Midra Lord of Frenzied Flame is an optional legendary boss found after your grueling journey through the terrifying Abyssal Woods in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. I believe the boss’s design, the lore behind him, and the overall experience of discovering this boss shouldn’t be ignored.
Running in blind into this boss fight is surely a death sentence. With my help, you won’t be risking your sanity as we will review his whole repertoire and how you should adapt to face this maddened monstrosity.
Fighting Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame
Before you enter the arena, you will hear someone’s agonizing scream. As you approach it, you will witness a small frail old man in the center. Yup, that is Midra. This poor soul is suffering and wants to stop you from something terrible.
Once you are done thrashing him, a cutscene will play where he pulls out the large sword jammed through his body. This is when he shows his true burning colors, and Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame, will step forth. He has a frenzy flame void for a head and his spine as a giant greatsword.
This boss is ruthless with his punishments. His aggression is matched by long combos, both fast and delayed attacks, and very short windows between attacks to do some damage. You can see the sheer number of attacks at his disposal below.
On top of that, many of his attacks cause Madness build-up, which can easily kill you if you are not managing it properly. These include frenzy flame projectiles that he rains from his head.
When his HP reaches 70%, he will fly up and come crashing down in a massive explosion. This signals the last phase of the fight. The whole arena will start scorching, and his hostility will get a serious bump.
Not only will his normal attacks send out frenzy flame, but he will also start using explosions that will annihilate your health if you are not careful. Not to mention, his Golden Crux grab attack is a killer.
This is an end-game boss through and through where your skills should be on point to make a difference; otherwise, you will see a lot of the “You Died” screen.
Here are some useful information when facing Midra:
- Face this boss when your Scadutree Blessing is between 12 to 15.
- He has surprisingly low poise/stance. Most bigger weapons, such as greatswords, can stagger him with two charged heavy attacks and one light attack.
- The fitting time to buff up is right before Midra’s human phase is eliminated.
- Better to face the boss with a melee build. There aren’t long enough intervals between attacks to cast spells.
- Even though they hurt like hell and look insane, most of his attacks are quite basic compared to other bosses in the Shadow of the Erdtree.
- To counter the Madness build-up, you can :
- Talismans like Clarifying Horn Charm and Mottled Necklace will increase your resistance.
- Clarifying Cured Meat, Clarifying White Cured Meat, Dappled Cured Meat, and Dappled White Cured Meat consumables temporarily raise your frenzy resistance.
- Equip the Speckled Hardtear in your Wondrous Physick to boost resistance and cure all build-up.
- Spells like the Law of Regression (Faith/Incantation) and Lucidity (Sorcery/Intelligence) will remove Madness.
- Carry a hefty supply of Clarifying Boluses to quickly cure the status effect.
- Put on the armor with the highest Focus value to further increase resistance. The Solitude Set has the best focus.
Moveset
Midra’s starting human phase has these attacks:
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Howl | He begins to twitch and lets out an agonizing scream. It has some AOE, which causes damage and madness build-up. | When you see him trying to stand up or not flinching to your attacks, start running away to get out of range. |
| Arms Flail | Pathetically swings his arms multiple times to hit you. | Move away or continue to attack him to stagger him out of the combo. |
| Inescapable Frenzy | Similar to the incantation, he will jump at you, and if he connects, he will pin you to the ground and induce madness by staring at you. | If you attack before he catches you, it will interrupt this attack. Otherwise, just dodge as he hurls at you. |
Midra Lord of Frenzied Flame’s real boss fight begins in the next phase. He has two phases:
Phase 1
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Triple Slash | Raise his sword straight up and then performs three slash attacks. | The first slash is pretty slow, so don’t react early. Roll towards the slash, then there’s a slight delay, and then it’s two quick dodges back to back. The recovery time afterward is long enough to perform a charged attack. |
| Frenzy Burst Triple Combo | He raises his weapon up to the left of his body, swings his sword, then stops to fire flames ahead, and then another sword swing. | Don’t rush the first swing since there is a bit of delay. Roll into the initial swing. The fire comes out quickly, so dodge it immediately after the first. Then, delay your third roll into the last swing. |
| Poke Thorn Burst | He pushes his sword in front, and it bursts open the thorns of the weapon. Slight AOE. | Roll towards the boss to bypass the swing and get behind him to land an attack. |
| Poke Combo | He raises his weapon up towards the left of his body, swings his sword, then thrusts his weapon straight ahead. He sometimes follows it up with a Poke Thorn Burst. | Both of these attacks come out slow, so delay your dodges for both. Roll into the boss for the follow-up; it will not hit you. |
| 4 Slash Combo | He pulls his weapon back behind him on his left and then performs a double slash in front with a slight delay followed by another double-slash. | Both of these double slashes require back-to-back dodges with a small delay in between each. |
| Double Slash to Burning Dash | He pulls his weapon back behind him on his left and then performs a double slash in front, followed by a burning dash straight ahead that leaves flame in its wake. | Quickly roll twice for the initial double slash, pause, and then dodge into the dash. Be careful not to land on the flame to avoid madness build-up. |
| Left Arm Stab | He lifts his left arm and tries to smack you twice with the nail in his hand. His least hurting attack. Usually used in the middle of combos. | Dodge twice before the arm reaches you. |
| Powerful Poke | Pulls his weapon behind him and jabs it in front of him. Used to close distance. Can follow it up with a Poke Thorn Burst. | Dodge to the side and roll away for the follow-up. |
| Floating Swipe | He rises in the air while rotating, then flies towards you with a huge horizontal sword swipe. | Wait for him to propel towards you and then dodge into the swing’s direction (right). |
| Horizontal Flame Sweep | He leans forward and launches arcing fire from his head on the ground from your right to left. The fire causes small explosions. | Move close to the boss in time, and you can get some free hits. Or dodge back to get out of range. |
| Frontal Flame Assault | He extends his arms to the sides and releases arcing fireballs from his head that move straight ahead. He sometimes walks toward you while using this attack. Fireballs cause explosions. | Dodge to the side when you see the flame moving towards you. |
| Whirlwind | He spins twice with his weapon sticking out and slowly rises in the air, followed by three fast 360-degree weapon spins. He will pull his sword back on his left side for both the swings. | Dodge back-to-back twice for the initial spins, then wait for him to prime the second spins and roll through them twice. It is hard to time these dodges. |
Phase 2
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 2 Transition | At 70% HP, he starts levitating while his head glows brighter. He then plummets to the ground and causes a giant madness explosion. Some fireballs will continue to rain down after the explosion. | Turn around when you see him initiating this attack and continue running until the explosion ends. |
| Burning 5 Hit Combo | He raises his weapon up to the left of his body, setting it on fire. He then slowly swings his weapon, pauses, and quickly swings twice, ending with a much-delayed last swing. Every swing releases fireballs in front. | Roll twice with a bit of delay between each roll for the initial swings, then roll twice without any breaks for the second pair of swings, and then wait a while for the final roll. Stick close to the boss to avoid the fireballs. Execute a charged attack as he recovers afterward. |
| Frenzy Beams | When you are farther away, he fires beams directly at you. | Pick a side and start running, or roll to the side 3 to 4 times if you have nowhere to run. |
| Overhead Slam to Burning Dash | He sticks his weapon diagonally in the air with his sword on fire, then performs a vertical slam followed by a burning dash that leaves fire on the ground. | Dodge into the overhead slam, then dodge to the side as he dashes forward. |
| Dual Sword Sweep of Flames | He pushes his weapon horizontally to the side while it burns, then steps forward to perform a wide swing that sends a wave of fire on the ground in front. He then circles in the air while rotating, only to land with another wide swing that sends out fire. | Roll forward into the first swing, stay close to the boss, pause, and then roll to the side again as he attempts to land. |
| Grab Attack – Golden Crux | When he leaps in the air with his arms pointing to the sky, he will lunge towards you while slamming his sword into the ground. If it connects, he will pin you down with his sword, and thorns will burst out of your body. If it doesn’t connect, he will drive his sword into the ground, and a bunch of spikes will erupt in an AOE. | A simple roll to the side as he tries to land on you will bypass the grab. Be prepared to dodge back quickly to avoid the spikes. |
| Frenzy Orb | He summons a giant orb right before him that pulses once and then explodes. Both the pulse and explosion deal damage and build-up of madness. | Run away as you see him cast the orb. Stay away until the explosion settles. |
Weaknesses and Resistances
Midra is resistant to the following damage types, so try to avoid using them:
- Fire
- Poison
- Scarlet Rot
The boss is weak to:
- Slash Physical Damage
- Magic
- Holy
- Lightning
- Hemorrhage / Bleed – Either opt for Bleed weapons or Blood Grease to buff your weapon. Impenetrable Thorns and Swarm of Flies spells will destroy this boss if you can find an opening to cast them fast.
- Frostbite – Frost affinity weapons are helpful for sorcery builds since he is weak to both Magic and Frostbite.
He is immune to both Madness and Sleep. You can parry all of his melee attacks, although he will only be stance-broken after 3 successful parries; you can then perform a critical strike on him.
Boss Strategy
No point in covering Midra’s human phase. He is extremely weak, and most of you should not have trouble taking him out. Just be careful not to receive unnecessary damage, or you will use precious HP flasks, which you will need later on.
Either keep Midra alive to apply buffs like Golden Vow and Wondrous Physick, or kill him and utilize the pause to buff up.
Phase 1
After he transitions to Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame, his opening attack is always the same: the Frontal Flame Assault. When the cutscene is over, immediately sprint toward him and dodge behind him as you approach him. Then, dodge again when he fires again. Quickly perform a heavy charge attack. This opening sequence is easy to pull off each time.
You need to find more openings like the one above to deal heavy charge attacks more often. If you do this right and consistently, the boss will drop to the ground, allowing you to perform a critical strike.
In this phase, most of his attacks will be basic combos using his greatsword. The first and most common one is the Triple Slash combo. Midra uses this three-hit combo quite often, so learning the timing for this will be very useful. You can always have an opportunity for damage after you successfully dodge this.
He uses the Poke Combo just as much. After you are done dodging through this combo, make sure to use a heavy attack while he recovers.
Using a katana with Blood affinity and heavy Unsheathe attacks is recommended.
He will likely thrust himself farther away when he performs the Double Slash to Burning Dash combo. This is the perfect opportunity for casters to let loose some quick spells like Swarm of Flies or Comet.
Since Whirlwind‘s timing is extremely hard to pin down, I found that the best way to avoid this was to just dodge right twice for both attacks, as there seems to be some kind of sweet spot where the spin won’t hit you on his right side.
The Frenzy Burst Triple Combo is designed to trip you up by adding what seems to be a combo finisher, the ranged frenzy attack, and then following up with one more swing. So don’t get ready to attack whenever you spot him using that ranged attack mid-combo.
He sometimes uses the Left Arm Stab attack only once, then pauses and moves to the next combo. In this instance, only go for a light attack after the stab and prepare to react to the incoming combo.
Punish him at the end of each combo. However, you must be vigilant since he can quickly chain combos. The combos are often chained using the Left Arm Stab, so keep an eye on that arm.
Slowly chip away his HP by around 30%, and he will begin the next phase.
Phase 2
The second phase starts with Midra rising into the air and crashing down in a massive Madness explosion. You can’t dodge this, so running away is your best bet to avoid that initial damage.
One of his new moves is the Golden Crux grab attack. Unlike other bosses, this grab attack actually comes from above as a jumping attack. If this hits, you might end up dying as it deals insane damage.
You must dodge it twice to avoid the follow-up spike AOE from where he lands. Dodge towards the boss so you are close enough to land a heavy charge attack as he gets back up.
Do not get greedy! You should only aim for one or two hits at a time or a heavy charged attack.
His other new moves, like the Dual Sword Sweep of Flames, leave a wave of frenzy flame in front of them. Including the Burning 5 Hit Combo, which is his longest combo and requires precise timing to survive, or else it is fatal in most cases.
A general rule of thumb for this combo is always to look at the direction of the incoming sword and roll into the swings. The recovery after this combo is pretty huge, giving you ample time to put some damage in.
His Frenzy Orb and Frenzy Beams abilities have the potential to one-shot you.
For the Frenzy Orb, running away is the only choice, but you can quickly return to the boss right after the explosion occurs. Do not worry about the lingering fire on the ground; they don’t hurt.
As for Frenzy Beams, if you’re close to him, you can just dodge left or right into the boss, but he won’t be able to turn fast enough to attack you, allowing you to get some hits in.
The whole fight is about figuring out the next attack’s telegraph. We have meticulously mentioned every reaction in the moveset section, so memorize it and react accordingly.
Rewards For Defeating Midra Lord of Frenzied Flame
Midra will drop the following items upon defeat:
- 410,000 Runes
- Remembrance of the Lord of Frenzied Flame – You can exchange it with Enia at the Roundtable Hold for either:
- Greatsword of Damnation – The boss’s weapon.
- Midra’s Flame of Frenzy – A Frenzy Flame incantation.
According to the lore, the enemies roaming this mansion are there to stop anyone from unleashing this horror upon the world, and they are right. Midra is a victim of the three fingers’ machinations, and you are doing him and the denizens of the Land of Shadow by putting him out of his suffering.