Elden Ring: How To Beat Starscourge Radahn & His Tiny Horse

You thought your troubles were done after you defeated Margit, but along came Starscourge Radahn on his tiny emaciated horse. He’ll come crashing down what’s left of your fragile hope like a raging meteor (and quite literally too). If you’re tired of getting sand-kicked to the face by this Elden Ring boss, I’ll offer you some tips– some of which are cheesy, to help you finish what Malenia started and beat Starscourge Radahn. Hopefully, this helps you git gud in time for Shadow of the Erdtree.

Do Prepare to Beat Starscourge Radahn

[Updated on May 29, 2024 – Revised the guide and added more instructions and tips to beat Starscourge Radahn]

There’s no shame in over-leveling or referring to the PvE meta in Elden Ring. Radahn, after all, is a major boss fight in Elden Ring and one of the required hurdles if you want to progress the main quest.

There are several ways you can prepare to increase your chances of winning. Note that even then, there’s still quite a fair bit of luck involved in winning against Radahn.

• Ensure your character has at least 20-30 Vigor. More HP means you can afford more mistakes.
• Upgrade your weapon to at least +10 (if +25 is the max) or +4 (if +10 is the max). You don’t want this fight to last longer than a few seconds and strong weapons help.
• Keep your equipment load at Medium either by using lighter armor or pumping up your Endurance stat.
• You want at least 6-7 Crimson Flasks.
• Try Scarlet Rot weapons and consumables. It’s one of Radahn’s weaknesses.

The Scarlet Rot tip can be tricky as you usually don’t get access to many sources of Scarlet Rot weapons and consumables until mid-game in the Altus Plateau. So don’t feel too bad if you can’t find Scarlet Rot weapons or consumables before fighting Radahn.

If you’ve sufficiently prepared for the fight, it’s time to consider your tactics.

How to Beat Starscourge Radahn in Phase 1

The fight with Starscourge Radahn usually opens up one way, with him barraging you with his magic arrow artillery. You can avoid these attacks in several ways, as he telegraphs his magic bow attacks even from afar.

Whatever you do, you need to get closer so he’ll stop using his devastating ranged attacks (and so you can do damage)

Close the Gap Immediately

I recommend rushing Radahn into melee range to stop him from spamming his arrow attacks, especially the arrow shower.

• You don’t need Torrent for this, but he makes the closing the gap faster.
• Start moving or running sideways whenever Radahn is charging up his ranged attacks so you can dodge easily.
• Time your summons, only summon the other NPCs right after dodging Radahn’s arrows.

Once you’ve closed the gap and Radahn is no longer spamming his ranged attacks, you can consider two playstyles for that actual fight.

Either Use Summons or Keep Close When Attacking Radahn

Ultimately, whichever method you choose depends on your playstyle or build. Ranged or spellcaster builds will do well to put some NPC meat shields between them and Radahn.

Melee builds can fight with less micromanaging but with the added risk of melee range.

• If you choose to summon NPCs, it’s better to fight Radahn from a distance. The added NPCs can make Radahn’s attacks unpredictable or more difficult to track since he’s attacking multiple opponents.
• If you choose to fight in melee, try avoiding the NPC summons so you can better memorize and evade Radahn’s moves. Try staying underneath him (facing his horse or his posterior) since his attacks are often wide swings

You could also try spamming the NPC summoning even if you’re using a melee build. But it can get too dangerous and tricky trying to disengage from Radahn in melee range just to chase NPC names on the ground.

Once you get Radahn to around half of his HP, phase two of the boss fight will trigger.

How to Beat Starscourge Radahn in Phase 2 (Meteor)

This is the most troublesome part of the fight.

After you get Radahn to 50 percent of his HP or lower, he’ll suddenly fly into space and descend down on you like a meteor. The explosion radius is quite huge. You shouldn’t expect to survive this if you get caught in the explosion. Likewise, don’t expect the NPC combatants to survive.

Try this reliable step-by-step process to dodge Starscourge Radahn’s meteor attack:

1. Calm down and heal or replenish your FP as soon as Radahn flies away.
2. Summon Torrent.
3. Wait for his meteor to appear in the sky. As a meteor, Radahn will usually lock onto your last-known stationary position.
4. Once Radahn appears in the sky as a meteor, gallop Torrent in the opposite direction of his trajectory. Keep going and don’t look back until Radahn crashes and explodes.
5. After Radahn lands, head back to him immediately so he won’t spam his magic arrow attacks but not close enough to be in melee range.

You’ll want to change up your tactics after this point since Radahn will employ more magic-based attacks and fighting him head-on in melee range is too risky for Phase 2. This time, summon as many NPCs as you can so they will finish the fight.

You can still try to get in some hits while on Torrent’s back, but don’t stay close while the NPCs are piling on Radahn. Hopefully, RNG is on your side, and with a bit of practice, you’ll bring down this general and put his poor horse to rest.

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.