Dragonlord Placidusax is a massive two-headed dragon and is a secret optional boss in Elden Ring. While players aren’t required to defeat this boss for progression, they can earn a lot of items, runes and clout. This Elden Ring Dragonlord Placidusax Boss guide covers the location of this secret boss and outlines key strategies to use against it.
Elden Ring Dragonlord Placidusax Location
Dragonlord Placidusax is a secret boss in Elden Ring can be found in the Crumbling Farum Azula, which is a main story area. The closest site of grace to Dragonlord Placidusax is at “Besides the Great Ridge” which is just before Maliketh, the Black Blade boss fight.
Players need to move downwards using an elevator at “Besides the Great Bridge” site of grace. Move out of the building by using the stairs located on right side.
Now, keep moving straight and cross the trees to reach the tip of floating island.
From this point, look down and towards the left to find some smaller islands. Follow the path and reach the ruin situated down there to see a fallen pillar.
Adjacent to this pillar is a message, which will take you to the boss arena when you activate the prompt to “lie down”.
Follow the marked image of map below to reach the exact location:
Dragonlord Placidusax Recommended Level and Weaknesses
The recommended level for fighting against Dragonlord Placidusax is at least 100. Dragonlord Placidusax is resistant to Frost but can be affected by Poison, Scarlet Rot and Bleed.
Dragonlord Placidusax is weak against Physical Thrust Damage and Pierce. It is also slightly weak against Lightning and Fire.
Dragonlord Placidusax Attacks and Counters
Attacks of Dragonlord Placidusax are not Parriable. Below we have mentioned all the attacks the Dragonlord Placidusax will employ against you and how you can counter each one to defeat the boss.
Vanishing Strikes
Vanishing Strikes is an attack in which Dragonlord Placidusax uses its Lightning Claws to slash at you while simultaneously appearing and vanishing. Roll away from him if he attacks you from the left. You should dodge to the right if he swipes from the right.
Wing Attack
Wing Attack is a Dragonlord Placidusax attack in which he slams one of his wings down before propelling it forward. When the target is on his flanks, he usually utilizes this attack. Dodging through this attack is an effective way to avoid it.
Ancient Dragon’s Lightning Strike
Dragonlord Placidusax’s Ancient Dragon’s Lightning Strike is an attack in which he summons lightning strikes throughout the arena. Before the lightning strikes, red sparkles will emerge. Three of them will be aimed towards the player, while the others will be random.
Placidusax’s Breath
Placidusax’s Breath is a Dragonlord Placidusax attack in which he breaths golden fire in an arc. He commonly uses this after repositioning or after a claw strike. Fire damage negation can be used to counteract it.
Thundercloud Form
Thundercloud Form is a Dragonlord Placidusax attack in which he vanishes before transforming into a thundercloud and rushing at the victim. You can counter this attack by rolling towards him once you notice him approaching, but you must time your roll.
Placidusax’s Ruin
Placidusax’s Ruin is a Dragonlord Placidusax attack in which he begins by exhaling a burning breath before unleashing deadly lasers from both heads, sweeping the arena and triggering explosions. This strike has a big AoE and deals a lot of damage.
To counter this attack, you must swiftly separate yourself from the action and stay as far away from its AoE as possible. To get out of range, either step back or rush towards and behind him.
Lightning Claws
Lightning Claws is a Dragonlord Placidusax attack in which he lifts his claws and imbues them with lightning before attacking. He normally swipes it to the right and bangs it to the left.
This attack can be countered by ducking out of the damage zone or rolling through the assault, depending on the direction of the attack.
Bolt of Placidusax
The Dragonlord Placidusax’s Bolt of Placidusax attack summons a gigantic Lightning Spear and crashes it down, generating a great explosion. This can be countered by fleeing away from it.
Tail Swipe
Tail Swipe is a Dragonlord Placidusax attack in which he uses his tail to strike opponents behind him. This strike may be countered by rolling in the opposite direction of the swipe.
How to Defeat Dragonlord Placidusax in Elden Ring
First, you should know the attack patterns of Dragonlord Placidusax, so you can devise a strategy to defeat this boss accordingly.
In the first phase, it will attack using the lightning coming down from the sky. It will also breath fire in an AOE to enhance. You need to move around dodge these attack immediately, as they will hit you quite hard.
Then as the fight progresses, it will try some different moves which include flying up and then hit you on landing.
So, you need to take care as he flies and notice his movement. This is because you will be able to guess where he is landing and can move away before it hits you after landing.
This boss also can disappear at anytime and appear again at another location. This attack will be exercised by this dragon when its health is close to 50%. Electric claw swipe is also one its move that it will throw out, but this move can be easily avoided by dodging on time.
Using Mimic Tear with the best equipment and Sword of Night and Flame can be quite useful in dealing a good amount of damage to Placidusax.
If you aren’t at such high level to equip these weapons, then you can make use of Bloodflame Blade along with Bloody Slash skill applied to it will help you to cause much damage to this dragon by stacking bleed.
Players need to attack this boss at the lower part of this dragon’s body to exploit its weakness.
You need to target the back of this dragon also, as it is most vulnerable close to its tail. Just keep targeting these points and don’t overextend your hit windows and you’ll be able to take it down in no time.
Dragonlord Placidusax Drops
Upon defeat, Dragonlord Placidusax drops 28000 Runes and Remembrance of the Dragonlord which can be traded with Enia at Roundtable Hold for Dragon King’s Cragblade or Placidusax’s Ruin.
How to Cheese Dragonlord Placidusax
For this cheese to work, you will need two items; Serpent Bow and Serpent Arrows. When you spawn into the boss arena against Dragonlord Placidusax, all you need to do is take a few steps forward and pull out the Serpent Bow.
The bow combined with the Serpent Arrows will allow us to poison the dragon from a great distance, leaving him to snore away while the poisons kill him slowly but decisively.
Each time you poison him, you will deal around 2275 worth of damage before it wears off. When the poison wears off, fire some more arrows to reapply the poison. You can even use the Mighty Shot skill that comes with a Serpent Bow to make that poison take effect more quickly.
If you do not want to use the Mighty Shot skill, then you’ll have to get a little bit closer to the Dragonlord Placidusax to make your arrows reach. You can level up the Serpent Bow also to help you with the cause.
