Elden Ring: How to beat Erdtree Avatars and Putrid Avatars

You’ll encounter several Erdtree Avatars and Putrid Avatars in Elden Ring. These are overworld bosses that guard most of the minor Erdtrees in the Lands Between, and they have devastating attacks. Thankfully, we can cheese these encounters. Here’s our Elden Ring guide to help you beat the Erdtree Avatars and Putrid Avatars.

Note: For more information, check out our Elden Ring guides and features hub.

Elden Ring guide – How to beat Erdtree Avatars and Putrid Avatars

With the exception of a couple of locations, the Minor Erdtrees in Elden Ring will always be guarded by either an Erdtree Avatar or a Putrid Avatar (i.e., the one in Caelid). They tend to have similar abilities:

• Melee – They’ll attack with their staves or blades, oftentimes killing Torrent if you’re mounted. The Putrid Avatar’s melee, as far as I know, is a one-hit kill even with 800+ HP.
• Blades of Light – They’ll periodically cast a spell that spawns multiple Holy projectiles that home in on your location. Getting hit by one will likely get you damaged by everything else that’s flying your way due to the animation. It’s also possible for the bosses to cast two of these spells in succession.

So, how exactly do we defeat the Erdtree Avatar and Putrid Avatar bosses in Elden Ring? Well, similar to the Tree Sentinel, Flying Dragon Agheel, Glintstone Dragon, and Magma Wyrm Makar, we’re just going to cheese. Make sure you’ve found a ranged weapon and you’ve got the arrows/bolts to spare.

Basically, you’ll want to mount up on Torrent and bring out your bow. If the boss is further away, just activate lock-on and continue shooting. If they lunge for you, disengage lock-on and run away.

What if they cast Blades of Light? This is where it gets fun. That’s because the speed of the projectiles as they travel toward you is actually slower than Torrent’s sideways movement. So, if you see the casting animation, activate lock-on, then keep sniping the boss while moving to your side.

As you can see in the image below, you can fire half a dozen arrows during the casting animation. Just be sure to disengage and run because the boss will usually do its melee lunge soon.

Defeating Erdtree Avatars and Putrid Avatars in Elden Ring nets Tears used in mixing the Flask of Wondrous Physick. This type of potion allows you to combine different effects, such as boosted stamina and poise, or HP regeneration with spells that don’t cost FP for a limited time. You can learn more in our Flask of Wondrous Physick and Tear combinations guide.

Note: There are two other types of overworld bosses that guard Erdtrees, such as those in Mount Gelmir and Altus Plateau. These are the Ulcerated Tree Spirit and Wormface, which we discuss in separate guides.

Elden Ring is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.