Ulcerated Tree Sprit is deformed and one of the strongest bosses you will find in Elden Ring. This guide will tell you everything you need to know about Ulcerated Tree Spirit boss in Elden Ring, like the location, attacks, and strategies for defeating it.
Elden Ring Ulcerated Tree Spirit Locations
The Ulcerated Tree Spirit can be found in six different locations in Elden Ring. The locations you’ll encounter this boss in are as follows:
- The first location where you can find the Ulcerated Tree Spirit is Fringefolk Hero’s Grave which is right next to the Stranded Graveyard’s site of grace. You will need 2 Stonesword keys to unlock this area.
- Near the Liftside Chamber site of grace, you can find its non-boss variant at the bottom of the gutter. There he guards the Prince of Death’s Pustule talisman and defeating him will net you a Golden Seed.
- After approaching the waterfall on the north side of Grand Cloister you can encounter this boss and it will drop Golden Seed upon defeat.
- In the Mountaintops of the Giants region, you can find this boss in the catacombs. He will be guarding the Deathroot chest there. This time he will drop a lot of loot.
- In the Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree you can find the Ulcerated Tree Spirit below the second lake of rot. It will emerge from the lake as you approach it.
- Another location for this boss is straight down from the Road of Iniquity site of grace at the Mt Gelmir. Here he will drop Cerulean Hidden Tear and Leaden Hardtear.
Ulcerated Tree Spirit Recommended Level and Weaknesses
The recommended level to fight against this boss is 65. Moreover, the boss is weak against frostbite and fire attacks. If you encounter it fairly early on in your playthrough, you’ll likely not have any way to deal frostbite, so fire-based damage is your best bet.
Ulcerated Tree Spirit Attacks and Counters
Double Charge
The Ulcerated Tree Spirit roars and leaps toward you and after that climbs the wall and leaps again. His second leap toward you is very dangerous but you can avoid it by rolling to the left twice.
Charge Grab
Pretty similar to the first attack, but this one is charged as well. This one can also be dodged by rolling towards the left.
Yellow Spew
The Ulcerated Tree Spirit throws a yellow fire from its mouth. This is telegraphed when it’s mouth glows yellow. Run far and away and try to dodge as well to get away from this.
Charge Then Spew
This is a combo attack in which it will first do a charge grab and then spew fire. This attack can be dodged in the same way as Yellow Spew.
Claw Swipes
In this, Ulcerated Tree Spirit will swipe with both left and right claws after a short interval. To dodge this you have to first roll left, then right.
Get Off Me Swipe
With this, it will swipe on the side you are on to clear the area. This attack can be dodged by rolling through it.
Tail Swipe
In this first, it will wrap its tail around the neck and then swipe around it to deal damage to the target it hits. You have to stay away from its tail to avoid this attack.
Claw/Tail Combo
It’s a combo attack in which first it will perform a claw swipe and follow this up with the jumping tail swipe to deal damage. To avoid this combo first roll through to dodge the claw and after that, when it uses the tail, you have to roll through the tail.
Swipe then Pound
It is a combo attack in which it will first perform the swipe from the right side and then use both claws in a pounding motion. You can counter this attack by rolling through the swipe.
Neck Flop
In this attack, Ulcerated Tree Spirit will slam its neck directly in front of itself after the head flop. You can dodge this attack by rolling towards the right side.
Neck Swipe
After rolling his neck in the right direction, it will use a heavy swipe that can lower your health by a large margin. You can dodge this attack just like the Tail Swipe attack.
Yellow Fire Explosion
With this attack, the boss’s head will turn yellow and yellow fire will fall on different spots on the battlefield. This attack can do double damage as it is also an AoE attack. You can only get away from its range to protect yourself from its effect.
Some of these attacks allow for generous counter windows. You can counter Yellow Spew and Charge then Spew attack by moving horizontally and reach the Ulcerated Tree Spirit to attack while you are out of the line of fire.
After avoiding the Tail Swipe attack you can roll right and then sprint towards the boss for dealing some damage.
When it uses the Swipe then Pound attack you can sprint to its belly after the roll and use your attacks to deal damage to the boss. You can also deal light attacks damage to the boss right after the Neck Flop attack.
How to Defeat Ulcerated Tree Spirit in Elden Ring
The Ulcerated Tree Spirit can be considered a fairly strong boss with its wide variety of attacks and sheer size. Its certainly a great challenge if encountered early in Limgrave, but it’s not impossible!
Below, we’ve detailed how you can defeat the Ulcerated Tree Spirit in Elden Ring.
First Phase
This Ulcerated Tree Spirit’s movements are quite erratic, and it is really difficult to read its next move, so what you can do is whenever you see it leaping away from you, get ready to dodge since an attack is coming your way.
You’ll primarily be on the defensive as trying to hit it while its charging is very difficult unless it ends it’s charge near you. So, look for an opportunity when one of it’s attacks leaves it open near your character or during one of the counter windows we’ve mentioned in the attacks and counters section.
Whenever it does a ranged fire attack, try to get closer to it. When you get close to it, you can also attack it with some strong combo attacks to deal some serious damage.
Second Phase
At around half health, Ulcerated Tree Spirit enters its second phase and gains one of the deadliest attacks in its arsenal, a large AoE fire attack.
This attack not only does a lot of damage, but also prevents your advance onto the Ulcerated Tree Spirit. It will telegraph this move when it shakes it head, so be on the lookout and run immediately away.
One thing that favors you in the fight against Ulcerated Tree Spirit is it is not that fast. Moreover, it doesn’t use combo attacks and instead focuses on single heavy attacks.
So after every attack, you are going to get some time since two attacks are not coming simultaneously towards you. So always be ready to drink the healing Flask to recover from the damage done by its attacks.
If you don’t use that time and heal yourself, you are not going to win the battle against the Ulcerated Tree Spirit boss in ER. So just try to heal yourself during the time you get after an attack because if you try to use some spell, it can take too long, and the boss can attack you again.
So it would be better to heal yourself and attack him whenever you get the opportunity. Then, if you are successful in dodging the boss’s attacks, you can counterattack him, which will lower his health.
Ulcerated Tree Spirit Boss Drops
Defeating the Ulcerated Tree Spirit boss in Elden Ring will reward you with the various items depending on which one you killed.
Ulcerated Tree Spirit in Fringefolk Hero’s Grave drops 15000 Runes, Banished Knight Oleg’s Ashes, and a Golden Seed.
When fighting at Stormveil Castle, it drops a Golden Seed and defeating it will allow you to loot Prince of Death’s Pustule Talisman, which it is guarding.
The one found at Grand Cloister drops a Golden Seed.
Defeating the Ulcerated Tree Spirit boss at Giant’s Mountaintop Catacombs rewards players with 48000 Runes, Golden Seed and Glovewort Picker’s Bell-Bearing.
The boss at Mt Glemir drops Leaden Hardtear and Cerulean Hidden Tear.
How to Cheese Ulcerated Tree Spirit
You can actually cheese the Ulcerated Tree Spirit at Mt. Gelmir very easily. To do that, first you have to get to the boss area in Mt. Gelmir and hide in the corner there. After that, you have to move slowly along the mountain wall on the right side and get to its back.
Once you reach the boss from behind without letting him know, use the poison mist attacks a couple of times. This will inflict the poison buildup status effect on the boss.
Now the boss’s health will start to deplete slowly and you have to do nothing other than waiting for the boss to die.
