Lichdragon Fortissax is one of the most secret bosses on Elden Ring. Getting to him is extremely convoluted, and you must be following both Ranni’s and Fia’s questline to reach this boss. How to defeat the boss? What is the boss weak to? What strategies can you use to beat it? Are there ways to cheese the boss? All will be answered in this ultimate boss guide to beating Lichdragon Fortissax in Elden Ring.
Lichdragon Fortissax is a boss fight at the end of Fia’s questline. The boss has tons of lightning attacks so equipping yourself with items that can negate this damage type. The Instant Death fog will make quick work of you so be very careful. Stay under him and let the boss perform his attacks and only then move in to get your attacks in.
Let’s look at the best strategies and builds in this boss guide that can help us easily defeat Lichdragon Fortissax in Elden Ring.
Is Lichdragon Fortissax Optional?
Lichdragon Fortissax is an optional boss in Elden Ring. However, he must be defeated if you go for Fia’s questline or the Age of the Duskborn ending.
Strategies for Defeating Lichdragon Fortissax
Below are some strategies for defeating the Lichdragon Fortissax boss in Elden Ring. The build you selected will determine the approach you should go for. We will cover the basic melee/magic caster strategies here:
Melee Strategy
Lichdragon Fortissax begins the fight by summoning lightning down to the ground. These lightning strikes will scatter instant death clouds everywhere so be extra vigilant not to wander into them. While summoning this lightning, this boss is idle providing an opening to rush into his legs and start attacking.
If you are standing underneath him, you do want to be careful because the boss can fly away and breathe fire straight down on you.
Standing in the middle of this fire will most definitely kill you so roll away. Keep moving out and running back to his legs as it is the best place to deal damage.
Another attack to be aware of are these lightning bolts he slams on the ground that sends out lightning waves in a plus “+” pattern. Run or dodge and position yourself in a diagonal direction to save yourself. Many times he will slam his hand on the ground with a lightning charge.
The hand might miss you, but a lightning strike will start to target you so start moving as it will fall on you after a bit of delay.
Limit your attacks to a maximum of four strikes and then get ready to dodge his attacks. Do not get greedy. Lightning blocking shield, lightning damage absorbing Talismans, and armor would be highly beneficial during this fight.
When he begins to fly there will be a couple of attacks he can perform. He will breathe fire while hovering, which you need to outrun. Or he will bring out a giant lightning sword then will begin to descend and perform a huge circular swipe as he lands on the ground.
This is hard to dodge. You have to move away from the landing zone and as soon as he is about to reach the ground, only then start rolling like crazy. Blocking is another option if you have a good lightning shield.
Whenever you see the boss moving toward you without any form of attack, wait and watch his next attack, and do not rush in. Reacting to his attacks is a better strategy than getting trigger-happy.
The Instant Death fog is the most unfair thing during this fight so be extra careful. He will be summoning it every so often.
Finding opportunities to run under the boss and meleeing him is the right thing to do. This boss is quite agile for his size so don’t be fooled. Run in, attack, and move out. His lightning tracking will make it harder for you to stand under him.
Magic/Faith Strategy
Magic and Faith build will have a hard time during this fight since he is resistant to both damage types. However, Magic builds will deal more damage compared to Holy and/or Lightning.
Magic builds would opt for physical damage spells. The best ones would be Rock Sling and Meteorite of Astel. Comet Azur will work fine as an opening barrage of attack although you won’t get time to reuse it in the middle of the fight.
With the Rock Sling spell, you should aim for the head as it is his weak point. With enough successful hits, it will poise break the boss and you can move in to perform a critical strike.
Faith builds should stick to Rotten Breath. The boss is relatively susceptible to this status effect and it will eat away his health easily.
Although, the long animation of this spell will leave you vulnerable to his attacks. To counter this, bring out your favorite Spirit Ash to divert his attention while you spray him with the Rotten Breath.
If you have the Mimic Tear, then you should equip the Rotten Breath only and then summon him. With both of you spewing Scarlet Rot on the boss, he will not stand a chance.
Finding openings for the long-winded spells will be rarer so do keep a handy quick spell for constant damage. Look for windows to cast these spells and use the hard-hitting spells when the boss is somewhat idle or locked in his own animations.
The Mimic Tear will make this fight significantly less severe as a Magic or Faith build.
What is Lichdragon Fortissax Weak To?
Lichdragon Fortissax is weak to the following damage types:
- Pierce Damage
- Weak Point – Head
What is Lichdragon Fortissax Strong Against?
Lichdragon Fortissax is strong or resistant to the following damage types:
- Strong
- Lightning
- Holy
- Immune
- Sleep
- Madness
Can You Parry Lichdragon Fortissax?
You can not parry Lichdragon Fortissax. It can be stance broken, and there will be a chance to perform a critical strike afterward.
Can You Cheese Lichdragon Fortissax?
You can cheese Lichdragon Fortissax by standing on top of a tree and spamming your attacks from the safety of your high ground. You must have any of the Dragon Breath spell/incantations like Agheel’s Flame for this cheese to work.
To get on top of the tree, you must quickly turn to the left as soon as you enter the arena/boss fog gate. Reach the edge of the arena and look at the point where the tree goes into the ground, as seen in the picture above.
Now start running into the tree. Keep sprinting until you see yourself slowly moving up the tree. When you have traversed to the middle of this sloppy surface use the Agheel’s Flame spell. This spell will further elevate you into the air allowing you to get on top of the tree.
Now run in the middle and look for a big branch that is sticking out from this tree and get on top of it. None of the boss’s attacks will get to you when you standing here.
From here, either equip a long-range spell to start pummeling the boss or better yet get a giant bow and start shooting. Don’t worry about his attacks. Whittle away his health and watch how this legendary dragon boss gets bested by a small height difference.
Lichdragon Fortissax is not a slouch. He is quite a challenge to overcome. You can ignore him completely but you will be missing out on one of the best boss fights in Elden Ring.
This boss fight is a spectacle to behold even if you don’t intend on beating him. Unfortunately, the hoops you have to jump through in order to get to him are a little too much for the casuals out there.