Lion Guardian |
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| Location | Stormveil Castle Fort Gael (Caelid) Redmane Castle Castle Sol Leyndell, Royal Capital |
| Drops | |
| Stormveil Castle: |
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| HP | 2,119 - 7,019 HP |
| Strong VS |
Weak to |
RunesLion Guardian is an Enemy in Elden Ring. Lion Guardians are aggressive beasts that serve as guard animals, and fight with their sharp claws and a blade attached to their right arm. Once slain, they do not respawn.
Lion Guardian Enemy in Elden Ring
Lion Guardian is an Enemy found in various locations.
- This enemy is not a boss
- This enemy does not respawn once killed
Where to find Lion Guardian in Elden Ring
- A Lion Guardian can be found in Stormveil Castle, guarding the eastern bridge entrance. [Map Link]
- A Lion Guardian can be found in Fort Gael. Drops Ash of War: Lion's Claw upon defeating it.
- A Lion Guardian can be found in the southern part of Caelid, southeast from the Nomadic Merchant Caelid South.
- 2 Lion Guardians can be found in Redmane Castle.
- A Lion Guardian is disguised as a Wandering Noble cowering in a corner in the unnamed ruins south of Windmill Village. The ruins are on the clifftops, most easily reached by going north from the Rampartside Path site of grace. Drops Larval Tear upon defeating it.
- A Lion Guardian is found sleeping by a dry fountain in the southern part of Leyndell, Royal Capital accompanied by a Perfumer, which will constantly buff it. Can be reached by going up the stairs from Avenue Balcony site of grace then turning right and up the stairs on the left.
- 2 Lion Guardians can be found in Castle Sol. They are unique in that they have a breath attack that builds up Frostbite.
Elden Ring Lion Guardian Combat Information
- Health:
- 2,119 HP (Stormveil Castle)
- 3,440 HP (Capital Outskirts)
- 4,739 HP (Leyndell, Royal Capital)
- 3,079 HP (Caelid - Fort Gael)
- 3,440 HP (Caelid - Redmane Castle)
- 7,019 HP (Mountaintops of the Giants)
- Poise: 80
- Can avoid fast spells like Glinstone Pebble.
- Deals Slash Damage and Standard Damage. Variation from Castle Sol can also inflict Frostbite.
- Parriable: No
- Can be poise broken, what allows to perform a critical strike.
ABSORPTIONS
- Phy (Standard): 0
- Phy (Slash): -10
- Phy (Strike): 0
- Phy (Pierce): 0
The absorption numbers are the % of your damage that gets blocked. For example, if an absorption is 60, 40% of that damage by that type will go through and 60% is absorbed. Bigger number = less damage. An absorption of 100 means no damage goes through, and a resistance of -100 mean the enemy takes 2x damage from that source. 0 means damage goes pretty much as is.
RESISTANCES
Poison: 316-343
Scarlet Rot: 316-343
Hemorrhage: 517-561
Frostbite: 517-561
Sleep: 229-249
The resistance numbers are the buildup amount to trigger it. For example, if a resistance is 100 you must deal 100 points of whatever aux buildup to trigger it. Note that these go down over time, and increase each time the effect procs.
Lion Guardian Boss Guide for Elden Ring
Video Guide Lion Guardian Boss
[video coming soon]
Lion Guardian Fight Strategy
The Best Tips for Lion Guardian:
- Use the pillars to create separation when you need to use a Flask
- You can sneak up on the Lion to get a free hit
- Many of its attacks have a delayed extra attack, so watch out for this and don't attack until you are sure it's safe
- Most Spirit Summons can get shredded by this enemy due to its fast attacks, making them rather unfit as distractions.
Melee Strategy
The Lion Guardian is extremely aggressive, and it's likely that you made it to him with a less than ideal Flask count, making it even harder than it should be. Sneak up on him by crouching if you can and get in one good heavy attack or Weapon Skill if you can, and follow it up immediately with another attack or two, since you'll have a second for him to wake up once hit. This should take about a 1/4 of his HP off before the fight really begins.
You need to bait his attacks and wait for openings, but it's difficult because you cannot Block some of his combo chains without being guard broken, so you need to create separation if you can. Use the pillars to do this, and wait for him to do his jump attack when he plunges to the ground, and then wait for the delayed follow up before attacking. This is your best opening, and baiting him until he does this is the safest way to get him, unless you have a Weapon Skill that can AoE through a pillar.
Magic and Ranged Strategy
Much like melee, you can sneak up on him for some free damage before the fight begins. Try to keep the pillar between you and cast spells when you can hit him, quickly getting behind the pillar again once cast. You likely will be low on FP Flasks for this fight, so you should plan on doing some melee attacks at the beginning and end of this fight.
Using a Shield in your off-hand can help a lot to Block as needed, just don't Block more than you have to. Try not to use a Spirit Summons as they will die quickly, and they cost a good amount of FP. You will be low, so don't waste it.
Ballista Strategy
Instead of attacking the Lion Guardian yourself, you can instead use the ballistae that are firing on you. Simply aggro the beast, then run back down the ramp through the gate. You may need to head back inside in order to get the Lion Guardian to continue following, as sometimes it will stand at the top of the ramp, pacing back and forth. Once it heads down the ramp, align yourself so you are standing in a line with the beast, so it's in front of you and the ballistae are behind it. You will still need to dodge the bolts, as they can pierce the Lion Guardian and hit you. Three or four ballista bolts will kill the beast in a matter of seconds. This will only work if the soldiers firing the ballistae are left alive, so keep moving in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the shots.
Attacks & Counters
| Attack | Description | Counter |
| Claw Swipe | The Lion runs toward the play and strikes with its claw. | Since the range of this attack isn't very large, take a step back or side step this action. |
| Sword Swipe | The lion runs toward the player in the same way as the claw swipe, but uses the claw with the sword attached, giving it a larger range. This can happen in combination with the claw swipe. | Roll through this attack. |
| Rotating Attack |
The lion's basic attacks can be accompanied by a movement to redirect his attack. A sword slash or claw swipe can follow a quick turn as the lion locates the player. | Back away or roll through each attack of the movement combination as they come. |
| Sword Lunge | Similar to the sword swipe except the direction the sword attack lunges down forward toward the player. This can follow a leap. | Roll back or side step to avoid this attack. There will be a second to follow up with an attack of your own. |
| Lion Bite | A small range attack where the Lion runs toward the player and makes a damaging bite. | Block this attack if you can, or side step as the lion reaches you and stops to make this attack. |
Elden Ring Lion Guardian Lore, Notes & Other Trivia
- The Lions in Redmane Castle drop Somber Smithing Stone [4].
Elden Ring Lion Guardian Image Gallery
AnonymousYou can ignore the one in Stormveil and run straight to the tower bridge grace. It cannot pass through the doorway to the room with the knight statues, allowing you to perform hit-and-runs if you're not confident in fighting it.
- Anonymous
These are the most fun enemies to fight in the entire game, once you learn how to fight them. I can't wait to fight 5 of these in a room in the DLC.
- Anonymous
I was able to cheese one of the lions in Redmane by first making them aggressive and then quickly crawling into the south-southwest guardhouse. It was then enough to keep one of the lions - preferably the rear one - aggroed with a bow. The blows from one will eventually bring down the other. With a bit of luck, the other one will only have half HP left and you can solo him.
- Anonymous
Apparently these guys have always been Omen affiliated, noticed the horns only after the dlc trailer dropped
While these aren't overly difficult it's astonishing just how well they dodge projectiles. And by that I mean if they're aggroed but in a idle animation, good luck hitting them with any regular projectile ever.
Delayed stuff like Gravity Fan, Glintblade or Rock Sling work because they read and dodge the cast animation, not the actual projectile.
- Anonymous
If you are having issues with the Red Mane bunch, two-hand a greatshield and slap Barricade on it. Agro both of them and find a corner. Their swipes and slams can damage mobs, so soon enough one of them will die.
- Anonymous
Why not one of these with a warden duelist riding on top with a lance. Dope?
- Anonymous
This would be an amazing boss, what a shame that we get 11 Ulcerated Tree Spirit or some random duelist with a different color most of the time instead.
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Find a nice perch somewhere and hit 'em with a few arrows. When it starts dodging, use Rock Sling.....it reaches a long way and they can't dodge it.
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Id rather fight 100 of these things than an enemy with a long ass wind up
- Anonymous
My lore theory is that these things aren't exactly wild beasts, but are actually intelligent creatures that used to fight alongside Godfrey's army.
We know that Godfrey conquered the Stormhawk King, which is why the stormhawks fight alongside his forces (exiles, banished knights), and we also know that Godfrey once conquered Serosh, before making him his regent. We know Serosh is intelligent, I'm assuming that these lions are who Serosh originally ruled over as the "king of beasts", and these things have five "fingers" (claws), which is the sign of intelligent life in Elden Ring, just like the ancient dragons and demi-humans
- Anonymous
These guys will give you the most intense fight of your life and then give you a somber that you already have nine of.
- Anonymous
input reading craked all the way up to unfair, cheat levels, they dodge absolutely everything, jump in every direction, always just out of reach so you swing at nothing, only momnet you can hope land hits on them is if you somehow survive long enough for them to get stuck in a corner
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My DLC wish is to see a couple of these bad bois unchained, respawning, and roaming free through a new landscape.
Either that or some enslaved rune bears with star fists attached to their paws
- Anonymous
This enemy just ****ing sucks especially the little bell noises it has it makes me want to tear through the screen and dig my thumbs into it's eyes
- Anonymous
Lion guardians are present in Redmane Castle before the festival too
honestly not that bad, if you use a quick enough weapon. Damn near every build in this game has some dagger they can use, so just grab that and make it like +4 or so and it should be enough to kill them. Single ones, anyways. For the pairs? Pray.
- Anonymous
These are my favorite Monsters to fight in the game. The moveset they use just looks so awesome. Wish there were more than mine of them, or at the very least I wish there was one that would respawn. Instead I have to do another playthrough anytime I want to fight one again.
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The pair in Redmane Castle can damage each other. They swing and fly around wildly, it's easy to bait them and get their health down until one is dead.
- Anonymous
Very intimidating but not particularly hard, the way they move makes them look a lot faster than they actually are and their attacks have long recovery times.
- Anonymous
Alternative strategy: don't wake them up and slooowly kill them with poison mist if you can sneak up to them, doesn't make enemies notice you
- Anonymous
If you free aim your spells to their sides, you can make them jump into it.
- Anonymous
Even though it has "bladed" attacks, they arent parriable, the section needs to be edited
- Anonymous
The one in Fort Gael can be fairly easily cheesed if you have Latenna summon as she can just continually keep shooting at it from up top, also great support for the rest of the enemies.
- Anonymous
Yeah, walk up on one of these MFers with your buckler and see what happens
- Anonymous
I just poke these lions with a Pike and Shield to death. Basically I stick to its left side while I turtle poke it to death. Occasionally, I even use Giant Hunt to punish their blade slam attack and it staggers them.
Now, if I were fighting them without shields, I'd be screwed.
- Anonymous
why must they all be so ****ing fast? most of the hardest enemys are just to speedy for a game like this
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The lions in Redmane Castle don’t only show up during the festival. They’re there before as well.
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They seem to have horns much like the ones found on Omens, around their necks..... Strange....
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Attacking a lone wandering noble, only to ha e him transform into one of these ****ers, is a big **** you to anybody who plays this game. It's bullshit like this that keeps ER from greatness.
- Anonymous
I have one question. There is information that can parry the enemy, but I couldn't parry the enemy. If there is a video of someone succeeding in parry, I want to share it. Or please revise the contents because it can't be parried.
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The blade they have looks similar to (but isn’t) the Bloodhound Fang.
- Anonymous
Using a ranged spirit summon from the catwalk above is safe if not tome consuming. I wanted fornit to Quickstep to avoid the spirit attack to send my lighting.
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I wonder if these guys have any corpses laying around so I can see their model better, they're super cool tho
- Anonymous
I'm almost positive that they are immune to bleed. +23 Blood Naginata with Silver Tear Mask + Seppuku and I couldn't get it to proc once. Either immune or very high resistance.
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Spam the Thunderbolt Ash of War on them from a high ground. Tested at both Redmane Castle and Fort Gael. It is very VERY rare for them to dodge it but other than that it's a good cheese method.
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From my testing it is resistant to bleed and poison. Fire arrows did less damage than regular wood arrows. Tested with Serpent bow with many consecutive hits in stormveil castle.
Stormeil cheeze strat if you struggle: Run past it into the hall towards the great eastbound bridge, the lion does not dare enter the chamber with four kneeling knight staues. You can spam arrows from the door if you shoot while he is mid-air.
- Anonymous
From my testing it is resistant to bleed and poison. Fire arrows did less damage than regular wood arrows. Tested with Serpent bow with many consecutive hits in stormveil castle.
Stormeil cheeze strat if you struggle: Run past it into the hall towards the great eastbound bridge, the lion does not dare enter the chamber with four kneeling knight staues. You can spam arrows from the door if you shoot while he is mid-air.
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Apply scarlet rot with breath incant or rotgrease thoroughly to the feline area.
Behold, results!
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Spam Blood Flies and force them into a locked jump as they "dodge" your projectile. They are slow enough to eventually hit and kill them
- Anonymous
Feel like they should have made these guys hit a little harder and move a little faster, maybe add a perfumer to the mix.
- Anonymous
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The two at Castle Sol have a breath attack that inflicts frost, but also an insane amount of damage at once. I have nearly 850 health without using a Rune Arc or any health buffs, and just barely touching the very edge of the frost cloud insta-killed me from full health!
- Anonymous
For you low level lads, Consider skeleton militia summons. the 2 of them do an excellent job of distracting it, and their self-ressing nature combined with his tendency to leap around alot means he doesn't often kill them after dropping them, letting them re-res to continue providing distraction
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Says it's parriable, who where or what confirmed this? I've been testing for 10 minutes now and haven't been able to parry anything
- Anonymous
Beastlure pot does not work on them. Apparently fromsoft thinks that these aren't beasts.
- Anonymous
Bloody Helice weapon art very good at countering these. though it is found after redmane.
- Anonymous
Nice moveset and fun to fight but can they not give these enemies infinite stamina?
- Anonymous
Magic users can cheese the one in royal capital by aggroing it and running back and jumping onto the small roofed building that has a stonesword key on top of it. From there just cast night maidens mist or rock sling or any spell you can get to hit him.
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I used Banished Knight Engvall Spirit, and it help me a lot, both distracting it and damaging it
- Anonymous
Be careful with the one in fort Gael. The lion CAN jump on top of the platform where this guide tells you to use range attacks from. It just happened to me lol if he does, just run straight into the room with the katar, he can’t get inside of there
- Anonymous
I wish there was a spirit ash summon for one of these guys. Love their design.
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For the one inside the castle, i recommend sneaking through to the bridge grace if you can. That will let you fight it at full health/flasks. Not sure if you need to have beaten the main boss of the castle for that.
- Anonymous
Although it's not that easy like somebody claimed, it's indeed not that hard when you are not panic and start reading him. (with a shield helps a lot sure)
He looks very aggresive and moves lot, but in fact quite simple and those opening chance is very clear. (most obviously, jump body slam)
Just be caution that when his hp drops, those opening window become small because he will add extra attack after that, but you should still get guarantee 1 hit.
So just make sure only hit ONCE at later stage of fight, and then block/roll immediately.
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Really easy as a melee user if you know how to dodge for positioning, having a weapon with good reach helps too. Just as a tip, rolling behind this kitty when he uses his slam attack will net you a few free hits, in general rolling in works fairly well, just make sure you don't go to town every time on his tail because he turns around with a swipe like super quick. Last time I played a Soulsborne game was 10 years ago on PS3 so I'm definitely not an amazing player, but honestly, if you're finding yourself having to resort to cheesing with this one, I'd reconsider my choice of game if I were you. It won't get any easier - no joke, this was the least difficult large enemy I've come across yet, but then again I've dueled every single one I've met, so I guess there's been some learning happening along the way. At least he doesn't buffer his attacks, unlike one particular brass colored sh*thead...
- Anonymous
Spirit Wolves helped me take him down. Loot was kinda trash though.
- Anonymous
Is this a boss though? I only count things as bosses in this game if they have a big health bar with their name on it at the bottom of the screen. This one, at least the Stormveil one, did not have that. It was just a tough non-respawning enemy. For better organizing lists of bosses on here I think the "name with health bar at bottom" method is the simplest and most problem-free method.
These are the nastiest enemies in the game. Just run away no one will judge you.
- Anonymous
These cheating lions are button input readers, maybe get rid of that and they’d be fun to fight, nothing more unfair then AI that reads your button inputs
- Anonymous
I ****ing despise this thing, constantly moves around and constantly attacks, so cancer.
- Anonymous
You can also cheese him in the valley ahead of him where you are ambushed by the two ballista soldiers. Juts jump and shoot the bow to make it over the wall.
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This enemy make constant squeaking noises like that one shopping cart in the mall
- Anonymous
There's also one in the Capital, much stronger than in Stormveil Castle
- Anonymous
Latenna the archer skips this fight entirely. You find a decently high spot where she cant be hit, summon her, and then walk away for 5 minutes and its done
Why is he considered in boss section? He isn't typical boss but neither a great enemy. He would fit better as mini-boss
- Anonymous
God it feels so satisfying and a huge ego boost when you somehow manage to defeat a boss in this game.
- Anonymous
Used a +2 Godrick knight summons and they hardly took a scratch... summons are very much helpful here just upgrade them a tad
I want that sword
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