Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is packed with challenging boss fights, but Promised Consort Radahn is one of the toughest encounters in FromSoftware history. Lots of players are struggling with Shadow of the Erdtree’s final fight, but Radahn is easier than he seems if you follow our tips.
How to beat Radahn in Elden Ring DLC
Preparation
Promised Consort Radahn is Elden Ring’s last-ever boss, so it makes sense the difficulty is through the roof. If you’ve made it this far in Shadow of the Erdtree, you’ve overcome some tremendous challenges, but nothing tests your skill like Radahn.
For starters, you need as much health and defense as you can get. In Radahn’s second phase, his attacks have long combos that deal massive AoE Holy Damage. It’s easy to get killed with a full health bar if you get caught by one of his combos, so it’s imperative to go into the fight as tanky as possible.
If you haven’t already, respec to get 60 Vigor and 80 in the damage stat of your choice. Wear your heaviest armor with the best resistance to Slash Damage and Holy Damage—for me, it was the Tree Sentinel Set. Equip the Crimson Amber Medallion+3 for an extra 10 percent maximum health. I went into the fight with nearly 2600 health and it was enough to survive Radahn’s combos, and you should do the same.
Pair this with the best defense-boosting Talismans you have: The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman to reduce Physical Damage taken by an extra 20 percent, and the Haligdrake Talisman to reduce Holy Damage taken by an extra 25 percent. You have one Talisman slot left over to boost your build’s damage, so use it wisely.
Radahn is heavily weak to Bleed, so if you’re struggling, use a Bleed weapon like the Red Bear Claw, Bloodhound’s Fang, or Eleonora’s Poleblade. Bleed procs take off almost 10 percent of Radahn’s health, so they’re no joke. I managed to beat Radahn with the Red Bear Claw+10 and 80 Strength. I recommend you use a similar strategy, or another setup from my guide to the best builds for Elden Ring’s DLC.
Lastly, before heading into the fight, make sure you collect as many Scadutree Fragments as possible to get your Scadutree Blessing to the highest possible level. I beat Radahn at Scadutree Blessing level 15 and he was still a big challenge, so try to get higher if you can. Check our comprehensive guide to all Scadutree Fragments in the Elden Ring DLC for detailed directions.
Phase one
As soon as you enter the boss arena, Radahn launches himself at you with a corkscrew gravity attack similar to the one he uses when he crashes down from the stars in Caelid. You don’t have time to summon a Spirit before Radahn lands, so watch him carefully and dodge at the last moment to avoid damage. There’s a brief moment where you can call your Spirit Summons after he lands before he starts his combo, so be quick and prepare to dodge again.
In his first phase, Radahn has a few attacks you need to worry about. His main melee combo starts with a stomp, followed by a heavy slash, two quick slashes, then a huge vertical attack with both weapons that ends with a shockwave. You can see the full combo starting at 0:06 in the video above. Just keep in mind that Radahn sometimes only does one or two attacks from the combo (usually the first couple of sword sweeps) instead of the whole thing.
Dodge or jump over the stomp, dodge once to avoid the heavy slash, dodge twice in short succession to avoid the quick slashes, then run away and jump to avoid the big slash and combo.
It takes a while to get used to, but it’s important to nail dodging this combo. Radahn can change targets mid-combo (and often does), so keep this in mind if you have a Spirit Summons or a friendly cooperator in the battle with you. It’s easy to be caught off-guard by a sword sweep when Radahn switches targets, especially if he does it lots of times during the fight. If possible, stay in melee range while a phantom or ally pelts Radahn with ranged attacks, or vice versa.
Radahn also has an AoE gravity ability where he pulls everyone toward him and deals minor damage—you can see it at 0:16. You can roll through this to avoid the damage and, more importantly, avoid being staggered.
Lastly, Radahn has a powerful signature ability where he charges his weapons with lightning and slashes upward, then flies into the air, summons a load of magic boulders, and pelts them at you from the sky. The initial slash is well-telegraphed and easy to dodge, so roll away and start running. The boulders are fast-moving projectiles, but as long as you keep sprinting, they won’t hit you.
Avoid Radahn’s attacks and take advantage of the brief windows between them to deal chip damage—even better if yourself and your Spirit Summons (like the Mimic Tear) are constantly inflicting Bleed buildup. Keep it up until you get Radahn down to about 70 percent health, triggering the transition to phase two.
Phase two
This is where things get ugly. Miquella joins the fray, riding on Radahn’s shoulders and enhancing his attacks with Holy magic. As soon as the phase begins, Radahn raises his arms and begins casting a massive Holy AoE attack that deals continuous, ticking Holy damage as long as you remain in its radius. As soon as Radahn starts casting this spell, sprint in one direction and don’t stop until you’re clear of the AoE. Then, run straight to Radahn and get a few hits in before he starts another attack animation.
This is one of the hardest encounters in FromSoftware history, so the aim of the game is to get through phase two as quickly as possible. Avoid his attacks and use every opportunity to deal damage between them. Keep the pressure on and don’t let up—the longer the fight goes on, the more likely it is you’ll get caught by a big combo and die.
For the rest of the fight, Radahn’s melee attacks summon pillars of light after a brief moment that deal Holy damage unless you roll out of the way. The timing to dodge them is the same as in the first phase, but you also need to roll away after every attack and avoid lingering in the same spot for too long. Likewise, Radahn can still use the attack where he flies into the air and throws magic boulders at you, so dodge this as you normally would.
Watch out for when Radahn charges forward and summons spirits to do sweeping melee attacks—he can attack multiple targets with this ability, so prepare to dodge, even if the boss isn’t actively focusing you. You can see it at 1:02. Radahn also gains a grab attack in phase two, but it doesn’t seem to do anything—Miquella hugs you and promises you a “thousand year voyage guided by compassion,” but it doesn’t do any damage. I’ve no idea what this means yet, but hopefully we’ll find out soon. If you get hit by this grab attack, don’t worry too much. Just recompose yourself and prepare to start attacking again as soon as Miquella drops you.
Continue unleashing hell on Radahn between attacks, keep the pressure up with Bleed procs, and he’ll be down in no time. Try to push through when you get to the last 10 to 20 percent health—we made our character tanky for a reason, and you should be able to survive a couple of hits when you need to land the final couple of blows on Radahn.
