Elden Ring Rykard: How To Beat Rykard, Lord Of Blasphemy
The Elden Ring Rykard boss fight is a bit out of the way, and entirely possible for players to miss, despite being an important part of the story. Elden Ring is not known for making life easy for its players, particularly when it comes to explaining things. Players are told from the outset that seeking out and defeating the demi-gods is an important task, but defeating Rykard is not required for progression. Still, he is an important boss and a big part of the lore so if you want to take him on, here is our guide to the Elden Ring Rykard boss fight.
- The easiest way to Rykard involves getting to the Mountaintops of the Giants and to do that you need to take on Morgott. For tips on that, check out our guide to the Elden Ring Morgott boss fight.
Elden Ring Rykard Boss Fight: How To Get To Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
Click to enlargeThere are two main methods for reaching the Elden Ring Rykard boss fight. One is easier but involves getting a bit blasphemous yourself. Regardless of how you want to approach this, the first thing you should do is get to Volcano Manor in the north of the Altus Plateau. This place is the home of the Recusants, Tarnished, like the player, but who hunt other Tarnished. There are two ways to get yourself to the Volcano Manor, either hoof it on foot or let yourself be captured by the Abductor Virgin in Raya Lucaria. Doing the latter will bring you instantly to the city area beyond Volcano Manor.
Regardless of if you use the Abductor Virgin or the illusory wall in the first room on the right in Volcano Manor, you need to go through the ruins of the city to get to Rykard. Make your way through the city sinking into the magma until you get to the church where you must fight the Godskin Noble. This tough boss stands between you and Rykard, so you need to take it down to use this route.
If you don’t mind getting a little heretical, you can also join the Recusants. Speak with Tanith in Volcano Manor and she will invite you to join the group. In order to reach Rykard this way, you must carry out three contract hunts of Tarnished NPCs. The third of these is in the Mountaintops of the Giants, so taking this route will require progression to that region. Take a contract, check your map for the red marker, head there and defeat the NPC. After the third contract, Tanith will teleport you to just outside of Rykard’s boss room.
- Another big chunk of Elden Ring that takes you off the beaten path is Ranni's questline. To learn more check out our guide on Elden Ring Ranni.
Elden Ring Rykard: How To Defeat The Boss (Phase One)
Click to enlargeWhen you enter the boss room, you will find two unusual things. First, a weapon. Second, no Rykard in sight. Let’s start with the weapon, the Serpent-Hunter great spear. This weapon hearkens back to Dark Souls 3 in two ways. First, it is very clearly based on the design of the weapon of the Nameless King. However, it functions almost exactly like the Storm Ruler, a sword in DS3 that is given to the player in the Yhorm the Giant boss fight. Like the Storm Ruler had with Yhorm, the Serpent-Hunter has a special interaction with this boss fight. During this fight, the Serpent-Hunter will cast massive, long-ranged attacks that do huge damage to the boss. It's highly recommended you pick up the weapon and use it here, especially if you have little to no ranged abilities.
Now, about the boss. Yes, when you enter the room you are faced with the God-Devouring Serpent, not Rykard. You must first defeat the Serpent to make Rykard emerge. The Serpent sits in a pool of lava, so you won’t be getting too close to it. It has many sweeping attacks, so watch its head. When it rears up, you know it is coming in for a hit.
You also have two elemental attacks to worry about. When you see a green liquid around its mouth, the snake is about to shoot out pools of poison. Also, it can slam its head into the lava and cause it to spill out across the arena. This fight isn’t the hardest, just keep your distance, watch its movements, and attack with the Serpent-Hunter regularly to bring it down. Of course, any ranged attacks can be used so mages feel free to do your thing. Mimic Tear is especially potent in this fight, as the mimic can and will use the Serpent-Hunter spear alongside you.
- As with many bosses in Elden Ring, the Mimic Tear is exceptionally useful when fighting Rykard. To get your hands on it, check out our guide to the Elden Ring Mimic Tear.
Elden Ring Rykard: How To Defeat The Boss (Phase Two)
Click to enlargeOnce the Serpent is defeated, Rykard will emerge from it. Rykard is a different kettle of fish from the snake monster he just grew out of. First of all, unlike the previous form, Rykard can move around the arena. He wields a large, rather disgusting sword with which he does most of his attacks. Keeping your distance is advised to avoid those sword swings, and this is pretty easily done thanks to the Serpent-Hunter. Yes, continue using the Serpent-Hunter here as it still works just as well on Rykard.
Where Rykard differs wildly from the God-Devouring Serpent is with his magical attacks. As well as swinging his sword he will occasionally light it on fire, which will send chains of fire attacks toward you. These are fairly easily dodged, just watch for the little skull and stay out of its path. However, it's the big skulls you need to worry about.
Periodically, Rykard will raise his sword upwards, when he does this he summons dozens of flaming skulls which rain down from the sky and chase you. The thing to do here is run as far away as you can. Use the debris around the arena as cover, and keep moving to avoid the skulls. There are a lot of them, so focus on avoiding them until they are all gone. Rykard finishes this attack by slamming his sword into the ground, so stay far away until he does this, then move in to attack. Do this a couple of times and Rykard will fall.
Follow those steps and you will have no problem finding and defeating Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Once defeated, you can take his remembrance and get yourself a powerful new weapon. To learn how take a look at our Elden Ring Blasphemous Blade guide.