How to Beat the Draconic Tree Sentinel - Elden Ring Boss Guide

Rewards: Dragon Greatclaw, Dragonclaw Shield, rune v2 elden ring currency 50,000
Summons Available: Yes

This boss waits on the Altus Plateau, guarding the entrance to Leyndell, Royal Capital. He’s got a bigger horse than you, and can call down lightning on your tiny Tarnished tail. Fortunately, we’ve got a simple strategy for taking down the Draconic Tree Sentinel.

location of draconic tree sentinel elden ring

Strategy

Summons are available, so you can choose to start the fight by letting your summons tank, and sneaking in hits while the boss focuses on them — this is a fairly straightforward strategy. However, your summons might not make it to the end of the fight, so the below strategies are designed for fighting the boss one on one.

Melee

Despite having a cooler moveset and an even bigger heavier weapon than his sentinel friends, this Tree Sentinel isn’t very good at hitting his targets. By riding in a circle around him, you can avoid almost all damage while attacking him. However, it’s not as simple as just circling — there are two attacks that are fast enough to hit you while you’re riding around the boss — the Shield Swipe and Flame Spew.

To avoid both of these attacks, simply ride a bit away from the boss. When you’re circling the side with the shield, it’s good to always back off a bit, and if the horse starts to build up flame in its mouth, sprint and ride diagonally away (you can’t ride directly away because sometimes it’s shooting a Fire Ball instead that flies much further). Basically, always slightly move away from the boss as you pass both the shield and the horse’s mouth (as in the clip below) and tap sprint when the boss begins any attack.

draconic tree sentinel strat gif elden ring

Once you’re sure the shield bash or the flames aren’t coming (because the boss used another attack and it missed) you can ride in close and get a few hits off. When the boss raises his weapon high and waits a moment to bring it down, it will create a decently large AOE explosion around where the weapon lands, so make sure you aren’t mindlessly riding in circles — make a point of avoiding where his weapon will land.

Ranged

Ranged characters can use Torrent to ride diagonally away from all the boss’s attacks (tapping sprint as you do so). As the boss finishes its attack, get off one of your own. If you’re at mid-range or further, the boss’s horse will frequently spit a Fire Ball, which is easy to avoid and lets you respond with your own ranged attack. Make sure you don’t waste FP attacking when the boss is idle, or the boss may dodge it (as in the final attack in the clip below) — you need to attack immediately after avoiding the boss’s attack.

Phase 2

At around 50% HP, the boss will charge his weapon with lightning beginning phase 2. Melee and ranged characters can use the same basic strategy in Phase 2, but both will have to add a few more avoidance methods into the pattern.

The toughest Phase 2 attack to avoid is the Lighting Strike — the boss’s shield will crackle with red lightning, and he’ll raise it into the air. Then he brings it down, calling down two bolts of lightning at his target. To avoid this, you’ll need to wait for one second, then tap the sprint button while continuing to circle the boss.

draconic tree sentinel avoid lightning gif elden ring

The boss will also sometimes call down a Lot of Lightning around himself — it’s easy to see this coming, as many spots on the ground will glow red, and you can easily ride out of area. Additionally, some of the boss’s attacks where he slams his weapon into the ground get a larger AOE, but as long as you’re circling while sprinting, you can just ride a bit further out from the boss to avoid these.

There is also another ranged attack to watch for: the boss’s weapon will crackle with more lightning, and he’ll drag it on the ground behind him, then swing it forward, launching a Lightning Wave on the ground towards his target. As long as you’re riding in a circle and sprinting, this should miss easily, but you can jump to make sure you dodge it.

Similarly, the sometimes the boss will charge his weapon with (more) lightning, and his horse will rear back onto its back legs — ride away quickly before the boss Lightning Slams his weapon down, as it does a massive AOE.

Continue attacking after avoiding the boss’s attacks and it’ll soon go down. Be patient, and don’t greed for that last bit of the boss’s health bar — good luck, Tarnished!