You've taken down Radahn, traversed the underground labyrinth of Nokron, and made your way through the Lake of Rot. After hopping in a coffin and taking a ride down a Scarlet Rot waterfall, you find yourself standing before a massive fog door. Behind it sits one of Elden Ring's most unique bosses: Astel, Naturalborn of the Void.
Defeating this gigantic cosmic horror is the last major step of the lengthy Ranni the Witch's questline, but surviving the showdown can prove to be a real challenge. With a varied moveset of unpredictable attacks--some of which can even one-shot you from across the large arena--coming out victorious requires some solid memorization and timing. Here's what you need to know to defeat Astel.
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Due to the nature of its attacks, you'll want to keep your distance at various points throughout the fight. Consider equipping a weapon or spell with good range so you can continue getting in damage from afar. You can also lean on a range-focused Spirit Summon to do the work for you (Latenna the Albinauric, for example), but you'll probably still be better served using the Mimic Tear.
Astel does deal Magic damage, so feel free to take a Spellproof Dried Liver or mix an Opaline Hardtear in your Flask of Wondrous Physick to prepare for the fight. However, its physical damage packs a huge punch on its own, so don't worry too much about this. Just put on the tankiest armor set you have available and you should be fine.
The crystal bubbles that make up Astel's torso and tail are heavily armored, so aim for its legs and head instead. The head is also where you can get off a Critical Attack if you manage to break its Poise. One of the most effective strategies in the fight is to lock onto its head and deal damage with projectiles from a medium distance away. For sorcerers, Rock Sling is your best bet here; Faith builds will find success with Stone of Gurranq. A highly leveled up bow and arrow can do the trick, too. Melee players can stick behind the boss and deal headshots up close when the coast is clear, but it's a risky route to victory.
As mentioned, Astel is susceptible to Scarlet Rot. The closest you can get to cheesing the fight is to run up, get off a Rotten Breath cast, and retreat. The Scarlet Rot will eventually do all the work, and you can focus all your energy on dodging its attacks from a distance.
Astel's moveset is deadly whether you're across the arena or face-to-face. These are the most important moves to lookout for during phase one:
There is only one attack added during phase two of the fight:
Phase two
Meteorite of Astel. Purple mist will fill the sky all around and above Astel, before unleashing a barrage of meteorites at you from all directions. The damage is hard to avoid here, and if you get hit by more than one meteorite you will almost assuredly die. Locking on and dodging left repeatedly until the spell ends is the best strategy we've found.The hardest part of the fight is getting down the timing on Astel's hardest-to-dodge attacks, but stay focused on damaging the dome and you'll take it down soon enough. When you do, you'll be rewarded with 80,000 Runes and the Remembrance of Astel, which grants you access to a powerful Flail and Ash of War.
Head out of the cave and past the Glintstone Dragon to find Ranni the Witch beneath the Cathedral of Manus Celes. There, she'll reward you with the Dark Moon Greatsword, a high-Intelligence weapon that's shown up in various forms in From Software games since Kings Field in 2006.
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