Elden Ring truly is a massive game, with so much for players to explore and see across the Lands Between. There are an abundance of enemies to fight, weapons to collect, spells to unlock, armor sets to find, and most importantly, bosses to fight. Large, imposing, and hard-as-nails bosses have always been a huge part of the Dark Souls series and From Software added a buffet of them to battle in their latest release.
But some bosses are much harder to find than others, with developers hiding some of the most engaging and difficult boss fights in Elden Ring deep within some of its most challenging levels. Dragonlord Placidusax is a prime example, standing out as one of the most entertaining encounters that players will have in the Lands Between. Getting to him is a pretty tall order, and defeating it is an even bigger ask, but here's how players can get both done.
How To Find Dragonlord Placidusax In Elden Ring
Those looking for the Dragonlord will need to travel all the way to Crumbling Farum Azula to find it. Thankfully, the path to the hidden boss isn't especially difficult (if players run through it all) but getting to the Crumbling Farum Azula zone is a different story. The path to the end-game zone will have players fighting through enemies and bosses on a journey to reach the summits of the Mountaintops of the Giants. There, they will do battle against the Fire Giant, one of the most frustratingly large and damaging bosses in the entirety of Elden Ring. Felling this beast and setting events in motion after its demise will lead players to the tornado-filled Azula.
Once players have discovered this zone, they'll need to continue through it until they reach the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace, which lies just before the boss fight with the exceedingly powerful Black Blade Maliketh. Once players have made their way to this Site of Grace, traveling to Dragonlord Placidusax is much easier. Unfortunately, there is no Statue of Marika near the hidden boss, so players will need to make the trek from the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace if they die, meaning it's doubly important to have the grace unlocked before engaging the powerful Dragonlord.
From the Site of Grace, players should turn around and take the nearby elevator back down. From there, they should head to the right, back down the stairs and directly out of the building (avoiding the enemies makes this process faster). Once outside, players should make their way to the cliff directly in front of them and look down from the edge. There are some platforms here, and a well-placed jump or fall will allow players to put themselves on the path to a massive chunk of wall that's suspended in the sky. Once players make it down the floating platforms, they'll find themselves in an area with many cubbies and bodies of fallen creatures. One of the coffin-like cubbies doesn't have a body in it and if players move near it they'll be given a prompt to Lie Down. Resting in this spot will cause players to enter the encounter with Dragonlord Placidusax.
Tips For Defeating Dragonlord Placidusax
The Dragonlord is incredibly imposing, fairly quick given its imposing size, and immensely powerful. Players that are barely strong enough to withstand the dangers of Crumbling Farum Azula will definitely have their hands full with this secret boss. Even those that are adequately leveled should prepare for a tough fight that requires a lot of dodging and pattern memorization.
The most forgiving thing about Dragonlord Placidusax is that its attacks are fairly well telegraphed. It has three separate slash attacks, with one causing an AOE and another lunging forward at players. Tarnished should take the tame to watch the dragon from a fairly safe distance to learn what each slash looks like, as two can be avoided by simply being far enough away, but one will require players to roll backward away from it. Depending on the player's range, Placidusax may toss rocks at them (at Medium Range) or swipe at them with its tail in a sweeping attack (Close Range). It's also capable of breathing fire (Close Range) with both of its heads and standing up tall to call down lightning strikes. When these strikes happen, there will be three separate strikes that track opponents before stopping.
As Placidusax begins to take a decent amount of damage it will add a few new attacks. One will see it disappearing and reappearing close to the player. This is usually followed by a quick slash or lunging strike. The second sees it vanish into the air. When it does this, players need to watch the skies for the black thunderclouds to form. Shortly after they do, Placidusax will dive towards players like a bullet, slashing at them with its lightning-imbued claw. It will also sometimes pull out a large staff-like object and slam it into the ground, causing a massive red glow to begin emitting in a large circle around it. Players should get out of the area as quickly as possible as this charged AOE attack does massive damage.
When Placidusax reaches below 50 percent health, it has the chance to use one of its most imposing attacks, which is telegraphed by it first calling down lightning strikes and then vanishing into the air. When this happens, it will rush down at players, trying to slash at them, and then immediately start breathing fire towards them as soon as it lands. This fire will quickly turn into two massive lasers, which players must dodge through as they slash back and forth. It's possible to avoid these lasers if players can manage to run as far away from the boss as they can.
The fight against the Dragonlord is difficult but pattern recognition and knowing which attacks are coming will make it much easier for Tarnished to sneak their own attacks in and take it down. It's also susceptible to Bleed and Rot, making it easier to whittle down its massive healthbar. Once Placidusax is defeated, it will drop the Remembrance of the Dragonlord and 280,000 Runes.