The Red Wolf of Radagon guards the entrance to the second section of the Academy of Raya Lucaria. Since this wolf has presumably been in the academy awhile, it’s picked up a few magic tricks — but it isn’t above simply biting your face off either. In this guide, we’ll give some general tips as well as specific strategies for defeating this boss.
General Tips
A shield is helpful for both melee and ranged characters to block the very quick bite attack. If you don’t have a shield with 100% physical resists, the Beast Crest Heater Shield is probably the easiest one to get.
After many of the boss’ attacks, there are windows in which you can cast a spell or swing your weapon (although some attacks have a fairly short cooldown, see the Moveset section for more info).
Both the bite and the sword swing can be single attacks or a combo, so make certain the wolf isn’t attacking again before you counter.
Strategy
Because the boss has so many gap closers, there isn’t a distinct difference between how ranged and melee characters want to handle this fight. All the strategies outlined below will apply to either type of character.
As always, summons are very helpful, and are available in this fight. This boss has decent AOE with its sword swings, so spirits like the Skeletal Militiaman and Lone Wolves aren’t as effective as they usually are. This boss is weak to slash damage, so any summons you have with curved swords (like the Kaiden Sellsword) can be good choices.
While it’s best to roll all of the bosses attacks, you can also equip a shield (ideally one with high physical and magic defenses) and simply hold block while the boss is attacking. This is especially useful when the boss is idle, because its fastest (and hardest to roll) attack is its bite, which does 100% physical damage and is best handled with blocking. The optimal way to use a shield vs this boss is to hold block until you see the boss start an attack — if it then spawns its sword or begins casting a spell, you can prepare to roll.
After the boss finishes any melee attack or combo, you can cast a spell or use your melee weapon against it. The bite attacks do have faster followups than the other attacks, so you may want to wait for other attack windows if you’re using a slow weapon/spell.
If you’re using a ranged strategy, you can roll away from the boss when it preps its sword attack rather than trying to dodge through it — if you get far enough away, you can cast spells while the wolf finishes attacking
The biggest danger with this boss is the Glintstone Daggers it creates; sometimes, they’ll fly towards you while the boss is beginning another move, so you’ll need to time your dodge exceptionally well not to get hit by either attack.
Otherwise, the fight is fairly simple: roll each attack until the boss stops attacking and then attack yourself. Besides the aforementioned issue with the Glintstone Daggers, the other part of the fight that can be tricky is how so many of the moves look like other moves — check out the Moveset below for help with identifying the boss’ attacks.
Moveset
The best times to attack are after the leaping attacks (Comet, Sword Leap, Leaping Bite), or after theDouble Sword Swingand theSword Spin, since you can be certain no followups are coming. Attacking after other attacks can lead to getting hit with a follow-up. If the boss casts Glintstone Daggers, fight defensively until the daggers are gone.
Bite – The boss leans forward on its front paws a bit, then leaps forward a short distance and bites. This can sometimes be followed by one or two additional bites, or chained into other attacks, so this attack is relatively unsafe to counter.
Leaping Bite – The boss leans forward on its front paws and then does a leaping bite. This is usually seen when the boss is a fair distance away.
Sword Slash – The boss spawns a sword in its mouth with the tip pointing to your right, and swings it once from (your) right to left).
Sword Spin – The boss spawns a sword in its mouth with the tip pointing to your left, and swings it in a 360 degree arc. Roll past the boss or away — rolling sideways will get you hit by the second part of the swing.
Double Sword Swing – The boss spawns a sword in its mouth with the tip pointing to your left, and swings it twice, from (your) left to right, then right to left. Sometimes it will only do the first part of the swing, but be prepared for the followup.
Sword Leap – The boss spawns a sword in its mouth with the tip pointing to your right, and then does a twist and leaps into the air, slamming the sword down upon landing. Like the Leaping Bite, this is usually seen when far away from the boss.
Comet – The boss snarls and a light blue symbol forms in the air in front of its mouth — it then leaps into the air and fires a magical comet. Roll towards the boss to avoid this attack and end up next to or behind it.
Glintstone Daggers – The boss growls and runs sideways, leaving three glowing blue magic portals behind. After a brief delay, three daggers will fly towards you. These can be blocked (although you’ll take chip damage) or rolled through.
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
14,000
