How to beat Draconic Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring: Boss stats, weaknesses & tips

The iconic and scary Tree Sentinel from the beginning of the game has a spiky brother that will give you an even tougher time once you cross paths with him. So, here’s a detailed guide to help you defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel, an overworld Boss in Elden Ring.

The first Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring is considered the game’s first real challenge. Many players will have experienced their first in-game death at the hands of the Tree Sentinel, potentially even running away and returning later with a horse to even the odds. However, his Draconic variant is even more difficult and will test even the most powerful player.

The Draconic Tree Sentinel guards the gateway to the game’s capital city, where the Erd Tree is located, and you’ll need to get past him to continue your quest.

While Draconic Tree Sentinel is a tough fight, there are things you can do to make your life easier, and we’ve gathered them here for you.

Contents

• How to defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Ranged and melee strategy

• Where to find the Draconic Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring
• Draconic Tree Sentinel stats
  • Draconic Tree Sentinel weaknesses

• Useful tips to defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel
  • NPC summons
  • Spirit Ashes
  • Items
  • Magic

• All Draconic Tree Sentinel attacks
• Draconic Tree Sentinel drops
• Additional encounter with the Draconic Tree Sentinel

This guy is very different from the previous Tree Sentinel you’ve faced.

How to defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring

This Tree Sentinel fights a lot like his Limgrave counterpart, but he hits so much harder. You can get him to half health by simply repeating the tactics you used against the original Tree Sentinel, but this is when the battle really gets tough.

Phase 1

First, though, you’ll need to get there. Use Torrent to move quickly and if you’re a melee build engage the boss in a jousting contest, hitting him and getting out of there before he retaliates.

Dodge his attacks and counter when possible. If you’re attacking at range just stick and move, as he’ll likely flatten you with one or two swipes should his attacks connect.

Phase 2

At half-health, the Draconic Tree Sentinel will start summoning red lightning which can hit you from afar and up close. If you try and ride away, he’ll try to zap you off your horse. However, if you stay too close, he’ll fry you with a powerful attack that surrounds him with an aura of red lightning.

Therefore, keep your distance and move away from the attack, zig zag if you have to as the lightning will hone in on you. Then swoop in for an attack once it’s safe to do so. His lightning attacks will likely finish off your Spirit Summons if they’re not significantly leveled, so be prepared to fight with solo guerrilla tactics. Your NPC allies may also fall at this point, however, the end should be in sight.

We found the Rotton Stray Spirit Ash and other Scarlett Rott attacks were especially useful, as this helped us chip away at his health even when he was blasting the arena with lightning.

The fight will change dramatically halfway through.

Ranged and melee strategy

Whether you’re using a ranged or melee strategy, stay mobile on Torrent for the best chances of winning this fight. You’re toast if you stay on foot once the second phase of this fight begins as there will be nowhere to hide from his lightning. Keep your distance but don’t go too far, or he’ll change his attack pattern.

Move in for an attack when he gears up or recovers, then get out of there once he starts swinging his big lightning-infused axe. Caster builds can ride around and fire magic attacks at him, just be sure not to get hit it’ll only take him a few hits to bring you down.

Melee builds can likely tank more damage, but there’s the added risk of getting close to him. Don’t get greedy with your attacks. Retreat when you need to and repeat this strategy.

Once the Draconic Tree Sentinel falls, you can then enter the Royal Capital, Lyndell, and continue towards the Erd Tree and your next challenge.

Where to find the Draconic Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring

The Draconic Tree Sentinel is rather easy to find: simply make your way through the Altus Plateau and follow the capital city walls until you reach its northern entrance. You’ll pass some hostile Smouldering Giants who’ll shoot massive arrows at you, but just use the trees to dodge their attacks.

You’ll eventually reach a fog gate guarded by the Draconic Tree Sentinel himself. He won’t attack until you approach him and trigger the boss fight to start, so cast your buffs and such before this. You can also use your Spirit Summons and Torrent in this fight, so take full advantage of this.

The Draconic Tree Sentinel is on the northern entrance of the Altus Plateau.

Draconic Tree Sentinel stats

This spiky enemy has the following stats:

• Health: 13362 HP
• Defense: 118
• Stance: 80
• Parryable: Yes
• Immunities: Madness
• Deals: Standard, Strike, Fire, and Lightning damage.

Draconic Tree Sentinel weaknesses

The Draconic Tree Sentinel has low resistance to damage over time from Scarlet Rot and Poison, so that’s the damage type you should aim for when facing this Boss. Poison Grease and Poisonbone Darts are very useful consumable items you can find before reaching him.

Additionally, it’s weaker to Standard, Strike, and Pierce damage, so weapons like Hammers, Halberds, and Greatswords can help, as well as Crossbows, Ballistas, and Spears.

Useful tips to defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel

NPC summons

The Draconic Tree Sentinel is a tough fight for any solo player, but luckily there are two NPCs that can be called on to aid you.

The first is Great Horned Tregoth, an NPC you may recognize from the Radahn boss fight and others. His gold summon sign will be close to the boss area. The only prerequisite is you’ll need to have not assassinated Tregoth for Patches at the Volcano Manor. If you plan on assassinating him, wait until after this fight.

The second NPC is Millicent. To summon her, simply follow her questline and make sure she’s been given a new sword arm before you reach this point. You can learn all about Millicent’s quest here.

Spirit Ashes

To exploit the Draconic Tree Sentinel’s weakness to Poison, the best Spirit Ash you can use is the Jellyfish, as it summons a giant stationary jellyfish that deals damage from a distance while applying a Poison buildup. It costs 31 FP and can be obtained from Roderika at the Stormhill Shack in Limgrave.

The Jellyfish can last long during battle while also dealing Poison damage.

Items

As previously mentioned, you can use Poison Grease to coat your right-hand armament to inflict poison with every hit. It can be found on Sellia, the Altus Plateau, and outside the Volcano Cave in Mt. Gelmir.

You can also acquire Poisonbone Darts to throw at the Draconic Tree Sentinel. These inflict regular damage while also building up poison. You can craft them using the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook with x2 Thin Beast Bones and x1 Poisonbloom or you can buy it from the Nomadic Merchant near the Aeonia Swamp shore.

For melee builds, the Pickled Turtle Neck talisman can give you an extra Stamina push, while the Dragoncrest Shield talisman will protect you from Physical damage by reducing it.

Magic

If you want to focus on the Poison damage, you can use the Poison Mist incantation. This spell releases a toxic mist to inflict poison buildup. It costs 10 Stamina, 18 FP, and requires 12 Faith, and can be found at the Weeping Peninsula, dropped by a Teardrop Scarab.

All Draconic Tree Sentinel attacks

When fighting this Boss, you must beware of these attacks:

• Hammer Attack
• Quick Hammer Strike
• Lunging Strike
• Sentinel’s Slam
• Horse Stomp (Hammer)
• Fireball
• Rearing Fireball (Close-range)
• Shield-Backwards Swipe, Shield-Forward Swipe, and Shield-Forward Swipe (Repositions)
• Shield Smash, Shield-Double Smash, and Shield-Delayed Smash
• Lightning Strike
• Honed Bolt
• Thunderous Smite
• Lightning Wave

You’ll need to beat Draconic Tree Sentinel to progress.

Draconic Tree Sentinel drops

Once you finally manage to defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel, you’ll be rewarded with 50,000 runes, as well as the Dragon Greatclaw and Dragonclaw Shield.

This Colossal weapon and Greashield scale primarily with Strength and Dexterity, so if it matches your build, this is a great opportunity.

If you defeat the second Draconic Tree Sentinel, you’ll get an extra 28,080 runes and the Malformed Dragon Set, a full armor with great and useful stats.

Additional encounter with the Draconic Tree Sentinel

There is a second Draconic Tree Sentinel just before the fog gate that takes you to Maliketh, the Black Blade, at the Crumbling Farum Azula.

You can reach it by going up the stairs of the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace.

For more Elden Ring content, check some of the guides below:

How to change your appearance in Elden Ring | How to respec your character | Academy Glintstone Key | Smithing Stones | Elden Ring Stonedigger Troll | Elden Ring Margit the Fell Omen | Elden Ring Tree Sentinel | Elden Ring Grave Warden | Elden Ring Pumpkin Head | Elden Ring Soldier of Godrick | Elden Ring Godrick the Grafted | Elden Ring Red Wolf of Redagon | Elden Ring Rennala | Best Elden Ring settings | Elden Ring Flying Dragon Agheel | Elden Ring horse guide | How to beat Radahn