Lichdragon Fortissax |
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| Location | Deeproot Depths |
| Drops | |
 90,000Remembrance of the Lichdragon |
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| HP | 12,903 |
| Stronger VS |
Weaker to |
PierceLichdragon Fortissax is a Legend Boss in Elden Ring. This massive four-winged black dragon wields powerful lightning attacks and is found in Deeproot Depths. During the War of the Ancient Dragons, where the forces of Leyndell battled against the ancient dragons, Godwyn befriended Fortissax. After his death, Fortissax struggled to stave off the death blight that afflicted Godwyn, and was later corrupted by it. This is an optional boss, and doesn't need to be defeated in order to advance in Elden Ring. However, it must be defeated to achieve a certain ending.
This boss is missable if the player kills Fia before the end of her quest.
Ancient Dragon Lansseax is another variant of this boss. Farum Azula Dragon is the normal enemy form of this boss.
After Godwyn the Golden became the Prince of Death, the ancient dragon fought long and hard against the Death within its companion. Alas, victory was never achieved and its only reward was corruption.
Elden Ring Lichdragon Fortissax Boss
- This is an optional boss, but it must be defeated to achieve a certain ending
- Closest Site of Grace: Prince of Death's Throne
- Multiplayer is allowed for this boss
- You can summon Spirit Ashes for this boss
Elden Ring Lichdragon Fortissax Location
From the Prince of Death's Throne Site of Grace (which can only be accessed by defeating Fia's Champions), give Fia the Cursemark of Death, talk to her three times, and reload the area. Then interact with her corpse and choose to "Enter the Deathbed Dream". [Map Link]
Lichdragon Fortissax Combat information
- Health: 12,903 HP
- Defense: 114
- Stance: 140
- 60% Stance damage absorption on his body, 20% on his head
- Parryable: No
- Is vulnerable to a critical hit after being stance broken
- Damage:
Standard, 
Fire, 
Lightning - Inflicts:
Death Blight 
Ancient Dragon type- Weak spot: head (+100% damage)
- Drops 90,000, Remembrance of the Lichdragon
Negations (or Absorptions)
Slash
Strike
MagicThe negation numbers are the % of your damage that gets blocked. For example, if a negation is 60, 40% of damage of that type will go through and 60% will be negated. Bigger number = less damage. A negation of 100 means no damage goes through, and a negation of -100 mean the enemy takes 2x damage from that source. 0 means damage goes pretty much as is.
Resistances
Poison: 552 / 842 / 1299
Scarlet Rot: 552 / 842 / 1299
Hemorrhage: 552 / 842 / 1299
Frostbite: 552 / 842 / 1299
The resistance numbers are the buildup amount to trigger it. For example, if a resistance is 100 you must deal 100 points of the given buildup to trigger it. Note that these go down over time, and increase each time the effect procs. The values after the "/"s indicate the increased resistances after each successive proc.
NG+ and Beyond (click to reveal)
| NG | NG+ | NG+2 | NG+3 | NG+4 | NG+5 | NG+6 | NG+7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 12,903 | 16,167 | 17,783 | 18,592 | 19,400 | 21,017 | 21,825 | 22,633 |
| Defense | 114 | 118 | 121 | 124 | 130 | 136 | 141 | 153 |
| Runes |
90,000 | 270,000 | 297,000 | 303,750 | 324,000 | 330,750 | 337,500 | 344,250 |
Resistances |
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| Poison |
552 / 842 / 1299 | 270 / 560 / 1017 | 274 / 564 / 1021 | 278 / 568 / 1025 | 282 / 572 / 1029 | 286 / 576 / 1033 | 290 / 580 / 1037 | 294 / 584 / 1041 |
| Scarlet Rot |
552 / 842 / 1299 | 270 / 560 / 1017 | 274 / 564 / 1021 | 278 / 568 / 1025 | 282 / 572 / 1029 | 286 / 576 / 1033 | 290 / 580 / 1037 | 294 / 584 / 1041 |
| Hemorrhage |
552 / 842 / 1299 | 270 / 560 / 1017 | 274 / 564 / 1021 | 278 / 568 / 1025 | 282 / 572 / 1029 | 286 / 576 / 1033 | 290 / 580 / 1037 | 294 / 584 / 1041 |
| Frostbite |
552 / 842 / 1299 | 270 / 560 / 1017 | 274 / 564 / 1021 | 278 / 568 / 1025 | 282 / 572 / 1029 | 286 / 576 / 1033 | 290 / 580 / 1037 | 294 / 584 / 1041 |
 Sleep |
Immune | |||||||
 Madness |
Immune | |||||||
Elden Ring Lichdragon Fortissax Boss Guide
Lichdragon Fortissax Boss Video Guide
[video coming soon]
Lichdragon Fortissax Fight Strategy
The Best Tips for Lichdragon Fortissax:
- Recommended to use Mimic Tear Ashes, as it can tank fairly well and draw aggro away. Greatshield Soldiers can be a decent alternative, though they do not deal as much damage.
- Use spells and incantations that summon large numbers of projectiles or hit multiple times, such as Rock Sling, Meteorite of Astel, Rotten Breath, and Comet Azur.
- Bring Lightningproof Dried Livers, Boiled Crab, and Rejuvenating Boluses.
- Equip the Prince of Death's Cyst or Pustule or reduce Death Blight buildup.
- Like all Ancient Dragons, you can only lock onto their head and body, so it is recommended to unlock and attack their legs instead.
Melee Users
This guide covers preparation for the fight and general strategy. For how to counter each individual attack, see the table to the right.
Fortissax is most consistently and most safely fought by standing in front of his head and punishing his various attacks. While it is possible to defeat him by running under him and hacking at his ankles, a strategy highly effective against his sister, Fortissax's lightning barrier renders this style of play significantly more risky. Not only does it make the fight slower by forcing you to dodge or sprint constantly to avoid being struck by the dropped charges, but it can combine unfavorably with other attacks to either stun you into them or force an early roll that gets you hit by the incoming attack. Add to this that his head takes double damage, and it generally becomes the superior target for most of the fight, especially for non-status based builds.
Preparation for this fight starts with the items. Boiled Crab, Lightningproof Liver, or (Golden) Lightning Barrier are highly valuable buffs that you should bring if they are available to you. The use of a Fireproof Dried Liver or other anti-fire defensive buff is inadvisable; these buffs cannot stack with one another and of the three damage types Fortissax inflicts, fire is both the easiest to dodge and the least commonly used. It is unlikely to be necessary, but if you are also struggling with being deathblighted, consider equipping the Prince of Death's Pustule to give yourself more leniency in that regard; an upgraded version is dropped by a runebear in the same area of the Deeproot Depths you fight Fortissax in. In terms of weapon selection, if you have a weapon capable of thrust attacks well upgraded and which you are comfortable using, consider selecting it. Not only is Fortissax highly vulnerable to thrust damage, but both his rearing firebreath and double bite attacks can be punished while he is doing them, which will allow you to take advantage of the counter state to deal significantly more damage. If you are able, consider also swapping to a highly lightning resistant armor set and potentially equipping one or more of the Pearldrake Talisman, Boltdrake Talisman, and Dragoncrest Shield/Greatshield Talisman to reduce the damage of Fortissax's attacks. Their boost to absorption, and not flat defense, makes them highly effective against the very high damage attacks Fortissax uses. Additionally, because Fortissax is highly resistant to both lightning and holy damage, you should use either physical damage weapons with fire, magic, or status resins (if buffable) or ones infused with magic or fire. Dexterity builds using lightning-infused weapons should change their affinity to Keen; faith builds might be better served by using unique weapons which scale non-holy damage from faith, such as the Erdsteel Dagger, Magma Wyrm's Scalesword, or the Magma Whip Candlestick. In any case, remember to consume the Baldachin's Blessing Fia gave you in the process of making this fight available, as it will reduce your maximum HP by 5% while in your inventory. Finally, select your Physic buffs of choice. Shrouding Cracked Tears of your weapon's damage type, the Spiked Cracked Tear, and Opaline Bubble and Hardtear are all good options for this encounter.
Once you have entered the arena by interacting with Fia, Fortissax will begin the battle by summoning Death Lightning. Buff up with your chosen items, then run up to Fortissax and begin attacking one of his forearms. While you do, turn the camera behind you and identify areas where few lightning bolts will strike. When this move ends, put your back to those areas as you begin to fight Fortissax in earnest. You will be moving backwards more or less continually as you dodge his attacks and stay in front of him, and thus avoiding moving through too many deathblight clouds will prevent an abrupt and embarrassing end to the fight. As you do, continue to attack Fortissax. His first phase will last until approximately 60% of his HP remains. In this phase, the primary punishable openings are his double bite, his death lightning summon, and his vertical slam. If you are confident in your spacing and roll timing, his rearing firebreath is also punishable and his lightning spear can be rolled through at the point of impact to guarantee several free hits as he recovers. To prompt him into performing these attacks, stand slightly in front of Fortissax's head. Because of how erratically Fortissax can move his head, and given the only other lock-on point is his body, it is advisable to avoid locking on for most of the fight. Instead, manually control the camera, and only lock on to better target Fortissax's head as you punish the double bite, dodge his forwards firebreath, or are keeping an eye on him as he flies. It is also advantageous to avoid standing far from Fortissax; this often prompts him to either summon death lightning or use his forwards firebreath. Neither attack is punishable at that distance and both can waste large amounts of time as you are forced to dodge the attack and close the distance.
Once you have brought Fortissax to 60% HP, his moveset will change in two ways. First, he will gain two new attacks: a version of his lightning spear where he summons two bolts and slams them sequentially into the ground, and a divebomb with a lightning glaive that ends in a double spin with the weapon extended. And secondly, his combos can now be extended. Initially, Fortissax's double bite had only a single possible followup (rearing firebreath), and his vertical slam had none. In phase 2, these attacks can both be followed by a right swipe, and the slam can also now be followed by a rearing firebreath or double bite. This is both good and bad; on the one hand, the slam is less punishable now, but on the other, the double bite is still mostly as punishable as before and is being used more often. The strategy remains the same; bear in mind the changed patterns and do not overcommit. Staying close to Fortissax is also more important in this phase; his most dangerous attack, the aerial glaive, is used more often if the player is at midrange or farther. Additionally, because Fortissax has more lightning-based attacks of greater potency, it may be worthwhile to increase your lightning defense at this point in the battle with a Lightningproof Dried Liver or (Golden) Lightning Fortification. Regardless, continue to punish the double bites and slams, in addition to any other attacks which happen to occur and which you feel comfortable responding to, until you achieve victory. Avoid becoming greedy towards the end; Fortissax's high damage and potential for an awkwardly timed stun from his lightning barrier make him particularly good at catching sloppy play out and setting you back to square one.
In summary: use items and equipment that increase lightning and/or physical absorptions, use thrust damage if possible and avoid using holy or lightning damage, stand in front of Fortissax and punish vertical slams and double bites, plan retreats through sparsely struck areas during Death Lightning summons, and be wary of moveset changes once Fortissax reaches 60% HP
Magic and Ranged Users
For sorcerers, a basic spell like Rock Sling should be enough with a high enough catalyst. If not, keep away and watch for the Death Blight clouds around the arena. Keep Rejuvenating Boluses handy. Aim for his head for maximum damage.
Lichdragon Fortissax Attacks & Counters
| Attack | Description | Counter |
| Fortissax rises to his hindlegs and raises his left arm. A massive fork-like bolt of red lightning appears in his grip, and after a brief delay Fortissax slams the lightning bolt forwards into the ground to create an electrical explosion. Lightning trails will radiate outwards from the point of impact, and both the initial blast and residual lightning will knock the player to the ground if it connects. | Sprint away from Fortissax, then sprint back in to jump attack his head, rolling through the residual lightning as you do. Alternatively, the initial explosion can be rolled through at point-blank range for a longer punish if you feel confident in the timing. |
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| (Phase 2 only) |
Fortissax rises to his hindlegs and raises both arms. Two massive fork-like bolts of red lightning appear in his hands, and after a brief delay Fortissax slams the bolt in his left hand forwards into the ground to create an electrical explosion. After an extended delay, Fortissax then slams the bolt in his right hand into the ground to create a second electrical explosion. Both impacts release waves of lightning, and both will knock the player to the ground if they connect. | Sprint away from Fortissax, then sprint back in to jump attack his head as he slams the second bolt, rolling through the residual lightning as you do. Alternatively, the initial explosions can both be rolled through at point-blank range for a longer punish if you feel confident in the timing. |
| Fortissax's Lightning Glaive (Phase 2 only) |
Fortissax rises to his hindlegs and then leaps into the air, manifesting a massive glaive of red lightning in his left hand. He then dives towards the player, spinning two full circles to his left as he lands with the glaive outstretched. This attack will knock the player to the ground if it connects. | Roll to the left very, very late. The timing on this attack is rather unforgiving; do not risk a dodge if you lack the HP to survive it. Instead, heal up and either dodge after or take and survive the hit if there isn't time. |
| Lightning Barrier | Fortissax is surrounded by a swirling barrier of red lightning. Players who stand within this barrier will continually become charged with red lightning. After a few seconds, this lightning will drop off the player to the ground. From there it explodes, doing minor damage and staggering the player if they remain too close to the blast. | Avoid standing under Fortissax. If you become charged, walking is not fast enough to get away from the dropped bolt; run or roll as it falls off of you. Additionally, try to disengage from Fortissax by moving towards his tail; many of his forwards claw combos extend for greater periods and are more likely to be able to take advantage of a forced roll or hitstun from the charge than is his slow tail whip. |
| Death Lightning | Fortissax crouches down and then thrusts his head into the air. He will roar once initially, and then once more in a prolonged manner. As the second roar begins, numerous black-gold patches of electricity will appear on the battlefield. In a few moments, those patches will be struck by bolts of death lightning, which leave behind clouds of a deathblight-inflicting mist behind them for a fairly extended period. | Move in and attack Fortissax's front legs, being mindful of the lightning barrier as you do. Once he stops, identify a path along which the mist is sparse, and put your back to that direction as you continue the fight. |
| Claw Combo | Fortissax raises his left arm and slams it down in front of himself at an angle, such that his hand passes below her chin. He then pulls it back in a swipe from his right to his left. Both attacks cause small lightning explosions along the path of the attack a few moments after it completes. This combo will knock you to the ground if it connects with one of the physical attacks. Follows: none Followed by: right swipe, rearing firebreath |
Roll backwards and immediately roll again to dodge the first swipe and its lightning trail, then repeat the process for the second hit. Roll early through the attacks to have time to dodge the trail, and note that if you are hit by the first swipe's trail, the second swipe's trail cannot be avoided with a roll because you will be forced to roll late on the second swing, thereby preventing you from recovering fast enough to roll again. Additionally, avoid moving in front of Fortissax if you have been charged by his lightning barrier. This combo even without followups requires four near back to back dodges to dodge; being forced to roll early by lightning dropping off of you or being stunned by it into a hit can easily prove fatal. |
| Right Swipe | Fortissax raises his right arm and swipes it from his right to his left, causing a trail of lightning explosions in the path of the swing moments later. This attack will knock the player to the ground if the physical portion connects. Follows: claw combo, single bite, double bite (phase 2 only), vertical slam (phase 2 only) Followed by: vertical slam, rearing firebreath, repositioning hop, reverse right swipe (only if standing behind Fortissax and to his right) |
Dodge backwards once to dodge the swipe and then immediately do so again to dodge the trail. Prepare for the potential followup. |
| Vertical Slam | Fortissax rises to his hindlegs and raises his left arm above his head. After a brief delay, he falls forwards and slams his right hand into the ground, releasing a small electrical burst around the point of impact. This attack will knock the player to the ground if it connects. Follows: right swipe Followed by: right swipe (phase 2 only), rearing firebreath (phase 2 only), double bite (phase 2 only) |
Move backwards and roll once to the left. If performed correctly, you will roll to the right side of his head (left from your perspective) and be out of range of the electrical burst. Then, attack his head, remembering that this attack can be comboed into further moves in phase 2. |
| Double Bite | Fortissax rises to his hindlegs, arches his neck to her right and opens his mouth, then bites forward. He then repeats the process with his neck arched to her left. Follows: vertical slam (phase 2 only) Followed by: rearing firebreath, right swipe (phase 2 only) |
Sprint out of range of the first bite, and charge a heavy attack as Fortissax bites a second time. As he finishes, release the heavy attack and hit his head. This is a safe punish in both phase 1 and phase 2 if performed properly. |
| Single Bite | Fortissax arches his neck to her left, then bites forwards without coming off the ground. Follows: none Followed by: right swipe, rearing firebreath |
Roll backwards and right through the bite, and prepare for the followup. Additionally, be aware of the possibility of this move; even though Fortissax does not chain into it, it has fast startup and recovery that can lead to it being used surprisingly quickly after another attack or a non-chained followup being performed earlier than expected. |
| Rearing Firebreath | Fortissax rises onto his hindlegs and arches his neck before spewing fire forwards. He then sweeps the fire under his body from his right to his left, and finishes the attack by spewing fire forwards again. This attack will knock you to the ground if it connects. Follows: single bite, double bite, right swipe, claw combo, vertical slam (phase 2 only) Followed by: none |
If you are close to Fortissax when he begins this move, sprinting forwards will allow you to reach Fortissax's tail. Stand far back along it, and attack it as he breathes fire, using thrusting attacks if available to take advantage of the counter state. Note that you will become charged by his shield, so you will have to roll at least one dropped lightning bolt. Alternatively, if you have access to long ranged attacks, you can move backwards out of reach and attack. Otherwise, sprint backwards and to your left. As Fortissax finishes sweeping the fire from his right to his left and transitions into the forwards gout, sprint forwards towards his head and attack it once as it lands. The timing and positioning are very tight; you may simply wish to wait the attack out if you would rather play things safe. |
| Forwards Firebreath | This attack is often used when the player is far from Fortissax and in front of him. Fortissax arches his neck slightly, then exhales a long stream of fire forwards, sweeping slightly from his right to his left. This attack will knock you to the ground if it connects. | Sprint diagonally forwards to your right. Note that unlike the similar looking attack from flying-dragon model enemies, this attack does not track the player |
| Aerial Firebreath | his is often used when the player is standing under Fortissax's chest. He crouches down, then launches backwards into flight as flame particles appear in his mouth. Fortissax then spits a gout of fire onto the ground at the player and flaps backwards to land. | Run backwards out of range of the fire, then sprint forwards to close the gap once more. |
| Lightning Slam | This attack is often used when the player is standing under Fortissax. Fortissax rises to his hind legs and raises both arms. After a brief delay, he slams both claws into the ground under his chest, creating a large shockwave that will knock you to the ground if it connects. Waves of lightning propagate outwards from the point of impact as the shockwave dissipates, | Move out from under Fortissax, then sprint back in after he slams, rolling through the waves of lightning as you do. Fortissax is vulnerable for a significant period following this attack. |
| Reverse Right Swipe | This attack is only used if the player is standing at Fortissax's right side after he has used a right swipe. Fortissax pulls his hand backwards from his left to his right in a swipe, leaving a trail of lightning which erupts moments later as he does. This attack will knock you to the ground if it connects. | Avoid standing at Fortissax's right side. If unavoidable, roll through the attack and then roll again to avoid the lightning, or sprint/roll forwards under Fortissax and out of reach. |
| Repositioning Claw Swipe | This attack is commonly used when the player is standing at Fortissax's left side. Fortissax raises his left arm and swipes from his right to his left, turning to face the player in the process. This attack will knock the player to the ground if it connects, and leaves a trail of lightning that activates after a momentary delay. | Sprint backwards and out of range of the attack, or roll early through the claw swipe in order to have enough time to roll again immediately after and dodge the lightning. |
| Wing Beating | This attack is often used when the player is under Fortissax. Fortissax rises onto his hind legs and flaps his wings three times, staggering players caught under him. He then flaps a fourth time, knocking players to the ground if they do not dodge. This attack does not deal damage, only stuns. | Move out from under Fortissax, and sprint in to attack once he flaps for a fourth time. Alternatively, dodge through each flap and attack after he completes the fourth. |
| Tail Swipe | This attack is often used when the player is behind Fortissax. The dragon raises his tail and bends it to his left, then swings himself counterclockwise around to face the player, sweeping the area behind and to the side of himself as he does. This attack will knock you to the ground if it connects. | Dodge through the attack, or sprint out of range. |
| Divebomb | Fortissax launches himself backwards into the air, hangs there for a moment, and then dives towards the player. This attack will knock you to the ground if it connects. |
Dodge forwards through the dive and attack the Fortissax's hind legs. |
| Repositioning Hop | Fortissax leaps forwards and glides a short distance, turning around as he lands. If he happens to land on a player, it will deal heavy damage and knock them to the ground. Follows: any attack which a rearing firebreath could Followed by: none |
Turn around and pursue Fortissax. If it looks like Fortissax might land on you, get out of the way. |
Lichdragon Fortissax Lore, Notes & Other Trivia
- Fortissax and Godwyn were said to be good friends, as Godwyn had bested him in battle, which explains why Fortissax guards his corpse.
- Fortissax is riddled with thorns all over his body, which shows that he was afflicted by Death Blight, and was subsequently corrupted.
Lichdragon Fortissax Image Gallery
Anonymous
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Best boss in the game lore, gameplay, ost and design wise. Common black dead dragon W
- Anonymous
I don't understand Fia's quest and it caused me to miss this boss. Oh well, thanks Mike Zaki
- Anonymous
Why the **** does he have such high holy resistance fromsoft, he is literally infested with death blight you ****ing muppets.
- Anonymous
One of the coolest boss IMO, the ost too, I wish he had more HP.
80 lightning resistance is nothing btw I tried to use ADLS and almost one shotted him
- Anonymous
Why does the skybox of this arena so strange? It's like a bunch of fleshy brown holes
- Anonymous
One of the coolest bosses in the game. Great design, great moves, great soundtrack. Too bad his health is so low for a boss most people fight lategame and you get a second enemy in your camera
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Nerfed myself to fight him for longer, most fun, grandiose, interesting fight in the entire game. Soundtrack is amazing, arena is massive, Fortissax is awe inspiring, and there's not a MINUTE LONG WALK to his arena. Fortissax is just the funner, more polished Placidusax. The lightning that strikes you when you stay near him for too long is a genius mechanic that makes you pay attention to your stamina while attacking him. His melee attacks all have follow-up, but no super long combos, making it feel fair, and the different attacks he uses to get you out from under him have a whole lot more variety than your typical ancient dragon. As with any ancient dragon, you shouldn't lock on, due to there being no targeting on the legs, which you will likely be hitting the most, without locking on, there are much less camera problems.
- Anonymous
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One of the coolest looking bosses, shame the camera sucks when you're actually fighting him and that he's so squishy. Easily could have been goated.
- Anonymous
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It's crazy how squishy he is for a secret boss that is so obscure to find.
You have to speak to Fia multiple times, then you have to find a black knife assassin that is hidden behind a wall in a catacomb.
THEN you have to basically almost complete Ranni's quest until she gives you the hourglass, only then you can get the item you need to fight him, which is far post Radahn. But ontop of that his area his hidden beyond hidden, either behind 2 secret walls after a super tanky boss in the sewers, or after one of the worst fight in the game and then interacting with a random stone coffin. Basically almost already guaranteeing you are overleveled unless you specifically knew about this from the very start.
Just such a weird descision to make him that fragile, that probably 70% of people fighting him never even have seen his 2nd phase.
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I can confirm Latenna absolutely melts this guy assuming you can keep his attention. I nailed him on my second try with her @ level 9 and me at level 11. My only contribution was using blade of death at the start. I then just used throwing knives to keep his attention.
- Anonymous
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Such a bad fight. I hate the fact that in Elden Ring the best way to fight dragons is to give them a pedicure, otherwise you can never hit them. I legit have no idea what this guy's moves are, other than the flashy lightning ones cause I was just lookin at his feet. They had the right idea with Midir but just threw that into the garbage I guess.
- Anonymous
Why in christ does he have 80 Holy DMG negation???? he is literally being corrupted by death
- Anonymous
There is no such thing as overleveled. In the lore of Elden ring I’m a powerful ashen
- Anonymous
i hope one day fromsoft releases a chart showing how many people fought this guy at the level you're meant to fight him at and/or using a guide reader magic/envoy long horn build
- Anonymous
This pup needs way more hp. The soundtrack and visuals are just too good for a boss that dies in 1.5 minutes
- Anonymous
Overleveled spellcasters: "omg too easy they should buff so much"
Melee builds: "please stfu... just... stfu"
- Anonymous
I'm doing a claymore run and this dude was really fun. I'm level 100 and he had a great amount of health, cool moveset and the 10000 particles didn't lag my game as much as gargoyles fight. At one point I decided to throw a Lightning Spear at him and it did a surprisingly amount of damage for a boss that has lightning exploding around him lol, but changed for the claymore again. The camera is really bad though... when I was supposed to hit the head, I couldn't even see it because I was somewhere else. Great fight to me and lorewise this is a really important event, as it is dealing with such an massive force in the lands between that is Godwyn. It was funny seeing D basically teabaging Fia's corpse too
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this guy suffers the same issue as morgott, it's too easy just to get overlevel and steam roll this boss. heck, this boss suffers from it even more since it's a secret boss, meaning that it's easy to miss with out a guide then finally find it after you already burned the erdtree.
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He deserves way better stats, such an epic entrance, arena and moveset but he feesl weak because I'm already level 135.
"FS, did forget to pay proper respects to dragons? We're like a last bastion."
-Dark Eater Midir
- Anonymous
Oh, another fight with the hitbox as you can't aim for his legs to stay behind him for whatever reason...
- Anonymous
In terms of lore, I wonder if killing this guy is a bad idea because he's basically the last bastion against the Deathblight corrupting Godwyn, and while it's basically confirmed that he failed his initial objective to a large degree, him still being alive means he is still partially doing his duty of holding back "some" of the corruption, which means things theoretically could get worse if you kill him. Or maybe he's already dead and we are just fighting his corpse, hence the "Lichdragon" title. But if that is really the case, I don't understand why we need to even enter Godwyn's dream in the first place to obtain the Mending Rune, Fortissax would already be undead.
- Anonymous
Saw a randomizer run where he was in Rykard’s arena and it went so ****ing hard.
- Anonymous
I wish he had a more differing moveset, maybe he could be faster and more wild than his brethren to show his desperation to save his friend. Honestly if he had melee speed similar to Darkeater Midir this fight would be more impactful imo. Generally Ancient Dragon fights are so lame and uninvolved when you're not staring in awe at their lightning attacks, it's a shame Fortissax feels just like the rest
- Anonymous
This boss needs a stats buff. Nothing too crazy but at least a little more
- Anonymous
The Sif of Elden RIng. Poor dragon sacrificed himself trying to keep the corrupting Death away from his friend..
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For some reason, Fortissax is quite vulnerable to Adula's Moonblade (even in NG+7)
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Because I missed him my first playthrough, I eventually made a second character specifically to get to this boss as quick as possible, and I ended up getting there at lvl 60, +12 (+5) weapons (str/fth build). At that level, the fight was pretty tough, but I eventually found out that grafted dragon is absolutely stellar on this fight, as it is super easy to land the unique skill on his head without getting shocked.
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Everything about this boss is so amazing except the fact that it's so weak in comparison to the amount of effort you need to get to him, which results in the player being overleveled when they fight this guy. I beat him second try by just spamming charged R2s and the crit on his head just obliterates him. Dude really deserves to be a late game boss
- Anonymous
Everything about this boss is so amazing except the fact that it's so weak in comparison to the amount of effort you need to get to him, which results in the player being overleveled when they fight this guy. I beat him second try by just spamming charged R2s and the crit on his head just obliterates him. Dude really deserves to be a late game boss
- Anonymous
Killed him on the first try with Bubble Shower. Wasn't easy though. Took a while. He killed my Mimic before it was over. Imagine my surprise when I found out he has 80% holy resist, yeesh.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Faith dagger build. Tried twice targeting the head. got him to half first try, 35% second try, and got annoyed with the lightning claw attack that roll catches you 100% of the time.
Tried Pest Threads on the third attempt. Did almost 3000 damage per cast, killed him in like 30 seconds. Now I just feel bad...
- Anonymous
First fought Fortissax on a clean save DEX/FTH playthrough, primarily melee with lightning and buff incants for backup. I give this boss a meh out of 10. Reason being the strategy I found most effective didn't let me appreciate his design, not moveset nor aesthetic (and both are pretty cool). That strategy? Simply forego target lock, ignore the head, whack away at his back feet.
I died probably 10 times trying to get at his head and never got him below half health. The issue is that if you're at a range where you can hit his head, you can't see what's going on and you'll trigger and be in range of his lightning claws. If you can see what's going on, you're not a range where you can hit his head. Plus his flying, lunging, and glaive attacks can trigger.
On the other hand, I died just once and had 6 or 7 out of 9 flasks to spare when I said screw it, unlock, whack like a psycho at the back feet. He doesn't have any attacks that go directly underneath him. At worst you'll catch an aftershock from a lightning attack which you can either eat if you've got 40+ vigor or even see coming and jump.
So yeah, I got to look at a dragon's feet and not really have to learn a moveset. Meh out of 10.
- Anonymous
Gravity bolts from Fallingstar Beast Jaw will just shred the boss like it's nothing
- Anonymous
Ancient Death Rancor seemed to work well, for a Fai./Int. build. Praise the flying skulls. Triple Discus of Light didn't seem to damage enough for the cost of FP (and they don't track well enough).
- Anonymous
why is the DEATH BLIGHT DRAGON 80% resistant to holy? shouldnt he be... y'know, weak to holy?
- Anonymous
Summoned my Ancestral Follower dude who spammed Fortissax with his lazer arrows, while I spammed with Wathcdog Staff laser beams and stacked the lightning resist.
FInish with bonk to the head followed by a few kukri throwing knives whe he inevitably refuses to die from the bonk and instantly jumps 20 meters back like literally EVERY ENEMY IN THE GAME .
Playing this game without quick access to some kind of ranged attack sucks donkey dongs! Melee in PVE is the worse in the entire series somehow.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
"He so ez hehehe my mimic tear n my giga op weapon being barely overleveled (+50 levels above every boss unlike fextralife "recommended level" where ur 25 levels above instead, not a big deal!!" ) spamming l1 just first tried him te heehehehe so easyyyy!!"
Please don't forget this boss is meant to be fought around the same time as Morgott. Yes, we heard you, you used all the tools that From added for the really bad players to enjoy the game, now shut up.
- Anonymous
Wouldn't a good multi-hit spell to hit him with be Spiral Shards?
- Anonymous
mah boy needs just a bit more hp he gets deleated way to fast.
- Anonymous
Not even built for pure spellcasting (Dex/Faith split) and damn, Flame Fall Upon Them makes this so easy it's sad. Can't imagine trying to fight this in melee
- Anonymous
Giant crusher + Inferno Crozier = Kill this guy in 7 jump attacks lol
- Anonymous
This page says multiplayer is allowed, but how do you have time? Not only do you have to touch an NPC to trigger it, you get put right into the fight from the FIA's champions boss arena so how can phantoms be summoned/follow you?
- Anonymous
Why is the the undead dragon resistant to Holy!? Where does that fit into the lore, Miyazaki!?
- Anonymous
When you put the best phase 2 music behind a boss that people delete in under a minute or two.
- Anonymous
Huh, I found this one surprisingly easy, only three tries, and the last was the only one I switched to "screw it, bloody slash spam" It worked surprisingly well. Fight is very busy, visually, but only a small amount of that is actually relevant to the player at any given time. Most is just a confusing distraction.
Also I still cannot consistently hit a dragon's head, lol.
Honestly, if you want to dodge this guy's glaive more reliably, instead of doing what the wiki suggests, position yourself properly so that there is a lot of space behind you. Then when Fortissax flies into the air for his glaive attack, sprint FAR back and dodge backwards just to be safe. He can only go so far with it, it seems.
I just did this whilst doing a ranged weapons only challenge run, so it'd be easier for characters who prefer to attack from afar to take advantage of this method.
- Anonymous
Are the resistance information for bleed/poison/rot/frostbite correct? doesn't make sense the resistance's would drop by half (552 NG to 270 NG+) in ng+ and beyond
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
All my melee options failed. But then I pulled out the Lion Greatbow... 8 uses of Radahn's Rain did the job (no spirit ashes and NG+ as I missed him first time around).
- Anonymous
46's fight was cool, but I agree that he could use more health to extend it a bit.
- Anonymous
would be a top 5 boss but drops to bottom 5 cuz of the camera issues
- Anonymous
I haven't fought Fortissax that many times, but I'm already extremely frustrated with him. I soloed Malenia at 125 and that felt more doable than this.
The frame rate tanks as there is approximately 99999999999 quadrillion lightining particle effects at all times, which makes the already frustrating dodge windows really hard. The occassional WoW-style "oh look out, you're marked by lightning and it will hit you" is aggravating because if the rng is shitty, I don't think there's any way to dodge that AND the attacks that keep on coming. ER has an exasperating tendency to make bosses that don't have any chill, but honestly any other boss in the entire friggin game pales in comparison to this nonsense. When I'm I supposed to attack this dude when the air is saturated with every lightning spell in the multiverse? Oh I'll just have to hit him with an R1 every 5 hours when there's a small opening in Fortissax's never ending stream of lightning, fire, deathblight, tailswipes, bites and claw swipes? Yeah that sounds like fun.
The aerial fire breath just one-shots my char even though he's wearing fire resistance talismans and a hefty armor. Even if I manage to block it with a shield, the damage is so ridiculous that it won't matter. So if I'm in a bad spot and that move comes out, it's game over.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
There is a lot going on visually but the boss and the fight are metal as af, agree with others that it is just too short especially for how cool it all looks, perhaps if it had as much HP as Placidusax. For faith builds: Pest Threads, Lighting Fortification and Golden Vow work with Mimic Tear running distratction with dual Fire Pickaxes for the pierce and fire weakness.
- Anonymous
Fight is a complete trainwreck in terms of visual clarity. It's a big mess. Boss is very dark in color and blends in with the environment sometimes, it's hard to tell what's actually hitting you because the lingering lightning aftershocks from his claw swipes are very hard to distinguish from the red lightning that's all over his body. Periodic lightning strikes to punish/discourage aggressive play since you have to constantly check for the lightning timer before deciding to commit to an action, and just like other dragons, likes to fly away out of range except you cannot summon a horse to catch up to him. And worst of all, you're punished for logically concluding that a literal undead dragon is nearly immune to holy damage if you don't look up a wiki. Bad, so bad. I'm just glad that I usually forget this boss even exists until I've already defeated Maliketh and always end up here overleveled, I'm sure if I fought this guy on a more appropriate level I'd hate it even more.
- Anonymous
Would be an S tier boss if there wasn’t any tracking lightning
- Anonymous
"Why is the dragon borne of a prior golden age, who served directly as the mount & companion of a holy demigod of the Golden Order and inherited his blessed golden lightning, resistant to holy?"
Like 90% of the oft-repeated questions about "why X mechanic or element works this way" could be answered by reading item descriptions or hearing a pieced-together version from someone else who has.
The answer btw is that Fortissax is not borne from, infused with, empowered by, or a worshipper of death. The deathblight tainting his body and lightning have weakened and corrupted a once holy creature, even among ancient dragons - who usually have some resistance to holy as-is. The death clouds of Death Lightning are largely a byproduct of this corruption, and, arguably, the fact that holy damage against Forty is even able to exceed double digits is the result of the Deathblight creating a "weakness" to exploit.
He's not a necromancer dragon fueled by death and rad pipe organs - he's a holy dragon being eaten away by the disease he tried to save his friend from.
- Anonymous
Surely the giga-undead dragon is going to be weak against Holy, right? Right?
- Anonymous
pls just triple his health bar From he's one of the coolest fights in the series but I have to sprint in circles just to enjoy most of it
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Fortissax: Has the backstory and design of a Midir difficulty boss.
Also Fortissax: Has less health than a Runebear in the snowfield
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Loretta greatbow is a really good option for this guy. The range lets you kite him fairly well. Still gotta look out for that glaive, though.
- Anonymous
I defeated Fortissax solo in NG+ quite easily, but for the life of me, I just couldn't break its stance, no matter how many times I aimed at the head! Other dragons go down quickly after 3 hits to the head. So basically I pummeled Fortissax's head for the entire battle, instead of break stance, then unleash a combo
- Anonymous
Hardcore DS3 fans whining about how "bad" this fight is because it's not Darkeater Midir remastered absolutely annoys me. Midir was a vigor check machine with a lot of complicated moves that were impossible to deal with unless you watch for guides or have a really huge supply of patience. People who were stubborn enough to master Midir to call his fight fun and BALANCED are complaining that Fortissax doesn't obediently keep his head near the ground 24/7, though you can bait certain attacks to make an opening and strike him directly to the head. Sure, Midir's fight is outstanding from the perspective of visual design/music/arena, but it's not that great mechanically. I mean, you either just walk in front of him for 80% of the time, waiting for his combos to end and then strike his head, or you try to fight him normally and get blendered. And Fortissax's fight is not much different at this point.
- Anonymous
this boss actually has a cutscene, idk if it was deleted or if it's bugged.
It's my favorite boss, despite being the easiest to kill out of all the coolest bosses.
Call me crazy if you want, but Lichdragon Fortissax DOES have a cutscene, i'll never forget, i wish I was recording back then.
- Anonymous
just me or is this more of a fight against the camera? why cant you lock on to it's feet like almost all other dragons
- Anonymous
Fire melts him. Run a Flame build, and Giantflame did about 1500 at 64 Faith,+20 Giantseal.
- Anonymous
Banished Knight Ashes + Black Flame Bolt = EZ mode. Ezykes was tougher.
- Anonymous
>Boss is literally covered with death blight thorns and his title is just a synonym for corpse
>Has 80% holy resistance
What did Michael zaki mean by this?
- Anonymous
My two cents, Partizan and Spectral Lance. Aim for the head. He wasn't too bad, had strength Dex in my wonder brew.
- Anonymous
lmaooo this wiki page is top tier humor, it's literally THAT meme.
"For melee users: 20000 words of text
For mages: just use rock sling lol"
- Anonymous
So I beat it using my Pulley Crossbow +6 and regular bolt's, took over 90 of them but it was super easy when compared to trying to damage it at melee range. I just needed to heal up twice, once when I summoned my mimic tear and the other when I failed to dodge it's Divebomb.
No wonder the walkthrough for ranged characters is so short.
- Anonymous
I've tried my best to like it but this boss is just pure garbage. Music, design and lore all very cool. The actual fight: bottom tier.
Unlike the regular dragons in this game the ancient dragons cannot be hit effectively in the head so you are once again hitting the foot of a giant boss like a bafoon (quite thrilling)
Made worse by having the ancient dragon moveset that's just spamming melee attacks with delayed lightning that you can just avoid by walking under.
- Anonymous
You know you're badass when your theme gets a bass drop in a medieval-themed game
- Anonymous
To those saying the camera is fine and that you should just aim for his face and not stand under him:
Most people have a melee build, his head is too far away.
- Anonymous
Kinda wish he had a unique design like kalameet or midir instead of an ancient dragon with thorns on it . Very fun fight visually and gameplay wise
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