Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: How to beat Rakshasa
Take a look at our coverage of the Rakshasa boss in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, which includes how to defeat her and get her special armour.
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The base game of Elden Ring has a number of optional bosses found in Evergaols, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC carries this over with Nameless Mausoleums. One of them goes by the name Rakshasa, a warrior equipped with a huge katana that inflicts blood loss, making her very difficult to defeat.
If you need some help taking down the ghost of this dead warrior, here are some things to know.
Boss breakdown
Rakshasa is found in the Eastern Nameless Mausoleum, a small place in the lower depths of the Scadu Altus region. You can find it on the edge of a cliff face near the end of the large stream.
The fight is fairly simple - no ridiculous combos or surprise attacks or phase changes - just a pure one on one, blade on blade. However, she hits very hard, and you need to be careful about the blood loss build-up from taking too many hits.
Strategy, tips & tricks
My first recommendation is taking a shield with 100% damage negation, as guard counters are extremely effective against this boss due to the simplicity of the attacks.
You can compete just fine without a shield as a melee character, but it requires more consistency in dodging attacks and moving out of harm's way after getting your own hits in.
Rakshasa is also weak to lightning damage, so spellcasters who specialise in this should have a little trouble - especially with how easy it is to create distance if you manipulate her into using the double slash spam.
Her main attacks consist of a leaping slash, a generic slash, and a thrust. The first can't be parried, but you can stagger her by attacking her in the air if you're quick enough, while the other two are simple enough to parry, dodge, or block.
The leaping slash and thrust attacks also give you some time to get in a couple of hits as she recovers properly.
The big attack to watch out for is the double slash, which she performs when you get close. She can also spam this, stopping you from getting in any hits and halting your momentum, but you can parry the first slash to stop the second, or heavy attack her between hits to stagger.
Around 50% HP, she will also use a flask to heal, putting her back around 75%. She only has one though, and it does provide an opportunity to punish her with attacks if you're able to read it quickly.
Rewards
- 90,000 Runes
- Rakshasa's Great Katana
- Rakshasa's Helm
- Rakshasa's Armour
- Rakshasa's Gauntlets
- Rakshasa's Greaves
About The Author
Tarran Stockton
Tarran is a Senior Guides Writer at GGRecon. He previously wrote reviews for his college newspaper before studying Media and Communication at university. His favourite genres include role-playing games, strategy games, and boomer shooters - along with anything indie. You can also find him in the pit at local hardcore shows.
This is part of the ‘Elden Ring’ directory
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