How to Defeat the Extremely Tough Ghostflame Dragon in Elden Ring's DLC

Elden Ring’s DLC is full of tough bosses for you to take on. Some of which are key roadblocks to pushing further ahead in the DLC, like Renalla and The Divine Beast Dancing Lion. However, sitting in the open world, there are also a number of bosses, including the Ghostflame Dragons, which are extremely tough, especially compared to the other dragons you can fight in The Lands Between.

Thankfully, we have taken down a few of them in the Land of Shadow and come up with a list of tips and strategies to properly take them on and navigate around their powerful attacks, Ghostflame breath, and lunges. Here are a few tips to help you out.

How to beat Ghostflame Dragon in Elden Ring: The Basics

Some key tips to beat the Ghostflame Dragon in Elden Ring’s DLC are:

• Use Torrent
• Always attack its legs
• Never stray too far from it
• Retreat to its rear when needed
• Don’t be afraid to charge at it when at a distance

The first key tip to defeating the Ghostflame Dragon is that you will need to use Torrent. This fight is almost impossible without your spectral horse, and you will need to revive your horse several times in the fight as it will get clipped by a random attack and perish. So, make sure you stock up on healing flasks, as you won’t be using magic in this fight.

Additionally, if you are fighting the Ghostflame Dragon in Scadu Atlus, you can let the rest of the enemies do a bit of damage before you attack the dragon, making your fight a little easier. Plus, trying to fight the dragon in the midst of a ton of other enemies isn’t easy.

Secondly, you will almost always be hitting the Ghostflame Dragon’s legs. Sitting between both of its legs is the safest spot, as you can dodge any of its attacks forward and have a safe escape route out from its rear if it starts breathing Ghostflame in the area beneath it.

Typically, in-between attacks, you can land 3 to 4 hits on your horse and then you need to watch out for its next attack. If it starts breathing fire, you want to back away from it to a medium distance and then head in again and attack its legs as the fire begins to dissipate. If it starts to charge a Ghostflame attack from its main body, you want to do the same but back off further as the radius of the attack is bigger.

However, you don’t want to keep too far away. As soon as its attack is almost over, you want to rush back towards it, as his wing swings and regular attacks are much harder to dodge when you are in front of it. Being in front of the Ghostflame Dragon is a firetrap.

If it does start attacking with its regular melee attacks, even though you are under it, you want to move towards the rear of the legs to avoid any attacks or being clipped by a swing or two.

The other main attacks you need to worry about are the larger hits that it will charge. The first is a tail swipe when you are behind it, which can easily be dodged like any other dragon. Simply dart to the left and under it to avoid its swipe, as the attack mainly hits the right side of the area behind it.

The other attack is a charge forward, which it can do after flying or when you are at a distance. This is an extremely hard-hitting attack, but can easily be dodged by charging right at it. Ideally, go towards your right (the dragon’s left side of its body) as it is easier to dodge on this side. At this distance, it can also perform melee swipes with its wings that can be avoided by charging through it.

Finally, if the Ghostflame Dragon flies into the air in-place, you want to charge in one direction as quickly as possible, as it will slam down onto the ground. Charging early enough will help you avoid the crash to the ground, but it can take a bit of practice to master this evasion maneuver.

That covers how to defeat the Ghostflame Dragon in Elden Ring. For even more guides to get you through the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, check out our guide on the first things you should do in the DLC and how long the DLC is overall.