The story of Elden Ring is a slow burn that relies heavily on enemy placements, item descriptions, and environmental design to relay the background lore of the Lands Between. One of the most subtle examples of this, however, comes in the form of the Beastman of Farum Azula, a boss that can easily be the first major enemy in Limgrave that a new player is able to challenge and defeat with starting gear.
While the Beastman of Farum Azula does make several appearances throughout Elden Ring like many of the game's bosses, this is an example where the placements very clearly build the world of the Lands Between. In this case, each appearance of the various Beastmen furthers the mystery of Farum Azula, even as the game takes dozens of hours to finally reveal the ancient home of beasts and dragons.
What to Expect From Elden Ring in 2024
February marks Elden Ring's second anniversary, but the latest FromSoftware Souls game is poised to have a big year in 2024 as well.
Beastmen From an Ancient Land Descend on The Lands Between
Scattered from Limgrave to Dragonbarrow
Apart from the Crumbling Farum Azula dungeon itself, there are only two places where players will find the Beastman of Farum Azula. The first is in Limgrave, in a tunnel directly after meeting Kale in the Church of Elleh, which some players could find before ever even meeting Melina and picking up Torrent. It's a short dungeon with only a handful of wolves between the entrance and the boss room, but it makes for a well-paced early challenge to get players acclimated with what's to come in later areas.
The second Beastman is found in Dragonbarrow, which can be challenged right after finding Torrent but likely won't be explored until players gather up some gear and invest some runes into levels and weapons. This encounter is unique, however, in that it includes two Beastmen, both of which attack with their own personal combat types that imply them all to be part of a more varied set of enemies. Although this ideally comes much later than the original Beastman fight, it is one of only a few hints across Elden Ring's map that hides Farum Azula hovering over the rest of the world.
A Simple Early Elden Ring Boss Makes for a Devastating Endgame Enemy
Even with the various forms of the Beastmen of Farum Azula appearing in large numbers throughout an entire dungeon, the moveset feels like one that was built first as a boss and later made to fit the role of a normal enemy. This is because beating even the lesser versions throughout the endgame can be as difficult as the initial fight against the Beastman of Farum Azula found in Limgrave. Wielding a giant cleaver, the melee version of this boss packs a serious punch for the early game, able to end the fight with only a handful of hits against unleveled players. It doesn't hurt that these cleaver-wielding variants are capable of delivering a string of blows extremely quickly.
Having already been pitted against the Grafted Scion and Tree Sentinel at the start of Elden Ring, however, even the Beastman's fast-paced moveset is hardly as devastating as these two fights. So, even if players never found the encounter in Dragonbarrow, arriving at Farum Azula might initially feel like a breath of fresh air, as the "easier" boss is now walking around as the standard enemy. It makes for a clever misdirect that can turn into a quick death as players get outnumbered by groups of these enemies that could easily be enough of an obstacle one-on-one.
Chekhov's Gun Fires Into the Sky
Beyond the combat challenge posed by the Beastman of Farum Azula is the final reveal that the location in the enemy's name will become relevant by the end of Elden Ring. This is a surprising departure from the rest of the FromSoftware catalog, as characters like Lautrec of Carim or Orbeck of Vinheim have their homelands embedded into their names, even though players never visit these places. In a way, finding Farum Azula after fighting Elden Ring's Fire Giant is one of the best payoffs that the developer has ever managed to pull off.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set in a world co-created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator of the influential Dark Souls video game series, and George R.R. Martin, the author of the best-selling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. This collaboration between two renowned creators has resulted in FromSoftware's largest game to date, filled with danger and discovery at every turn. Hidetaka Miyazaki, president and game director of FromSoftware, has a history of directing highly acclaimed games in franchises such as Armored Core and Dark Souls.
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment , From Software
