Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is finally upon us, giving us a grueling challenge ahead of us that would make even the most hardcore of Fromsoft fans struggle, which is just what we were looking for. And, what better way to test your patience than with the expansion's first main boss of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion, which can be found 𓆏at the top of the Belurat Tower Settlemenꦡt?

This encounter is fierce, unrelenting, and incredibly rewarding. It is a mandatory boss fight if you want to progress further into the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, so getting it taken care of as soon as possible might be the best s🎀trategy. Just ensure you have gathered some Scadutree Fragments bef♕orehand, as you will need them!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion Overview

As mentioned above, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion is likely the first main boss you will encounter in Elden Ring's Sh🍌adow of the Erdtree expansion and will offer a relentless challenge, even if you think you're overleveled.

Through its many phases and elemental changes, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion will keep you on your toes and always on the defensive, giving you little room to work in your own offense. Nonetheless, as it is a mandatory encounter, you must devise a strategy to overcome its suffo🦩cating pressure and slay it once and for all!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion Overview

We will add the Divine Beast Dancing Lion's max HP, Defense, and Stance variable once that information is more concr൲ete. At the moment, the table above will only highlight what it drops, its weaknesses, and the damage types it can inflict on the player!

How To Defeat Divine Beast Dancing Lion In Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree

The Divine Beast Dancing Lion has a great deal of phases, having it bounce between a handful of elemental types, all of which have different attacks and properties that can, and likely will, trip you up. Fortunately, once you get the hang of its tricks and awkward movement, you will be in a prime position to take it down.

Before beginning this encounter, we strongly recommend you at least have a +2 or even +3 Scadutree Fragment boost, as that will give you some much-needed buffs to your overall damage and defense, making this fight seem much more manageable. If that is still too little, you can get up to a +5 boost before this encounter, and we recommend seeking them꧒ all out before reattempting this boss fight!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Biting Grab

One of the more annoying and common actions in the Divine Beast Dancing Lion's barrage of attack options is its Biting Grab, which persists across all of its many phases. This action is telegraphed by the Divine Beast standing straight up before snapping its jaw shut twice and lunging forward with tremendous speed.

When you see the Dancing Lion perk up and begin opening and closing its mouth, begin running toward it, then dodge roll forward the moment it lunges to negate all damage. After it misses its attack, you can follow up with two attacks of your own before going back on the defensive!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Diving Bite

Another common action throughout this encounter is the Dancing Lion's Diving Bite, which is telegraphed by it effortlessly climbing upward before hurtling itself toward you with a devastating bite.

The moment you see the Divine Beast take to the skies, begin running toward it, and then roll toward it just before it crash-lands. If done right, you should negate all damage and can even follow up with two to three attacks of your own, but don't get too greedy here!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Floating Strike

This action won't occur all that frequently, but it is a devastating attack in the Dancing Lion's move list. The Floating Strike has the Divine Beast perform two quick swipes with its head before floating toward you in a fluid motion, delivering a fierce bite when it gets close to you.

Timing your dodge rolls is vital here, but be mindful of the odd pacing of this attack, as it can trip you up if you spam your rolls. After dodging the first two quick attacks, delay your third dodge and execute it just as it performs its bite, allowing you to follow up with an attack or two of your own!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Head Swing

Next up, we have its Head Swing attack, which will be telegraphed by the Divine Beast lowering its head to the side before swiftly and violently swinging it toward you in a fluid motion, dealing a surprising amou🌸nt of damage on contact.

When you see the Dancing Lion lower its head to the side, stop whatever you're doing and wait for it to swing its head. The moment you see it begin its motion of attack, roll toward its head to negate all damage. You can only follow up with an attack or two here, as it will transition to its next✅ at♍tack soon afterward!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Quick Rotating Smoke Spray

Moving onto another common action of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion is its Quick Rotating Smoke Spray, which has it begin breathing smoke from its mouth before quickly spinning in a tight circle, cover💮ing a wide area around and in front of itself.

This action is hard to gauge as you have what seems like a split second to react to it, but the moment you see smoke begin to pour from its mouth, create as much distance as you can between you and the Divine Beast. You may be able to follow up with an attack, but we suggest not pushing your luck too much here𝓡!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase One - Long Rotating Smoke Spray

The Long Rotating Smoke Spray is, well, a more extended version of the attack above, having the Divine Beast twirl in three circles this time, inching closer and closer to you with each spin. It is more or less telegraphed the same way, which can be confusing to deal with.

Whenever you see the Divine Beast stand straight up and begin releasing smoke from its mouth, just run far away from it. If its first spin has it come closer to you, then it will likely perform two more twirls, so just keep running away from it. Again, you can likely attack it afterward with a quick hit or two, but we don't advise doing so, 🔴as this action hurts if ♒it hits you!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Start

After whittling down roughly a quarter of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion's HP, it will enter its arguably most annoying and complex phase, its Lightning Phase. This has it shift its elemental type from smoke to lightning, which gives it a bunch of new attacks and properties that you must keep an🎀 eye out for, or you will pay the price in death!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Bite Grab

Much like the first phase, the second one also has a Bite Grab that is telegraphed and handled the exact same way as before. However, this time around, there can be lightning currents on the ground that will erupt, meaning you must dodge them in addition to the Divine Beast's Bite Grab!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Lightning Bites

Next up during the Dancing Lion's second phase is its Lightning Bites, where it will perform two quick bites, generating electrical currents along the ground with each chomp.

You can see faint orangish-red electrical currents on the ground that you must keep away from at all costs while simultaneously rolling away from the Divine Beast's vicious bites. This attack can trip you up if you aren't paying attention, and we recommend trying to create distance between yourself and the Dancing Lion here, as you can still follow up with an attack or two after the action is over!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Spiraling Lightning

Following that, another common action in the Dancing Lion's repertoire is its Spiraling Lightning attack, having it take to the skies before divebombing toward you with a vicious and high-damaging lighting strike.

For this action, we recommend running away from the Divine Beast when it takes flight, then rolling just before it touches the ground, and evading the lighting currents on the ground. While you can get a hit in here, it may be best to just preꦰpare for its next attack, as you won't have too much time to respond afterward!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Quick Rotating Lightning Spray

Like the first phase, the Dancing Lion will have two different Rotating Spray attacks. Its Quick Rotating Lightning Spray action will be handled the same way as its smoke counterpart, except it will sometimes generate electrical currents across the ground that must also be evaded. Ju🐽st keep rolling away from the Divine Beast and prepare for its next ♍action!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Long Rotating Lighting Spray

Just like the entry above, the Long Rotating Rotating Lightning Spray is telegraphed and handled the same way as its smoke counterpart, except with the added caveat that there will sometimes be electrical currents spread throughout the ground that you must keep an eye out for, and dodge in addition to the primary attack!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Lightning Bolt

An incredibly annoying attack that pops up occasionally during the Dancing Lion's second phase is its Lightning Bolt attack, which has it summon an enormous bolt of lightning and hurl it at you in the blink of an eye. Seriously, this attack is very, VERY fast.

The moment you see the Dancing Lion summon the Lightning Bolt, roll to the left or right, as it will be released nearly instantaneously the moment you see it. If you're close enough to the Divine Beast, you can land a hit or two before having to go back on the defensive!

There's also a chance the Divine Beast Dancing Lion will perform this action twice in 🍸a row, which is VER🐻Y annoying and hard to deal with. So, if you successfully evade the first one, always be prepared for a second one, as it can cast it immediately after the first, making it near impossible to avoid if you aren't prepared!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Two - Diving Lightning Bite

Following that, another action during the second phase is the Diving Lightning Bite, having the Divine Beast take to the skies before performing a homing biting attack that generates lots of electrical currents on the ground upon landing, forcing you to dodge the incoming bite, then the incoming lightning strikes on the ground afterward.

Focus primarily on the bite first and time your roll just before the attack lands to avoid it entirely. From here, just roll away from the ground currents and away from the Dancing Lion. You shouldn't try attacking here, as the꧙re will be far too much chaos surrounding the boss. Prepare for its next attack!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Start

After getting the Divine Beast Dancing Lion's HP down to roughly the halfway point, it will switch from its Lightning Phase to its Wind Phase, which will have many similarities with its Smoke Phase but with a few new actions that you must be mindful🧸 of. Nonetheless, this phase shouldn't be that bad if you've made it t൲his far!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Bite Grab

The Bite Grab returns and is handled in the same exact way as the first phase but is slightly faster, meaning your timing has to be a bit tighter this time around, but nothing too drastic. And, unlike the Lightning Phase, you don't have to worry about any additional factors afterward, allowing you to follow up with two to three attacks of your own!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Tornado

One of its newest actions in this phase is its Tornado attack, having the Dancing Lion spin up a massive Tornado before swiftly launching it toward you.

Whenever you see the Divine Beast kick up the Tornado, stand in place until the moment you see it get launched toward you. As soon as you see the Tornado gets released, roll to the left or right to avoid all damage. You will likely be too far away to do anything afterward, s♈o ju🔴st prepare for its following action!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Advancing Gust Attack

Another new action during this phase is its Advancing Gust Attack, where the Divine Beast will generate a smaller tornado behind itself, using it to catapult itself toward you to deliver a devastating attack that will deal t🐟remendous amounts of damage on contact.

This attack is fast and hard to evade, and the timing is very tight, but you must roll either to the left or right to avoid taking damage. If done right, you can follow up with two to three attacks of your own, but we a🏅dvise not getting too greedy here, especially this late in the battle!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Three - Diving Wind Bite

An odd attack during this phase is its Diving Wind Bite, which is similar to the previous ones but looks oddly identical to the Bite Grab, which is likely the point. It will rise high into the air just like with its Bite Grab but won't snap open and close its mouth twice. Instead, it will just fall forward with a tremendously strong bite, kicking up Wind all around itself.

The moment you see the Dancing Lion take to the sky, and it doesn't make the chomping sounds with its mouth, create a lot of distance between you and it before it lands, as you do not want to be anywhere near it when it lands. From here, you can run up on it and land a hit or two!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Four - Start

Now it is time for its fourth phase, which has the Divine Beast Dancing Lion shift into its Frost Phase after you get its HP down to roughly a quarter left. This will give it access to some new abilities, but nothing too drastic. The annoying part of this phase is the sheer amount of Frostbite buildup you will be prone to, making you receive 20 percent more damage, which isn't good!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Four - Frost Slam

Its Frost Slam is an action the Divine Beast will spam effortlessly during this phase, making it a move you will be constantly evading and trying to sneak a hit on. This has the Dancing Lion coat its body in ice before slamming itself onto the ground, covering the floor in Frost, and having you build up Frostbite when touching it.

Anytime you see the Divine Beast stand up or take to the skies, create distance between yourself and it, then run up and land a hit or two of your own while avoiding the large chunks of ice on the ground!

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Phase Four - Frost Spray

Lastly, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion will perform a Frost Spray attack, similar to the other Spray attacks. Instead, this will coat the entire floor around it in Frost. You can attack it afterward, but your Frostbite Gauge will fill up quite considerably, so m🍰ake sure ꧂that is a risk you're willing to take.

From here, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion will begin to sporadically switch between its many elements until you defeat it, which will be extremely chaotic and challenging to deal with. It won't have any new abilities, but you must be on the ball and handle each action as you did prior to defeat it!