TL;DR
- Scadutree Fragments provide permanent damage negation – prioritize collecting them early
- Boss weaknesses follow elemental patterns: fire for beasts, magic for magical entities, bleed for armored foes
- Recommended level progression: 150+ for early bosses, 170+ for final encounters
- Summoning strategies vary by boss – Mimic Tear for distractions, co-op for complex patterns
- Positioning and timing are critical – learn attack telegraphs and safe engagement windows
The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion introduces some of Elden Ring’s most demanding boss encounters, each requiring distinct tactical approaches and preparation. These formidable adversaries are strategically positioned throughout the Land of Shadow, testing players’ combat proficiency and adaptability. Successfully defeating these challenges rewards substantial Elden Ring runes essential for character progression, attribute enhancement, and ability unlocks. This comprehensive guide provides detailed strategies for overcoming each major boss in optimal progression order.
Beyond rune acquisition, each victory grants unique Remembrance items and essential DLC equipment that significantly enhance your capabilities. Understanding each boss’s attack patterns, vulnerability windows, and environmental advantages can dramatically reduce encounter difficulty.
Strategic preparation through Scadutree Fragment collection and proper build optimization often determines success more than raw player skill alone.
Divine Beast Dancing Lion
• Location: Belurat, Tower Settlement Legacy Dungeon
• Weakness: Highly vulnerable to fire attacks and bleed accumulation effects
• Strategy: This majestic creature combines aerial mobility with ground-based charging attacks that require constant positional awareness. Fire-based incantations like Flame Sling or weapons with inherent fire damage prove exceptionally effective. Bleed-inducing armaments such as katanas or curved swords rapidly deplete its health bar when combined with fire damage.
• Advanced Tactics: The Dancing Lion’s most dangerous attacks include multi-stage leap combinations and area-denial storm creations. Maintain mid-range distance to bait its charge attacks, then punish recovery animations. Its frost breath attack creates lingering hazardous zones – immediately disengage and reposition when this telegraph begins.
• Common Mistake: Attempting to trade blows during its rapid claw combos inevitably results in rapid death. Instead, wait for the conclusive slam attack that follows these sequences.
Rellana, Twin Moon Knight
• Location: Castle Ensis > Ensis Moongazing Grounds
• Recommended Level: 160+
• Rewards: Remembrance of the Twin Moon Knight
• Strategy: Located near the Castle-Lord’s Chamber Site of Grace, Rellana employs devastating magical and physical hybrid assaults. Maximize your Scadutree Fragment collection and Revered Spirit Ash Blessings before this engagement for crucial damage reduction.
• Summon Strategy: Deploy Mimic Tear spirit ashes to absorb aggression while you position for counter-attacks. Her dual-phase transition at 50% health introduces additional magical projectiles – conserve healing resources for this stage.
Golden Hippopotamus
• Location: Shadow Keep > Main Gate Plaza
• Recommended Level: 160+
• Rewards: Scadutree Fragment
• Strategy: This colossal beast demands exceptional reflex timing and spatial awareness. Its charge attacks cover enormous distances with deceptive tracking – dodging too early often results in being caught by adjustment movements.
• Execution: Implement hit-and-run tactics, engaging only during recovery periods after its powerful slams and charges. The Hippopotamus possesses surprising agility despite its size, capable of rapid follow-up attacks if over-committed.
Putrescent Knight
• Location: Stone Coffin Fissure
• Weakness: Susceptible to hemorrhage effects and sustained physical damage pressure
• Strategy: This frozen adversary employs debilitating ice-based area attacks and spinning combos that inflict frostbite buildup. Time your dodges to avoid the initial strike and subsequent ice crystal formations.
• Combat Rhythm: Maintain medium distance to bait its linear charge attacks, which offer the safest retaliation opportunities. Its spinning slash combination concludes with an extended recovery period – recognize this finish and capitalize aggressively.
• Environmental Consideration: The confined arena limits mobility options, making positioning against walls particularly dangerous during its wide-arcing attacks.
Messmer the Impaler
• Location: Specimen Storehouse > Messmer’s Dark Chamber
• Recommended Level: 150+
• Rewards: Messmer’s Kindling, Remembrance of the Impaler
• Strategy: Among the DLC’s most formidable opponents, Messmer combines precise thrusting attacks with area-control flame spells. Thorough world exploration for Scadutree Blessings is non-negotiable before this engagement.
• Preparation: Level vigor to at least 50 and enhance your primary damage stat to 60+ for reasonable engagement times.
• Critical Insight: Messmer’s spear attacks possess exceptional range but limited horizontal tracking – diagonal dodging proves more effective than lateral movement.
Romina, Saint of the Bud
• Location: Church of the Bud in the Ancient Ruins of Rauh
• Recommended Level: 170+
• Rewards: Remembrance of the Saint of the Bud
• Strategy: This botanical horror specializes in poisonous area denial and Scarlet Rot application through explosive butterfly summons and toxic emission clouds.
• Positioning Priority: Constant repositioning is essential to avoid accumulating status effects. Her most dangerous attack creates expanding rot circles that require immediate evacuation from the affected area.
• Engagement Windows: Romina becomes temporarily vulnerable after executing her flower bloom explosion and butterfly swarm techniques – these represent your primary damage opportunities.
Commander Gaius
• Location: Large field behind Shadow Keep
• Recommended Level: 160+
• Strategy: This mounted commander employs deliberate but devastating charge patterns reminiscent of the Golden Hippopotamus but with enhanced tracking and area coverage.
• Weakness Exploitation: Stagger accumulation through heavy weapon attacks and bleed effects significantly shorten this encounter. His boar mount’s tusks create wide sweeping arcs that require precise dodge timing.
• Charge Counter: Against his signature long-range charge, wait until the final moment before impact, then execute a diagonal forward dodge away from the tusk trajectory.
Scadutree Avatar
• Location: Hidden section of Shadow Keep
• Strategy: This multi-phase encounter demands exceptional endurance as you must defeat the Avatar three consecutive times without respite.
• Tactical Approach: The entity demonstrates vulnerability to physical damage types and hemorrhage effects. Its sweeping attacks cover enormous areas but feature predictable patterns after observation.
• Resource Management: Conserve healing flasks during the first two phases, as the final iteration introduces additional bleed-inducing attacks that may require emergency healing.
Metyr, Mother of Fingers
• Location: Near conclusion of Ymir’s questline
• Strategy: Metyr exhibits significant magical vulnerability, making sorceries your optimal approach. Maintain maximum casting distance to avoid her devastating finger projectile barrages and area-denial spells.
• Spell Selection: Comet Azur, Stars of Ruin, and other high-damage sorceries prove exceptionally effective.
Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame
• Location: Abyssal Woods region
• Strategy: Focus on staggering Midra through repeated heavy weapon strikes and rapid bleed accumulation. Equip armor with high Focus stat to resist his madness-inducing aura and attacks.
Promised Consort Radahn
• Location: Enir-Ilim > Divine Gate Front Staircase
• Recommended Level: 170+
• Rewards: Remembrance of a God and Lord
• Strategy: As the DLC’s culminating challenge, Radahn presents extraordinary difficulty, particularly for magic-focused builds.
• Melee Approach: Close-quarters combatants should bait specific attack patterns that conclude with extended recovery periods, then counter-attack during these windows.
• Mage Consideration: Spellcasters may require cooperative assistance to manage Radahn’s aggressive gap-closing capabilities and magical resistance.
• Level Recommendation: Entering the DLC at level 150+ provides adequate baseline stats for initial encounters, with 170+ recommended for later challenges.
• Scadutree Fragment Optimization: Systematically collect these crucial items at Sites of Grace to establish permanent damage negation buffs that dramatically affect survival rates.
• Exploration Priority: Before engaging major bosses, thoroughly explore each region to maximize your Scadutree Blessing level.
• Post-Game Freedom: After completing the main narrative, free-roam access allows comprehensive cleanup of any remaining optional encounters.
• Final Boss Considerations: The concluding story boss represents one of FromSoftware’s most demanding creations, necessitating meticulous strategy development and potential cooperative support.
• Reward System: Boss victories grant essential DLC items that significantly enhance gameplay capabilities, making these challenging engagements worthwhile investments.
• Build Adaptation: Different bosses require specific counter-strategies – maintain multiple weapon upgrade paths to adapt to varying vulnerability types.
• Common Pitfall: Underestimating the importance of Scadutree Blessings represents the most frequent failure point among players. These buffs provide substantially more impact than character level increases alone.
These meticulously designed adversaries test every aspect of your combat proficiency and strategic adaptability. Each encounter demands unique approaches, with victory typically hinging on comprehensive attack pattern recognition and precise weakness exploitation. Ensure appropriate equipment selection and spell preparation for each engagement, and consider summoning assistance for particularly complex encounter mechanics. Perseverance and analytical observation will ultimately lead to triumph throughout the Land of Shadow.
Action Checklist
- Collect minimum 15 Scadutree Fragments before attempting major bosses
- Upgrade primary weapon to +10 (somber) or +25 (regular)
- Practice dodge timing against early bosses before advancing
- Identify and equip appropriate elemental damage types for each boss encounter
- Summon Mimic Tear for distraction against aggressive dual-phase bosses
- Coordinate co-op assistance for final story boss if playing magic build
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