Elden Beast Boss Fight Guide How to Defeat in Elden Ring

Facing the Elden Beast, the true final boss of Elden Ring, is a breathtaking climax to your journey through the Lands Between. This colossal, otherworldly foe demands not only raw power but precise timing and strategy to overcome its relentless golden attacks and staggering health pool. Mastering its diverse moveset-from sweeping sword slashes to devastating rings of holy energy-is key to surviving this epic showdown and claiming the ultimate victory.

To help you see the ending of Elden Ring and consider starting new game plus, we’ve put together a guide on how to beat the Elden Beast, including details about the weaknesses and moveset, and how you should prepare.

Elden Beast location in Elden Ring

The Elden Beast, the final boss of Elden Ring, is located inside the Erdtree in Leyndell, Ashen Capital, specifically at the Elden Throne. Players encounter the Elden Beast immediately after defeating Radagon of the Golden Order, making it the second phase of the final boss fight. The closest Site of Grace to this location is the Elden Throne, where players can prepare for this challenging battle.

The Elden Beast boss fight starts right after you defeat Radagon of the Golden Order. This means that the fight will take place in the same area in Leyndell, Ashen Capital. The arena becomes available once you have beaten two obligatory bosses in this area, Sir Gideon Ofnir and Hoarah Loux. Once you have access to the Elden Throne, you can climb the stairs that will take you to where the fight against Radagon and the Elden Beast takes place.

Elden Beast weaknesses and how to prepare

The Elden Beast is highly resistant to holy damage and immune to all status effects, making elemental and status-based strategies largely ineffective. Its main weaknesses lie in physical damage, especially fast strikes and heavy stance-breaking attacks, as well as fire and lightning damage to a lesser extent. To prepare for the fight, players should equip strong physical weapons, avoid holy damage, and consider using incantations like Black Flame for additional damage. Summoning spirit ashes or multiplayer allies can also help distract the boss. Timing dodge rolls carefully to avoid the Elden Beast’s wide-area holy attacks and learning its attack patterns are crucial for survival in this lengthy and challenging battle.

As you should expect from the final boss in Elden Ring, the Elden Beast is a god-type enemy. You must be at least level 150. But defeating a god is not an easy feat and it doesn’t depend only on how high your level is, but also on how well prepared you are too.

In general, good armor against Radagon will also work perfectly when facing Elden Beast, since both enemies attack you with holy spells. The Crucible Tree set is still one of the best armors for this fight, and using incantations such as the Lord’s Divine Fortification is one of the best ways to prepare against this boss.

Unlike Radagon, the Elden Beast is pretty resistant to fire damage. To fight this otherworldly creature, prioritize physical damage of any kind. While you can’t affect them with bleeding or other detrimental effects, a strong weapon is more than enough to damage the Elden Beast. You can also break their stance with heavy hits.

When it comes to receiving help to fight the Elden Beast, the only options available are multiplayer or Ashen Spirits. Having another player or a summon to aggro some of the skills is extremely helpful, so consider using them. There aren’t specific NPCs for you to summon to this fight.

How to beat the Elden Beast in Elden Ring

To beat the Elden Beast in Elden Ring, focus on patience and mastering its attack patterns. The boss uses a mix of physical and holy damage attacks, so increasing your resistance to holy damage helps. Dodge its sword swings by rolling through them and avoid its ranged golden breath by running behind it. When it summons waves or rings of golden energy, time your rolls and jumps carefully to evade damage. Sprinting in circles can help you avoid its homing star projectiles. Use spirit summons or multiplayer allies to distract it, allowing you to land heavy hits. Keep close to the boss to avoid some of its more dangerous ranged attacks, and always dodge sideways when it attempts to grab you with its glowing hand. With persistence and careful timing, you can wear down its large health pool and claim victory.

The Elden Beast boss fight is a long encounter mostly because of its massive health bar and constant movement. More than once, the boss will move to the other side of the arena just after you have reached them. The opportunities you have to attack are fewer this time than when compared to Radagon. So you have to approach this fight patiently.

Throughout the fight, Elden Beast repeats the same attacks – only a few with variations. Due to how big the boss is, most of their attack animations are long enough for you to have time to respond and dodge.

Once you get used to avoiding these attacks and survive enough time to attack whenever there is an opening, you will defeat the Elden Beast. The majority of the fight is about surviving, but learning the boss’s moves will teach you when you can be more aggressive. Keep in mind that, depending on how fast you reduce the boss’s health bar, the Elden Beast won’t use some of the abilities listed here.

To begin with, the Elden Beast regularly swings a gigantic sword either once or as a complete combo. Time well your roll to the opposite side from where the sword is coming and avoid getting hit. After the last swing, the Elden Beast will stand still for a short time, allowing you to hit them once or twice.

Sometimes, the Elden Beast’s blade will be imbued with holy magic and the boss shoots magical slashes at you. You can totally dodge these, but the timing is a little bit tricky and it requires some training to get used to their speed.

The boss might also stick the sword on the ground and charge an explosion of holy magic. This attack can hit you twice. First, if you’re in front of them and get hit by the sword, and then later by the explosion. The best way to avoid this attack is to run from the area. You might want to try getting behind the boss if you’re near them.

While these sword attacks are considerably dangerous, the Elden Beast is better known because of its massive area-of-effect attacks. An easy one to avoid is the golden breath, which covers an area in front of the boss with fire. When you see them casting this ability, run left or right of it. In case you get to the boss’s rear, this is a good moment to strike a few blows.

A pretty scary moment in the fight is when the boss casts a giant golden circle that shrinks and explodes. At the beginning of the fight, the Eld will cast only one circle, but, as you get further into the fight, the Elden Beast casts three in sequence. At this moment, your goal is to move out of the area of the circle. As the borders get near, jump over them. If you’re caught in the middle, it’s certain death.

The Elden Beast will also fire off daunting golden spears. Like the circles, in the early stages of the fight, the boss will glow when charging the move. Later, the Elden Beast uses the same attack after emerging from the ground, but this time they cast the spears faster than before. In both scenarios, you want to sprint toward the opposite side from where the spears are coming, circling the arena.

Eventually, Elden Beast starts casting nebula abilities. In one of them, the boss horizontally spreads a trail of purple clouds that explodes. (There is also a variation of this attack in which the Elden Beast spreads the clouds in a row in front of them.) Additionally, the clouds start can sometimes form a black hole – and yes, it explodes. In all three scenarios, running away from the clouds is your best strategy. The hitboxes are too large for you to try to get near the boss without getting hit.

A quite dangerous spell that the boss uses is a golden star that follows you around. Alongside it, there are smaller projectiles that can also hit you. You can see the Elden Beast is about to release it when a glowing golden light appears in their left hand. Although dealing with the following star is not a problem in itself, it becomes troublesome when you need to pay attention to whatever else the boss is doing. A good way to escape the star is by taking some distance and rolling towards the direction it’s coming. Eventually, the spell stops and you can stop worrying about it.

What hidden mechanics can help me exploit the Elden Beast’s weaknesses

To exploit the Elden Beast’s weaknesses effectively, consider these hidden mechanics:

The Elden Beast is highly resistant to holy damage and moderately resistant to other elements, so focus on physical damage for maximum effect.
You can stagger the Elden Beast before it casts its Elden Stars attack by stacking stance damage when its health is below half. Using colossal weapons or weapon arts with high stance damage, like Square Off, repeatedly during its casting animation can interrupt this powerful attack.
Avoid locking on when the Elden Beast is close, as it can disrupt your attacks and positioning.
When the Elden Beast jumps into the air and summons rings, disengage lock-on and jump over the rings rather than rolling through them to avoid damage.
The Pest Threads incantation can deal significant damage, especially when cast from behind the Elden Beast.
Summoning your Mimic Tear quickly to draw the boss’s attention can help manage its aggression and create openings for attacks.
Running erratically can help evade the Elden Stars projectiles, which track predictively.
Blocking or avoiding the golden breath attack is crucial; staying close or far outside its range can help you dodge this otherwise nearly unavoidable attack.

These tactics combined can help you exploit the Elden Beast’s vulnerabilities and improve your chances of victory.

How can stacking stance damage stagger the Elden Beast effectively

Stacking stance damage to stagger the Elden Beast works by repeatedly applying high stance damage attacks to break its poise before it reaches half health, especially timed when it attempts to cast its powerful Elden Stars attack. This interrupts the casting and prevents the boss from unleashing that guaranteed move.

The Elden Beast has a large poise pool, so you need to use weapon attacks or weapon arts that deal significant stance damage. Colossal weapons and certain weapon arts like Square Off are particularly effective because they inflict high stance damage per hit. For example, charged heavy attacks, jumping heavy attacks, and guard counters deal more stance damage than regular hits, accelerating the stagger buildup.

When stance damage accumulates beyond the Elden Beast’s poise threshold, it staggers, leaving it vulnerable and unable to act momentarily. This stagger window is crucial for dealing damage safely or interrupting key attacks. Timing your heavy or weapon art attacks to coincide with the boss’s casting animations maximizes the chance of staggering it.

In summary, stacking stance damage involves:

Using heavy, charged, or jumping attacks and weapon arts with high stance damage.
Applying these hits rapidly before the boss reaches half health.
Targeting the moment it begins casting Elden Stars to interrupt and stagger it.

This mechanic turns a seemingly unstoppable foe into a manageable challenge by exploiting its poise system.