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No other game does their dragon boss fight more spectacularly than FromSoftware. In Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, the dragon boss fight has reached its current pinnacle in the form of Bayle the Dread. Bayle the Dread is, quite possibly, the hardest dragon in Elden Ring‘s roster. If you’re getting tired of his orbital strikes, nuke landings, and lightning chew toy attacks, I’ve got a guide to help you beat Bayle the Dread in the Elden Ring DLC.
Where To Find Bayle the Dread in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
For the map image above which shows Bayle’s exact location, the green trail is surface traversal, and the red trail is underground/indoor traversal.
Bayle is at the summit of the Jagged Peak region, aka “Dragon Mountain.” It’s the southeastern quarter of the whole DLC map, though the area isn’t really that large since most of it isn’t open.
The map image above provides a simple way to get there. But in case you get lost (which is awfully normal in this game), I’ve prepared more specific instructions below.
- Start from Castle Front (Grace) just before Castle Ensis.
- Head southeast, and follow the road toward Pillar Path Waypoint (Grace).
- Stop following the road once you’re in Pillar Path Waypoint, instead, take the path right (it’s strewn with dragon statues).
- Continue south until you reach Dragon’s Pit.
- Clear Dragon’s Pit; this will take you to Dragon’s Pit Terminus (Grace), the entrance to Jagged Peak.
- After that, it’s time for some goat mountaineering. Use Torrent to zoom past the Jagged Peaks enemies and follow the trail below. You’ll know you’re in the right way when you’re seeing Spiritsprings (jumping pads).
Once you’re outside Bayle the Dread’s boss arena, it’s time to prepare for the most epic dragon slaying of your life.
How to Beat Bayle in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
What you want to do is try to stay in the center as much as possible. While the boss arena is big enough, the Bayle boss fight suffers from the typical large FromSoftware boss problem: the camera is uncooperative. You can only lock onto Bayle’s head, which is weird for a dragon fight.
If you try to fight with no lock-on, you will get squished by all the AoE attacks. Even so, don’t stay near the walls or don’t get cornered. Otherwise, the camera will go berserk with its tracking and murder you.
With that out of the way, here are some tips and pointers before the Bayle boss fight.
- Scadutree Blessing 15+. Otherwise, you’ll have a harder time.
- Max out your weapon or your Spirit Ashes (if you want to use one).
- Bayle can Bleed but has resistance to it.
- He can be Poise-broken quite easily and has a generous Critical Attack window.
- His weakness appears to be Scarlet Rot.
- Consider using the Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana.
- Also, consider using Pest Threads.
- Use the damage reduction or resistance Talismans.
- You can stay under his broken leg (leg stub) and attack it.
- You can block his attacks easily with a Greatshield but I don’t recommend it as the camera will work against your blocking angles.
Sadly, it’s hard to find a cheese strategy or tactic for Bayle apart from summoning Mimic Tear, Blackflame Amon, or Black Knife Tiche. The atrocious camera for this fight will work against you, and some of the hitboxes can be questionable.
With that said, you can still react accordingly to his moves, depending on the phase. Bayle will initiate Phase 2 once he’s down to around half or 2/3 of his HP.
Phase 1 of Bayle Boss Fight
Prepare to dodge as soon as you enter. Sometimes, Bayle will mix up his opening attacks. There are instances when he will just lunge at you and close the gap in a second. This gives you little time to summon Spirits or NPCs during the fight.
If you’re lucky, he’ll let you off with a warning before attacking as soon as you enter the boss arena.
For an easier time managing the fight, learn to roll into his attacks or forward instead of away or to the side. This will bring you underneath Bayle’s neck, where you can get some hits in, especially if he’s performing a breath attack.
Additionally, your windows for attack and healing are after his lunges, bites, and tail swipes, as most of the time, those attacks aren’t AoE. Avoid healing or attacking before or during his lightning and fire attack power-ups.
The best attack window will be when he’s performing his straight frontal breath attacks as he’ll be busy for a few seconds, allowing you to attack his neck or head. Be careful and don’t overcommit your attacks.
Phase 2 of Bayle Boss Fight
If you’re fortunate or skilled enough to get to Phase 2, you’ll have to immediately run away. Upon entering Phase 2, Bayle will charge up and fill his immediate area with lava explosions. So run away as far as you can until you’re not standing on lava.
Afterward, he’ll fly and pepper you with lightning lasers; this is your cue to run away sideways. If you sprint and don’t run out of Stamina during this move, you don’t need to roll or dodge.
The thing is, most of Bayle’s ground lightning and lava attacks can be dodged with a well-timed jump. It’s more forgiving than actually dodging or rolling away. Just reserve the actual roll or dodge for his physical and breath attacks.
Even then, you can still be at the mercy of Bayle’s attack varieties (and the camera) since he has one of the most varied movesets in Elden Ring and often mixes them up.
