground below it, which explodes after a short while, dealing massive damage.
Counter: You need to jump over the rings, and constantly run away from the ring area to avoid the explosion.
Strategies
There are two main strategies for this fight:
Melee Strategy
For the melee strategy, try to stay under the boss at all times. The area around the stomach glows a lot, marking the boss's weak spot. You can deal more damage to the boss if you focus your melee attacks in this region. If staying close most of the time, you will have to alternate between staying near the stomach and positioning yourself behind the boss. The only reason to go to the back of the boss will be to avoid its fire breath attacks, galaxy clouds, and AoE sword stabs.
The boss also dives into the water, reappearing further from the player. Try to close the distance by running as soon as it reappears. As the boss's attacks deal Holy damage, bringing talismans or Incantations to increase Holy damage negation, such as Lord's Divine Fortification, is recommended.
Ranged Strategy
For the ranged strategy, spamming Rock Sling is a really good option. As this Sorcery consumes quite a lot of FP, you can add the Cerulean Hidden Tear to the Flask of Wondrous Physick to nullify FP consumption for the next ten seconds. If you are running a Faith build, don't use Holy attacks as this will only heal the boss. You can use Erdtree Heal near your summon, so you both get the benefit of the heal.
The Elden Beast has a large hitbox, allowing you to deal damage to most of its body parts relatively easily. You can use AoE spells that deal high amounts of damage and which are widespread. The boss has a lot of HP compared to Radagon, so having a Spirit Ash available is vital for this phase of the fight.
General Tips
- Be Level 125-130 or higher
- Use talismans and armor that have Holy damage negation.
- Similar to the Radagon fight, most of Elden Beast's attacks are slow and easy to dodge.
- Staying underneath the boss is optimal, as the glowing area beneath the boss takes extra damage.
- Hoarfrost Stomp is an extremely valuable skill for melee players.