Elden Ring Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss Fight: How To Beat Draconic Tree Sentinel

The Draconic Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring is a classic example of FromSoftware replicating an early-game boss and charging them up with more aggressive powers to shock unsuspecting players. Anyone who’s booted up Elden Ring will have undoubtedly encountered the basic Tree Sentinel boss for themselves. He is an early game boss known for his incredible difficulty against low-level Tarnished. It’s an unwelcome surprise when he returns with a vengeance as the Draconic Tree Sentinel, a higher levelled equivalent with devastating lightning attacks. For tips and tricks on how to take on the formidable Draconic Tree Sentinel boss in Elden Ring, read on.

• The Draconic Tree Sentinel boss shares many of the same attacks as the standard Tree Sentinel. As such it may be worthwhile to check out our guide on How To Beat The Tree Sentinel for additional tips.

Elden Ring Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss Fight: Location

The Draconic Tree Sentinel acts as a guard, blocking the entrance to Leyndell Royal Capital, as such, he must be beaten to continue the main story of the game. This boss fight can only be skipped if the player advances through Fia, the Deathbed Companion’s questline, and teleports to the capital from Deeproot Depths.

To get to the boss and the capital’s secret entrance, you must travel from the Outer Wall Battle Ground Site of Grace. From there, travel east up a set of stone stairs, built into the cliffside. Next, continue up the pathway through the graves littering the ground and you’ll see two giants with crossbows on the path amongst the trees.It is advised that you travel on Torrent to get past these as their attacks are difficult to dodge and severely hard-hitting.

Continue past the giants, and the path will curve round one of the outer capital buildings. Follow the path upwards and you’ll be faced with the Draconic Tree Sentinel, placed out in the open standing guard in front of a fog door instead of behind one.

• Wish to skip the boss altogether? Here’s our guide on How To Finish The Fia Questline.

Elden Ring Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss Fight: How To Beat Him

The Draconic Tree Sentinel has a mixture of short-range and long-range attacks, capable of inflicting both lightning and flame damage. He can stomp on the ground with his horse and use his colossal hammer to both strike and lunge at the player. He will shoot fireballs and a combination of a few different lightning incantations. Most of these can be dodged or sprinted from if on the back of Torrent. The animation he performs after hurling a fireball is a great opportunity to heal after dodging as it takes him a few precious seconds.

Millicent can be summoned for help if you have progressed through her questline far enough to gift her the Valkyrie’s Prosthesis and have defeated the Godskin Noble at the Windmill Village. Great Horned Tragoth can also be summoned, you’ll find his gold summon sign near the statue of Marika here.

As this boss has a large pool of HP and isn’t immune to scarlet rot or poison, some players have reportedly ‘cheesed’ the boss by continuously attacking from behind him with the Poison Mist incantation. If sequestered properly behind him, the AI of the boss won't register this as an attack or start moving. If you don’t have an incantation-based build, weapons that inflict bleed damage are also a good option, the Moonveil Katana in particular, as it causes a build-up of bleed damage and also has a very powerful Transient Moonlight attack.

Use any Talismans you have that negate lightning damage as this is the main element this boss summons. The Boltdrake Talismans work well for this and come at a +1 and +2 version for even higher lightning damage negation. Chances are, you’ll already have the first of these as it can be found within Stormveil Castle. As always, Spirit Ash Summons are an effective way at splitting a boss’ attention, giving you opportune moments for attack. This fight is one of the few that allows you access to Torrent, so completing the fight on horseback is an option.

The Draconic Tree Sentinel deals high damage attacks at long-range, so it’s advised to stay close to him and resist the temptation to keep at a distance with Torrent. Instead, use Torrent to circle round the Draconic Tree Sentinel, chipping away at his health while sprinting round attacks.

• If you’re struggling with the Draconic Tree Sentinel, Millicent is a great summon option. Read our guide on How to Complete Gowry and Millicent’s Quest to unlock her summon for this fight.

Elden Ring Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss Fight: Rewards

The most important reward from this boss fight is gaining entry to Leyndell. That being said, the 50,000 runes you get isn’t a bad bonus on top. He also drops the Dragon Greatclaw (a colossal weapon that requires 30 strength and 14 dexterity to wield) and the Dragonclaw Shield (which requires 28 strength and 12 dexterity).

• Now you’ve beaten the Draconic Tree Sentinel you’re all set to advance inside the capital. You’ll need the best weapons possible to take on this huge area. Read or guide on How to Find All Nine Legendary Armaments. Included is a weapon located in the capital that can easily be missed.