After a long, arduous journey through the Lands Between, the end is finally nigh. With countless enemies and bosses vanquished, Elden Beast is your final hurdle and he can pack a challenge, particularly since he comes directly after another boss with no chance to heal.
Elden Beast is difficult because he can open up a large distance in the blink of an eye, making it tough to get close enough to hit him. Furthermore, some of his attacks are both dangerous and irritating, dealing huge damage whilst being difficult to avoid.
By now, you know the drill – he’s perfectly beatable with the right strategy. Here’s our full final boss guide for how to beat Elden Beast in Elden Ring.
- RELATED: Elden Ring Review (spoiler-free)
How to beat Elden Beast: General Tips
Here are the general tips of how to beat Elden Beast, with the specific attack patterns and strategy to follow further below.
What Level to fight Elden Beast?
The recommended level to fight Elden Beast is Level 150.
If you have beaten the Shardbearers including Malenia, you shouldn’t be far off. If not, don’t be afraid to take a bit of extra time exploring and covering off everything you wanted to do, since this is your last chance before the ending.
Equip the Haligdrake Talisman
There is one particular talisman that can prove invaluable against Elden Beast. This is the Haligdrake Talisman +2, which significantly reduces Holy damage.
Holy is Elden Beast’s element, so virtually every attack can be somewhat negated, and this may be the difference between life and death. It’s found in Mohgwyn Palace (in the underground section of the map), on the outskirts of the blood lake.
As for the other talismans, I’d definitely recommend a talisman to boost your stamina such as the Viridian Amber Medallion since you’ll be chasing Elden Beast around a lot. The other couple of slots depend on your playstyle, but you can never go wrong with health boosts or a Pearldrake Talisman to reduce non-physical damage. The best of these talismans are found in Malenia’s Haligtree.
Learn the sword attacks
There are a few good openings to attack Elden Beast, and the best of these generally emerge when he strikes with his sword. The sword swipes have a few variations as we’ll discuss below, but all of these are clearly telegraphed, making it easy to read and dodge them.
Every time he swings his sword, dodge towards him and get under the weapon. You can usually get to the side of him and win plenty of time to hack away risk-free whilst staying out of range. The most important aspect of this strategy is to be close to him beforehand so he actually uses his swings rather than ranged attacks.
Level up your weapons and summons
Since you’re right at the end, there is no use in hoarding those Smithing Stones. You’ll know your chosen weapon by now so get it strengthened as much as possible. The same applies to your summon. Get back to Roundtable Hold and perform Spirit Tuning to strengthen them to their maximum level. If you are short on runes and can’t be bothered farming them, check your inventory for any Golden Runes lying around. If you haven’t got enough for a level up, these will only go to waste.
Avoid a heavy load
Powerful, tanky builds can be invaluable in many fights, but this isn’t one of them. You’ll need to be quick off the mark to dodge some of Elden Beast’s unblockable attacks, and several of these can only be avoided by running away. It’s also crucial to cover the ground quickly to deal damage (even with ranged builds, this can be tricky). There’s no use being strong if you can’t get close enough to attack, so tinker your equipment to ensure you are a medium or light load. A medium load is perfectly capable of doing the business, so this was my personal preference.
Do not use Holy damage or status effects
Elden Beast absorbs Holy damage, so using this will obviously be a big mistake. Unfortunately, it’s also immune to status effects including the trusty Blood Loss and Frostbite that are so useful in many other boss battles throughout Elden Ring. Without these bonuses, you’ll have to rely on old-fashioned damage dealing, so adapt your Ashes of War accordingly.
You can, however, use your Spirit Calling Bell so at least you can summon an ally if necessary. The Mimic Tear is the recommended summon, and sticks around if you summoned during the Radagon fight. I would implore you to try and make it to at least phase 2 of Radagon before you summon, giving the best chance of having an ally with some decent health remaining to tackle Elden Beast.
Attack his weak spot (sometimes)
Elden Beast has a weak spot, based right in the centre of its torso and denoted by a golden crack. The bad news is that this is directly in his line of fire and leaves you in range of more attacks. The best way of exploiting this weak spot is by learning his sword timings and dodging them all whilst attacking it in between blows. Another great opportunity to attack the weak spot is given by avoiding his deadly grab attack. We’ll cover each of his attacks in more detail below.
Elden Beast boss guide: Attacks and strategy
Elden Beast has a number of notable attacks. Here is his main attack pattern with tips to avoid each one, and the strategy to succeed below.
Attack Pattern
Sword Attacks – There are some slight variations of the sword swipes, but it’s quite easy to see them coming and you should be able to dodge them.
The most basic of these is a three-strike combo of simple attacks that can all be dodged, leaving small windows in-between and another at the end. This is a great change to deal damage and comes when Elden Beast’s sword doesn’t glow.
Another, more dangerous variation is when Elden Beast flies in the air and performs a midair slice whilst the sword is glowing. This is a powerful attack which doesn’t leave any counterattack opportunities as he will usually end up too far away.
The most difficult of these combos is a longer combo where the sword is engulfed with flames. Elden Beast will strike five times, ending with an explosive spinning attack that can really hurt. Whilst this is a bit harder to read, there is a great chance to deal damage if you dodge them all and strike back. The attacks are quick so don’t attempt to counter in-between and roll through each one and counter after the final blow.
Finally, there is a glowing golden swing that plants a Rune Arc shape in front of him which explodes shortly after. You don’t want to get caught in this but if you can dodge under the first swing and get to Elden Beast’s side or back, then you have another good chance to chip away at his health. This opportunity is best exploited when you are close to Elden Beast when you see the sword glowing gold. If you are too far away, you might get struck by the blast.
Exploding Holy Stars – Elden Beast sweeps a series of gassy purple orbs that will either shoot off in a straight line directly away from him, or go horizontally across his body. Either way, these are all about to explode so get out of there immediately. If you see these in time it’s an easy dodge, and if you aren’t close they won’t trouble you. However, they can be tricky to see if you are attacking Elden Beast and the camera starts working against you. Try and keep it in a position where you can see Elden Beast’s front and get away in time. Sometimes this is easier said than done.
Black Hole – This is similar to the above, but instead of a series of orbs this is one large black hole that appears whilst Elden Beast retreats. It will explode after a few seconds so promptly dodge away as soon as you see it to avoid some big damage. It sucks you in so mash the button repeatedly to escape. There are no counter opportunities here.
Holy Spear Rain – One of the reasons for avoiding a heavy load is this attack, which is easy to see coming if you are looking at Elden Beast. Golden lights will fire into the sky before a series of golden spears rain down. The only way to avoid it is to sprint in a single direction without stopping. Dodging during this attack will likely get caught (unless you are a light load), and one hit can escalate into several. If you are sprinting and still getting hit, adjust the angle of your run into a slightly different direction and you should be fine.
Elden Ring Attack – When Elden Beast launches into the air and out of range, keep your eye on him and you’ll see a large ring appear above the battlefield (pictured above). Rings will soon appear on the ground, starting quite wide before closing in on the centre. Sprint away from the middle and either dodge or jump over the rings as they move towards you. You may have to dodge as many as three before you get out of range, but you must get out of the radius before all rings reach the centre and explode. I found this attack easier to judge by moving the camera side-on as you escape.
Holy Breath – When Elden Beast lifts its head up high, it breaths a fiery golden breath directly ahead, which also spans a fairly wide attack area. Sprint to the side and try to close the gap between you at the same time by keeping a diagonal line. If you get on the move quickly you can potentially get behind him and land a series of risk-free attacks. The flames eventually reach around his side so it’s safest to be at his back.
Ranged Sword Blasts – Elden Beast will brandish his sword from range and fire four consecutive blasts towards you. These can be dodged, but the timing changes between attacks. The first two come quickly, before slowing down slightly for the third and fourth. Run forwards and dodge into the golden energy as it fizzes towards you. If you can dodge all four whilst continually running forward, you will be rewarded with a solid opening to land a few attacks.
Grab Attack – This is an unblockable attack that doesn’t come very often, which actually makes it harder to read and can take you by surprise. If Elden Beast’s hand pulls back and glows with a pulsing golden circle surrounding it (pictured below), this signals huge danger. You can mitigate the likelihood of this attack by consistently getting to his side and striking from there rather than the front. If you are grabbed, you can only pray this doesn’t kill you in one hit. The better news is that if you successfully dodge, this is a massive opening where you can strike at the weak spot in the centre of Elden Beast’s torso.
How to beat Elden Beast: Strategy
The Elden Beast final boss battle is all about staying on the move and trying to get close to him as quickly as possible. Start by running in and landing a few attacks on his torso. He will soon start moving around the battlefield, either by floating away or diving into the water. When he uses a ranged attack such as his breath, sword arcs or Holy rain, get into the habit of dodging them whilst simultaneously running towards him. If you make it before he finishes, then you’ll usually be rewarded with some free hits.
Whenever you are at close quarters, attack aggressively whilst keeping an eye on Elden Beast and making sure he doesn’t catch you by surprise with his purple exploding stars. Ideally, he will use sword attacks that can be dodged and counterattacked, but if he conjures these stars you should err on the side of caution and get away from him pronto.
Usually you’ll end up in a pattern where you get close to Elden Beast by dodging his ranged attacks before attacking him multiple times whilst dodging his follow-up melee attacks. He will then usually move away and attack from range again. Sometimes he won’t leave much of a window and you can end up in a cycle where you can’t get near him for a while depending on the attacks he chooses. If this happens, stay focused and wait for the best opportunities that come from dodging his sword strikes, grab attack or simply getting there quickly whilst his ranged attacks are still firing.
A shield is little use here since most of the attacks deal damage even when blocked, so two-handed weapons or dual wielding is recommended. Keep on the offensive to avoid being whittled down from range and learn the attacks listed above so you can hit back at the right times.
Elden Beast boss guide: Phase 2 (sort of)
There isn’t a typical second phase prompt, such as a cut-scene. Instead, when he is down to around half health Elden Beast will covertly start to mix up his attacks. This is easy to miss and doesn’t actually make much difference. However, there are some attack variations and one of them is probably his most troublesome move:
Homing light orb – By far the most irritating and difficult attack, especially since it has a habit of appearing when you’ve nearly beaten him. Elden Beast can summon an orb that follows you around whilst emitting countless light-beams that home in and overwhelm you (pictured above). These cannot be blocked and cannot reliably be avoided so you only have one choice – sprint away, spam the dodge button and hope for the best. If you are getting low on health then repeatedly consume flasks until it’s over. Elden Beast can also launch other attacks whilst this orb is in play, so you sometimes need a bit of luck with this one.
Impaling Explosion – The sword will glow gold whilst Elden Beast strikes it into the ground, causing the area in front to glow before exploding. This is a hugely powerful attack which has a large area of effect. Don’t get greedy and make sure you are comfortably behind Elden Beast before counterattacking.
It’s at this point that the Elden Ring attack now has additional rings and it can be a lot harder to get out of its range. If you don’t dodge or jump past all three rings you will likely be caught in the blast, so be careful of it.
The strategy does not actually change. Keep being brave and running towards him in the hope he uses his sword attacks. Punish him with your opportunities and use your weapon skills without overindulging with the openings. Believe it or not, you can actually knock down and riposte Elden Beast if you do enough damage in a short window. Eventually he will fall and Elden Ring will be conquered.
Rewards
Aside from the triumph of beating the game and seeing which ending you’ve unlocked, conquering Elden Beast will reward you with 500,000 runes and the Elden Remembrance.
Recap
The most important elements of our Elden Beast boss guide are recapped here to reinforce them:
- Equip the Haligdrake Talisman +2 and a stamina-boosting talisman like a Viridian Amber Medallion
- A shield doesn’t particular help here; nor do Blood Loss or status effects
- Learn to read Elden Beast’s ranged attacks so you can avoid them whilst sprinting towards him
- When you get close, dodge his melee attacks and punish him on the counterattack until he conjures the exploding stars or retreats
- Keep getting near to him as quickly as possible so he doesn’t pick you off from range
- Avoid the Elden Ring attack by jumping or dodging past the rings as they close in
- Sprint and dodge away from his homing orb whilst keeping an eye on any other attacks from Elden Beast at the same time
- If you see any hint of purple gas near you at any point, get out of there immediately!
- Evade his grab attack at all costs and counter by attacking the weak spot in the centre of his torso
Hopefully this Elden Beast boss guide of how to beat Elden Beast will help you defeat the final boss and complete the game.
Check out our Elden Ring Malenia boss guide below, if you have not defeated the Blade of Miquella yet:
