This page offers a guide on how to beat Dragonlord Placidusax, who can be found in Crumbling Farum Azula in Elden Ring.

Where to Find Dragonlord Placidusax in Crumbling Farum Azula¶

Dragonlord Placidusax is an optional Legend Boss, who has his own boss arena in Crumbling Farum Azula. To get there, start at the Beside the Great Bridge site of grace and turn around to take the elevator back down into the church. Go past the Azula Beastmen, head right and then make a left turn, and leave the church. Head straight ahead out of the church, towards the trees, and look over the cliff for a platform to drop down to. Follow the path to the end, and look for a hole on the stone floor that doesn’t have bones in it. You’ll get a prompt to ‘Lay down’, which will then teleport you to the Dragonlord’s arena.

Dragonlord Placidusax Attacks¶

Dragonlord Placidusax is a two-headed dragon with classic dragon-y attacks as well as some special lightning attacks. Below, you’ll find a break-down of all of Placidusax’s attacks and how best to avoid or counter them.

Lightning Strikes from the Sky¶

Placidusax will conjure up several lightning strikes that’ll hit the ground for a prolonged amount of time. These are very powerful lightning attacks that can easily one-shot so make sure to avoid them. Luckily, they’re fairly easy to anticipate: just watch out for small red electrical currents on the ground and then steer clear as the lightning will strike at the center of the area. Don’t think being near his body is safe either! Placidusax has no issue with summoning a lightening strike right next to himself!

Placidusax will always begin the fight by using this attack type and it’ll last quite a long time so be on the lookout for the tell tale signs of lightning strikes.

Lightning Claw Attack¶

During this attack, Dragonlord Placidusax conjures up a huge claw of lightning extending from his own hand.

Bite¶

During this attack, Placidusax will bite at you with either of his heads. Sometimes, he’ll quickly follow up with a second bite attack with the second head so watch out! He has a fairly big range on account of his snakey necks.

Fire Breath¶

Is it even a dragon if it doesn’t breathe fire? Like every dragon in this game, Placidusax has a fire breathing attack move. The fire is greenish in color and he can breathe it from both heads meaning he has a large range. He can even move his head round to make sure fire reaches behind him. So whilst it is good to hide a bit to the side or behind Placidusax, make sure you’re aware that it isn’t 100% safe.

Tail Swipe¶

This attack is reserved as a counterattack for players who spend too much time smacking him from behind. He will swing his huge tail at you and if you’re caught it’ll knock you over. He will also follow up this attack by swinging one of his heads around to snap at you too, and if you’ve been knocked down you’ll find it tough to avoid!

Lightning Cloud Attack¶

This is a pretty long sequence of events. Firstly, he’ll fly up before disappearing into a puff of smoke/ash. Keep an eye on the sky though as he’ll reappear in a huge lightning cloud. He’ll then swoop down and try to crash into you - this attack will one-shot you but luckily it is relatively easy to dodge or run out of the way of once you spot him in the sky. It’ll do lightning damage as well as physical damage because he’ll still be all charged up from being in the lightning cloud.

Following this first sequence, he may also disappear a couple more times after landing. This might take you by surprise, at first, and he could get the one-up on you if you aren’t expecting him to suddenly disappear and reappear much closer to you.

Lightning Sword Plunge Explosion¶

During this attack Placidusax will plunge a huge Lightning sword/spear into the ground. It’ll remain pulsating for a few seconds before bursting in a massive lightning explosion. You’ll want to back as far away as possible as the area of impact is pretty huge and it’s not realy something that you can dodge out of the way of if you’re close to it.

Strategy to Defeat Dragonlord Placidusax¶

Dragonlord Placidusax does standard physical damage, lightning damage and fire damage as well. It’s pretty easy to discern which of the damage types to expect from his attacks. If you’re finding this boss tricky, consider utilising some lightning resistance. The best armor for lightning resistace is the Bull-Goat Armor Set and the Omen Set. You could also consume lightning-proof dried liver or use spells such as Lightning Fortification or Golden Lightning Fortification.

Placidusax’s weak spots are his heads, so you should try to take advantage of any opportunities you may be presented to smack him on the head. He cannot be parried but his poise can be broken. He is strong against all elemental damage and status effects but he is weaker to piercing damage so perhaps consider using a weapon that deals pierce damage if you’re having a difficult time.

Placidusax does a lot of big attacks that cover a large area of impact so you’ll need to tread carefully. Even though his heads are his weak spots, you’ll want to make sure to rotate and try to hit from the side and from behind as well - just remember that his big AoE attacks can catch you out at any time and the arena itself isn’t all that large.

When Placidusax inevitably flies up and disappears, make sure to keep an eye on the sky! He will reappear in a huge lightning cloud and then swoop down to slam into the ground. During this move, you’ll want to completely steer clear of his landing as it will throw up rocks and lightning and you’ll get caught even if you’re on the edge of the landing. And, what’s more annoying is that you don’t really have much opportunity to follow it up with some attacks as he will disappear and reappear without having to rest from his huge slam down. You’ll just want to let him do his disappearing act a couple more times and he’ll calm down a bit and you can go back to trying to get in some hits wherever possible.

Dragonlord Placidusax Rewards¶

Upon defeating Dragonlord Placidusax, you’ll be rewarded 280,000 Runes and the Remembrance of the Dragonlord. The Remembrance can be traded in at Roundtable Hold for Dragon King’s Cragblade or the incantation, Placidusax’s Ruin.