In the world of Elden Ring, General Radahn was considered the most powerful of the demigods, and for good reason. This absolute brute has mastered the power of gravity to such an extent that it has stopped the movement of stars in the sky altogether. Incidentally, he also uses it to keep his skinny old horse that he adores, he modifies its weight thanks to gravity in order to be able to ride it. Unfortunately, the scarlet rot ate away at his body and mind, he turned into a wild beast. But even without reason, and using his powers for other things, Radahn is a tough fight. The good news is that it can be approached in different ways, one relatively easy, and one really very difficult.
Easy or hard mode?
By default, you have to storm the castle of the red lion, then go face Radahn with little or no assistance. It is then a horribly difficult fight, even if you have completed the first 3 regions of the game. But there is an alternative that will put it within the reach of more players.
Completing certain quests before going to face Radahn can make your life much easier. The easiest way is to go save the giant pot that is northeast of the Eastern Necrolimbo, you can hear it traveling on the road towards Caelid. By giving him a few blows to unlock it and then talking to him, he will tell you that Radahn is organizing a big martial arts tournament, and that he intends to participate. This will then trigger a special event at Radahn Castle, which will be almost emptied of all its defenders. In addition, you will have the assistance of many fighters to summon in a loop.
There are other quests to get more reinforcements on Radahn, the most notable is Blair, the half-wolf. To do this, you will have to start by going to see Ranni at the 3 sisters, the towers northwest of Liurnia, agree to serve her, talk to Blaid in his tower, talk to Blair in La Soria, go talk to the wizard of the 3rd tour of the 3 sisters, then go talk to Selenne in the cellar of the Pumpkin Head relay. Talk back to Blaid, and phew, he'll announce he's participating in Radahn's tournaments too. It's a way to trigger the event too, by the way. It is in any case one of the most powerful fighters to invoke to assist you. There's also good old Pat and others.
The hard mode obviously consists of going to Radahn without the help of the tournament participants, just don't do their quests, or don't summon them on the spot. Once Radahn is killed, by reloading the area, all soldiers and bosses in the castle will respawn, the doors will be unlocked, and you will be able to complete the dungeon normally.
Preparations
- Apart from the organization of the tournament, there is not much to do. As you can stay mounted for this fight, we advise you to equip your heaviest armor, as well as magic resistance.
- Spirit Summons aren't available in this fight, at least if you're hosting the tournament.
- Talismans that increase your survivability, such as physical and magic damage reduction, or life gains are welcome.
- You can craft and use consumables that increase magic resistance.
Phase 1
- When you take the teleporter, Radahn is in the distance, and he is already drawing his bow to kill you. There are two ways to dodge its fearsome arrows: dodge with the right timing, or hide behind the swords and rubble in the area , which may require crouching for those low enough.
- Quickly activate the first golden marks on the ground to call for reinforcements, the new arrivals will attract the boss's shots, and force him to draw his swords when they are close enough. This will allow you to take out your mount and circle the battlefield to activate all of the gold marks.
- This is the strategy we advise for this fight: Do not go to face Radahn, and do not approach him . Just go around the area on Torrent to activate all summon marks. You don't need to get out of the saddle to do this .
- When one of the summoned people dies, it does not matter . After a few seconds, his mark will reappear. Your goal is to find and reactivate it as quickly as possible . As powerful as he is, Radahn doesn't stand a chance against the attrition caused by the Human Tide technique. Just try not to get his attention, he really hurts.
Stage 2
- When Radahn's life is down, he will start summoning gravitational balls which he will shoot from a distance. If you stay away and circle around him, it shouldn't affect you.
- Once his life is even lower, Radahn will disappear, before returning in the form of a meteorite which will cause a devastating explosion. Try to spot it and stay away from the point of impact. Expect the majority of your allies to die in the explosion. It will therefore be vital to re-summon others quickly to occupy the boss.
- There should be less marks towards the end of the fight, we could not verify if there are any special conditions related to this, such as a limited number of summons. In any case, consider actively participating in giving the boss the finishing blow when his life is low, and you still have some help to get his attention. Just try not to get killed.
This guide has been translated from MGG France by bxakid and was originally written by Raiden Robin.
