The Dragons are not the only bosses you'll see quite often in Elden Ring as Erdtree Avatars can be found in many places and here's how to beat them.
Position of Minor World-Trees
This is probably the easiest thing to spot in the entire Underworld map, outside of the World Tree itself. But here is a map with the position of all the minor World-Trees. A green dot indicates that there are no bosses. A blue dot indicates a World Tree Avatar, a red dot indicates a Putrid Avatar. Finally, a purple dot indicates the position of another type of boss.
Differences between a World Tree Avatar and a Putrid Avatar
Broadly speaking, combat against the two avatar types is quite similar. Putrid Avatars tend to be more powerful, and they will fill your Crimson Putrefaction bar with some of their attacks. The big change is mainly the effect produced by their jump, and the way you will manage it.
When the World Tree Avatar jumps, it produces a holy explosion upon landing. It's dangerous 360°, but you just have to back away a bit and then come back and attack it.
Preparations
- Favor ranged spirit summons, or incredibly robust ones over this fight. But unless you use something really powerful, they're going to get slaughtered by melee area attacks, or the rain of holy shots.
- If you're playing correctly, you don't have to worry about holy damage on this fight. Prioritize talismans that improve your damage, your maximum life, and resistance to physical damage.
- Avatars are very vulnerable to fire damage , if you have this in your arsenal or consumables it will make the fight much easier.
Easy distance method
If you are playing a caster or an archer, you can kill an avatar from the tree very easily, almost without danger. Just attack it from the back of your horse, while circling the minor world-tree. Use the tree for cover when the Avatar unleashes his rain of holy attacks. It also allows you to lose aggro if you switch completely to the other side. All you have to do is keep your distance. You can also flee down the road and then attack the tree in the back when it turns around.
Melee combat
- It's not completely impossible to take on an Avatar in melee on horseback, but it's terribly complicated and dangerous. The reason is that his attacks have immense range and will follow you. He is able to raise his weapon above his head, and rotate 180° to bring it down on you while you are behind him. You really shouldn't treat an Avatar like a dragon.
- It is better to fight on foot and learn to dodge his big attacks. They really hurt a lot, but there's an effigy of Marika nearby, so the return isn't very long. The majority of his sequences are composed of 3 successive attacks, do not let yourself be surprised by the last one which arrives a little later.
- As mentioned above, when the Avatar jumps, you have to move away, preferably behind his back.
- When the Avatar places his hammer vertically, he will smash it to the ground which will trigger an area of holy damage and then a shower of truly deadly golden projectiles. She dodges quite easily by running laterally, on foot or on horseback. Above all, avoid getting stuck in a tree or a giant pot, it's a death sentence. Using the Avatar to clear the area before can be a good plan.
- By attacking aggressively enough, it is possible to expose the Avatar to a critical hit. It must be placed at the front, at the level of the golden zone.
This guide has been translated from MGG France by bxakid and was originally written by Raiden Robin.
