Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, is the first true wall in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree-a dazzling whirlwind of blades and magic whose relentless combos and brutal spells will punish the unprepared. But beneath her shimmering defenses lies a hidden weakness that can turn this seemingly insurmountable foe into your stepping stone deeper into the Land of Shadow. Ready to unravel the secret and claim victory? Here’s how to conquer Rellana and prove your mettle in one of the DLC’s most intense battles.
Our Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree guide explains how to beat Rellana, including details about her weaknesses, and how to prepare for the boss fight.
Rellana location in Elden Ring DLC
Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, is located at the end of Castle Ensis, the minor legacy dungeon found in the northeast corner of the Gravesite Plain region in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. To reach her, progress through Castle Ensis until you arrive at the Castle-Lord’s Chamber Site of Grace, which is the closest checkpoint before her boss arena. From there, head northwest up the staircase to find the boss gate leading to Rellana’s arena, situated in the Ensis Moongazing Grounds at the castle’s eastern edge. She serves as a major boss in the DLC, and defeating her is a key step for many players progressing through the expansion.
Rellana is waiting around in the Ensis Moongazing Grounds at the eastern edge of Castle Ensis. She’s a mandatory boss and impossible to miss if you want to make it to Scadu Altus this way, unless you skip Castle Ensis by taking the long way around via Ellac River. There’s a site of grace just outside her arena, as with all bosses, and two NPC summons: Dryleaf Dane and Needle Knight Leda.
Bear in mind that every NPC or human ally summoned will increase the boss’ health, but having both on hand also makes for a useful set of distractions while you learn how Rellana works – by watching her cut your allies down.
Rellana weaknesses and how to prepare
Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, is notably weak to Frost and Lightning damage, making these elements your best bet for inflicting significant harm during the fight. Weapons or spells that cause Frostbite can quickly wear her down, especially if you capitalize on the window when the ailment is active. Lightning damage is also highly effective, particularly due to the large pool of water in the arena, which amplifies its effect-consider using Lightning-infused weapons or incantations for maximum impact. Additionally, Rellana is vulnerable to Pierce-type attacks, so weapon classes like Spears, Thrusting Swords, and certain DLC-exclusive arms are advantageous. While she is susceptible to blood loss, her speed and aggression make it challenging to trigger this effect consistently. To prepare, upgrade your weapon and Spirit Ashes as much as possible, equip gear or talismans that boost magic resistance (such as the Spelldrake Talisman +3), and consider bringing consumables that further reduce magic damage, since Rellana deals significant magic attacks throughout both phases of the fight. Summoning aggressive Spirit Ashes or using the Needle Knight Leda summon can help distract her, giving you crucial openings to heal or attack.
Picking the best weapon for Rellana is something you’ll probably have to experiment with as you get used to her moveset to see what works best for your style. Heavy weapons can knock off a sizeable chunk of her HP, but the trouble is it’s tough to land a hit with one. Rellana moves quickly in general, and she can dodge heavy attacks and follow up with a strong flurry of counter strikes.
I struggled to land more than two hits at a time even with a katana. However, fighting styles with straight swords and light greatswords are lithe enough to let you execute a few attacks – even a well-timed Ash of War skill – and retreat while Rellana recovers. Milady, which you can find near the Miquella’s Cross at the Castle Ensis checkpoint, is a strong choice for this fight.
Use a melee weapon that scales with intelligence or faith if you’re running a magic build, and bear in mind that spells will do little good against Rellana, as she has some of the highest magic defense of any enemy. Magic does have its place in this fight, though, as she’s prone to Frostbite.
She’s also weak to lightning, but it’s rather more difficult to get a good lightning build together if you don’t already have one. Frozen Lightning Spear takes advantage of both weaknesses, though since Rellana tends to dodge sideways, she often places herself out of reach of the incantation’s initial hit and its follow-up explosion. This one works best if Rellana is distracted with an NPC summon or your Spirit Ash.
An easier way to inflict Frostbite is with Glintstone Icecrag. It has high Frostbite scaling, and unlike Ranni’s Dark Moon, it tracks your target foe and has a faster casting animation. Its low intelligence requirement of 15 means even strength or dexterity builds can use this spell. Rellana won’t take much damage from Icecrag itself, even if you have a high intelligence stat, but it’ll trigger the Frostbite status after about four or five hits. Frostbite deals heavy damage and increases the amount of damage Rellana takes from magic and might for roughly 15 to 20 seconds.
You can also skip the spells and use Freezing Grease on your weapon instead, though Frostbite buildup happens more slowly if you can’t land several hits in a row.
Either way, you’ll know it worked if you see a frost cloud hovering around Rellana. You can potentially get away with just using Frostbite to wear her down If your Spirit Ash is aggressive enough to keep her distracted for most of the battle. However, when Frostbite is active, you should try to land some hits with your weapon and take advantage of the ailment while it lasts.
As always, make sure your weapon and Spirit Ash are upgraded as high as you can get them. If you’ve run out of Smithing Stones or Glovewort, take a trip back to The Lands Between to pick up some Bell Bearings for the Maiden Husks.
How to beat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight in Elden Ring DLC
Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, is a formidable early boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, known for her relentless speed, devastating combos, and potent magic attacks. To beat her, focus on exploiting her key weaknesses: she is especially vulnerable to Frost and Lightning damage, so equip weapons or spells that can inflict these effects for a significant advantage. Rellana’s attacks are almost entirely forward-facing, so dodging toward or behind her is crucial to avoid damage and create openings for counterattacks. Summoning Spirit Ashes or NPC allies can help distract her, but keep in mind this increases her health, making the fight longer. Patience is essential-study her attack patterns, especially her delayed multi-hit combos, and strike during her brief recovery windows. In her second phase, watch for her powerful Carian Greatsword and Twin Moon sorceries, and be ready to jump or dodge at the right moment to survive her deadliest moves. With persistence, the right elemental damage, and careful timing, you can overcome Rellana’s challenge and progress deeper into the DLC.
Rellana’s attacks are fast and fluid, and she strings multiple combos together. She sometimes changes which attacks she uses in the middle and sometimes even skipping them completely to deliver one powerful blow when you aren’t expecting it.
As we suggested with the Divine Beast Dancing Lion boss, you may want to consider recording footage of your fight so you can look back later and watch how she behaves without trying not to die.
Rellana boss fight phase 1
In general, you can expect three parts to Rellana’s combos.
- The first is an opening strike, usually a single swipe from one of her swords.
- Then comes a follow-up from the other sword, which might be an upward slash or an overhand strike. Rellana may add several of these in the middle of her combo, or a downward slash from both swords, or even a little twirling slash.
- The combo ends with a strong finisher, as she crosses both swords before bringing them down in a powerful thrust.
Rellana can cancel her attacks and switch to a different combo move and seamlessly swap between targeting a summon or you. It all sounds a bit overwhelming – and it feels overwhelming to play, initially – but Rellana’s attacks have one thing in common: They’re all forward-facing. Your first instinct might be to back up and get away when she starts her barrage of attacks, but dodging forward puts you out of harm’s way more effectively.
Still, Rellana pivots quickly, so you won’t have much time to rest after you get away unless she gets distracted by something else.
Her other attacks include a strong thrust followed by a second thrust or a slash from her other sword. Rellana also summons Carian swords that fly at you after a few seconds, similar to what the Carian Knight earlier in Castle Ensis did, and will sometimes fire off an arc of magic energy at you. Dodge forward or to the side when you see her hand and sword glow blue.
The fallen Carian princess also has a devious trick that makes most strong attacks and elaborate weapon skills obsolete. When you start performing one of those attacks, Rellana sweeps around at a 270-degree angle – that’s three-quarters of a circle – and hits you with an upward strike from one of her swords. She’ll sometimes follow that with a downward strike as well. Your skill misses, and you get a big chunk of your HP taken off as well.
Stick to normal attacks when Rellana is facing you, and only opt for something fancier if she’s occupied with another character.
After a few minutes, Rellana will summon a Carian Greatsword and perform a vertical slash, which you can dodge sideways to avoid, followed a second later by a sweeping horizontal slash. Dodging forward or sideways works for this one, but if you miss the right timing, you’ll take heavy damage.
Rellana boss fight phase 2
Things kick off even more once Rellana’s HP drops by about half, and now’s the time to summon your Spirit Ash if you haven’t already. She pauses for a moment and ignites her right-hand sword with magic and her left-hand sword with fire, and she’ll follow that either with a firestorm that spreads in a diagonal pattern around her or with a flurry of sword strikes that deal fire damage if they connect.
If it’s the firestorm, make sure you’re not standing on a flame spot before it erupts. If it’s the sword strikes, try dodging them.
Rellana’s basic attack combos are unchanged in this phase, though they can deal magic and fire damage if they connect. She does have some new tricks as well, though.
Her sword summons are more like Greatblade Phalanx than Glintblade Phalanx now, but even though they’ll deal more damage if they hit you, you can still dodge them in the same way as before. Rellana will also use her Carian sword slash skill more frequently and aggressively, often firing several arcs in quick succession.
Rellana will also occasionally thrust both swords forward and create a small tunnel of flame. Dodge sideways from it, and use the few seconds while she finishes the animation to land one or two hits.
Once Rellana’s HP reaches about a third of its maximum total, she will occasionally leap into the air and summon two moons. One moon crashes into the ground after a second or two and sends a shockwave of magic out, and the second moon follows right after. Then, Rellana herself crashes back onto the battlefield and sends an even bigger magic wave rippling out.
These moves happen quickly, and not only are they difficult to dodge, but getting hit by all three – or even just Rellana’s final descent – is enough to send you back to the nearest site of grace. Given the nature of the attacks as circular waves, your best bet for avoiding them is dodging forward right when they connect with the ground. Alternatively, if you’re very quick and Rellana isn’t in the arena’s center, you could retreat to the room’s far edge and avoid damage that way.
You might also get lucky and avoid this final trick of hers altogether, if you press the attack hard enough and keep Frostbite going.
Defeating Rellana earns you her Remembrance, which you can give to Enia at Roundtable Hold in exchange for Rellana’s Glintblade Swords or her twin moon sorcery.
What is the secret weakness that can help me finally defeat Rellana in Elden Ring
The secret weakness that can help you finally defeat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is her vulnerability to Bleed damage and elemental damage like Lightning and Frostbite. Using weapons with high Bleed buildup, such as the Bloodmoon Ritual from Moghwyn’s Sacred Spear, can quickly wear her down by inflicting blood loss buildup. Additionally, Frostbite and Lightning spells or Ashes of War can exploit her elemental weaknesses, especially when combined with aggressive Spirit Ash summons to distract her.
Avoid magic damage directly, as Rellana has very high magic defense, but using ranged, non-magic-based Ashes of War or spells that cause elemental status effects from a safe distance while your summons draw her aggro is effective. Equipping talismans like the Spelldrake Talisman +3 for magic damage negation and the Pearldrake Talisman +2 or +3 for fire resistance also helps survive her second phase attacks.
In summary, focus on:
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Inflicting Bleed buildup with suitable weapons or spells.
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Using Lightning or Frostbite elemental damage.
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Employing resilient Spirit Ash summons to distract her.
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Equipping talismans to mitigate her magic and fire attacks.
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Dodging her powerful AoE attacks, especially in phase two, by moving forward or sideways rather than backing away.
Is there a specific elemental damage that Rellana is most vulnerable to
Rellana is most vulnerable to Lightning damage, especially because her boss arena is set in shallow water, which amplifies the effectiveness of Lightning-based attacks and spells. She is also susceptible to Frostbite, which not only deals significant damage but also increases the damage she takes from magic and physical attacks for a short period. Pierce damage is another effective option against her, but among elemental types, Lightning stands out as her primary weakness.
