Elden Ring guide: How to beat the final boss

Elden Ring's final boss isn't the most challenging of the bunch to take down, but it's far from being one of the easiest bosses in the game, either. Both Radagon of the Golden Order and the Elden Beast are designed completely differently, and since you have to fight one right after the other, it can be tough to adapt your playstyle to each boss in the final battle.

With that said, defeating these bosses isn't too tough once you know what to expect from each of them, as well as what their weaknesses are. Here's our full guide to defeating Radagon of the Golden Order and the Elden Beast, Elden Ring's final bosses.

Elden Ring: Radagon and Elden Beast general tips

These general tips will help you prepare and plan for your final battle with both Radagon and the Elden Beast in Elden Ring, as well as give you an idea of what to expect from each of the bosses.

• Both Radagon and the Elden Beast are resistant to Holy damage, so avoid using it against them. Holy weapons and spells still do solid damage to the bosses if you have a powerful Faith build, though.
• Conversely, both bosses are weak to Scarlet Rot, so use weapons, items, or spells that inflict it if you can. Scarlet Rot will deal a large amount of poison damage over time, making the fights significantly easier.
• Avoid using Faith spells against the Elden Beast, as it can heal from them. Note that you can use buffing spells, but don't use ones that deal damage.
• The bosses also deal Holy damage, so boost your resistance to Holy damage if possible. This can be achieved with armor, the Haligdrake Talisman, and certain magic spells such as Divine Fortification.
• The Mimic Tear Spirit Ash Summon is strong in this fight. It has a lot of health, deals good damage when fully upgraded, and can distract the bosses so that you can hit them easier.
• The Black Knife Tiche Spirit Ash Summon is also effective in this battle. Though he won't do a lot of damage and isn't very tanky, Tithe's agile movement and frequent dodges allow him to distract the bosses greatly.

Elden Ring: How to beat Radagon of the Golden Order

The first stage of Elden Ring's final boss battle puts you up against Radagon of the Golden Order, a humanoid enemy with lots of strong Holy damage melee attacks. Here's how you can get through this phase of the final battle.

• Above all, don't panic in this fight; Radagon uses many delayed swings with his hammer that will punish you for roll spamming. Instead, carefully wait for the moments where Radagon commits his attacks, then dodge.
• Radagon has very high Poise, so only attack him a few times between his own attacks. If you get greedy, you'll probably get hit.
• Whenever Radagon's feet or hammer begin to glow gold, his next attack will create a large magical area-of-effect; dodge as late as possible so you avoid the hit and the explosion. Don't dodge too late, though, or else you'll be hit by both the physical swing and the magic area-of-effect.
• When Radagon's arm glows gold, he will attempt to grab you; be ready to dodge this. If you get grabbed, Radagon will smash you repeatedly with his hammer, likely killing characters with low Vigor quickly.
• If one of Radagon's attacks leaves behind golden energy, get away from it. It will explode shortly after, dealing significant damage to anyone caught in the blast.
• Watch for lightning spears Radagon may throw if you're far away, and make sure you avoid them. He may either throw one large one that explodes shortly after landing, or five smaller ones that fan out from his position.

Once you fully deplete Radagon's health bar, he will fall to the ground and the Elden Beast will burst from his body, pull out a sword, and prepare to fight you.

Elden Ring: How to beat the Elden Beast

The Elden Beast is a large creature with many sweeping physical attacks, lots of magic projectiles, area-of-effect moves, and high mobility. Here's what you need to know about defeating the Elden Beast, the true final boss of Elden Ring.

• If the Elden Beast begins breathing a dark yellow flame at you, sprint left or right to avoid it. Dodge roll if the flames get too close to you.
• If the Elden Beast sends a stream of purple mist at you, sprint away from it. The stream will explode shortly after, so you don't want to be near it when it does.
• Sprint away from the Elden Beast if it begins swirling around, creating a large haze of purple mist. Like the mist from the previous attack, this mist will explode shortly after as well.
• When the Elden Beast flies away from you, sprint after it and then dodge the large sweeps it performs with its sword. Dodging through the sword swipes gives you the best chance at not being hit by these attacks.
• Note that the best time to damage the Elden Beast is between its sword swipes, as you can score a ton of hits before it attacks again. Try to at least land a full attack combo with your melee weapon or three or four sorcery spells during this window.
• When the Elden Beast stabs its blade into the ground, run away. The spot where the blade entered the ground will explode shortly afterwards.
• If the Elden Beast flies into the air and creates golden rings around you, dodge through the one that moves towards you and sprint outside of the outer ring. The inner ring damages you if it hits and will stop you from escaping the radius of the outer ring, which explodes after several seconds.
• If the Elden Beast creates a golden orb that tracks you, run to the left or right. This orb will begin to shoot out small magic projectiles that are best avoided by sprinting left or right. Start spamming dodge rolls if you don't run to the side sharply enough and start getting hit by the projectiles. After several seconds, the orb will disappear.

If you manage to avoid the Elden Beast's numerous magic and physical attacks while taking advantage of the huge damage windows you get after it swings at you with its sword, you'll eventually come out on top. Congratulations — you've defeated Elden Ring's final boss and have beaten the game.

Elden Ring is finally here, and it's available for $60 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. It's one of the best Xbox games you can play right now if you're a fan of challenging RPGs, and we strongly recommend it.