Fittingly, the final Elden Ring boss will push you to your limits, especially since it throws two deadly opponents at you back-to-back. Phase one puts you against Radagon of the Golden Order, while the second portion requires you to take down the Elden Beast. The latter encounter is arguably much more difficult, as the camera tends to be difficult during this phase. In addition, the Elden Beast is massive, and can easily take you down in just one hit if you’re under-leveled. Here, we’ll show you how to defeat the Elden Beast, with effective strategies for avoiding its many attacks.
How to prepare for the Elden Beast boss fight
Since this is the last mainline boss of the game, your character should be powerful, preferably past level 100 so you have plenty of health (the higher your level, the better). Having around 45 Vigor will prevent you from getting one-hit-killed by Radagon or the Elden Beast. A strong weapon that deals bleed damage works well during this fight, too.
We highly suggest bringing the Mimic Tear Ashes Spirit with you during this fight to help make it go more smoothly. These bosses are no walk in the park, so having the assistance will certainly give you a leg up.
Be aware that Elden Beast is the second phase of the fight, which means you’ll have to start all over with Radagon if you fail. It also means any items you have after the Radagon Fight will carry over to the battle against the Elden Beast, so it’s important to perform well during the first encounter.
We won’t dive into the specifics for taking down Radagon here, but just know you are able to cheese through that phase. As shown in the video above, if you stand on Radagon’s left side, you can lock the boss, making him unable to move. You’re then free to use magic to take him down easily. This will allow you to preserve flasks for the fight ahead.
Make sure you summon your Mimic Tear at the end of the Radagon encounter so you don’t have to mess with it during the next phase against Elden Beast.
Elden Beast weakness and how to defeat
The Elden Beast boss is tricky for a number of reasons, including the fact that it can make your camera get wonky if you lock on during certain instances. As soon as the battle begins, we recommend running right at the beast to get a few hits in. Make sure you aren’t using a shield while you attack since dealing high damage is a priority and you should have enough health to withstand all of the boss’ moves. The boss will then begin reacting and when it does, make sure you wrap around to its back to avoid any of its frontal attacks. Make sure you deal some damage from behind while the Elden Beast makes a move.
This boss has a lot of close-range melee attacks that can be avoided if you stick behind it. In fact, you should usually do your best to stay behind the creature at all times when possible. The problem is that the Elden Beast often likes to swim away and keep its distance, making it tricky to stay close.
When it flies up into the air, you’ll notice a ring appear in the sky. This ring will float down to the ground, surrounding you. If this happens, simply run and jump over it to avoid taking damage. However, there’s a variation of this attack that involves multiple rings. The strategy remains the same, but you have a tight window to jump through each of the rings and if you mess up, you’ll basically have to eat the damage.
Another deadly attack has the Elden Beast firing rune arcs at you from afar. Thankfully, these can be rolled through, but be aware of the odd timing between each of the four shots. The boss also likes to jump up into the air and shoot little gold projectiles at you, which is telegraphed when the creature spreads its wings. When this happens, make sure you stop locking on and run away from the beast to avoid the projectiles.
Keep closing the gap to get close to the creature’s backside to safely deal damage. Make sure you look out for the boss’ hand to turn purple. If this happens, it means a slam is coming your way, so do your best to move behind the beast to avoid it. With a little luck, you’ll be able to stagger the boss, which is indicated by it placing both hands on the ground. At this point, run up to its chest to deal critical damage.
Players have reported being able to stick close to the boss’ right side while your Mimic Tear is still present, which can lock the foe in place. The sweet spot for this is tricky, but since you should be sticking close to the Elden Beast anyway, it doesn’t hurt to try and get the boss to get stuck (similar to the cheese method for Radagon). Though, Elden Beast will likely continue to move around, so you should be prepared to deal with its ranged attacks if it travels away from you.
As long as you have high enough Vigor and around 10 healing flasks, you should be able to survive against this boss while slowly chipping away at its health. The key is to not get caught while healing, so try and time your flask uses when you know for a fact the boss won’t strike you.
