The Raya Lucaria Academy is one of Elden Ring’s legacy dungeons, taking you through a series of difficult areas and culminating in a battle with Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon.
This boss is a somewhat unusual one, with two very distinct phases. The main downside is the annoyingly long route to retry this boss, making it all the more important to take her down in as few attempts as possible.
To assist in this endeavour, we will cover everything you need to know from her attack patterns to our winning strategy. Here’s our full boss guide of how to beat Rennala in Elden Ring.
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How to beat Rennala: General tips
Before we delve into the best strategy, here are some general tips for the fight.
How many enemies do I need to kill?
On the first attempt, we’ve probably all been there – defeating enemy after enemy to no avail.
This is because Rennala’s shield will only break when you have attacked the three enemies with golden orbs surrounding them. There is no benefit whatsoever to killing the other enemies, no matter how easy they are. You don’t even get any runes for the trouble, so just ignore them and dodge their attacks whilst searching for the enemies that have golden orbs around them.
Play aggressively with a melee build
Rennala’s second phase is trickier than the first, but her high magical defence and low poise make it a battle tailored towards melee builds. High physical damage output and stamina will serve you well. A heavy load is not recommended, as you’ll need to move fast. A medium load will probably be the ideal middle ground of defence, damage output and speed.
If you are locked into a mage build, then it’s actually not the end of the world. For one battle only, you can switch around your equipment and get the business done. Magical attacks simply don’t do enough damage here and you are better served with your strongest melee weapon.
Rennala is weak to Bleed Damage
Bleed is undoubtedly one of the most powerful tools at your disposal, and Rennala is yet another boss who is weak to this ailment.
If you haven’t been using Blood Loss weapons so far, it may be the time to start – landing continuous attacks will eventually result in a bonus large chunk of health being depleted.
Equip a weapon that causes blood loss buildup, or an Ash of War that can add this benefit to an existing weapon. Even if it’s a bit weaker than an upgraded weapon currently in your possession, it’s well worth it. If you don’t have any bleed weapons in your arsenal, one of the easiest to obtain is the dagger Reduvia, dropped by Bloody Finger Nerijus in the watery ravine in Limgrave.
Summon multiple companions for phase 2
The first phase of the boss fight depends on attacking specific enemies, and Spirit Ashes simply don’t have the intelligence for this. Instead, they will get distracted by irrelevant enemies who whittle down their health, and also have a nasty habit of getting damaged when Rennala’s shield explodes.
Do not bother using a summon until you are nearly on the second phase. If you can’t finish her first phase in one attack window, then the perfect time to summon is just before her shield breaks for the second time.
During phase 2, the best approach is to try and stunlock Rennala and interrupt her attacks. Spirit Ashes with multiple allies, such as Lone Wolf Ashes or Godrick Soldiers, are great options here, giving you a better chance of repeatedly knocking her back.
Send the lift back down before taking her on
One of the most annoying aspects of this battle has nothing to do with her actual difficulty. Rennala is one of the few bosses who has a lengthy path to navigate in order to return for another attempt.
If it’s taking you a few efforts, then remember to send the nearby lift back down once you’ve reached the top, so you can save yourself that painful wait next time. As for the rest of the route, there’s no easy way around it – sprint past everyone as quickly as possible.
Rennala boss fight guide: Phase 1
Rennala’s first phase can be breezed through quickly if you get a bit of luck and act fast.
Attack Pattern
There aren’t many attacks to worry about here. The enemies sprawled around the library will hurl books at you, and occasionally blow fire in your direction.
Lights can also be dropped from the ceiling, and Rennala’s shield will deal damage when it explodes or regenerates, so stay away from it when she’s falling down or glowing.
The key to all other attacks is simply to stay on the move at all times and dodge anything you see coming.
How to beat Rennala: Phase 1 Strategy
Other than being incredibly creepy and eerie, the first phase is easy once you know what to do. As discussed above, you must attack three enemies with golden orbs around them.
Once you have broken three of these orbs, Rennala will fall to the ground and the large orb protecting her will break, leaving her completely vulnerable. You don’t have to kill the enemies, you simply have to strike the orb for it to break.
Unfortunately, the enemies with golden orbs are randomised. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and these will be in the main part of the chamber. On other occasions, they will be hiding behind the bookshelves and will take bit longer to locate. Once you have destroyed one golden orb, the next one will spawn on another random enemy elsewhere in the room.
After destroying the third one, prepare for Rennala to fall down. Don’t get too close while you’re waiting for this, because her own orb will explode and can deal some big damage if you are too close.
As soon as it’s safe, rush in and hammer her with attacks. It’s unlikely you will take her down in one go, but you’ll hopefully be able to reduce her to around half-health or less. When she starts glowing, get back because she will create another shield that hurts you when it appears. She will float back into the air and you must repeat the same process again, finding three orbs amongst the regular enemies before finishing her off.
The best time to summon is while you are waiting for her to fall down for the second time. You will be unable to attack for a few seconds, giving you a chance to get your summon into the arena so they are ready for the second phase.
Rennala boss fight guide: Phase 2
After a cut-scene, you are teleported to a shimmering lake to do battle with Rennala’s second phase, which can be a lot harder than the first. Rennala now fires numerous magic attacks at you, and to make matters worse she can summon some powerful allies including a dragon!
Attack Pattern
Laser Beam – Rennala will always open with this attack, which is arguably her most dangerous. You’ll see a circular charge around her staff which lasts for a few seconds before a powerful ray is launched at you. This is one of the few attacks that cannot be dodged by running to the side. Instead, get used to the timing and roll aside when she shoots. You’ll know it’s ready when the circular charging animation has completely closed in on her staff. This attack lasts for a while, giving you a good chance to get close and attack.
Floating Moon – This is another powerful attack, but far easier to avoid. Rennala will float in the air and produce a moon that will slowly pursue you through the arena. When it gets close to you, it will explode and deal massive damage. The biggest danger is when you get hit and stunned by another attack, but generally this is an easy one to avoid by running away.
Magic Projectiles – The rest of her magic tends to be similar, namely a series of projectiles that launch at you. These will either come slowly and follow you around, or bombard you quickly like arrows. Either way, these can be avoided by keeping on the move and running to the side. Though they are easily dodged, don’t underestimate these because one hit can usually result in a flurry that kills you. Keep moving at all times.
Spirit Ash Summons – Rennala can summon a wide range of assistance. She’ll conjure a circular energy field on the floor that knocks you back beforehand, so it’s difficult to interrupt this.
Her summons can range from wolves, a giant troll, a knight and even a dragon. These are all pretty dangerous but thankfully they don’t stick around very long before simply disappearing.
There is no set order to these and it’s all down to luck. However, the approach is much the same regardless of who she summons – do not attack them and run away. The dragon has a fire-breath move that covers a wide area, but otherwise just sprint around and dodge until they disappear. If you attack Rennala here, you leave yourself exposed and can be quickly defeated.
Rennala can still fire projectiles at you whilst her summons are around, so stay locked onto her and get ready to dodge if she shoots the dangerous laser. Steadily make your way back towards Rennala whilst running around her flanks, and as soon as the summon has vanished get back on the offensive and try to stunlock her again. Sometimes she will summon consecutively, but on other occasions there will be a large window in between her summons.
How to beat Rennala: Phase 2 Strategy
As dangerous as Rennala is, the best approach is to be very aggressive. Don’t give her a chance to build up any momentum, and rush her at any opportunity. Rennala starts with her laser beam, so move towards her while she is charging it and dodge to the side when she shoots. The aim is to reach her as quickly as possible and rail on her with melee attacks.
If you have a summon of multiple allies, like Lone Wolf Ashes or Godrick Soldiers it is entirely possible to keep her in a constant stunlock and take her out in one long combo. This depends on a bit of luck, but if you have bleed weapons and manage to knock her down for a riposte, you’ll be close.
Once she breaks free of your attacks and floats away, then you should continue to aggressively pursue her. Keep moving at all times and chase her down by flanking her. Keep a wide angle and run to the side as you close in and you will naturally avoid most of her attacks. Stay alert for the powerful laser beam and get ready to dodge it if she charges it again.
As soon as you reach her, don’t hold back and deal as much damage as possible. She will summon after a while, signalled by a circular energy field. If she pulls this off, it’s the only time in the battle you should switch to a defensive strategy. Run away and avoid everyone’s attacks until the summon disappears, before charging back in and repeating. However, if the summons decide to attack your Spirit Ash companions instead, you may still get an opportunity to hit her.
You’ll probably only need to survive through a couple of summons before she eases up on them, and you should be able to take her down in no time.
Rewards
Beating Rennala will reward you with 40,000 runes, as well as the Remembrance of the Full Moon Queen and the Great Rune of the Unborn. These are particularly great spoils for a mage build, and can be utilised at Roundtable Hold.
Another important benefit of winning this boss fight is that Rennala allows you to respec your character. This may be absolutely crucial later on, underlining the importance of beating Rennala even though she is technically an optional boss.
Recap
Here’s a recap of how to beat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon:
- Attack the enemies with golden orbs – after hitting three orbs, Rennala will fall to the ground
- Strike her repeatedly until she glows, then get back to avoid damage
- Repeat the process and finish her off at the second attempt to reach her next phase
- If you are summoning, do this when she is about to fall to the ground for the second time
- Dodge her laser beam and rush her as quickly as possible, attacking aggressively
- Try and stunlock her (alongside your summon) to prevent her attacks
- If she gets away from you, flank her to avoid her projectiles and get close to pummel her with more attacks
- When she uses summons, just run away from them until they disappear; then repeat the previous strategy
That’s all there is to it. With this approach, you should be able to defeat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon and conquer Raya Lucaria Academy.
Hopefully you found this Rennala boss guide of how to beat Rennala in Elden Ring helpful. Check out some of our other boss guides below.
