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The hyped Elden Ring is finally here, and all fellow Tarnished are pouring countless hours into the game. Vast areas to explore, rare weapons to acquire, and good-looking armor are some of the few things on every player's mind. Bosses in Elden Ring are scattered vastly across the Lands Between. Legacy dungeons are one of the coolest ideas in the game. These dungeon areas are filled with enemies and Greater bosses along with a Legend or Demigod at the end of it.
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With a world this open, it can be hard to know where to go next.Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, is one of the Shardbearers in the game and is found beneath the Volcano Manor legacy dungeon. Here is all you need to know about the boss.
Updated October 4, 2023, by Sean Murray: If you're looking for how to beat Rykard, you've come to the right place. This guide has been updated with improved formatting and more breakout tips to make defeating Rykard that much easier.
Rykard, Lord Of Blasphemy Overview
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Rykard, Lord Of Blasphemy Overview |
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Location |
Volcano Manor, Mt. Gelmir |
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Optional |
Yes |
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Summons |
Spirit Ashes and Players |
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Drops |
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Weak To |
Serpent-Hunter |
The boss is located inside the Volcano Manor in Mt. Gelmir. He's one of the Shardbearers of the Elden Ring and is considered an optional boss. Not facing him in the game will not change the plot in any way. You can spawn any Spirit Ash or online players to help you in this fight.
Defeating the boss will get you his Great Rune as well as his Remembrance, which you can trade in with Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable for a weapon or Sorcery.
The boss is massively weak to Serpent-Hunter (Weapon).
This is one of the fights in the game with two proper phases. In the first phase, you will take on God-Devouring Serpent. After depleting all of its health, Rykard will show his face and announce his intent to devour the very gods.
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Looking to cause some magical havoc in Elden Ring? Look no further than these incantations.Rykard, Lord Of Blasphemy Attacks
The boss fight with the Shardbearer is long and frustrating. The fight is divided into two phases with twice the attacks for you to get used to. Following are all the attacks the boss uses in both phases:
Phase 1 - God-Devouring Serpent
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Phase 1 Attacks |
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Snake Bite
The boss lunges at you from side to side dealing massive damage on hit and knocking you down.
Counter: You need to dodge to the side of the attack.
Digging Magma
God-Devouring Serpent raises his head and plunges it into the ground. It then comes out after a little while, causing magma to erupt in front of it.
Counter: You need to keep your distance from the boss when you see it plunge its head.
Grab
The boss raises its head and pounces at you trying to grab you with its mouth.
Counter: Dodging right before it tries to grab you will avoid the attack.
Head Magma Slam
God-Devouring Serpent tilts its head back and slams it back down on the ground, causing magma to fall near you.
Counter: Dodge the magma by rolling backward.
Poison Spit
The boss spews poison in front of it, causing the area to remain a poison pool. This poison area deals damage, increases your poison bar, and makes your movement slower.
Counter: Run away from the poison pools to avoid getting poisoned. The boss does not spit poison at medium range.
Magma Thrash
The boss raises its head, looks to the side, and starts spinning around, thrashing with its tails and causing magma to appear all around it.
Counter: You can block this to reduce the damage or run away if you are already a considerable distance from it.
Phase 2 - Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
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Phase 2 Attacks |
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Stab Combo
Rykard holds his sword up and stabs the area around the player three times.
Counter: Run away from the boss or keep dodging to one side.
Sword Combo
The boss mostly does his sword combo, where he sweeps his weapon from one side to another.
Counter: Dodge towards where the attack is coming from to avoid it. The boss usually does his second sweep slower by feinting the attack and hitting it on the ground first, so do not dodge before it.
Magma Leap
Rykard leaps up in the air, either moving forward or backward, and slams down on the ground sending magma in random directions.
Counter: You need to stay away from the boss when he leaps into the air and dodge the magma if it comes in your direction.
Snake Bite
The boss makes the serpent on his head lung and bute the player.
Counter: Dodge to your left to avoid this attack.
Sword And Snake Bite Combo
Shardbearer Rykard swings his sword and follows it up by a lunge from his snake head and another lunge from the other direction.
Counter: You can avoid this attack by dodging where it is coming from.
Explosive Trails
The boss brings its head forward towards the player and releases red flaming skulls from its mouth. These skulls track you for a little while and explode after a short duration.
Counter: Run from the skulls until they explode.
Rain Of Skulls
At 50 percent of the boss's health bar, Rykard will raise his sword and cause the sky to turn red. A large number of red flaming skulls will start to fall down from the sky to track you and explode after a while.
Counter: Keep sprinting to one side until all the skulls behind you have exploded.
Sky Cleaver
After empowering his sword for a long duration, the boss will channel all the fire from the sky into the blade and slam the ground in front of him, causing a path of a fiery explosion.
Counter: Sprint to any side and dodge either side as the blade hits the ground.
How To Beat Rykard, Lord Of Blasphemy
There is only one strategy for this fight, and that is using the Serpent-Hunter weapon. As soon as you enter the boss gate, you will find a weapon to your left near a corpse. This weapon needs zero stats to use and is easily the fastest way of killing the Demigod.
It has special moves that only work when facing Rykard. All the attacks have a gust of wind ahead of them, dealing extra damage to the boss at a considerable distance.
Using its normal attack is a poke that takes the least amount of stamina. The heavy attack is a sweep attack that deals quite a lot of damage at medium range. You can also make a jumping heavy attack to execute an overhead slash. The special skill is a charged attack that pokes the boss at a long-range for massive damage.
It is advisable not to use the special skill much as it has a charge time leaving you vulnerable and consuming a lot of FP. It is good when the boss's poise breaks and falls down or immediately after the second phase starts.
Summoning online players is available, as well as summoning Spirit Ashes. Ashes like Mimic Tear will also make use of the Serpent-Hunter if you have it equipped at the time of spawning it.
Using a different melee weapon or going for a ranged sorcery/spells approach is not advisable. This is mainly because of the low damage output these processes will yield. You will burn a lot of FP by casting constant spells without dealing much damage. Going for a different weapon is also not a viable choice as it will require you to get in close to the boss. The boss stands on a lava floor which deals damage over time.