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No one does dragon fights more epic than FromSoftware, and Elden Ring‘s Dragonlord Placidusax is at the apex of this video game tradition. He also just so happens to be one of the most powerful bosses in Elden Ring— even locating him is a hard battle! Hence, I’m here to point you in the right direction on how to find Dragonlord Placidusax in Elden Ring, along with how to defeat him.
[Updated on June 3, 2024 – Revised the guide and added more images and thorough instructions for defeating Dragonlord Placidusax]
Where is Dragonlord Placidusax in Elden Ring
First off, you can only access Dragonlord Placidusax in a late-game area in Elden Ring. He’s one of the available and optional bosses in the Crumbling Farum Azula.
To get there, you first need to tick off a couple of checkboxes.
- Reach the Mountaintops of the Giants
- Burn the Erdtree in the Forge of the Giants in the Mountaintops of the Giants
Depending on the ending you’re pursuing, your options for burning the Erdtree might be different.
Regardless of your choices, however, you’ll be transported to the Crumbling Farum Azula after you clear the story boss in the Mountaintops of the Giants.
Note: While you can also access the Crumbling Farum Azula from the Four Belfries from Liurnia of the Lakes, you won’t be able to reach Dragonlord Placidusax conventionally using this method.
How to Find Dragonlord Placidusax in Crumbling Farum Azula
Now comes the harder part. Once you get to Crumbling Farum Azula, you will need to progress through the area until you get to the final Site of Grace before the boss fight with the Beast Clergyman/Maliketh, the Black Blade.
Remember these steps as you’ll need to repeat them after each death under Placidusax’s oppressive paws.
We’ll start from the aforementioned Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace as seen from the images below.
Instead of proceeding to the Great Bridge and on the way up to Maliketh, head back through the dark elevator area. Take the elevator down.
Once you’re down the elevator, you’ll want to turn right and head down the stairs.
You’ll then be taken back to the temple area filled with Beastmen enemies. Ignore them and run straight to the exit until you have a full view of a ledge.
You need to jump down this ledge. Before jumping, look down and check for any floating rocks below. You need to land on those floating rocks to avoid death.
From the first floating rock, keep jumping to the other floating rocks until you’re on the floating fragment of ancient graves.
Head to the empty gravesite in the middle and press the button or activate the prompt. This will take you to the Dragonlord Placidusax arena where you’ll find the old dragon hibernating.
How to Beat Dragonlord Placidusax in Elden Ring
There’s no special action needed here. Just walk up to the sleeping Dragonlord Placidusax. If you get close enough, he’ll wake up and he’ll be cranky.
Get ready for the toughest dragon fight of your Elden Ring life.
Do keep these general tips in mind before you fight Dragonlord Placidusax:
- Have at least 50 Vigor. Ideally, have 60 Vigor.
- Bring your main damage stat to at least 60 (Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence/Faith).
- Keep your Equip Load to Medium.
- Max out your Flasks.
- Max out your weapon upgrades.
- Consider Fire and Lightning-resistant armor.
The fight with Dragonlord Placidusax can be divided into two phases though there’s only one health bar, thankfully. Phase 2 will trigger once you get him down to 50 percent HP.
Phase 1
This phase is straightforward. Hit him and don’t get hit. You’ll want to strafe around him while attacking so you can dodge some of his attacks without rolling.
Occasionally, he will perform some AoE fire breath attacks and during these moments, it’s safer to disengage and run or roll away from Dragonlord Placidusax.
Afterward, head back into melee range. If you’re attacking from a range, then Dragonlord Placidusax will spam his lightning attacks which are harder to dodge. Generally, the fight is easier in melee range (even if you have ranged attacks).
Phase 2
Phase 2 or once he reaches 50 percent HP is when the fight enters its make-or-break stage. Dragonlord Placidusax will perform a couple of moves that can kill you in one or two hits. Watch out for these:
- Invisible/teleporting attacks. Evading this one takes practice and he’ll usually appear flying behind you. But you can roll toward him to easily avoid the attack. You’ll want to stop attacking (or any movement) once he disappears or teleports so you can time your dodges better.
- One of his most devastating moves is the Placidusax’s Ruin where he’ll spout beams of golden fire and these can deal alarmingly huge damage. Your best bet, once he starts doing this from a distance, is to rush into melee range to avoid the golden lasers.
If you can train against and get used to those aforementioned moves, then it’s back to the more straightforward mechanics. Just have patience and don’t overextend your combos.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
