Elden Ring is full of challenging areas for players to fight through, with one of the most difficult locations of all being Raya Lucaria Academy. Full of powerful foes despite its early placement in Liurnia, the rooftops are particularly dangerous - though one Elden Ring player’s approach makes them a bit less challenging.
While Elden Ring players will face a few spellcasters and flying enemies while traversing the Raya Lucaria rooftops, they will also encounter Marionette Soldiers. These enemies have four arms and wield four daggers within them, and if damaged, they can malfunction and unleash some rapid spin attacks at the player. These punish gamers that get too close, as the rapid slashes and arrows launched when spinning can deal serious damage if players do not get out of the way.
With these enemies being place on the Raya Lucaria rooftops, their spin attacks can knock Elden Ring players to their deaths. Given how dangerous it is to traverse the area without stopping to fight the Marionette Soldiers, they can become a real nuisance and cause some unfortunate falls. However, Reddit user littlejaunde came up with an excellent strategy to eliminate these enemies without fighting them at all. In fact, littlejaunde caused them to copy their “signature move” of falling to their death.
This trick can be pulled off by any player that has one of Elden Ring’s bows, as a ranged attack of some kind is needed to trick the enemy. Once a bow is equipped, all players need to do is land a shot from a far off ledge. Since any damage can trigger the malfunction where the Marionette Soldier begins spinning wildly, this bow shot is enough to do the trick. With the player on a far off rooftop, the Marionette Soldier spins in their direction, falling right off the rooftop and to their death.
Being able to take out Marionette Soldiers from a distance is huge, and this trick could be extremely useful for anyone that is struggling to get through the rooftops section of Raya Lucaria Academy. One less fight means one less chance to take damage and waste a Flask of Crimson Tears, so this strategy is absolutely worth an attempt for those with a ranged weapon. Since it was posted, the clip has gotten nearly 10,000 upvotes, with many Elden Ring players clearly enjoying this bit of karma.
New Elden Ring strategies like this one are constantly being found, with players discovering everything from a way to lower fire pillars from a distance to a trick that makes the Burial Watchdogs fight each other. With the game being as massive as it is, it will likely be a while before players have found the best approach for every encounter.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.