Messmer, the Impaler, is a demigod boss in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC of Elden Ring. He is a compulsory boss that you must defeat in order to progress the main quest.
Marika’s firstborn, cursed with the primordial serpent, Messmer, played an important role in the conquest of Hornsent and avenging his mother’s people. A ruthless general with an appetite to kill anyone rejected by the golden grace, Messmer torched the Shadow Lands before making it his own home.
Messmer, the Impaler, is one of the most difficult bosses in Elden Ring and serves as the first roadblock for the players. In this guide, we will tell you about his location and how you can prepare for the fight to take down this monster in human form.
Messmer the Impaler Location in Elden Ring
Messmer the Impaler is a compulsory boss, and he can be found at the end of the Shadow Keep Dungeon. This dungeon is present in the northern area of Scadu Altus, and you can’t miss it.
The site of grace next to Messmer is called Dark Chamber Entrance and can be accessed by going through the rooftops of the Shadow Keep.
Messmer the Impaler Stats and Weaknesses
Messmer has 39,981 HP in addition to 124 Defense and 129 Stance. You can parry his attacks, but you will need at least three parries to break his stance. Messmer’s stance can be broken to deliver a critical hit.
He is weak to Slash attacks and Frostbite in both phases and weak to Holy during the second phase. Messmer is strong against Fire and immune to both Sleep and Madness. However, his weakness to Slash attacks makes the use of Backhand Blade against him more suitable.
Messmer also has good resistance against poison and hemorrhage. You also can’t inflict scarlet rot on him. By understanding these weaknesses and strengths, you can plan better for this fight beforehand.
Best Stats and Build for Messmer the Impaler
As Messmer is an extremely imposing boss, we recommend that you have at least 12 levels of Scadutree Blessing. Don’t confuse the blessing with the number of Scadutree Fragments you have. You must also be at least level 180+ for this fight with at least 50 Vigor.
The best weapon to use in this fight is a fully upgraded Backhand Blade with Keen affinity. This will allow you to apply both frost and holy to your weapon during the fight. A shield for this fight is not recommended.
Equip gear that gives you protection against fire. Use talismans that increase your Dexterity to further boost the damage of your weapon. You can also use a fully upgraded Erdtree Seal to cast the following incantations before the fight.
If nothing works for you, visit Renalla at the Academy of Raya Lucaria and use Larval Tears to experiment with new builds. However, larval tears are in limited supply, so save a few for the Promised Consort Radahn fight.
You can summon Mimic Tear for this boss fight, as it will prove a great distraction against Messmer. Also, the Mimic Tear can infinitely spam grease on its weapon, making the fight much easier.
You can also summon either Hornsent (summon sign to the right) or Jolan (summon sign to the left) during the fight. Both the summon signs can be found inside the arena, so they won’t increase Messmer’s strength or defense.
With these things, the only thing left to do is the actual challenge itself, which is nothing less than a Herculean task.
Phase 1 – The Flaming Furiosity
Messmer, the Impaler, is a poster child for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and stands true to his reputation as one of the game’s most difficult bosses. As soon as you enter the arena, Messmer welcomes you with an explosion attack.
He jumps into the air and comes crashing down at your position with a flame orb, which explodes upon impact. You must dodge twice, once on the impact and a second time on the explosion, to avoid this attack.
This attack is sufficient to kill unsuspecting players instantly. Once you survive the attack, Messmer will be open to punishment. However, don’t get greedy, as he will retaliate after the third strike.
Messmer also does a grab attack where he rushes towards you with his hand in the air. This attack is extremely deceptive due to its massive wind-up time. Don’t dodge until he moves his hand.
Messmer will impale you on his spear and do additional fire damage if you get caught. Messmer moves at an alarming speed and does a thrust attack with his spear if you try to get too close.
He usually follows these attacks with spear swipes and a fire spell. His worst combo is the weapon art of Spear of the Impaler. It starts with a spear swipe, with Messmer getting airborne and doing multiple thrust attacks.
His spear will be on fire the whole time during this attack. He keeps lunging forward with sweeps and thrusts until he jumps and slams his spear into the ground. This will summon a lot of spears from the ground around him.
Don’t try to block these attacks as you will be left stance broken halfway through the attack and will be killed. Dodge to the sides during sweeps and forward during the thrust attacks. Wait for the impact and dodge towards Messmer when the spears appear from the ground.
This will be your best chance to inflict the most damage. Messmer also does a double swing attack where he swings his spear from left to right and then in the other direction. It is mostly followed by a forward thrust and an upward thrust.
This attack is very deceiving as you will never know how many attacks he will do. It is better to dodge this attack and let him go. You can do some damage after the fourth attack though.
During his sweep combo, Messmer often jumps into air and throws his spear at your feet which explodes on impact. This attack has another variation where he does a thrust attack from above instead of throwing his spear.
These attacks are best avoided by dodging rather than blocking. Messmer continuously uses his left arm to cast flame spells all around him. Sometimes, it is a small arc, sometimes an explosion.
These magic attacks are extremely random and can happen with or after any attack. Keep an eye on his hands as he summons a flame on his palm before going to town on the players.
If you see Messmer Spinning, move away as he summons columns of fire around him. This attack deals both physical and fire damage, but gives you enough time to attack him. These are most of his attacks during the first phase.
If you survive the assault and reduce his health to 50%, a cutscene will trigger in which Messmer removes Marika’s Seal of Grace from his eye and summons the Primordial Serpent.
Phase 2 – Enter the Primordial Serpent
In this phase, Messmer reveals his true form. A demi-god cursed with the body of a primordial serpent. Messmer starts this phase by turning into a massive snake with a fireball in its mouth.
This snake attacks the player’s location and then explodes a fireball. This attack is similar to the beginning of the first phase, just way more deadly. You can avoid it in the same way by dodging, but the timing is a bit different here.
Messmer, the Impaler, gets extremely fast during phase 2. He will teleport from one place to another in the form of a snake. Most of his sweep and thrust attacks remain the same, with a little twist to the end.
He will now do a backflip at the end of each combo randomly, and deal damage to the players with his spear swing. Don’t be greedy. Wait for your moment, as this will give you enough time to hit Messmer.
A new attack in this phase is the Spinning Thrust. Messmer goes back, crouches, and then spins towards the player. This attack can easily knock you down with massive HP loss. However, if you dodge to the right, you will be able to land on Messmer’s back to deal some extra damage.
Messmer also starts summoning the serpent from the void during this phase, which bites the player out of nowhere. This attack has multiple variations, but the most obvious one is where Messmer raises his hand.
Messmer also melts into the floor, and a serpent appears beneath the player, which lunges at them with a bite attack. Messmer’s body usually appears as soon as the serpent disappears, so you can land multiple hits on it.
The worst attack of Phase 2 is the Base Serpent’s Fury. During this attack, Messmer moves away and summons the serpent 6 times. These serpents attack the player in two waves. During the first wave, two serpents lunge forward with the bite attack, while the third does a bite slam attack.
In the next wave, three serpents attack the player simultaneously making it extremely difficult to dodge. With this attack, Messmer goes airborne and throws his spear at player’s location which explodes on impact and summons a bunch of spears from the ground.
In another variation, the sixth serpent comes crashing down with the fireball, resulting in a massive explosion. This is similar to the opening attack of the second phase. All of these attacks can only be avoided by dodging frantically to the sides.
For the second wave, try to dodge towards Messmer to close the gap. Once the attack is done, Messmer will appear from the serpent’s body, giving you enough time to finish the fight.
With all attacks of Messmer, the Impaler mentioned above, and how you can dodge them, this fight will become really easy once you get the timing of the attacks down. Keep chipping away at his health while using your summons as a distraction to finally emerge victorious.
Messmer the Impaler Drops and Rewards
Once defeated, Messmer the Impaler drops 400,000 Runes, Remembrance of the Impaler, and Messmer’s Kindling.
You can exchange his remembrance with Enia at the Roundtable Hold to either get Spear of the Impaler (weapon) or Messmer’s Orb (spell).
Messmer’s Kindling is a key item that is required to burn down the sealing tree that is hiding the entrance of Enir-Ilim, the final dungeon of the game.
