Learn expert tips and strategies to defeat all story bosses in Elden Ring. Prepare yourself, study your enemies, and show them who’s the real champion!
The Elden Ring developers have added dozens of different bosses to the game. Some of them are optional and you may not encounter them at all during the game, while others you will have to go through in any case. By searching for queries like “elden ring bosses” you can see how other people suffer and how much pain Malenia can cause.
How to Beat All Story Bosses in Elden Ring.
And to make your suffering easier, in this article we will figure out how to deal with the game’s story bosses. We will look in more detail at strategies that can work and give advice on the build.
Margit, Terrible Omen
Margit is waiting for us in the Tomb on Thunder Hill. This is the first story boss and you will have to fight him in order to get to Godric the Hundred-Handed. In the first phase, Margit uses a staff, and in the second, she takes a long sword and a hammer. In general, the boss is vulnerable to blood loss, and you can also summon a phantom and use dust to make your task easier.
It would be a good idea to buy “Margite Shackles” from Patchwork (Dirty Cave). You can use them to stun the boss for a while. In the arena, try not to move too far away, as it is quite narrow and there is a risk of falling into the abyss. In general, the boss is not particularly problematic and his attacks are easy to read, so you just need to dodge and have time to attack. But do not get carried away, otherwise your attacks will be interrupted by a blow to the head with a staff (critical). And shields will not help you much, it is better to roll.
The jump with the staff in the first phase opens up the boss’s back, so you have a window to hit the rat. And in the second phase, there is an area-of-effect hammer attack that hits a large area and can one-shot. To avoid this, roll into Mar-gite right under his hammer.
Godric the Hundred-Handed
After exploring the fortress, you will reach the second story boss – Godric the Hundred-Handed. He is more problematic than Mar-gite and will require much more attention from you. Here you will press the dodge button so often that your finger may hurt, but blocks and parries will not help, since in the second phase Godric attacks in an area. Again, do not hesitate to hit from behind and use dust.
Almost all attacks require the player to pay attention. In the first phase, it is worth keeping a small distance from the boss to dodge his attacks. The most problematic here will be the directed gust of wind, the lunge with the axe and the swinging of the axe in a jump. The first two attacks can drive you into a corner if you are not careful enough, and the third will require two dodges at once – back and to the side.
In the second phase, try to stay to the side or behind Godric, as he mostly attacks in front of him. This will also allow you to land critical hits in the back.
Radagon’s Scarlet Wolf
This boss is waiting for us in Lake Liurnia in the area of Raya Lucaria Academy. There are no places of grace nearby, so just explore the location until you come across an arena. The wolf is quite aggressive and attacks both at a distance and at close range. Here you can take up a shield, and it is also advisable to fight in close combat, because the boss will pinch mages more actively.
In close combat, the Scarlet Wolf makes a lot of jumps and lunges, so the shield can protect you from damage while moving. Counterattack after the enemy’s attacks and do not approach him first. The boss will come to you himself. You can also distract him with the help of Summon Spirit, but you should be careful here, since changing the target can provoke a sudden attack on you.
Ranged combat is tricky and you’ll have to distract the Scarlet Wolf with spirits to get a window to cast the spell. Keeping a sufficient distance from the boss is quite difficult, and he can also dodge magic, so disrupt his aim on the summons and seize the moment.
Queen Rennal Fullmoon
This is the second boss of the Raia Lucaria Academy. After defeating Rennala, you will receive a valuable NPC who can reset your stats for the resource “Tear of the Larva”, allowing you to reassemble your character for a new build. But first, you need to fight the boss, and for this we take into account a couple of things.
Firstly, in the first phase you won’t be able to hit Rennalla herself at all, you’ll need to remove the barrier, and to do that you’ll need to look for a mob with a golden glow around it. To remove the shield, you’ll need to kill three of them. And secondly, she loves helpers and summons ghostly beasts. You can recognize the attack by the type of summon:
- Lone wolves– will run around and try to attack you;
- The Bloodhound Knightis a fast opponent with strong attacks;
- Troll– will one-shot the character if it falls on him after being summoned;
- Dragon– attacks with fire and destroys the arena to prevent hiding from attacks.
After the first phase, Rennal throws rocks that can kill you on the spot, so use summons to distract and dodge. And in the second phase, the boss spams spells, which will make you run around the entire location.
Godfrey, the first lord of Elden. The Golden Shadow
The Shadow of the Ruler awaits us on the Altus Plateau. Overall, this is a fairly easy boss, but in the second phase, he can cause problems, so we recommend stocking up on flasks and making sure you have enough health.
Godfrey’s attacks are easy to predict, so there is a small amount of time to dodge his blows and counterattack. Using Dust can also make the fight much easier. In the first phase, it is enough to carefully dodge to the side of his blows and hit back.
And in the second phase, the boss will switch from single blows to long combinations. They are quite powerful and can hit you if you are careless, that’s what the supply of flasks is for. The easiest way is to provoke his attack in a jump, which is easy to dodge and you can deliver several quick blows.
Morgott, King of Omens
In the same region, we will encounter another mandatory boss. Morgott uses a combo of wide strikes, and also throws spears and daggers. It is especially worth watching out for his energy burst, as it attacks in a circle and deals a lot of damage.
The boss is not that hard to deal with, and you can also summon Melina or the Scum Eater, and they will make the first phase much easier for you by distracting Morgott. All you have to do is attack from behind a few times. When the boss’s health starts to approach the middle of the scale, stay away from him, because he will strike with fire over an area.
In the second phase, fire puddles will appear on the floor, which you don’t want to touch, and Morgott will attack you with a whip and a spear of light. Dodge, but roll closer to the boss to instantly counterattack. Also, if you have problems with the second phase, try to summon an assistant during it, and not at the beginning of the battle.
Fire giant
And here we have our first battle on horseback. Keep in mind that damage to the boss is poor, so you need to take the most powerful weapon in your arsenal. And don’t get caught in the first attack, bounce away from it so as not to get hit in the face.
The best place to hit the giant is in his left leg, as there is no chain on it and there is more space to hit. This will be a fairly long fight due to the boss’s HP and high defense, but the tactics here are simple – dodge attacks with your legs and shield, and then counterattack.
In the second phase, the boss will roll around the field and will also start throwing large fireballs. Avoid hitting them, as they can explode. This phase is a little easier, as you can hit the giant anywhere on his body, but you will have to watch him more closely.
Two of Divine Skin
As you might guess, this is a two-for-one deal. You get two opponents: the Aristocrat and the Apostle. They aren’t as scary as the previous opponents, but they have different movesets and move pretty fast.
The Noble is vulnerable to critical hits, so the fastest way to kill him is with backstabs. And the Apostle takes more damage from bleeding. In general, the battle tactics are that you should focus on enemies one by one. You can also just spam them with Frost Stomp, hiding behind a pillar and dodging attacks.
Summons are not very effective here, because of the fast attacks of the boss they will not last long, so the best tactic will be to use covers and Frost Stomp. Well, and remember that if you kill one of the enemies too early, he will respawn.
Beast Priest. Maliquet Blackblade
This is another fairly simple boss. The difference is that in the second phase you will have to roll around the arena for a long time, dodging and trying not to get hit by his attacks, so that Maliquet does not riddle you.
In the Beast Priest phase, the boss mainly throws rocks, and also attacks around himself and tries to swat the main character. To hide from his attacks, use the pillars. They work well even against magic volleys.
In the Black Blade phase, he speeds up a lot and chases the player. Here, you can use the dust to distract the boss for a while and quickly attack him.
Sir Gideon Ofnir the Omniscient
Before you go fight the real Godfrey, not his shadow, you will also have to go out one on one with Sir Gideon. He is a strong mage and has many different spells in his arsenal, but is vulnerable to madness, so if you have Flame of Fury and Furious Volley, then there will be no problems in the fight.
The best tactics against him are dodging and quick pinpoint attacks in between volleys. The boss can also heal himself, so try to stay close to him and quickly interrupt his spells to prevent them from being used. You can also “press” Gideon and use heavy weapons or jumping attacks to knock him down.
Godfrey, first lord of Elden. Hoara Lux, warrior
We meet Godfrey again, but this time he is real and incarnate in a physical shell. Like the Beast Priest, he changes his name when he changes phases. Godfrey is considered one of the most difficult bosses in the game, along with the optional Malenia, so prepare yourself mentally and don’t forget the Vaseline.
Most of his attacks in the first phase can be blocked if your character has no problems with stamina, or just save yourself from them with the gate. Watch the axe, especially if Godfrey raised it above his head – in this case, his attacks will become stronger and will start hitting a larger area. Also, the boss is quite aggressive and can push you, so prioritize fast weapons to have time to attack during breaks.
In the second phase, Godfrey will reveal his Hoar Lux form and switch to hand-to-hand combat mode. Here you need to remember his attacks and dodge them in the right direction, but you should avoid blocking with a shield, because it will not protect against grabs. Fortunately, the health bar will not recover, so in the second phase, the tactic is as follows: survive the blows, quickly make several jabs with the weapon and repeat everything until complete victory.
Radagon of the Golden Order
Relaxed after defeating Godfrey? Squeeze all the holes back, because Radagon also likes it rough and will chase you all over the arena. Protection from holy damage and a large amount of stamina for catching up with the boss can ease the situation. And parrying will also help you. This will not only break Radagon’s attack combo, but also allow you to deal critical damage to him.
If you do everything right, you will break his balance up to 3 times per battle, which will allow you to refresh buffs, heal, or simply beat the boss while he is disoriented. Also, some of Radagon’s moves leave a window for recovery and you will be able to deliver powerful blows. You should be especially wary of the grab. If his hand is glowing, roll like a sausage as far away as possible, because this attack has a large radius.
The second phase of the boss begins at 35% health. There will be no transition or cutscene here, but the attacks will become stronger, so if you still have a chance to knock the boss’s balance down, do it before the phase starts to have time to heal or buff yourself. And after the fight, you will literally have five seconds to refresh all the effects, because the final fight of the game awaits you.
Beast of Elden
And now, beaten but happy, we finally reached the final boss of Elden Ring. The Beast of Elden awaits you in Leindell, the capital of ash. In fact, if you compare it to Radagon or Godfrey, then there should be no particular problems in the fight. The main problem with the battle with the Beast is the size of the boss. He has a large radius of damage, and in addition to magic, he hits with his hands and feet, so it is best to attack from behind.
Often you will have to simply catch up with the boss, because he can simply float under the floor and end up at the other end of the arena. You will definitely need a lot of stamina. Also, problems with close combat can arise due to the camera, which is disrupted by the size of the boss. Therefore, do not use target capture if you are close.
There is no special tactic here: dodge and counterattack whenever possible. The beast is not as aggressive as Radagon, and although the fight with him will be long, there should be no problems.