Face the towering floral nightmare of the Scadutree Avatar in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree-a boss fight that demands precision, patience, and fiery cunning. This colossal shadow of the Erdtree wields devastating attacks across three brutal phases, but with the right strategy and a keen eye for its weaknesses, you can topple this dark titan and claim its powerful rewards.
In this Elden Ring DLC guide, we’ll walk you through firstly where to find the Scadutree Avatar. We’ll also tell you how to beat the Scadutree Avatar by showing you how to prepare, how to avoid its moves, and how to kill it.
Scadutree Avatar location in Elden Ring DLC
The Scadutree Avatar in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is located beneath the Shadow Keep Legacy Dungeon in northern Scadu Altus. To reach it, players must first navigate to the Church District by crossing bridges east of Bonny Village and then heading north towards the Shadow Keep. From the Church District Entrance Site of Grace, players need to carefully platform across rooftops and rafters of flooded buildings to find a ladder that leads to a lever which lowers the water level. After draining the water, players can safely drop to ground level, grab the Sunken Chapel Site of Grace, enter the large church with the Marika statue, and take a right to find the elevator that descends to the Scadutree Base, where the Scadutree Avatar boss fight takes place.
The Scadutree Avatar is northeast of the Shadow Keep area, where you’ll eventually find the Scadutree Base region of Shadow of the Erdtree. Here, you’ll find the Scadutree Avatar located directly east of the Albinauric’s Shack.
The Scadutree Base Site of Grace is the closest point of respite; both multiplayer Summoning and Spirit Summons are allowed for this showdown.
Scadutree Avatar weaknesses and how to prepare
The Scadutree Avatar in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has several notable weaknesses and requires specific preparation to defeat effectively. Its primary weakness is its head, where attacks deal significantly more damage than to its body, making head targeting a priority throughout the fight. Being a plant-based boss, it is highly vulnerable to fire and magic damage, so using fire-infused weapons like the Blasphemous Blade with Taker’s Flames or casting fire and magic spells can greatly increase damage output. Players should prepare by equipping high poise gear to withstand its bleed-inducing root and thorn attacks and bring Stanching Boluses to counteract bleed buildup. A ranged build is recommended to safely target the head, especially during the boss’s aggressive phases, while melee fighters should focus on timing rolls to avoid powerful slam and explosion attacks. Summoning Spirit Ashes like Mimic Tear can also help manage aggro and chip away at its health. Prioritizing these strategies will make the multi-phase fight more manageable and increase the chances of victory.
You’ll encounter plenty of Fire-based attacks from the Scadutree Avatar, so I’d recommend equipping a talisman that buffs your resistance to Fire. The Flamedrake Talisman 3 is an excellent example.
The Blasphemous Blade can also work a treat against the boss, especially if you’re willing to get up close and personal with it, and unleash its special attack when wielded with two hands.
The Scadutree Avatar deals heavy Bleed-based damage, which can quickly leave your health destitute. You’ll want to take in either a talisman that counteracts Bleed build up, or armor that protects against it.
Lastly, it sort of goes without saying that the head is the weak point of the Scadutree Avatar. No matter if you’re a melee user or a magic one, you want to be locked on and aiming for the Scadutree Avatar’s head to deal the most damage possible in as short a time as possible.
How to beat Scadutree Avatar in Elden Ring DLC
To beat the Scadutree Avatar in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, focus on learning its attack patterns and exploiting its weaknesses. The fight has three phases, with the boss dealing mostly Physical and Holy damage, so equipping the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman and Haligdrake Talisman to reduce these damage types is crucial. Aim for its head to deal extra damage and dodge mostly to the left to avoid its swings and slams. Use fire-based attacks or incantations like Flame Serpent, as the boss is weak to fire. Be prepared to dodge its ground spikes and light beams in later phases, and take advantage of critical hit opportunities after each phase to reduce its health for the next. Bringing Spirit Ashes for additional fire damage and having plenty of Stanching Boluses to counter bleed can also help significantly.
The camera can be a real pain during the Scadutree Avatar fight. If you’re locked onto the head of the boss, you might not have a great view of its incoming attacks if you’re positioned directly under the boss, with the camera facing upward.
Scadutree Avatar boss fight phase 1
The Scadutree Avatar uses a lot of area-based attacks, and you’re going to see one as soon as you enter the arena. When its two weird arms hit the ground, it’ll send spiked branches shooting toward you; you’ll need to dodge-roll through this attack to avoid it entirely.
If you’re close to the boss, which is where I’d recommend staying, it can slam its head onto the ground to try and crush you, but this is best dodged by rolling to the left or right as its head is descending. Additionally, it can swing its arms around, either once or twice in a row, and you’ll want to dodge sideways through these attacks, just like the head attack.
Scadutree Avatar boss fight phase 2
In the second phase, the Scadutree Avatar will hunker down to the ground, and glowing pools will appear on the floor. When this happens, vines are about to come up; you need to memorize the location of the vines, and steer well clear of them for the next few seconds while the attack unfolds.
The Scadutree Avatar can also send four beams of light homing in on you when you’re at a distance. For this attack, wait until the beams of light are closing in on you, then dodge-roll to either the right or the left – forward or backward likely won’t cut it in this scenario.
Watch out for the Scadutree Avatar scooting along the floor. It’ll combine for three of these attacks, where it basically uses its arms to rapidly propel itself across the arena. Try to dodge roll to the side, out of the way of the head portion, as it comes shooting towards you.
Scadutree Avatar boss fight phase 3
In the third and final phase, the Scadutree Avatar can unleash a gigantic attack that basically consumes the entire boss arena. There’s quite literally no way to dodge this except with absolute perfect timing of a dodge-roll, so that you roll through the attack once it’s unleashed.
Lastly, diminishing the Scadutree Avatar’s health to zero won’t actually end the fight! Once its health hits zero, it’ll be open to a visceral attack on its head. If you don’t hit this, it’ll actually disappear, and you’ll have to exit and begin the entire fight again. You need to repeat this process at the end of every phase above.
Once the Scadutree Avatar has finally been defeated, it’ll drop you a lovely 260,000 runes, as well as the Remembrance of the Shadow Sunflower, which you can take to the Finger Reader in the Roundtable Hold. It’ll also drop Miquella’s Great Rune, which can be utilized during the DLC’s final boss fight to cancel out instant death upon a second successive grab attack.
What secret tactics can help me conquer the Scadutree Avatar easily
To easily conquer the Scadutree Avatar in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, several secret tactics stand out:
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Use the Flame Serpent incantation, which exploits the boss’s fire weakness and deals massive damage quickly while keeping you at a safe distance from its attacks. This strategy can make the fight significantly easier, reducing the boss’s health drastically in just a few hits.
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Alternatively, a Dexterity build using Fire Perfumer Bottles combined with the Rolling Sparks Ash of War can two-shot each phase when paired with fire-boosting talismans like the Fire Talisman, Fire Physick, and Shard of Alexander. Positioning to hit both the head and body is key for maximum damage.
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The Cranial Vessel Candlestand weapon is another powerful option, delivering chainable fire damage with hyper armor, making the fight trivial when combined with talismans such as Godfrey’s Icon and the Scorpion Fire Talisman.
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Focus attacks on the boss’s head, its weak point, especially after staggering it at the end of each phase to land critical hits and reduce its health for the next phase.
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Dodge its thorn attacks by rolling sideways and avoid its ground slam by rolling or jumping behind it. Blocking with a good shield can also mitigate damage from branch swings.
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Be patient and exploit the boss’s slow attack wind-ups to land heavy hits, using weapons like the Blasphemous Blade for solo runs.
Combining these tactics-fire-based incantations or weapons, precise dodging, and targeting the head-will make the Scadutree Avatar much more manageable to defeat.
How does the flame serpent incantation make the boss fight easier
The Flame Serpent incantation makes the Scadutree Avatar fight easier by launching a serpentine coil of fire that actively pursues the boss, allowing you to deal consistent, homing fire damage from a safer distance without needing to be in close combat. Charging the incantation increases its potency, making each hit more devastating, which helps quickly reduce the boss’s large health pool. Additionally, Flame Serpent benefits from specific equipment buffs such as the Fire Knight’s Seal and Godfrey Icon, which further amplify its damage output, making it especially effective against the boss’s fire vulnerability. Its relatively low FP cost and fast casting time enable frequent use, maintaining pressure on the Scadutree Avatar while minimizing risk to the player.
