The first major boss that you will encounter in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is the massive Divine Beast Dancing Lion. Once you’ve reached the top of Belurat, Tower Settlement, you’ll have to face off with this challenging adversary. It is a difficult boss that has many alternating move sets. Let’s break down the strategy for taming this lion.
General Tips
Be sure to summon Redmane Freyja. She’s a total unit and is of massive help.
On any of the Dancing Lion’s high lunging attacks, roll towards it to avoid getting cornered.
When the Lion switches to lightning damage after a third of its health is gone, focus on survival instead of damage. After it’s switched to another element, you can resume looking for damage opportunities.
Strategy
Before entering the arena, you’ll want to summon Redmane Freyja. She is a tanky unit that will often grab the boss’s aggro, and stun it with her powerful attacks. As soon as you enter the arena, you will want to be careful that the Dancing Lion isn’t going to blast you with its projectile attack. Around half of the time it will shoot it, and if you’re summoning your Spirit Ashes, there’s no escape. Otherwise, try to summon your strongest Spirit Ash as soon as you can.
Regardless of whether you’re up close or attacking from range, whenever you get the boss’s aggro you want to keep it in front of you so you can see what attack it is telegraphing. For many of them, you want to roll forward so that you won’t get cornered by the followup attacks. The biggest signs you want to pay attention to are:
Lurching upwards into the sky – This is like several other bosses, where it hangs in the air and then slams down on you. You will want to walk forward, then start to roll under it before it comes down.
Head bobs up and to the right – This slight head lurch means it will quickly dive at you. This is its fastest attack and hardest to dodge. Rolling forward is the best way to avoid it.
Snapping jaws and lurching upwards – This signals that it will strike forward to grab you in its jaws, which means death. Try to back up as much as possible before the lunge, then roll to the left to avoid the attack. If you’re very close to the boss, then rolling under is an option.
Somersaults backwards in the air – This tells the player that it’s time to start rolling backwards, quickly. The boss is going to do two barrel-roll lunges, snap its head up (as a third attack), then start spinning in circles and flinging an element attack in the area. By the time the second barrel-roll hit comes, you’ll be against a wall. Dodge to the side and away from the boss to avoid the spinning AoE attack that follows.
Head bob up to the right, followed by snapping jawsSomersault bakcwards then big combo
Note: If you’re playing a tank, a shield can effectively withstand most of the physical attacks, except the somersault combo, which will stagger you, and the shield obviously won’t work for the jaw grab.
Once you are familiar with these signs, and avoiding the attacks, you’ll be able to avoid the boss (and death) long enough for either Freyja or your summons to get its attention. When it’s focused on them, that’s the best time to deal damage.
Attack while other characters have the aggro
If you’re attacking with melee – He’s an easier boss to hit from the rear, as many of his attacks are only targeting the person with aggro in front of him. However, when attacking his side, only hit once and roll away since he usually does a quick side attack immediately after being hit.
If you’re attacking with range – Basic strategy is waiting for him to aggro someone else, then attacking. Plenty of opportunities to do a quick spell or attack in between boss’s attacks, even if the Dancing Lion is attacking you.
After taking away a third of its life, the Dancing Lion will spin in the air and lightning will form around it. It’s now doing lightning damage, and it hurts. All of its other attacks are now lightning-charged, too, and some of them are faster. If you have the Boltdrake Talisman, that will help. It’s important to be extra careful while it’s in the lightning phase. Try not to get the boss’s aggro, roll frequently to avoid the big lightning AoE, and wait for your allies to do damage. Make Dancing Lion change to either its ice form or wind form before doing any risky attacks.
Ancient Ruins Variant
You’ll discover another one of these later on, in the Ancient Ruins of Rauh. This version of the boss is almost identical, but with one dirty trick to make things even more difficult — it will summon basilisks, and can emit Death Blight as one of the “elements” it spits out clouds of. Increasing your Vitality can protect you from Death Bligh. You can also equip the Beast-Repellent Torch to keep the basilisks away. You don’t actually have to hold it, just have it in a slot — you can two hand another weapon and still gain the effect. If you don’t have it, the first part of our Dragonbarrow walkthrough will direct you to the Isolated Merchant that sells the torch.
Moveset
Quick Dive – Head lurches up to the right, and the boss quickly flings itself at you. Hardest attack to spot and avoid, but dodge forward when possible. Best not to try and melee attack after, as the boss will sometimes follow it up with more attacks.
Breath Attack – This is his ranged attack that will change depending on the elemental form it’s using. Lightning is the fastest, and hardest to dodge. Repeatedly dodge to the side to avoid it — the further away you are, the easier it is. Afterward, you can counter with an attack (ranged).
Jaw Grab – Boss will snap its jaws before the lunging grapple attack. The further away you are, the easier it is to avoid. Dodge to the left to best avoid it. Afterward, you can counter with an attack (melee or ranged). Boss is immune while crunching an ally in jaws, so don’t waste attacks. If you are grabbed, you’ll recieve a debuff — while it is active, you will heal the boss if you drink from your crimson flask.
Barrel-Roll Combo – Boss does a somersault in the air, then does two diving barrel-roll attacks. After the second dive, it will snap its head up for a third attack. Boss then spins two circles while breathing elemental damage. Roll backwards until it snaps its head up, then roll away from it to avoid the spinning element attack. Afterward, you can counter with an attack (ranged, possibly melee).
High Dive – Boss jumps high up into the air and hangs there for a moment, before slamming down. Easiest attack to avoid — run and dodge forward. This helps to keep you from getting cornered. Afterward, you can counter with an attack (melee or ranged), unless this happens while the boss is in the lightning form, because there will be AoE.
Tale Flip – Only used when you are close to the boss. The Lion will slowly do a floating backflip, then slam its tail down. It’s easy to dodge too early, then get hit — wait for it to almost finish the flip before dodging. Afterward, you can counter with an attack (melee).
Lightning Javelin – Only happens during lightning form: the boss will do a quick flip in the air and shoot a lightning bolt at you. It’s fast and hard to dodge, and he will randomly do it at you even when you don’t have aggro. Honestly, just dodge a ton during lightning form.
Ice Blast – Only happens during ice form: the boss belly-flops and shoots out walls of ice in five directions along the ground. Be ready to roll left or right to avoid. Usually does this after switching to the ice form. Afterward, you can counter with an attack (melee if close, or ranged).
Tornado – Only happens during wind form: the boss will spin while floating and create a tornado that it sends outwards. Run to the side and dodge just before the tornado reaches you. Afterward, you can counter with an attack (ranged).
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