General Radahn or Starscourge Radahn is a major boss in Elden Ring. He’s one of the Shardbearers, now a fusion of man and beast (though he does look a bit like Magnus the Red from Warhammer 40K). Here’s our Elden Ring boss guide to help you defeat Starscourge Radahn, the master of Redmane Castle in Caelid.
Note: For more information, check out our Elden Ring guides and features hub.
Elden Ring guide – How to beat Starscourge Radahn in Caelid’s Redmane Castle
Before we go to the nitty-gritty of our Elden Ring Starscourge Radahn guide, I’d like to suggest the usual tactic for overworld bosses: mounted archery while on Torrent. Yes, the Radahn boss battle occurs in an overworld area, albeit closed off. Now, although our opponent is definitely not as easily cheesed as other hostiles, I found that sniping from a distance is less hectic than fighting him in melee.
In any case, I’ll assume that you already have a ranged weapon and the Arrow’s Reach Talisman. If that’s the case, then go to the southeastern section of Caelid. We’re looking for the Impassable Greatbridge Site of Grace. Beside it, you’ll see a siege tower. Shoot one of the soldiers so it doesn’t push you off when you climb up, and just melee the other one. Once you reach the top, you can get the Arrow’s String Talisman from the chest. This increases the damage of your arrows and bolts.
With the two equipped, you can interact with the teleporter in front of the bridge (there’s also another one at the other end, but it also takes you to the same place). You’ll end up inside Redmane Castle, the domain of Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring.
There, you’ll meet familiar faces, such as Alexander the Living Jar and Blaidd the Half-Wolf. You can also pick up the Polite Bow emote from the woman. I think it’s Millicent from the Sellia’s Secret quest, but I’m not sure.
In any case, the herald will call on everyone that the Radahn Festival is about to get underway. Speak to this NPC and tell him that you’re ready. A short cutscene will play, telling you about Radahn’s past and his current predicament.
Next, go to the back of the chapel to find a lift. It will take you to the beach where you’ll see a Stake of Marika and a portal.
Elden Ring Starscourge Radahn boss fight – Phase 1
The moment you spawn in, Starscourge Radahn will begin sniping you with Void Beams. These hit extremely hard, so try to dodge-roll when they’re about to hit you. Do not use Torrent yet because your horse doesn’t have the iframes to avoid these projectiles. However, you may use the obstacles, such as wooden barricades and poles, to block the shots.
Likewise, you’ll notice that there are glowing signs nearby. These will allow you to summon the friendly NPCs from earlier. I’ve been told that they can be resummoned even if they die, so it might be possible to have the whole lot of them distract Radahn. Sadly, I wasn’t able to try that.
Since you don’t want to use Torrent yet, simply sprint and dodge-roll forward when necessary. When you’re just a few meters away from Radahn, he’ll start casting his Arrow Rain and Arrow Spread abilities. This is when you should use Torrent to avoid taking damage.
Then, once you’re really close, this will trigger Radahn’s melee combat script. He’ll stop shooting Void Beams and Arrow Rains at you, and he’ll start doing his melee combos.
Elden Ring Starscourge Radahn boss fight – Phase 1.5
If you focus on mounted archery as I suggested, you can gallop away from Radahn and fire sideways (i.e., lock-on then do normal shots, not aimed shots). Soon, you’ll have Radahn down to around 75% health. For phase 1.5, he’ll gain more abilities:
- Gravity Well – Radahn will cast an AoE that will pull you in.
- Void Trail – After his combo chain, he’ll unleash projectiles that travel along the ground. These will split up before dissipating, so you can still avoid them.
- Void Barrage – Multiple orbs will be fired to your location. I treated these as though I was fighting Erdtree Avatars/Putrid Avatars and the Glintstone Dragon. I shot the boss while he was casting, then I galloped to the side as soon as the projectiles were flying outward.
Elden Ring Starscourge Radahn boss fight – Phase 2
At 50% health, Radahn will use two more skills:
- Meteor Crash – He’ll disappear from the battleground, only to smash down in a ball of fire. Keep galloping to avoid this.
- Void Skulls – Four skulls will surround Radahn. If you’re far away, they’ll just float there before he flings them at you (this will take a while though).
Long story short, the Void Barrage was the main thing that I had to watch out for. As long as you can shoot your opponent periodically without being too greedy, and if you could gallop sideways as soon as you see the projectiles coming, everything will be easy. However, if you mistime it, then Torrent could end up dead/you’d get unhorsed. This gives Radahn ample time to catch up and smash you to bits.
When you beat Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring, another cinematic will play. It shows a meteor streaking across the sky before crashing somewhere in the Lands Between (I’ll talk more about this in a while).
Note 1: If you want to leave this boss arena, you’ll need to rest at the Site of Grace. It’s found on the hill where you first saw the boss at the beginning of the battle. You can also talk to Blaidd here.
Note 2: There’s a dungeon called War-Dead Catacombs found in the northeastern corner of this vast desert. Follow the base of the cliffs until you reach the northeastern shore to see the entrance. The reward here is the Redmane Knight Ogha summon once you’ve beaten the Ulcerated Tree Spirit boss.
Defeating Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring nets the following rewards. The first is Radahn’s Great Rune, and the other is the Remembrance of the Starscourge. You can go to Enia in Roundtable Hold to exchange the Remembrance item for either of these:
Starscourge Greatsword
- Requirement – STR 38, DEX 12, and INT 15.
- Scaling – STR D, DEX D, and INT E.
Lion Greatbow
- Requirement – STR 22 and DEX 18.
- Scaling – STR D and DEX D.
There are also a few more tidbits:
- You can talk to the herald back in Redmane Castle. The doors that were locked previously are now open. If you pass through the plaza going outside, there’s a boss encounter once you return. You’ll be up against a Misbegotten Warrior and Crucible Knight. You can also pick up lots of loot here as you explore.
- If you exhaust all of the herald’s dialogue, he will say that his task is done. However, this is a hidden trigger that lets you meet Executioner Jerren as part of Sorceress Sellen’s quest. This is also the only way for you to proceed further to reach the conclusion of that arc.
- Radahn’s Great Rune isn’t empowered yet. You can go to the Divine Tower of Caelid to activate it (the location even has two huge jumping puzzles and another boss).
- The meteor that crashed leads to a secret area known as Nokron Eternal City. There, you can acquire one of the best Spirit Ash summons in the game. One of the dungeons is also part of another lengthy personal quest, with a passageway that leads to an additional secret area/ending requirement.
Elden Ring is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
