Erdtree Avatars in Elden Ring can be found throughout the Lands Between, but most commonly in front of Minor Erdtrees. Defeating these world bosses usually nets the player a handful of Crystal Tears for use in the Flask of Wondrous Physick, an extremely useful item in Elden Ring if you have the right components for your build.
The Erdtree Avatars aren't particularly tough bosses but they have a few unexpected tricks up their sleeves that can take you by surprise. Because they are overworld bosses in Elden Ring, players can ride Torrent for the fight. However, there are some Erdtree Avatars found in out-of-the-way spots where mounted combat is impossible.
Erdtree Avatar Moveset And Weaknesses
Erdtree Avatars take two forms: the normal Erdtree Avatar, and the Putrid Avatar. They both have the same movesets with mostly cosmetic differences, though Putrid Avatars have more health as they are found later in Elden Ring.
In general, they are slow-moving, lumbering goliaths, which makes their melee attacks easy to anticipate and get out of the way. The environment surrounding Minor Erdtrees can be an obstacle if you aren't looking where you're going, though, which can give an Erdtree Avatar time to catch up and get a big hit in. They also have a powerful homing attack that shoots fast and hits hard.
Erdtree Avatar Moveset
- Staff Smash: Erdtree Avatar rears back and slams its staff overhead into the ground, dealing direct and AoE damage in a small area. Dodge to either side to avoid this attack, or sprint away with Torrent when you see the attack winding up.
- Staff Swing: Erdtree Avatar swings its staff from side to side in a few lumbering attacks. High damage, likely to knock you off Torrent, but easily avoided by sprinting away (or dodging forwards)
- Body Slam: Erdtree Avatar rises up off the ground and smashes back down for immediate area damage. Medium damage, and can be avoided with a backward dodge.
- Homing Light Barrage: The Erdtree Avatar summons a huge AoE burst and raises its staff above to create a horde of light beams. After a second of delay, these shoot towards the player rapidly. Sprinting in one direction makes this miss, but watch out for terrain as you can get stuck and become a pincushion for these very easily.
Erdtree Avatar Weaknesses
The Erdtree Avatar appears to be weak to Fire damage, and as such Fire-based Incantations and weapons with Fire damage will do significantly more damage than other attacks. Dragonfire is a good Incantation for this fight as it leaves a pool of ticking flame damage.
It is completely immune to Bleed damage and the Death Blighted status effect, so avoid using weapons that cause Hemorrhaging or instant Death as the Erdtree Avatar will shrug off these attacks like nothing hit it at all. Melee players will find it surprisingly easy to break this boss' Posture and get a Critical Hit in - just keep stringing together Jumping Attacks, fully-charged Heavy attacks, and Guard Counters (if your shield is good enough) to bring an Avatar of the Erdtree to their knees in no time at all.
Strategies For Beating Erdtree Avatars
Most Erdtree Avatars are found in the open world, and despite some of its attacks being so strong that they can knock you off Torrent in one hit, it's actually best to stay on Torrent for this whole fight. The Light Barrage attack makes it hard to fight this boss on foot, though its other attacks can be easily dodged thanks to long wind-up times. The Erdtree Avatar in Leyndell, for example, is a fight that you can't use Torrent for.
The best Ashes to use in these fights is one that can take hits and take the aggro off of you when the Light Barrage attack comes out. Any of the Renowned Ashes (except for Sorcerers and Archers) work great against Erdtree Avatars. In truth, though, most Ashes are perfectly usable for these fights when leveled appropriately - don't take on the Deeproot Depths Erdtree Avatar without a +10 spirit summon available.
Spellcasting/Ranged
Spellcasters and Ranged players will actually find this fight tougher than Melee players as there are usually environmental obstacles all over the arena that will block your projectiles. It's a good idea to let the Erdtree Avatar destroy a lot of the environment before engaging it, as you'll have more open space for your attacks to actually connect. Incantation-users will find this fight easier than Sorcerers thanks to the Erdtree Avatar's weakness to Fire damage. Ranged players can use Fire Arrows to maximize their damage with Bows, too.
Melee Strategies
Melee players will find that the Erdtree Avatar's extremely slow moveset is a huge advantage. Players can get two or three good hits in before needing to dodge or sprint away from a rebuttal, and its susceptibility to being Stance-broken makes fully-charged attacks (whether on foot or on Torrent) super useful in this fight. Use a Fire weapon buff before the fight to get the most out of its Flame weakness, too. Just watch out for the Light Barrage attack as it can deal big AoE damage if you're too close, followed by lots of smaller pings of damage if you can't get away fast enough.
Rewards For Beating Erdtree Avatars
The rewards for beating Erdtree Avatars in Elden Ring vary from boss to boss, but typically players are given two Crystal Tears for each one. These Crystal Tears in Elden Ring are used to imbue the Flask of Wondrous Physick with new effects, and the more of these you have the more optimization for your build is possible.
These Tears vary greatly - the first one players face in the Weeping Peninsula drops the Opaline Bubbletear, which prevents all damage for one hit, while the Caelid Erdtree Avatar drops the Greenburst Tear, increasing Stamina regeneration, and the Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear, which hugely increases Fire damage for a time. Two of these Tears can be mixed together for a combined effect, so be sure to hunt down lots of Minor Erdtrees to get the best combination of effects for this single-use buff.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.