How to beat Radagon & the Elden Beast in Elden Ring: Boss stats, weaknesses & tips

Sam Smith
radagon elden ring

Every Tarnished who wishes to become the Elden Lord has to defeat both Radagon and the Elden Beast. As the final battle in the game, the encounter is one of the most difficult in FromSoftware’s history, so to help you out, here’s a full guide on how to beat the final boss in Elden Ring, including its main weaknesses.

Upon reaching the Elden Ring, a cinematic sequence reveals startling truth about Queen Marika and Radagon, all conveyed without dialogue. This sets the stage for a grand finale against the game’s remaining gods. Their reign has ended, and it’s time for a new Elden Lord to rise.

Elden Ring’s final boss is split into two phases: First, you’ll need to defeat Radagon in combat. Then, you’ll need to defeat a manifestation of the Elden Ring itself known as the Elden Beast. Once both have been defeated, you can enjoy one of the game’s several endings.

The ending you get depends on your actions throughout your journey, and what you choose to do once the Elden Ring is in your possession.

Here’s how to beat Radagon of the Golden Order as well as the Elden Beast.


Contents


radagon marika elden ring
The truth about Radagon and Marika only adds to the drama of this boss battle.

How to defeat Radagon & the Elden Beast in Elden Ring

Radagon of the Golden Order fight

After the shocking revelation, the fight will begin.

Radagon will wield his golden hammer in this battle and each of his attacks will resemble a blacksmith’s strikes in a forge. His movements allude to his obsession with repairing the Elden Ring, to fix the fractured world. Knowing this makes the battle easier, as it helps you predict how and where Radagon will strike.

His attacks aren’t always meant to connect with you, as sometimes he’ll strike the ground instead which causes AOE damage for those nearby. Don’t try to just dodge him – avoid the area he strikes instead. Learning his patterns will help you to see the openings for an attack.

radagon elden ring 3
You must fight Radagon of the Golden Order to become Elden Lord.

Radagon’s strikes reach a wide area, but he’s generally quite easy to avoid. Ranged and magic users will simply need to keep a safe distance from him while they pummel him with attacks, but dodge when he moves closer. Melee fighters should try to circle around him and attack his rear while he gears up for or recovers from an attack animation.

This boss and his second phase both inflict Holy damage so make sure you bring buffs against this. We’d also advise you to save your Spirt Summons for phase 2.

Elden Beast fight

Once you reduce Radagon’s health to zero, a cutscene will play out in which he’s consumed by the Elden Ring, becoming the Elden Beast. This Lovecraftian nightmare will likely make fans of Bloodborne grin from ear to ear, that is until he starts pelting you with Holy attacks.

The Elden Beast’s attacks do massive AoE damage and the surface area is even wider than Radagon’s. His Cosmic Breath attack is particularly dangerous if you get caught up in it. The good news is he telegraphs each attack very clearly, meaning players have lots of time to dodge and run to safety.

elden beast
The Elden Beast is the living embodiment of the Elden Ring.

If he summons the Elden Ring to appear above your head, run away as quickly as you can. It’s tempting to roll, but just keep running, this is the fastest way to get away from the attack.

His homing attack can end the battle if you’ve not adequately leveled your health. This is by far the most deadly attack in his arsenal and it appears to go on and on. Just keep moving and it will soon stop.

Being close to the Elden Beast can sometimes be safer than being far away. It’s a good way to avoid his ranged attacks, but it’s also easy to be caught up in AOE damage.

Ranged fighters will likely have an easier time in this boss than melee players. Those using close-quarter weapons should try to stay near the boss and keep attacking. Fighting too defensively will make this battle very one-sided.

Elden Beast
The Elden Beast is your final battle in Elden Ring.

Remember, status effects like bleed, poison, scarlet rot, and sleep have no effect on the Elden Beast, so bear this in mind when selecting your talismans, weapons, and armor.

It will mostly be just you running away from him, meaning it’s likely to go on for a while. There are plenty of openings to attack the Elden Beast before and after his attacks, so learn to spot them, and then take full advantage.

Where to find Radagon & the Elden Beast in Elden Ring

Both Radagon of the Golden Order and the Elden Beast can be found on the Stone Platform at the Erdtree.

Once you’ve defeated Queen Marika’s first husband, Godfrey/Hoarah Loux, you’ll then get to proceed through a glowing door that appears. Radagon, her current husband, will be waiting for you here, alongside Marika herself.

radagon elden beast elden ring location
The location for this Boss is near Godfrey’s and Morgott’s.

You can progress straight to this final fight if you like, but we advise you to heal at the Site of Grace first. You can even return to the Roundtable Hold to make sure you’re fully prepared for this final confrontation with gods and monsters.

Radagon & the Elden Beast stats

During the combat’s first portion, Radagon of the Golden Order will have the following stats:

  • Health: 13339 HP
  • Defense: ?
  • Stance: 120
  • Parryable: Yes. Three parries per stance.
  • Immunities: Sleep, Madness, and Death Blight
  • Deals: Holy, Strike, and Standard physical damage

Once you deplete Radagon’s life and the cutscene is over, you’ll face the Elden Beas with these stats:

  • Health: 22127 HP
  • Defense: ?
  • Stance: 150
  • Parryable: No
  • Immunities: Poison, Scarlet Rot, Hemorrhage, Frostbite, Sleep, Madness, and Death Blight
  • Deals: Holy, Pierce, and Standard physical damage

Radagon & the Elden Beast weaknesses

While both are weak against the Black Flame, Radagon is vulnerable to any fire attack, skill, or spell, so weapons such as the Sword of Night and Flame or the Blasphemous Blade will work perfectly on him.

elden beast elden ring 2
The Elden Beast is immune to every status, so you must inflict physical damage.

Additionally, the Elden Beast has a glowing spot on his stomach, which will cause extra damage if attacked. This weak spot can be targeted by ranged players, however, it is a risky strategy for melee users as hitting it can end up in the player receiving a full deadly blow.

Useful tips to defeat Radagon & the Elden Beast

NPC summons

There are no summonable NPCs for either the Radagon of the Golden Order or the Elden Beast encounters. However, you can use the multiplayer option.

Spirit Ashes

We’d advise saving your Spirit Ashes for the Elden Beast rather than using them while fighting Radagon. That way, your summonable allies will draw his attention and fire while you can focus on dealing damage.

The optimal option for this Boss would be the Black Knife Tiche ashes (fully upgraded). Those who’ve been following the story will know that Tiche has some experience when it comes to slaying gods, but what makes her useful for this boss is her use of Black Flame magic – the Elden Beast’s sole weakness. Her dagger is also imbued with Black Flame, making her attacks extra effective against it.

black knife tiche elden ring
The Black Knife Tiche is one of the few Spirit Ashes that can use Black Flame attacks.

You can unlock Tiche as a Spirit Ash by defeating the Black Knife Ringleader, Alecto, at the Ringleader’s Evergaol in Liurnia and it will cost you 132 FP.

If you gave Seluvis’s potion to Dung Eater (instead of Nepheli Loux) and turned the madman into your puppet, then you can also summon him against Elden Beast.

Dung Eater also uses Black Flame attacks, making him a powerful ally. He’s also a tank and can hold his own against the final boss for the duration of the battle.

Items

Both creatures will inflict Holy damage during the fights, so you need to equip yourself with defensive items that debuff this damage type.

An item you must bring to the encounter is the Haligdrake Talisman, which reduces the amount of Holy damage taken. The regular Talisman can be found in a corpse at the Stranded Graveyard where you begin your adventure. Its +1 variation is on another corpse at the Leyndell Catacombs, and the +2 version is at Mohgwyn Palace on a dead body near a bunch of graves.

haligdrake talisman elden ring
The Haligdrake Talisman will help you debuff any Holy Damage thrown your way.

To reduce physical and non-physical damage you can equip the Dragoncreast Greatshield Talisman and the Pearldrake Talisman. Luckily for you, both can be found at Miquella’s Haligtree.

Additionally, you can use a Holyproof Dried Liver to boost your Holy Damage negation by 35% for two whole minutes. You can find it at Leyndell Royal Capital’s sewers and Deeproot Depths.

Magic

Both Radagon and the Elden Beast are weak against the Black Flame, a substance created to kill gods.

This Incantation throws a ball of raging black fire that deals extra damage and explodes on impact, and once it blows, it continues to sap the enemy’s HP for a short time.

This is the perfect ranged attack and you can even apply the Black Flame effect to weapons like the Black Flame Blade. It costs 18 FP and requires 20 Faith. This Incantation will be unlocked for purchase once you’ve given Brother Corhyn or Miriel Pastor of Vows the Godskin Prayerbook that is in Stormveil Castle.

elden ring black flame
The Black Flame is both Radagon and the Elden Beast’s key weakness.

More so, you can use the Incantation Lord’s Divine Fortification, which greatly increases Holy Damage negation for you and your allies. It costs 30FP and requires 27 Faith. You can obtain it from Gideon Ofnir once you’ve defeated Malenia, Blade of Miquella or just buy it at the Twin Maiden Husks after killing Maliketh, the Black Blade.

All encounter attacks

Radagon of the Golden Order attacks

When fighting this enemy, you must look out for all of these attacks:

  • Radagon’s Spear
  • Holy Spear Fan
  • Grab
  • Parry Stance
  • Charge Swing
  • Gold Breaker
  • Elden Shattering
  • Draining Field
  • Imbued Hammer Slam and Imbued Hammer Wave
  • Teleport
  • Stomp

Elden Beast attacks

When you enter the second phase of the fight, you must look out for all of these attacks:

  • Hand Slam
  • Golden Breath
  • Sword Swing
  • Swimming Sword Swing
  • Black Hole Teleport
  • Nebula and Nebula (line)
  • Divine Punishment
  • Concept of Order
  • Golden Wing Spears and Flying Wing Spears
  • Flying Flame Sword
  • Elden Stars
  • Sword Swing-Smash
  • Divebomb
  • Flying Sword Crescents
  • Flaming Stab
  • Spin Swing
  • Flaming Sword Combo
  • Wave of Gold
  • Dive
Radagon elden ring
Radagon is endlessly trying to repair the Elden Ring, only to fail, time and time again.

Radagon & the Elden Beast drops

Once this tough encounter is over and you’re the last standing fighter, you’ll be rewarded with the staggering amount of 500,000 runes and the Elden Remembrance.

You can sell the Elden Remembrance for 50,000 runes or you can exchange it with Enia at the Roundtable Hold for either Marika’s Hammer or the Sacred Relic Sword.


For more Elden Ring content, check some of the guides below:

Elden Ring Stonedigger Troll | Elden Ring Margit the Fell Omen | Elden Ring Tree Sentinel | Elden Ring Grave Warden | Elden Ring Pumpkin Head | Elden Ring Soldier of Godrick | Elden Ring Godrick the Grafted | Elden Ring Red Wolf of Redagon | Elden Ring Rennala | Elden Ring Flying Dragon Agheel | Elden Ring horse guide | How to beat Radahn | How to Beat Godfrey

About The Author

Sam is a Senior Games Writer for Dexerto specializing in Survival Horror, Diablo, Final Fantasy, and Soulslikes. An NCTJ accredited journalist, Sam also holds a degree in journalism from the University of Central Lancashire and has many years of experience as a professional writer. Being able to marry his love of writing with his addiction to video games was always one of his life goals. He also loves all things PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo in equal measure. Contact at sam.smith@dexerto.com