How to Defeat the Erdtree Burial Watchdog in Elden Ring

Erdtree Burial Watchdog should be one of the first bosses you face in Elden Ring. Thankfully, if you’re fighting the boss, you’ve already done the hardest part. The various imps and traps are far bigger problems than this monster. Still, mistakes will happen and it’s entirely possible to come out behind, so let’s make the Erdtree Burial Watchdog a little more manageable.

How to Defeat the Erdtree Burial Watchdog in Elden Ring

Set Up

At this point there isn’t much you can do. If you lack magical attacks, it helps to swap your potions to just physical to prevent waste. Another helpful hint is to loot imps.

One of them gave me the Imp Head (Cat) helmet, which was a massive boost in defense. I don’t know if it will make a massive difference, though it was enough to sometimes take an additional hit against the boss.

Boss Fight

This boss has a small number of attacks that vary based on positioning and your own tactics. For this reason, I suggest being more defensive, avoiding as much confrontation as possible. Eventually, it will do a slamming attack, followed by a slice.

Waiting for the downward slice is the best tactic, as there is a huge recovery window. Often three or four attacks can land before it starts to do something else. While this is the safest, it can take a while.

For this reason, running around and avoiding the slamming attack, followed by rushing it for a hit or two also works well. I don’t suggest getting too aggressive, as it has some quick close-range attacks that can be brutal, but this much should be safe.

As long as you keep it simple, you should kill it in a couple of cycles.