Main Walkthrough

Finding Radagon and the Elden Beast

Since they're the final bosses, you'll need to go through, you know, almost the entirety of Elden Ring to fight Radagon and the Elden Beast. Here's a quick rundown of what you need to do:
  • Acquire two Great Runes. Godrick and Rennala are easy candidates.
  • Proceed to, and complete, Leyndell, Royal Capital. This involves several boss fights and a lot of battles in the streets.
  • Make your way to the Mountaintops of the Giants.
  • Proceed to the Forge of the Giants. You'll need to defeat the Fire Giant to gain access.
  • Speak to Melina, and agree to help her commit a 'cardinal sin'. She'll send you to Crumbling Farum Azula.
  • Complete Crumbling Farum Azula. You'll need to finish off two bosses, though fortunately they share a health bar.
  • Return to Leyndell and head to the base of the Erdtree. Another double-boss-with-shared-health-bar confrontation awaits.
  • Head into the Erdtree. Radagon and the Elden Beast are waiting for you.

Radagon's Moveset

Despite how cookie cutter Radagon seems at first he has a lot of moves, and as the battle progresses you'll see more and more surprises. Keep on your toes and be ready to react every time Radagon comes in to hit you. You'll see the following moves from Radagon:
  • Radagon will swing his weapon in combos of three or four. Each swing is quite slow, and the slowness of the attacks can sometimes throw you off. Don't roll too early or you'll get caught by the whole combo and go flying. Radagon takes very large steps so just rolling back won't be enough to get you out of the way. Rolling to the side is usually safer.
  • If Radagon is a fair distance from you he will close the gap by sweeping at you and swinging his weapon. Roll to avoid it, the punish him. Radagon typically doesn't move into a combo immediately after rushing you.
  • Radagon will perform a stomp. It's not a major move, but it often comes at the end of other combos and can catch you by surprise. Roll away.
  • Radagon will charge up a golden light in his missing arm, then try to lunge forward and grab you, plunging his arm into the ground and triggering a small shockwave. If he does he'll be doing massive amounts of damage. Get far from him as soon as his arm starts to glow. The shockwave can still hurt you even if Radagon misses. Radagon leaves a significant window of opportunity after this move for you to slam him around a few times.
  • Radagon will send a spread of five bolts of golden light at you. He usually does this twice before moving on to another attack. Roll to avoid, then roll again in case another volley is headed your way.
  • Radagon will leap into the air, charge up a bolt of lightning, and hurl it at you. Roll to avoid the lightning lance, then keep moving sideways to avoid the explosion that follows a few seconds later. He'll occasionally pair this move with the spread of five bolts, using the lightning instead of a second volley of bolts.
  • Radagon will flourish his weapon and slam the ground, creating a runic pattern. The pattern will erupt with energy a moment later. Roll to the side. Radagon will occasionally do this twice in one go, leaping forward to catch you as you dodge and performing an upswing.
After you've sapped about a third of Radagon's health he will add some new moves to his repertoire:
  • Radagon will stomp, as before, but now his stomps will trigger huge shockwaves of energy. If you dodged the initial stomp then you should also avoid the shockwave. This is the sign that Radagon has moved on to his more advanced attacks.
  • Radagon will leap into the air to fire off a lightning bolt, but he'll move to one side before throwing it. You should still avoid it per usual.
  • Radagon will begin to teleport, and will usually launch into an attack as soon as he reappears. Be ready to block or dodge. The teleportation shockwave itself does a bit of damage, though you can see it about to appear, giving you a split second to get out of the way.
  • Radagon will rise into the air, raise his weapon, and after a few seconds plunge down onto you, creating a massive rune on the ground. Roll towards and under Radagon just as he's descending towards you.
  • Radagon will summon lightning and leap at you, plunging his lightning lances into the ground. This will create a grid underneath you that deals continuous damage so long as you're standing on it. Roll away as quick as you can.
  • Radagon will slam the ground multiple times, each time creating a huge cone of damage in front of himself. Time yourself for each of the slams and you can jump to avoid the shockwave without a ton of trouble. Radagon will do this three times, pausing for dramatic effect on the third slam. Radagon's recovery after this is quite slow, giving you ample opportunity to attack.

Elden Beast's Moveset

A far different battler than Radagon, the Elden Beast is a colossal, sweeping, semi-aquatic creature that flows around the battlefield with an enormous sword. Think of this fight as similar to a battle against a dragon and you'll have an idea of how to proceed - though the Elden Beast can do a lot more than the average dragon. Expect the following moves from the Elden Beast:
  • The Elden Beast will rear its head up, then bathe the area in front of it in golden flames. These flames have a significant area of effect to them, and you'll want to get around to the rear of the Elden Beast to avoid the brunt of the impact. You'll always see the fight begin with this move.
  • The Elden Beast will swipe at you with its sword. This attack isn't that difficult to avoid, though it can be difficult to see if you're locked onto the Elden Beast and right up against its body. Stay on its sides to avoid the sword, and watch for sudden, upward movements in the Elden Beast's posture. The Elden Beast can do this multiple times, and will occasionally accompany the swipe with a sweeping body slide.
  • The Elden Beast will plunge its sword into the water, triggering a shockwave. A few seconds later it will push the sword further into the water, triggering an even larger shockwave. Watch the sword and roll as it enters the ground or just run for cover.
  • The Elden Beast will begin to glow, launching a squadron of homing darts from its wings that will zip up into the sky, then plummet down at you. Getting hit by all of them simultaneously is a quick way to die, so just keep running forward. They will all hit the ground behind you.
  • The Elden Beast will sweep its arm back, create a glowing orb around its hand, and try to plunge you into it. If you're caught you'll be lifted into the air and skewered by an unfair number of darts. Keep rolling whenever you see its arms move and this shouldn't be an issue.
  • The Elden Beast releases a ball of light that follows you around, emitting dozens of smaller balls that slowly try to home in on you. You're in for a bad time if too many reach you. Don't bother trying to roll away from them, just run until the attack ends. Only roll if you're suddenly stuck in the middle of them. Once you get used to the Elden Beast's attacks, this one will probably be responsible for the majority of your deaths. It's awful.
  • The Elden Beast will wave its hand, creating a long, wispy cloud of purple gas. This gas will erupt in explosions after a few seconds, so do your best to get out of it before that happens. The Elden Beast can create a swath in front of itself or a long line, depending on how far away you are.
  • The Elden Beast creates what looks like a small solar system in the air. After a few moments it will explode, dealing lots of damage to anything nearby. If you start to see purple haze in the air around you, run.
  • The Elden Beast will move a great distance away, bathe its sword in golden flames, and swing it at you. Each time it does it will fire a huge, golden shockwave towards you. All you can do is time your dodges and avoid each one. The first two are fast, the third takes a little longer, and the fourth is about a second-and-a-half after the third.
  • The Elden Beast will charge up its sword, fly a short ways into the sky, then sweep down and try to hit you. Watch its descent and start to roll just as it's about to reach you. The closer you are the Elden Beast's body, the less likely you are to get hit.
  • The Elden Beast will soar into the sky and create a massive, beautiful display that looks just like - and probably is - the Elden Ring. Don't let this distract you, as the real threat is under your feet. A large circle will appear below you, and a golden ring will appear on the periphery and shrink towards a single spot. If it touches you along the way you'll take damage, and when the ring disappears golden flame will erupt out of the larger circle. A variation of this has multiple shrinking rings, and the outer circle gets progressively larger. Hop over the rings and bolt for the edge of the circle. If you start running as soon as you see the Elden Ring in the sky you can mostly avoid this attack.

Beating Radagon and the Elden Beast

The first half of this fight, against Radagon, is largely skill-based. Though he looks a little on the slow side Radagon is a swift, powerful fighter, and learning how - and when - to dodge his attacks is key to making it through the battle.

If you're fighting alone this fight is understandably more difficult, though in large part it's because Radagon doesn't leave many openings to attack him. If you go for a hit and he's focused on you he'll usually hit back, and you'll take more damage than he does. If you're using a melee character you'll want to attack Radagon shortly after he performs a melee attack of his own, either a dash attack or some form of stomp. If it looks like he's recovering then you need to get in and hit him once or twice before he moves into another attack. Ranged fighters have a bit more leeway in this regard, though you still need to watch out for Radagon's moves while firing at him.

Your biggest concern is the runes Radagon conjures on the ground. With a few exceptions in the second half, these mean trouble. If at any point you see golden patterns on the ground, run. They will almost always erupt a few seconds later and deal you a significant amount of damage. Rolling helps; getting off of them completely is better.

Your battle against the Elden Beast requires skill, as well, though unfortunately there are elements of the battle that are just down to dumb luck. The Elden Beast uses a number of moves that can be very difficult to see if you're pressed right up against the creature, and one in particular - the golden orb that follows you around - is so difficult to avoid and takes so long to disappear that you just don't want to see it happen. (Though it will. It always does.) The Elden Beast also spends a variable amount of time fleeing to the opposite end of the arena, and it can keep doing this for so long that you'll feel as though you've barely gotten an attack in.

Nonetheless, your strategy here isn't that different from fighting a dragon, albeit tailored to different moves. Start the fight by immediately laying as much punishment on the Elden Beast while it's performing its breath attack. This will take a while, and you can put a fair dent into it. Get in nice and close and slam it around. With some luck - and perhaps a lot of Stamina - you may be able to stagger it before it can move.

Once the Elden Beast does move you'll be in for a game of cat-and-mouse. The Elden Beast doesn't follow any real pattern, and it may or may not zip all over the place. If it does take off on you you have no real choice but to follow. Dodge attacks as they come, get in close, and wallop it some more. Ranged fighters will have a slightly easier time getting into attack range, though they'll also be subjected to more of the Elden Beast's moves.

For the most part the Elden Beast's attacks aren't that difficult to avoid. The aforementioned golden orb, however, is a battle ender if you don't deal with it properly. You absolutely must run from the Elden Beast if you see the golden orb coming. The more you outpace the orb early on, the fewer hits you'll take when it inevitably catches up. Try to angle yourself back towards the Elden Beast after a while so you can react to any other attacks it may choose to unleash.

If you're having trouble with the damage output of either boss, you can mitigate it by a fair amount in two ways. The first, accessible to Incantation users, is the Divine Fortification spell. You can find it on the Weeping Peninsula, attached to a Scarab near the Tombsward Ruin. The second, accessible to everyone, is to find the Haligdrake Talisman +2. It's located in the swampy area of Mohgwyn Palace, in a graveyard watched over by a Giant Crow. Spell and Talisman both will greatly increase your Holy Damage Negation, deadening the effects of the spells of both bosses.

Given how long it takes to defeat these two bosses the overall encounter is a perfect candidate for Spirit Ashes. You can take on Radagon with whichever summon you like, but you'll have a tough time with the Elden Beast if you choose anything that prefers melee attacks. Your summon will struggle to keep up with the Elden Beast, and will usually just die without doing any damage. The one major exception is Black Knife Tiche, whom you can acquire from a boss battle against the Black Knife Ringleader in the Ringleader's Evergaol. It's located near the Cathedral of Celes Manus, right at the end of Ranni the Witch's quest. Tiche is very fast, and can keep up with the Elden Beast much more easily than any other summon.

You'll earn 500,000 Runes and the Elden Remembrance for defeating Radagon and the Elden Beast. You'll also bring the game to a close, so enjoy the ending. It changes depending on your actions, and which NPCs you may have helped. If you did help someone, you can find their summon sign on the ground, allowing you to access their ending. Congratulations! You've beaten Elden Ring! On to New Game Plus!