god-eating serpent and Rykard are two optional bosses that you fight back-to-back in a single encounter in Elden Ring.
Although one of the demigods mentioned in the Elden Ring intro, Rykard is actually an optional boss similar to Starscourge Radhan, who can help you on the critical path if you prefer.
Otherwise, Rykard is a key part of the Volcano Manor quest – which is needed to access it – as well as a requirement for the Patches quest.
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Looking for direction? Our what to do first in Elden Ring, Elden Ring walkthrough, Grace site locations, and main bosses in the order pages can help you out.
How to Prepare for Serpent Devouring God and Rykard
Rykard is a boss with a gimmick mechanic in this it can only be damaged by the Serpent-Huntera weapon that is both a greatsword and a spear, which you can find on a corpse when you first enter the boss arena.
Because it’s a mandatory weapon, there’s no stat requirement to use it, but you can always upgrade it at a forge, which will definitely make combat easier, so consider getting warp to level yourself up before returning to Grace’s site.
As special armament, Sombre Smithing Stones are required, along with an Ancient Dragon Sombre Smithing Stone to max level +10.
While it’s possible to reach him almost as soon as you’ve reached Volcano Manor, you’ll likely be a bit underleveled, and so his attacks can take a long time from you, so it’s best not to fight him until you’re near the end of the gamewhich will be the case if you follow Tanith’s requests.
In any case, heavy armor and a shield will be very useful in mitigating most attacks.
Alternatively, summoning Mimic Tears with a Serpent-Hunter can also make this fight much easier.
How to Defeat the God Devouring Serpent
The boss arena is quite large, and although you see the large serpent in the middle, it will only initiate the fight when you are close. This gives you time to pick up the Serpent-Hunter from the corpse early on if you’re entering this fight for the first time, as well as summoning a spirit.
The snake is surrounded by lava which makes close range melee attacks less than ideal. While lava damage only deals chip damage, it pulls you away from your animation, making heavy or charged attacks impractical.
Luckily, the Serpent-Hunter has a special mechanic in this fight as each attack releases a blade of light, making it a ranged weapon. There’s also his unique skill that can be performed with the left trigger which can be charged into a powerful slash, although it will cost FP.
If you stay just outside the lava pool it’s pretty easy to spam attacks and if you have a mind to distract the snake will drop in no time.
If you’re doing it solo, you might have to watch out for his brute force attacks, which come in the form of lunges to either side, or sometimes both in quick succession, but these can be shielded with a strong shield.
They also have a grab attack that can be dodged, but if grabbed you’ll be slammed to the ground twice, though thankfully you only have to take critical damage once.
How to defeat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
Of course, the serpent is only the first phase before he reveals his true identity as Rykard. If you are killed during this phase, you will also have to fight the God-Eating Serpent again.
This new phase isn’t too different from the first, other than the fact that he now wields a blade that can really hurt, and so having a mind to distract him from is particularly useful here.
His most common combo has him swinging his sword left and right, before swinging it back (but not without first slamming it to the ground before continuing the swing, just to throw you), then ending with a climb and stab her into the ground in front of him.
You can avoid them if you keep your distance, and the Serpent-Hunter’s ranged attacks should still be able to hit.
The range of Rykard’s blade means he can sometimes smash into the environment and drop debris. These won’t hurt you, but they may obscure your vision.
It also has its own ranged attack, first releasing a small flaming skull from its mouth which then leaves a trail of fire followed by explosions along the trail.
Again, if you have a spirit with you it’s likely to follow them, leaving you open to keep moaning your Serpent-Hunter attacks without too much trouble.
Once you’ve chosen a starting class and a starting souvenir item, you first need to figure out how to level up, how to respec, and how to use Ashes of War. Need direction from there? Try to find Golden Seeds, Holy Tears, Crystal Tears, Talismans, and some of our top early weapon and armor picks. If you are nearing the end of the game, we can help you with the Volcano Manor and Rykard quest, Haligtree secret medallion locations, solve the Ordina puzzle, Liturgical Town, the Millicent quest, and defeat the toughest bosses, including including Commander Niall, Morgott, Godskin Duo, Maliketh, and Malénie.
Reward of Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
For a fairly simple gimmick fight, defeating Rykard nonetheless rewards you handsomely with 100,000 runes. You’ll also get Souvenir of Blasphemy, which can be used for runes or traded with Enia at the Round Table for new items, as well as the Great Rune of Rykard.
This will first need to be restored at the West Altus Divine Tower, but when equipped and consumed a Runic Bow, it will restore some health each time you kill an enemy.
Not bad, but not as useful as the Great Rune of Malenia.
With Rykard downed, you can also complete the quest at Volcano Manor as well as Patches.
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