The Leonine Misbegotten is an optional boss that is tied to the progression of two NPC questlines in Elden Ring. After a servant uprising, Castle Morne is all but lost, and the commander of the castle Edgar fights to his last breath to keep a legendary sword out of enemy hands. The Leonine Misbegotten already has it, though, and must be defeated to get it back.
The Leonine Misbegotten is found below the rear cliffs of Castle Morne, accessible from the Behind The Castle Site of Lost Grace by jumping down a series of platforms and rooftops. Depending on your build, this fight is either incredibly easy or much harder than others encountered up to this point in Elden Ring – and you'll get to fight even more of them later on, too.
Leonine Misbegotten's Moveset And Weaknesses
The Leonine Misbegotten hits hard and fast, slicing through the air with its colossal blade like it was a shortsword and dancing around the battlefield like a laggy multiplayer partner. Despite its quick movement, its attacks are relatively short-ranged and can be avoided by dodging backwards for the most part.
The best Spirit Summon to use against the Leonine Misbegotten is one that summons more than one ally, like the Godrick Soldiers Ashes or the Demi-Human Ashes. This makes it more likely that one of them will pull aggro away from you and make the Misbegotten leap to the other side of the battlefield.
Leonine Misbegotten Moveset
- Jumping Smash: The Leonid Misbegotten jumps up into the air, hangs for a second, and crashes to the ground, taking a second to recover afterwards. Very high damage, but avoidable and can be punished.
- Delayed Two-Hit Carve: The Misbegotten rears for an attack and lunges forward to swipe once, followed by another fast swipe, dealing damage in an area in front of him. Medium damage.
- Horizontal Slash Combo: Will attack a few times in a row in a horizontal arc in front of him, sometimes culminating in a stronger final hit. Low damage, hard to dodge.
- Heavy Vertical Smash: The Misbegotten raises its greatsword up, lingers, then swings it down in a massive strike. High damage, but avoidable and can be punished.
Leonine Misbegotten Weaknesses
The Leonine Misbegotten is weak to Lightning-based attacks, particularly Incantations, but it's unlikely that you will have unlocked most of these spells this early in Elden Ring. It is also incredibly vulnerable to having its Posture broken, leaving it open for a huge Critical Hit.
Perform Jumping Attacks or Strong attacks when you have an opening, and guard his quick attacks to respond with a Guard Counter. It is very easy to break his Posture twice in this fight, especially with Spirit Summons active.
Strategies For Beating The Leonine Misbegotten
The Leonine Misbegotten mixes speed and strength to make for a formidable enemy, but thanks to its relatively low HP pool and how easy it is to stagger it the fight can be over very quickly. Melee users will have the easiest time with this fight as the Misbegotten leaves enough time for melee hits between attacks, not necessarily spells (especially if you want to charge them before casting).
Sorcerers, Incantation-users, and Archers will find the Leonine Misbegotten tough because of his tendency to move around rapidly. It's hard for some spells to home in correctly when he dashes to the other side of the arena, after all, and the ones that don't automatically aim at enemies are even harder to deal damage with.
Spellcasting/Ranged
There are a few opportunities throughout the Leonine Misbegotten fight that give enough time for players to cast a spell or two, but they are few and far between. You will be much better served by using Int or Faith-scaling weapons to quickly strike with a Light attack in between his moves. However, the spells that do hit will hit particularly hard, and it's a good idea to use Summons to be able to cast as much as possible. Archers will have an easier time than Sorcerers, who have it easier than Incantation-users who need more time to cast spells.
Melee Strategies
The Leonine Misbegotten is best fought with a 100% Physical Defense Shield and a weapon that does lots of Posture damage. You can also opt to Two-Hand a strong weapon, but having a Shield helps with mitigating the Misbegotten's faster attacks. This boss is one of the easiest to stagger in Elden Ring, so use plenty of Jumping Attacks and Guard Counters to knock the Misbegotten down as soon as possible. Be sure to dodge away from his Heavy attacks and block his Light ones to get more Guard Counters out. Though he dances around the player, he stops most attacks mid-swing if you connect first, so it's not a bad idea to charge a Heavy attack as he gets ready to do his and stop him mid-swing.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.