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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeis finally upon us, giving us a grueling challenge ahead of us that would make even the most hardcore of Fromsoft fans struggle, which is just what we were looking for. And, what better way to test your patience than with the expansion’s first main boss of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion,which can be found at the top of the Belurat Tower Settlement?
This encounter is fierce, unrelenting, and incredibly rewarding. It is a mandatory boss fight if you want to progress further into the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, so getting it taken care of as soon as possible might be the best strategy. Just ensure you have gathered some Scadutree Fragments beforehand, as you will need them!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion Overview
As mentioned above, theDivine Beast Dancing Lionis likely thefirst main boss you will encounterin Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and will offer a relentless challenge, even if you think you’re overleveled.
Through itsmany phases and elemental changes,the Divine Beast Dancing Lion will keep you on your toes and always on the defensive, giving you little room to work in your own offense. Nonetheless, as it is amandatory encounter,you must devise a strategy to overcome its suffocating pressure and slay it once and for all!
We will add the Divine Beast Dancing Lion’s max HP, Defense, and Stance variable once that information is more concrete. At the moment, the table above will only highlight what it drops, its weaknesses, and the damage types it can inflict on the player!
How To Defeat Divine Beast Dancing Lion In Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree
TheDivine Beast Dancing Lionhas agreat deal of phases,having itbounce between a handful of elemental types,all of which havedifferent attacks and propertiesthat can, and likely will, trip you up. Fortunately, once youget the hang of its tricks and awkward movement, you will be in a prime position to take it down.
Before beginning this encounter, westrongly recommend you at least have a +2 or even +3 Scadutree Fragment boost,as that will give you somemuch-needed buffs to your overall damage and defense,making this fight seem much more manageable.If that is still too little, you can get up to a +5 boost before this encounter,and we recommend seeking them all out before reattempting this boss fight!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Biting Grab
One of the more annoying andcommon actionsin the Divine Beast Dancing Lion’s barrage of attack options is itsBiting Grab,which persists across all of its many phases. This action istelegraphed by the Divine Beast standing straight up before snapping its jaw shut twice and lunging forwardwith tremendous speed.
When yousee the Dancing Lion perk up and begin opening and closing its mouth, begin running toward it, then dodge roll forward the moment it lungesto negate all damage. After it misses its attack, you canfollow up with two attacks of your ownbefore going back on the defensive!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Diving Bite
Anothercommon actionthroughout this encounter is the Dancing Lion’sDiving Bite,which istelegraphed by it effortlessly climbing upward before hurtling itself toward youwith a devastating bite.
The moment you see the Divine Beast take to the skies, begin running toward it, and then roll toward it just before it crash-lands.If done right, you should negate all damage and can evenfollow up with two to three attacks of your own,but don’t get too greedy here!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Floating Strike
This actionwon’t occur all that frequently,but it is a devastating attack in the Dancing Lion’s move list. TheFloating Strikehas the Divine Beastperform two quick swipes with its head before floating toward you in a fluid motion, delivering a fierce bitewhen it gets close to you.
Timing your dodge rolls is vital here,butbe mindful of the odd pacingof this attack, as it can trip you up if you spam your rolls. Afterdodging the first two quick attacks, delay your third dodgeand execute it just as it performs its bite, allowing you tofollow up with an attack or twoof your own!
Next up, we have itsHead Swingattack, which will betelegraphed by the Divine Beast lowering its head to the side before swiftly and violently swinging it toward youin a fluid motion, dealing a surprising amount of damage on contact.
When yousee the Dancing Lion lower its head to the side,stop whatever you’re doing andwait for it to swing its head.Themoment you see it begin its motion of attack, roll toward its headto negate all damage. You canonly follow up with an attack or two here,as it will transition to its next attack soon afterward!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Quick Rotating Smoke Spray
Moving onto another common action of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion is itsQuick Rotating Smoke Spray,which has itbegin breathing smoke from its mouth before quickly spinning in a tight circle,covering a wide area around and in front of itself.
Thisaction is hard to gaugeas youhave what seems like a split second to reactto it, butthe moment you see smoke begin to pour from its mouth, create as much distance as you canbetween you and the Divine Beast. Youmay be able to follow up with an attack,but we suggest not pushing your luck too much here!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Long Rotating Smoke Spray
TheLong Rotating Smoke Sprayis, well, amore extended version of the attack above,having the Divine Beasttwirl in three circles this time, inching closer and closer to you with each spin.It ismore or less telegraphed the sameway, which can be confusing to deal with.
Whenever yousee the Divine Beast stand straight up and begin releasing smoke from its mouth, just run far awayfrom it.If its first spin has it come closer to you, then it will likely perform two more twirls,so just keep running away from it. Again, youcan likely attack it afterward with a quick hit or two,but we don’t advise doing so, as this action hurts if it hits you!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Start
Afterwhittling down roughly a quarter of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion’s HP,it will enter itsarguably most annoying and complex phase,itsLightning Phase.This has it shift its elemental type from smoke to lightning, which gives it abunch of new attacks and propertiesthat you must keep an eye out for, or you will pay the price in death!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Bite Grab
Muchlike the first phase,the second one also has aBite Grabthat istelegraphed and handled the exact same wayas before. However, this time around,there can be lightning currents on the ground that will erupt,meaning youmust dodge them in additionto the Divine Beast’s Bite Grab!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Lightning Bites
Next up during the Dancing Lion’s second phase is itsLightning Bites,where it willperform two quick bites, generating electrical currents along the groundwith each chomp.
You cansee faint orangish-red electrical currents on the groundthat you mustkeep away from at all costs while simultaneously rolling away from the Divine Beast’s vicious bites.This attack can trip you up if you aren’t paying attention, and we recommend trying tocreate distance between yourself and the Dancing Lionhere, as you can stillfollow up with an attack or twoafter the action is over!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Spiraling Lightning
Following that, another common action in the Dancing Lion’s repertoire is itsSpiraling Lightningattack, having ittake to the skies before divebombing toward you with a vicious and high-damaging lighting strike.
For this action, we recommendrunning away from the Divine Beast when it takes flight,thenrolling just before it touches the ground,andevading the lighting currents on the ground.While youcan get a hit in here,it may be best to just prepare for its next attack, as you won’t have too much time to respond afterward!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Quick Rotating Lightning Spray
Like the first phase, the Dancing Lion will havetwo different Rotating Spray attacks.ItsQuick Rotating Lightning Sprayaction will behandled the same way as its smoke counterpart,except it willsometimes generate electrical currents across the ground that must also be evaded.Just keep rolling away from the Divine Beast and prepare for its next action!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Long Rotating Lighting Spray
Just like the entry above, theLong Rotating Rotating Lightning Sprayistelegraphed and handled the same way as its smoke counterpart,except with theadded caveat that there will sometimes be electrical currents spread throughout the groundthat you mustkeep an eye out for, and dodge in additionto the primary attack!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Lightning Bolt
Anincredibly annoying attackthat pops up occasionally during the Dancing Lion’s second phase is itsLightning Boltattack, which has itsummon an enormous bolt of lightning and hurl it at you in the blink of an eye.Seriously, this attack is very, VERY fast.
Themoment you see the Dancing Lion summon the Lightning Bolt, roll to the left or right,as it will be released nearly instantaneously the moment you see it. If you’reclose enough to the Divine Beast, you can land a hit or twobefore having to go back on the defensive!
There’s also a chance the Divine Beast Dancing Lion will perform this action twice in a row, which is VERY annoying and hard to deal with. So, if you successfully evade the first one, always be prepared for a second one, as it can cast it immediately after the first, making it near impossible to avoid if you aren’t prepared!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Diving Lightning Bite
Following that, another action during the second phase is theDiving Lightning Bite,having the Divine Beasttake to the skies before performing a homing biting attack that generates lots of electrical currents on the groundupon landing, forcing you tododge the incoming bite, then the incoming lightning strikes on the groundafterward.
Focus primarily on the bite firstand time yourroll just before the attack landsto avoid it entirely. From here, justroll away from the ground currents and away from the Dancing Lion.Youshouldn’t try attacking here,as there will be far too much chaos surrounding the boss. Prepare for its next attack!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Start
Aftergetting the Divine Beast Dancing Lion’s HP down to roughly the halfway point,it will switch from its Lightning Phase to itsWind Phase,which will havemany similarities with its Smoke Phasebut with afew new actionsthat you must be mindful of. Nonetheless, this phase shouldn’t be that bad if you’ve made it this far!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Bite Grab
TheBite Grabreturns and ishandled in the same exact way as the first phasebut isslightly faster,meaning yourtiming has to be a bit tighterthis time around, but nothing too drastic. And, unlike the Lightning Phase, you don’t have to worry about any additional factors afterward, allowing you tofollow up with two to three attacksof your own!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Tornado
One of its newest actions in this phase is itsTornado attack,having the Dancing Lionspin up a massive Tornado before swiftly launching it toward you.
Whenever yousee the Divine Beast kick up the Tornado, stand in place until the moment you see it get launched toward you.As soon as you see the Tornado gets released,roll to the left or rightto avoid all damage. You will likely betoo far away to do anythingafterward, so just prepare for its following action!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Advancing Gust Attack
Another new action during this phase is itsAdvancing Gust Attack,where the Divine Beast willgenerate a smaller tornado behind itself, using it to catapult itself toward you to deliver a devastating attackthat will deal tremendous amounts of damage on contact.
This attack isfast and hard to evade,and thetiming is very tight,but you mustroll either to the left or rightto avoid taking damage. If done right, you canfollow up with two to three attacksof your own, but we advise not getting too greedy here, especially this late in the battle!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Diving Wind Bite
An odd attack during this phase is itsDiving Wind Bite,which is similar to the previous ones but looksoddly identical to the Bite Grab,which is likely the point. It willrise high into the air just like with its Bite Grab but won’t snap open and close its mouth twice.Instead, it will justfall forward with a tremendously strong bite, kicking up Wind all arounditself.
Themoment you see the Dancing Lion take to the sky, and it doesn’t make the chomping soundswith its mouth,create a lot of distance between you and it before it lands,as you do not want to be anywhere near it when it lands. From here, you can run up on it andland a hit or two!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Four - Start
Now it is time for itsfourth phase,which has the Divine Beast Dancing Lion shift into itsFrost Phaseafter you get itsHP down to roughly a quarter left. This will give it access tosome new abilities,but nothing too drastic. The annoying part of this phase is thesheer amount of Frostbite buildup you will be prone to,making youreceive 20 percent more damage,which isn’t good!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Four - Frost Slam
ItsFrost Slamis an action theDivine Beast will spam effortlesslyduring this phase, making it a move you will be constantly evading and trying to sneak a hit on. This has the Dancing Lioncoat its body in ice before slamming itself onto the ground, covering the floor in Frost,andhaving youbuild up Frostbitewhen touching it.
Anytime yousee the Divine Beast stand up or take to the skies,create distance between yourself and it,then run up andland a hit or two of your own while avoiding the large chunks of iceon the ground!
Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Four - Frost Spray
Lastly, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion will perform aFrost Sprayattack,similar to the other Spray attacks.Instead, this willcoat the entire floor around it in Frost.Youcan attack it afterward,butyour Frostbite Gauge will fill up quite considerably,so make sure that is a risk you’re willing to take.
From here, theDivine Beast Dancing Lion will begin to sporadically switch between its many elements until you defeat it,which will beextremely chaotic and challengingto deal with. Itwon’t have any new abilities, but you must be on the ball and handle each action as you did priorto defeat it!
