How to beat Ancient Dragon Senessax in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

The Shadow Realm in Elden Ring’s DLC is home to several nasty wyrms, with Ancient Dragon Senessax among the strongest. Here’s how to slay this wicked beast in its own lair.

Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is aimed at high-level play. As such, you have to expect the biggest and nastiest monsters FromSoftware has ever devised. Ancient Dragon Senessax is certainly one of the largest foes in the game, which presents a lot of problems for the player.

Ancient Dragon Senessax is an optional boss, so you don’t need to fight it to complete the DLC. However, it drops a lot of Runes and some useful items, so it’s worth hunting this dragon down.

Ancient Dragon Senessax Location

To find Ancient Dragon Senessax, you must make your way to the Pillar Path Waypoint Site of Grace. From there, you’ll hear pained crying. Follow this path around until you reach the Dragon’s Pit. Go through this dungeon until you reach Dragon’s Pit Terminus.

Follow the path through the mountains, and you’ll eventually reach a slumbering white dragon in the distance. This is Ancient Dragon Senessax, and once you approach it, the battle will begin.

How to beat Ancient Dragon Senessax

Once Ancient Dragon Senessax enters your sight, you can summon a spirit. The wyrm will sleep during this process, so long as you don’t approach it. This means you can summon a mimic, heal up, and apply whatever buffs you possess.

You can use Torrent during the Ancient Dragon Senessax fight. Torrent helps cover the distance at the start of the fight, but Ancient Dragon Senessax’s speed means the poor horse won’t last long.

Phase 1: Conquer the Ancient Dragon head-on

The most important thing to note about Ancient Dragon Senessax is that it’s a high-mobility boss. This, coupled with its size, means that the camera is your worst enemy in this fight. Don’t be afraid to unlock when you get within striking range, otherwise, your attacks could miss.

Another important point is that, unlike other DLC bosses, like Messmer the Impaler, it has no second phase. The battle remains constant throughout, so don’t worry about any surprise buffs when you drop it to 50% health.

Ancient Dragon Senessax uses its mighty claws to strike you, but what’s worse is that most of its attacks have an AoE effect that strikes the area all around the wyrm after the initial hit. As such, you need to master dodging its initial hit and then the shockwave that comes after. This is fairly easy to master, so long as you don’t panic roll. Just bear in mind that it usually performs 2-4 strikes in a row.

In terms of moves, Ancient Dragon Senessax will strike the ground several times. All you need to do is dodge the first hit by sight and get ready to dodge away from the sound of the second one.

As befitting a dragon, Senessax can breathe fire. This helps you a great deal. When the boss does this, immediately dash towards its tail and start whacking. Not only will you get in lots of hits, but you’ll be out of reach of the flames while it’s locked in the animation.

Ancient Dragon Senessax has two flying attacks, one where it dives and one where it breathes fire. In both instances, run at the boss! If it’s the dive attack, then they’ll overshoot it, and if it’s the fire, you’ll be keeping out of the AoE and will be on them when they land.

It can also do a tail swipe and create a spear of energy that it flings at the ground. These attacks pack a punch but are well-telegraphed and easy to dodge.

In terms of targets, the hind legs and the base of the tail are the best parts to hit. The head is too high to strike and the front legs are commonly used for attacks. Meanwhile, the hind legs tend to stay stationary, so you can get lots of hits in before it starts to counter.

Ancient Dragon Senessax can also beat its wings to create a gust of wind. Luckily, this will only knock you down and won’t hurt you. In fact, if you jump during the first hit, you can dodge roll out of the last blast for a free attack or a heal.

As is the case with all Shadow of the Erdtree DLC bosses, this boss is highly aggressive, extremely mobile, and will punish you if you try to heal at an unsafe time. It’s actually one of the easier ones, as its size means you have plenty of spots to hit it.

Once you master dodging its punch>AoE attack, then you’ll have worked out 90% of Ancient Dragon Senessax’s arsenal. The rest will fall into place.

NPC allies

There are no specific NPC allies that can be summoned for this fight. You are still able to use Spirit Ashes with Mimic Tear and Black Knife Tiche being the best options here.

Ancient Dragon Sennesax rewards

Once you’ve defeated Ancient Dragon Senessax, you’ll earn:

• 200,000 Runes
• Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone
• Somber Dragon Smithing Stone

Ancient Dragon Sennesax weaknesses

Ancient Dragon Sennesax has the following strengths and weaknesses:

• Bleed

Stacking up Bleeds is your best bet in this fight, particularly considering the awkward nature of actually landing strikes consistently.

Unfortunately, this majestic wyrm isn’t the only foe awaiting you in Jagged Peaks. Further along the path, you’ll face Bayle the Dread. Check out our Bayle guide for more information on taking out this dragon.

Jumping into Shadow of the Erdtree? Check out what we thought of the expansion after spending many hours exploring the Shadow Lands. If you’re struggling to find a specific foe, we’ve got every Shadow of the Erdtree boss’ location in one handy list.