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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is filled to bursting with new content, from new weapons and armor to all new bosses. With so much ground to cover and so many new foes to face, there's certainly no shortage of new challenges. One such challenge awaits you in Castle Ensis, across the great bridge in the Northern parts of the Gravesite Plains.

As it turns out, Renalla the Queen of Caria in Elden Ring had a Younger Sister, the Twin Moon Knight Rellana. Though she and Renalla parted ways when Rellana traveled to the Land of Shadows with Messmer, her fighting style still shows her heritage clearly. Mixing Glintblade Sorceries with devastating dual-wielded blades, Rellana is a deadly opponent at all ranges. To make matters worse, she wields a signature Moon Sorcery as her trump card and can call on Messmer's Flames to mix fire damage into her attacks.

If you find yourself struggling with this fight, consider retreating to explore the Land of Shadows more first. Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes can make a huge difference when dealing with the bosses in this DLC.

You can summon two NPC allies for this fight via their summon signs near the boss room. Needle Knight Leda will aid you with her light greatsword, unleashing rapid strikes and conjuring golden needles, while Dryleaf Dane will use a mix of Martial Arts and Incantations. Each summon gives Rellana some extra health and makes it a little harder to inflict status effects on her, but the trade-off can be worth it due to the sheer amount of pressure she puts on you throughout the fight.

A collage of every new weapon type in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
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Boss Moveset

Phase 1

elden ring shadow of erdtree rellana

During the first phase, Rellana will mainly attack using her twin swords and conjured glintblades. If she conjures glintblades over her head, they will fire after a delay at whoever she was targeting when she conjured them (It is important to know this if you are using Spirit Ashes or Enlisting the aid of Needle Knight Leda.) However, if she conjures three glintblades in front of herself, they will fire very quickly and must be dodged after the briefest of delays. She can also charge up a large magic blade, similar in appearance to Carian Greatsword, before slashing it down vertically. This can be dodged by rolling to the left or right as she swings down, but you have to watch for her follow-up swing. This second swing is a horizontal slash that can be dodged by rolling toward the incoming blade as she swings it. Timing this is a bit tricky, but crucial to avoiding the massive damage inflicted by this attack. She can also charge one of her blades with magic and then swing it, releasing an arc of magic similar to those fired by the Moonveil Katana. This can be dodged by rolling through the incoming magic arc.

As for her melee attacks, Rellana moves quickly and tends to swing one sword at a time, following up with a swing from the other blade. By watching the position she holds her swords in as she moves and during her combos, you can quickly work out what swing is coming up next. It's important to avoid panic rolling when she starts attacking since she will inevitably catch you at the end of a roll and deal extra damage if you do that. Stay calm and dodge as she begins each swing, ideally dodging towards her and behind her when she swings her swords. Rellana's combos nearly always consist of three attacks, so wait for her to perform the final hit of a combo before attacking her. This will ensure she doesn't catch you off guard with a follow-up. A good example is the cross slash she performs with both blades at the end of some combos, which leaves her vulnerable for a brief window after she uses it.

One attack you should look out for begins with her dashing around to one side. She can circle you incredibly quickly when doing this. Roll as she finishes her dash to avoid the upward swing she always follows it with. Since all of her attacks face forward, rolling so that you end up behind her will consistently put you in a safe spot, however short-lived that safety may be. She can also use thrusting attacks with each of her swords to close the distance quickly.

As one final note about Rellana's melee combos, she can alter which attack she performs at each step of her combo chain with tremendous fluidity and can switch targets between attacks, so stay on your guard even if she's fighting one of your allies.

Phase 2

elden ring shadow of erdtree rellana twin damage

After you reduce Rellana's health by around half, she will ignite her blades. One infused with magic and the other with flames, she usually opens this phase with a fire tornado attack, creating a huge fire vortex around herself and causing flame pillars to erupt in the surrounding area. Keep your distance and watch for the glowing spots on the ground that indicate where a flame pillar is about to rise, then let her come to you after the attack ends. Attempting to hit her with melee attacks after the fire tornado is a great way to end up taking tons of damage from one of her sword combos. She can repeat this attack throughout phase 2, so watch for her to start building up the flames and back away when she does.

Speaking of Rellana's sword combos, she now deals magic damage with one blade and fire damage with the other. She can use most of her old combos and starts performing a multi-hit flurry with the burning sword that leaves behind flames in its wake. These flames will explode and deal more damage a moment later, necessitating carefully timed dodges away from them to avoid getting caught by the blast. She also starts summoning greatblades when using her Glintblade Sorceries, which deal more damage, and can chain together multiple magic arc projectile swings in succession. She can also use a thrusting strike with both swords together, which projects flames forwards. You can dodge behind her and attack while she finishes the animation if you time it well.

Rellana's most powerful Phase 2 Attack is "Rellana's Twin Moons", a Sorcery that begins with her leaping up into the air and conjuring two moons. She will then fire those moons downward one at a time, smashing them into the ground and creating massive magic shockwaves. Jump as the first moon hits the ground, then jump again as soon as you touch the ground to avoid the second shockwave. After a moment's delay, Rellana will launch down to the ground and create a third shockwave, so wait just a moment and then jump as she's about to hit the ground to avoid the final wave. Once you've got the hang of dodging this attack you can use the brief opening after she lands to attack her.

That's both phases explained, so now let's look at some build-specific strategies and some Spirit Ash suggestions for dealing with this fight.

Melee Strategy

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree_Rellana_Lightning Dryleaf Arts

Rellana is weakest against Lightning Damage, so a Lightning Infused weapon on a Dex Build can be very effective here. Strength builds aren't out of luck, however, since she can also be staggered quite easily if you're able to hit her consistently and build up stance damage. Indeed, a Strength Faith Build designed to break her stance was used in the video at the start of this guide. Just watch her carefully, hit her during the openings after her combos, and charge up your strongest attacks whenever she gets staggered.

Sorcery Strategy

Ranni’s Dark Moon in Elden Ring

Sorcerers will have a little trouble here due to Rellana's excellent Magic Resistance, but she's very vulnerable to frostbite. You can use spells like Glintstone Icecrag to build Frostbite on her quickly, and then hit her with Zamor Ice Storm or Ranni's Dark Moon when she's staggered or during the phase transition. Maybe bring some fire pots or even some Magma Sorceries to reset her frostbite, so you can dish out damage faster, or use a fire-infused weapon in your off-hand to reset it instead. (such as the Smithscript Knife or the Firespark Perfume Bottle.)

Incantation Strategy

Elden Ring - Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike description

Incantation Specialists will want to avoid fire spells in this fight since Rellana is also quite fire-resistant. Instead, exploit her weakness to lightning by using Dragon Cult Incantations. If you have Frozen Lightning Spear, you can take advantage of her frostbite vulnerability too, making it easily the best spell to add to your list for the fight. You can also bring in the big damage spells like Ancient Dragon Lightning Strike, but you should save them for when Rellana is staggered.

Player using Perfumer Tricia in Elden Ring.

When fighting Rellana, most melee Spirit Ashes tend to get taken out very quickly. Tanky Ashes with good defense will last a bit longer, but honestly, I think the best options for this fight are support-focused Spirit Ashes. My personal choice for this fight was Perfumer Tricia, who can create shields for you and any other allies that will soak up most of the damage from a single hit. Other good base-game options are Depraved Perfumer Carman and Stormhawk Deenh. The DLC adds some great new options, but many of the better Spirit Ashes in terms of support can't be found until a bit further into the DLC. You could also, as always, bring out the Mimic Tear to help take some of the heat for you in this fight. Another exceptionally strong option here is the Dung Eater, whose sheer strength and mix of physical and holy damage is particularly potent against this boss.