How to Defeat the Death Dragon
The world of Elden Ring is full of various mythical monsters, and dragons are the most ancient and powerful of them. The same goes for the recent addition Shadow of the Erdtree, where, like in the main game, fighting them is not always necessary, but if you fancy yourself a dragon slayer, you will not avoid a fight. The most common type of these flying lizards in the DLC are Death Dragons, and from the name you can already guess that defeating one of them will be difficult, but possible, and in this guide we will tell you how to do it.
LOCATION OF THE DEATH DRAGON
As we mentioned, the Death Dragons live in different places in the Shadow Realm, and it will not be easy to avoid them, however, you can easily slip past the very first one, since it looks like a motionless island in the middle of a lake.
We are talking about the lake north of the Place of Grace Cross by the three roads (there is also a bonfire a little to the right), and as soon as you approach its center, you will understand that this pile of garbage is actually a dragon. Most likely, an encounter with him at an early stage of the DLC will end in inevitable death, unless you flee the battlefield, which is what we recommend doing.
However, given that you will meet his relatives further on, it makes sense to learn how to kill Death Dragons, and this is where we can help with advice.
DEATH DRAGON WEAKNESSES
All Death Dragons are similar, and they don’t have many weaknesses, but they do have them. Given their necrotic origins, their main vulnerability is more than obvious.
- Holy Damage Vulnerability: If you’re a mage, paladin, or just have a weapon that deals holy damage, now’s the time to use it. Even if you don’t have one, don’t worry, there’s a weapon lubricant in the game that you can find, buy, or craft yourself.
- Vulnerability to Physical Damage: How Since the Death Dragons have no other obvious weaknesses, and they have a lot of HP, the old tried and true method remains – be their powerful power attacks, which deal maximum damage at once. In other words, the battle with them will be a serious test of your endurance and patience, as you will have to deal countless blows.
WHAT IS THE EASIEST WAY TO DEFEAT THE DEATH DRAGON
Again, trying to kill the Death Dragon without preparation on your first encounter is suicide, and the best one to practice on is the one you encounter a little later in the game.
It is located east of the lake with the first Death Dragon – in the Murtagh Ruins Valley behind Ensis Castle .
We told you how to defeat the boss there in one of our previous guides .
The thing is that you will have a whole bunch of helpers there without the need to summon spirits and phantoms – a bunch of brave knights will be smashing a dragon in the middle of the road. So you will be able to safely assess the damage from different types of ranged attacks and spells, and try to join the battle, but keep in mind that the knights will not recognize you as an ally.
TACTICS IN THE BATTLE WITH THE DEATH DRAGON
- Use Crystal Tears with Defensive and Restorative Effects: Before a fight with almost any boss, the best thing to do is to additionally protect yourself from his deadly attacks at least for a while with a miracle potion. It is created by mixing Crystal Tears, which you probably found a lot of during the passage of the main part of Elden Ring . Among them are those that temporarily increase the regeneration of health, stamina, or help to partially avoid damage.
- Call for help: As we mentioned, even the game itself hints that only a madman would fight the Death Dragon alone , so there is nothing wrong with enlisting the help of loyal comrades in co-op mode or summoning spirits from the dust that will distract the boss while you perform the next steps.
- Hold on tight to the saddle: Remember, the Flow is not only your trusty steed, but also your loyal comrade in battle against dragons. Many of the attacks of such bosses, which are equally dangerous up close and at a distance, are simply impossible to avoid on foot.
- Beware of its breath: The original translation of this mob’s name is Ghost Flame Dragon, and you’ll quickly see why. It spews a stream of black, deadly air, sometimes from its mouth, and sometimes after slamming the ground. Both attacks are fairly easy to avoid if you’re on horseback, so just ride as far away from it as possible.
- Go for the Legs: The safest place to hit most giant enemies in Elden Ring (not counting Furnace Giants) is their legs. And this strategy applies to Death Dragons – this will help you avoid most of their most dangerous attacks, but not all.
- Beware of the sharp turn: However, while you are attacking the dragon’s legs, it will not stand still. In such cases, this giant becomes unexpectedly nimble and sharply turns 180 degrees to carry out an extremely painful bite. The best way to avoid this is to double jump to the side, if you listened to our advice and came to the battle on the Flow.
- Rush to the glowing eye: Once you’ve dealt enough damage to the dragon, it will fall and its eye will glow. As with other bosses, this marks a point where you can perform a critical attack and take away a huge amount of health in one hit.
If all goes well and you are patient enough, the Death Dragon will go to the next world much faster than you might expect.
REWARD FOR DEFEATING THE DEATH DRAGON
Unfortunately, after defeating this boss you will not be able to get any unique trophies, and will receive the same reward as for killing the standard dragon in the main game.
To be precise, there are about 100 thousand runes, a Dragon Heart and one Dark Dragon Forge Stone, which are extremely rare in the game, so this will more than pay off your efforts.
Based on materials from: beebom.com