Elden Ring is an action RPG game filled with vast areas to explore. All of the areas in the game have their set of bosses with unique dynamics and distinctive arenas. Most of the bosses in the game are entirely optional; however, even these bosses are mandatory if going for a specific ending, questline, or completing a Legacy Dungeon. Royal Knight Loretta is one of the bosses in the game that appears twice throughout your playthrough. She is also mandatory in her second encounter as she will be guarding the way to Haligtree.
Defeating the boss can be tricky if facing her early. Here is all you need to know about Royal Knight Loretta in the game.
Royal Knight Loretta Overview
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Royal Knight Loretta Overview |
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Location |
Caria Manor |
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Optional |
No |
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Summons |
Players and Spirit Ashes |
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Drops |
Loretta's Greatbow |
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Ash of War: Loretta's Slash |
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Weak To |
Faith Incantations |
Royal Knight Loretta can be found inside the Caria Manor in Northern Lake of Liurnia, guarding the way to Three Sisters. The boss fight is not optional if you intend to go to the three towers ahead and complete Ranni's questline. Doing so also gives you access to going for an alternative ending. You have the option of summoning any Spirit Ash you want or an online player to help you in the boss fight.
The boss is immune to Scarlet Rot affinity, so do not try to use it against her.
Royal Knight Loretta Attacks
Royal Knight Loretta has a variety of attacks that she will throw at you. Most of her kit revolves around Magic Damage from range.
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Royal Knight Loretta Attacks |
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Glintblade Phalanx
Loretta swings her blade and summons five glintblades above her. After a while, these blades fly towards the player, tracking them. In her second phase, she summons eight glintblades instead of five.
Counter: You need constantly run sideways to dodge all the glintblades.
Polearm Slash
The boss slashes the player diagonally with her Polearm.
Counter: Dodge to the side.
Glintstone Pebble
Loretta raises her Polearm and fires a magic pebble from the butt of the weapon.
Counter: Dodge to any side to avoid the attack.
Overhead Slash
The boss jumps up and swings down her weapon in an overhead manner.
Counter: The attack has decent tracking, so you will have to dodge any side right before the slash hits you.
Horse Stomp
Loretta will raise her horse and stomp down on you.
Counter: Dodge to any side as the horse is about to stomp.
Loretta's Greatbow
The boss starts to charge up a magical Greatbow and shoots a large arrow at the player. The arrow explodes on impact.
Counter: You need to dodge twice. First, dodge as soon as she shoots the arrow and a follow-up dodge to avoid the explosion.
Glintstone Stars
Loretta shoots four magic pebbles from the butt of her Polearm at the player.
Counter: You need to constantly dodge to one side until all the pebbles hit the ground.
Power Sweep
The boss charges up her Polearm on the side and swings in a wide horizontal arc twice.
Counter: Dodge to the side the attacks are coming from.
Strategies
There are two strategies for this fight: making use of your close-range weapon and staying on the aggression, or you can stay at a range and poke her with Sorceries or Incantations.
Melee Strategy
For the melee strategy, you will need to stay close as much as you can. As most of the boss' attacks are long-ranged, the boss will try to keep her distance and shoot you with glintblades or arrows. Most of her attacks are easy to dodge; however, the Power Sweep is an attack you need to look out for. The attack has a very wide range and can one-shot you if you are not careful.
The boss can take damage from blood loss, so bringing a good bleed weapon can be useful.
You can also summon an online player or Spirit Ash to switch the aggro constantly or stack bleed.
Ranged Strategy
For the ranged strategy, you will, like all fights, need to keep your range. As the boss herself uses a lot of ranged magic projectiles, you will have to practice dodging them.
Try to bring Faith Incantations if you can as the boss takes quite some damage from them.
Bringing in a Spirit Ash can help you in alternating the boss's aggro. The best choices are either a tank Spirit Ash or bringing in the legendary Mimic Tear. Mimic Tear copies your build, stats, and equipment. It can use the same Sorceries or Incantations you are going with and can do a lot of damage.