How To Beat Dragonlord Placidusax In Elden Ring

Conquering the optional Dragonlord Placidusax encounter rewards adventurers with exceptional gear including a legendary greatsword and the game’s most devastating dragon incantation. This formidable foe represents one of Elden Ring’s ultimate challenges, demanding thorough preparation and strategic execution.

The Dragonlord confrontation presents one of Elden Ring’s most demanding optional encounters. Despite being skippable, completing this battle delivers substantial rewards that significantly enhance late-game builds. Success grants access to a Remembrance that can be exchanged for either a tremendously powerful colossal sword or an elite dragon fire spell—or both through strategic duplication at Walking Mausoleums.

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Accessing Placidusax becomes possible during the final stages of your adventure. The Dragonlord makes his home within Crumbling Farum Azula, an ancient sky-bound ruin reached after defeating the Fire Giant. From the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace, ride the nearby elevator upward, proceed through the crumbling chapel structure, and advance until encountering a cluster of withered trees. Carefully peer downward to spot a substantial ledge positioned far beneath your current location. While the descent won’t prove fatal, applying Soft Cotton beforehand provides additional safety assurance for cautious players.

Continue progressing toward the massive tornado visible ahead. You’ll eventually discover an extensive section of collapsed masonry featuring an empty recess at its center. Approaching this alcove triggers a prompt to recline. Selecting this option transports you directly to the boss arena. Critical Preparation Note: Ensure your character reaches at minimum level 100 with a completely upgraded weapon before challenging Placidusax. Activating a Rune Arc pre-battle proves highly advisable, particularly when utilizing Godrick’s or Radahn’s Great Rune enhancements.

Double the heads means double the flames.

Proper preparation separates victorious Tarnished from those who face repeated defeat against this ancient dragon monarch. As ruler of all dragons, Placidusax employs combat techniques fundamentally different from previously encountered dragons like Agheel or Smarag. His arsenal incorporates sacred flame attacks, lightning-based assaults, physical claw strikes, and temporary invisibility through smoke dispersion. Equipping the Boltdrake Talisman—preferably an upgraded variant—provides crucial defensive benefits against his primary damage types.

Spellcasters and archery specialists maintain distinct tactical advantages throughout this engagement. Placidusax presents relatively straightforward targeting opportunities at distance, enabling avoidance of his most dangerous close-range maneuvers. Close-quarters combatants must master timing against the dragon’s claw swipe combinations and maintain visual tracking during his disappearance sequences to evade lethal follow-up attacks. While reports suggest fire vulnerability, practical testing revealed minimal noticeable improvement with fire-coated weapons—and fire spells typically require excessive casting duration given his mobility.

Strategic gear selection dramatically influences survival chances. Beyond the Boltdrake Talisman, consider incorporating the Dragoncrest Shield Talisman for additional fire resistance. For melee specialists, the Bloodhound’s Step ash of war provides exceptional evasion capabilities against his rapid claw attacks. Ensure your flasks balance healing and FP restoration based on your build requirements, with most players benefiting from approximately 60% health and 40% FP allocation.

Timing your approach proves critical—entering the arena during his lightning storm activation guarantees immediate heavy damage. Observe his initial animation cycles from safe distance before committing to engagement. Many unsuccessful attempts result from premature aggression before understanding his attack rhythm and safe positioning opportunities.

Upon closing distance with the dragon, he summons crimson lightning strikes across the entire combat area. These assaults feature clearly visible telegraphing well before impact, allowing positioning outside the illuminated red ground markers for safety while executing counterattacks with ranged implements.

Placidusax periodically expels golden flame in sweeping arcs before himself or ascends to spew linear fire trajectories while airborne. Initially infrequent but increasing as health diminishes, Placidusax additionally projects concentrated golden fire beams simultaneously from both heads. This particular maneuver possesses the greatest range among his fire-based techniques but remains easily avoided by maintaining flanking positions beside or behind the dragon.

When positioned adjacent to Placidusax, he routinely retracts his limb, imbues his claws with crimson lightning energy, and executes swift slashing motions. This rapid assault demands immediate evasion responses. The dragon also employs conventional tail sweep maneuvers, though these occur less frequently than other attacks.

Phase transition occurs at approximately 50% health, introducing enhanced attack combinations and reduced telegraphing windows. During this transition, Placidusax gains additional lightning-based area denial capabilities and faster recovery between combos. Melee combatants should focus on attacking the dragon’s rear legs while avoiding the head region entirely. Spellcasters benefit from maintaining maximum casting distance to exploit his slower turning radius.

Advanced players can exploit specific animation locks—particularly after his dual-headed beam attack, which leaves him temporarily stationary. This provides optimal windows for high-damage spells or charged heavy attacks. His teleportation sequence always concludes with a predictable reappearance location directly behind your character’s current position, allowing prepared counterattacks.

Understanding stamina management proves crucial—aggressive players frequently exhaust their stamina during attack windows, leaving them vulnerable to his rapid follow-up strikes. Maintain at least 30% stamina reserve for emergency evasion. For comprehensive weapon optimization strategies applicable to this encounter, consult our specialized equipment guides.

Triumph over Dragonlord Placidusax grants his Remembrance, exchangeable for either the Dragon King’s Cragblade or Placidusax’s Ruin incantation. The Cragblade represents a exceptional thrusting sword with unique lightning-based weapon art, while Placidusax’s Ruin delivers one of the game’s most visually impressive and damaging area-effect dragon incantations.

The strategic value of these rewards cannot be overstated. The Cragblade excels in PvP scenarios with its rapid thrust attacks and lightning projectiles. Placidusax’s Ruin proves devastating against grouped enemies or large bosses with limited mobility. Consider your current build specialization and future progression plans when selecting your reward.

For players utilizing faith or intelligence builds, the incantation typically provides greater utility. Strength or dexterity-focused characters benefit more from the weapon’s physical capabilities. Remember that visiting Walking Mausoleums enables duplication of Remembrances, allowing acquisition of both rewards without additional boss encounters.

This victory represents a significant milestone in Elden Ring progression, often indicating readiness for endgame challenges and New Game+ content. The combat mastery developed against Placidusax translates directly to improved performance against other late-game bosses. For additional character build optimization across different playstyles, explore our class specialization guides.

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