Elden Ring features a lot of mini-bosses in the open-world setting and these encounters are often troublesome as these bosses also have regular enemies around them. This guide will help you find and defeat the Lion Guardian mini-boss in Elden Ring.
Elden Ring Lion Guardian Locations
Lion Guardian is a mini-boss that can be encountered at eight different locations in Elden Ring. Below we have included all locations for your convenience.
The first instance where you face this creature is in Stormveil Castle. You can find the boss just at the entrance of the Divine Tower of Limgrave.
You can find four more Lion Guardians in Caelid. One of these is in the southeastern region of Caelid, whilst two can be found in Redmane Castle, near the entrance. The last Lion Guardian is found in Fort Gael.
There are two more Lion Guardians in the Altus Plateau region. One can be found in Leyndell, Royal Capital, near the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace, and the other, disguised as an Undead Enemy, can be found in the ruins west of the Outer Wall Battleground and the Hermit Merchant’s Shack.
The final two Lion Guardians in Elden Ring can be found in Castle Sol, in the Mountaintops of the Giants region.
Every time you face them, they do not trigger a proper boss fight, meaning that their health does not appear at the bottom of the screen like all other bosses in the game.
Lion Guardian Recommended Level and Weaknesses
No matter how tough an opponent is, he has flaws, and so does Lion Guardian. In Elden Ring, Lion Guardian is vulnerable to Poison, Scarlet Rot, Frost, Bleed, and Sleep, so keep these in mind when you face him off in a battle.
The recommended level varies depending on the region where you encounter this boss.
- Stormveil Castle Lion Guardian – Recommended Level 30
- Fort Gael Lion Guardian – Recommended Level 50
- Redmane Castle Lion Guardian – Recommended Level 70
- Southern Caelid Lion Guardian – Recommended Level 60
- Leyndell, Royal Capital Lion Guardian – Recommended Level 70
- Northern Altus Plateau Lion Guardian – Recommended Level 70
- Castle Sol Lion Guardian – Recommended Level 90
Lion Guardian Attacks and Counters
Claw Swipe
The Lion Guardian will rush towards you and attack with his claws. It is a short-ranged attack so all you need is to roll back to avoid it.
Sword Swipe
This attack is somewhat similar to the Claw Swipe, but this time the Lion Guardian will be holding a sword, increasing the range of the attack.
Since this attack has a longer range, rolling back isn’t as effective, so simply move out of the way of the attack to avoid it.
Ground Slam
The Lion Guardian leaps into the air and slams his sword down to deal impact damage. It is a slow-moving attack, and rolling beneath the Lion Guardian allows you to entirely avoid it.
Sword Lunge
The Lion Guardian will lunge his sword down on the enemies while moving towards them in this attack. A typical attack!
This attack can simply be avoided by moving to the side or rolling back. Both methods are effective, so use whichever method is more convenient for you. The good thing about this attack is that it gives you a split second to counter, so make the most of it.
Rotate swipe
This attack is much like a combo of Claw Swipe and Sword Swipe, accompanied by a redirection movement.
This means that the Lion Guardian can make a quick turn to find a player and then switch between the Claw Swipe and Sword Swipe to deal damage.
To avoid this, keep your guard up and move or roll back to avoid each attack of the combo.
Lion Bite
As the name suggests, in this attack the Lion Guardian will attack with an injurious bite. It is a closed range attack and the Lion Guardian will rush towards you to perform it.
There are two ways to avoid this attack; the first is to block, and the second is to simply step to either side to avoid the bite; the latter is the more viable option.
How to Defeat Lion Guardian in Elden Ring
Lion Guardian is one of the fastest bosses in the game. He is extremely agile and finding an opening to attack him can be a huge challenge in itself. He will continuously jump around and use the curved sword in his mouth and will follow up these attacks with slashes from his claws.
Almost all of his attacks will knock you back, no matter how much poise you have. And after almost all of his attacks, Lion Guardian jumps back to maintain distance from you.
Lion Guardian also has a leap attack which is always followed by two strikes from his paws. Dodging these strikes does often leave an opening to attack him.
Start the battle by sneaking up on Lion Guardian. Get in a few attacks before you even have to deal with his jumps and dashes around the area. Keep on closing the spaces as Lion Guardian’s jumps will miss if you are close to him and you can take advantage of his misplaced jumps.
Use the barriers in the arena. Lion Guardian is very aggressive and finding a break during the fight is a rare instance. Most of the time, where you find Lion Guardian, there is always some form of cover around you. Use these to create a distance between yourself and the mini boss to either heal, or to use your ranged attacks.
Don’t summon spirit. Though spirits are a valuable asset in many fights, Lion Guardian is too aggressive and fast for them. Summons will not be of any help and rarely land a single hit on the boss, so don’t summon them thinking they will ease up the boss for you. The only possible summons you may use are the Tankiest summons in your inventory, just as a distraction for the boss.
Use ranged Ashes of War. Ashes of War like Frost Stomp are very useful as they cover a wider area and due to his ridiculous mobility, Lion Guardian is bound to step into the attack area and get damaged. Meaning, AoE attacks are perfect skills to fight Lion Guardian.
Since the first and possibly the most difficult Lion Guardian you face is the one you find in Stormveil, since you have to fight lots of enemies to get to him, you are low on resources and are under levelled to face him.
You can cheese him be getting him to follow you to the entrance of the castle and put him between you and the ballista shooting enemies here. These enemies will hit Lion Guardian and they tend to deal a lot of damage.
Just keep in mind to clear out the melee enemies beforehand so you don’t end up getting cornered by 100 angry dudes with spears.
Lion Guardian Drops
The loot from each region’s Lion Guardian varies. We’ve listed the drops for each region’s Lion Guardian below so you can get a better idea of what’s in store
- Stormveil Castle: Somber Smithing Stone 1, Beast Blood, and 2 x Old Fang.
- Fort Gael: Ash of War Lion’s Claw.
- Redmane Castle: 2 x Somber Smithing Stone 4, 2 x Beast Blood, and 4 x Old Fang.
- Southern Caelid: Somber Smithing Stone 4, Beast Blood, and 2 x Old Fang.
- Leyndell, Royal Capital: Somber Smithing Stone 6, Beast Blood, and 2 x Old Fang.
- Northern Altus Plateau: Larval Tear
- Castle Sol: Somber Smithing Stone 7, Beast Blood, and 2 x Old Fang
How to Cheese Lion Guardian
With the conventional way of slaying the Lion Guardian out of the way, here’s a quick way to cheese him without taking any damage.
When you encounter this mini-boss in Stormveil Castle, grab his attention so that he follows you. Now, simply run for the room with statues outside. The Lion Guardian will not follow you inside. He’ll just stand outside and try to attack you from there, but it’ll be in vain.
From here, you can use a ranged weapon to deal damage to him and easily take him down. If he moves away, simply take a step out and back; he’ll try to chase you, so he’ll return. Keep this up until all his health depletes.
