The Golden Hippopotamus guards the entrance to the Shadow Keep in Elden Ring. He might look like a simple bestial enemy, but there is more to this fatso than meets the eye. This is a recurring boss/enemy in the Elden Ring DLC, so better to be prepared using this boss guide for all there is to this boss battle.
Let’s take a detailed look at how to easily defeat the Golden Hippopotamus in Elden Ring and start exploring the Shadow Keep legacy dungeon.
Fighting Golden Hippopotamus
The Golden Hippo in the Shadow Keep starts off as a regular fight with a feral beast. He has all the standard moves of a “giant creature on four legs” you could expect.
From head bashes, charge attacks, and using its mighty jaw to crush you with its bite, a very classic movest if you have faced bosses of this type in other FromSoft games.
Things take a turn when his HP drops between 60-70%. The hippo will turn into a “porcupine” with golden thorns bursting all over its head and back.
This change in appearance is accompanied by an increase in ferocity and some unique attacks. It will start using its holy-based crucible quills to puncture you. Many attacks will send thorn projectiles at you, which are harder to dodge.
Most of his attacks will remain the same, but the Crucible Thorns will improve them. They will hit harder and even add some new attacks to the combo.
These are some additional details for the boss:
- The Golden Hippo in the Shadow Keep is optional. You can skip it if you use the Church District Entrance, the eastern opening of this legacy dungeon.
- There are two NPCs available for this fight: Redmane Freyja and Hornsent. Adding a spirit summon will make it a 4v1 fight, making it incredibly easy.
- In its second phase, the Golden Hippopotamus deals Holy damage, so armor must be equipped to resist this type of damage.
- Equip some holy-resistant armor for the second phase of the fight.
- The boss can be stance broken easily. Spells like Shard Spiral and Pest Threads will drop this boss consistently.
- The boss has some of the most telegraphed attacks out of all the bosses in the Elden Ring DLC. It is easier to learn his moveset.
- Due to the boss’s erratic movements, the lock-on could become an annoyance. When he is moving a lot, try to lock off and fight.
- There are 4 other Hippopotamus in the Elden Ring DLC. These are open-world field bosses, although they don’t have a golden/holy transformation. (More on them below)
Moveset
Here are all the attacks you can expect the Golden Hippopotamus to use and how you should react to them:
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Charge Grab | He opens his mouth and charges toward you. If it connects, he will grab you and slam you on the ground. | Start running back diagonally as he pushes toward you and roll to the side right before he reaches you. |
| Belly Flop | He stands on his feet and drops to the ground after some delay. Has some AOE around the impact zone. | Roll only when he is about to land or run back out of the landing zone. |
| Bite | A simple forward-biting attack. | Roll into the bite to place yourself near the boss and attack him. |
| Head Charge | He rears his head, then propels himself forward, trying to pummel you with his head. | Roll to the side or into his body as he comes near. |
| Head Slam | He slams his head forward twice in quick succession | Dodge to the side twice in the rhythm of the slams. Time your dodges just right. |
| Horizontal Head Swing | He moves his head to the other side and swings it horizontally, sending you flying. | Roll into the swing’s direction. |
| Golden Phase | ||
| Golden Belly Flop | It’s the same as the Belly Flop attack, but this time, quills will start raining on your location. It also has a similar AOE as before. This is the first attack as he transitions to the second phase. | Roll only when he is about to land or run back out of the landing zone, then start running in a direction to avoid the quill rain. |
| Golden Sonic Roll | He jumps in the air and begins to roll (like Sonic), attempting to crush you. | The attack has terrible tracking, so get out of the way of the jump and remain stationary. None of the rolling should hit you. |
| Golden Horizontal Roll | He stands on his hind legs and then rolls horizontally on the ground, firing quills on every side. | Back off and dodge straight as the quills are fired. |
Weaknesses and Resistances
The Golden Hippopotamus is resistant to the following damage types, so try to avoid using them:
- Bleed / Hemorrhage
- Frostbite
The boss is weak against:
- Slash Damage (extra), although he is weak to all physical damage. The new Great Katana category in the Elden Ring DLC is a great source for dealing Slash damage.
- Fire – The Blasphemous Blade will make quick work of this boss.
- Lightning – The Lightning Strike incantation shouldn’t be ignored if you are a Faith build.
- Poison
- Scarlet Rot – Rotten Breath is your go-to spell for this status effect.
He is immune to both Sleep and Madness, none of his attacks can be parried, and he is vulnerable to Critical Attack when poise is broken.
Boss Strategy
As soon as you enter Golden Hippo’s arena, he usually launches the Charge Grab attack. This attack is incredibly hard to dodge since, most of the time, you can’t see the boss’s bottom jaw as it clips through the floor, making it difficult to judge when a grab is actually going to occur. Running away and dodging right at the last second is the only way to survive this attack.
The initial phase has only a few standard moves. If you are ever close to the boss, either on the left or the right side, pay very close attention to its mouth. Whenever it opens its mouth and roars a bit, expect an incoming physical attack.
When you see it push its head into the ground, that means a delayed swing attack is coming. Don’t panic-roll right away and wait for the head to actually move toward you before you dodge.
The second phase is when things get real. The Crucible needles/thorns hit like a truck.
When the boss slams down, it will rain quills on you. You have to either pick a direction and run, or if you’re stuck, do your best to roll steadily, and you should be able to dodge most of it. Don’t let multiple needles hit, or you are done for; you can endure one or two needle shots only.
In phase two, many of the boss’s attacks are extended. In some circumstances, he will start hitting twice instead of once, so don’t assume that everything is the same as before.
Pay very close attention to the boss’s mouth again. When it’s opening in its mouth, chances are it’s going to attack, and now there is a chance he can follow up with Crucible magic. Many of the boss’s attacks, like the Head Slam, are difficult to see when you are standing close to or underneath him, so a bit of a distance will help discern incoming attacks.
Keep a vigilant eye on his thorns. Whenever they glow, prepare for a quill attack. As discussed in the moveset above, it can be one of three attacks. His normal attacks can be tolerated in most cases if you have a good amount of HP; however, the quill attacks aren’t as forgiven, so make sure you learn those moves.
How to Cheese the Golden Hippopotamus?
Like most Elden Ring cheese strategies, you only need your trusty Mimic Tear, Rotten Breath Incantation (you will need 15 Faith and 12 Arcane to use this spell), and a shield with 100% physical damage reduction (with Barricade Shield skill equipped if possible).
As you enter the arena, quickly summon Mimic and let him grab the Golden Hippo’s attention. Next, run to the other end of the arena, to the left side of the statue in the middle. Here, you will find a nice little safe corner behind the pillar and spear racks.
With the boss’s eyes set on your spirit summon, poke your head out of the corner and use the Rotten Breath to start spewing scarlet rot. A single cast of the spell will deal much damage and apply the lethal poison.
From here on, it’s just a matter of turtling up behind your shield and the crevice when the boss attacks you and watching as the scarlet rot eats away at his health. Let the mimic catch the boss’s aggro and use this opportunity to cast the spell again to deal extra damage and re-apply the scarlet rot.
Continue to do the same in the second phase; soon, he will succumb to the rot. It’s not the safest cheese, but it sure beats facing this feral hippo head-on.
Rewards For Defeating Golden Hippopotamus
Taking out the Golden Hippopotamus in the Shadow Keep in Shadow of the Erdtree will net you:
- 200,000 Runes
- The Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns incantation.
- 2x Scadutree Fragments
Lesser Golden Hippopotamus in Shadow of the Erdtree
Four more hippos roam the Land of Shadow. These aren’t bosses per se since they don’t have a boss health bar when you fight them, and they don’t have a Golden Crucible transformation. Although they share the same moveset as the initial phase of the Golden Hippo of the Shadow Keep and are much more squishy. You can even summon your spirit in these fights.
However, you shouldn’t ignore them since each one of them will drop a Scadutree Fragment when killed.
Let’s go over each of the hippo’s locations so that you don’t miss out on this invaluable upgrade item. The locations are marked on the map above for your convenience:
1: Charo’s Hidden Grave – Golden Hippo
You must first reach the Dragon Pit, which is your way to the Jagged Peak. Take the southern path as you exit the dragon pit, and you will come across the Grand Altar of Dragon Communion, where you will meet the Dragon Communion Priestess.
Traverse the giant dragon’s body and move to the southwestern section. This will lead you to Charo’s Hidden Grave; the whole area is blanketed in red flowers. Keep moving through this location until you unlock the Charo’s Hidden Grave Site of Grace. The golden hippo is just a few steps to the west from here.
2 & 3: Recluses’ River – Golden Hippo
There is a pair of Golden Hippos in the Recluses’ River area, the lower secret area of Scadu Altus, accessible only through an illusory wall in Shadow Keep. This area is the same way you reach the Abyssal Woods.
Reach the Recluses’ River Downstream Site of Grace and make your way down the tombstone platforms sticking out nearby. Take it all the way down, and instead of going down the next set of tombstones for the Abyssal Woods, just turn your head to the east, and there you will see two hippos.
You don’t have to engage with both of them at once. There is enough distance between them to take them out one at a time.
4: Ancient Ruins of Rauh – Golden Hippo
The last one is found in the end-game area of the Ancient Ruins of Rauh. It roams the ruins just southwest of the Viaduct Minor Tower Site of Grace. You need to defeat Messmer the Impaler to gain access to this region.
From the site of grace, use the elevator directly to the south. This will take you down to an area built inside the rocks, populated by Bloodfiends. There is a hidden duct that will exit to the outer area where you will easily access the golden hippo.
Even though the game calls it a hippopotamus, I assumed it was a giant mutated rodent of some sort. The Golden Hippopotamus is not the most difficult boss in Elden Ring, but since things hit so hard in the DLC, there is very little room for errors. I killed it in my first attempt by bringing both Hornsent and Freyja with me.