How to Defeat Dragonkin Soldier in Elden Ring

Want to defeat the Dragonkin Soldier in Elden Ring?

Elden Ring feels like a combination of everything FromSoftware has released in the past 13 years. Due to this, the game packs many fascinating locations and bosses to discover in the vast world of The Lands Between. 

One good example is the Dragonkin Soldier. This is an optional boss in one of the most stunning areas in the game. 

Like other games before it, Elden Ring constantly rewards players with valuable things if they go off the main story and explore every area of the game. The Lands Between is one of the most densely packed open worlds among its class, making it an unforgettable experience for players. 

For today’s guide, we will show you where to find and how to defeat the Dragonkin Soldier in Elden Ring. 

Let’s get right into it!

Dragonkin Soldier Overview

The Dragonkin Soldier is an optional boss found in the Siofra River through a hidden teleporter. If you are used to FromSoftware games, then the Dragonkin Soldier will just be another day in the park for you. 

However, it can still surprise even the most veteran Souls players due to its sneaky attacks here and there. 

For the most part, the Dragonkin Soldier features many wide-sweeping attacks and telegraphs its attacks well before trying to execute them. 

If you are new to Elden Ring, the Dragonkin Soldier might be a different encounter altogether. Although its moves are easy to read and predict, they deal tons of damage, especially if your character is still low-leveled. 

If you can’t use ranged attacks effectively, we strongly recommend using Torrent for the entire encounter. 

However, if you don’t have either of these options, we’ve included a melee strategy for you as well. 

Dragonkin Soldier Rewards

Killing the Dragonkin Soldier in Elden Ring will net you 16,000 Runes, which is quite high considering that this optional boss is on the lower end of the difficulty bracket of Elden Ring bosses. 

Furthermore, you will also obtain the Dragon Halberd, an excellent weapon that you can use if you meet the requirements to wield and upgrade it. 

Overall, the Dragonkin Soldier boss drops rewards that are worth the effort of tracking it down and slaying it. Due to this, we strongly recommend players attempt this encounter whenever they get the chance. 

Finding the Dragonkin Soldier

Before you can face the Dragonkin Soldier, you must first get to its location, which is arguably harder than the actual boss fight. Although the Worshippers’ Woods is the nearest Site of Grace, we suggest working your way up from the Siofra River Bank Site of Grace since this route has fewer enemies. 

Starting from the Siofra River Bank Site of Grace, head north and stick to the right side of the pathway. While traveling, we suggest taking on whatever enemy you encounter to avoid getting an unmanageable group of ghost warriors chasing after you. 

Due to this, we also suggest riding Torrent and taking things one herd of enemies at a time until you reach a grouping of stone pillars. 

Once you are here, another group of ghost warriors and archers will spawn and will be harder to deal with. However, if you eliminated all the other enemies leading up to this point, they should be more manageable. 

After killing the ghost warriors, look for a knocked-over pillar that acts as a bridge to a stone tower and follow it up. 

The teleporter you are looking for should be on top of a stone tower. Take the teleporter to reach the Dragonkin Soldier’s location. 

Torrent Strategy

Due to the boss fight’s location being an expansive area, you’ll be allowed to summon Torrent for the entire battle. Your trusty mount is an excellent way to keep your distance from the boss, which allows you to force it into executing more manageable attacks. 

When riding Torrent, the best strategy you can do is to charge in and stick to the Dragonkin Soldier’s right side. This will be your left when looking at the boss. 

This should bait the boss’ medium and close-range attacks, which are easier to dodge while riding Torrent. When the Dragonkin Soldier attacks, try to land a few hits during its recovery period and flee once the animation is over. 

Repeat this sequence until the Dragonkin Soldier falls. 

Melee Strategy

For players who are not comfortable riding Torrent during battle, you can use this solid melee strategy to take care of the boss. The trick here is to position yourself at the Dragonkin Soldier’s back left leg, which is accessible by rolling through the opening between his legs. 

Once you’re there, it should attempt a broad circular swing, but this will likely miss, which allows you to keep your offense up and get in a few more hits. 

However, after the Dragonkin Soldier whiffs its attack, you will have to reset and repeat the process mentioned above to defeat it. 

This strategy works best if you mix it into your current approach rather than repeating the entire process endlessly across the entire encounter. You should also get a tanky Ash for the Lake of Rot boss, like Kaiden Mercenary or Mimic Tear scaled up to +9. 

Ranged Strategy

For ranged users, you have a few options on how to approach this fight. The standard approach will have you casting whichever incantation you are comfortable with at the Dragonkin Soldier from medium range. 

This should give you plenty of time to see whichever attack it will perform and get out of harm’s way. 

However, this will take a few attempts to get your rhythm and distance right. But once you learn where the sweet spot is, you should be able to handle this entire encounter without having any problems. 

That ends our guide on how to defeat the Dragonkin Soldier in Elden Ring. If you have questions, please drop a comment below, and we’ll do our best to respond.