How to defeat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Rellana, Gemini Moon Knight offers a completely different kind of challenge Elden Ring‘S Shadow of the Erdtree DLC compared to what you encountered in Belurat. Rellana is fast and merciless, with brutal, almost unbreakable combos, high defenses and some deadly magic, but has one major weakness.

Us Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree guide explains how to beat Rellanaincluding details on her weaknesses and how to prepare for the boss fight.

Rellana location in Elden Ring DLC

Rellana waits at the Ensis Moongazing Grounds on the eastern edge of Castle Ensis. She’s a mandatory boss and impossible to miss if you want to reach Scadu Altus this way, unless you skip Castle Ensis by taking the long way via Ellac River. There is a place of mercy just outside her arena, as with all bosses, and two NPC summons: Dryleaf Dane and Needle Knight Leda.

Keep in mind that any summoned NPC or human ally will increase the boss’s health, but having both on hand also provides a useful set of distractions while you learn how Rellana works – by watching her take down your allies.

Rellana Weaknesses and How to Prepare

Choosing the best weapon for Rellana is something you will probably have to experiment with as you get used to her moveset to see what works best for your style. Heavy weapons can take out a significant amount of her HP, but the problem is that hitting one is difficult. Rellana generally moves quickly and can dodge heavy attacks and perform a strong range of counterattacks.

I had trouble landing more than two hits at a time, even with a katana. However, the straight sword and light greatsword fighting styles are nimble enough to let you throw in a few attacks (even a well-timed Ash of War skill) and retreat while Rellana recovers. Miladywhich you can find at the Miquella’s Cross near the Castle Ensis checkpoint is a good choice for this fight.

Use a melee weapon that scales with intelligence or confidence when doing a magic build, and keep in mind that spells won’t do much good against Rellana, as she has one of the highest magic defenses of any enemy. Magic does have a place in this fight though, like she is sensitive to Frostbite.

She is also weak to lightningbut it’s quite harder to put together a good lightning build if you don’t have one yet. Frozen Lightning Spear takes advantage of both weaknesses, but since Rellana tends to dodge sideways, she often puts herself out of range of the incantation’s first hit and subsequent explosion. This works best when Rellana is distracted by an NPC summons or your Spirit Ash.

An easier way to apply Frostbite is with Glintstone ice crag. It has high Frostbite scaling and unlike Ranni’s Dark Moon it tracks your target enemy and has a faster casting animation. The low Intelligence requirement of 15 means that even Strength or Dexterity builds can use this spell. Rellana won’t take much damage from Icecrag itself, even if you have a high Intelligence stat, but it will activate the Frostbite status after about four or five hits. Frostbite deals heavy damage and increases the amount of damage Rellana takes from magic and might for about 15 to 20 seconds.

You can also skip and cast the spells Freezing fat instead on your weapon, although Frostbite’s buildup happens more slowly if you can’t land multiple hits in a row.

Either way, you’ll know it worked when you see an ice cloud floating around Rellana. You may be able to get away with just using Frostbite to wear her down, if your Spirit Ash is aggressive enough to distract her for most of the fight. However, when Frostbite is active, you should try to land some hits with your weapon and take advantage of the ailment while it lasts.

As always, make sure your weapon and Spirit Ash are upgraded as high as possible. If you run out of Smithing Stones or Glovewort, return to The Lands Between to pick up some Bell Bearings for the Maiden Husks.

How to defeat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight in the Elden Ring DLC

Rellana’s attacks are fast and fluid, and she combines multiple combos. Sometimes she changes which attacks she uses halfway through, and sometimes she even skips them altogether to deliver one powerful blow when you least expect it.

As we suggested with the Divine Beast Dancing Lion boss, you might want to consider recording footage of your fight so you can look back later and see how she behaves without trying not to die.

Rellana boss fight phase 1

In general, you can expect three parts of Rellana’s combos.

1. The first is an opening attack, usually a single swipe from one of her swords.
2. Then comes a follow-up from the other sword, which can be an upward strike or an overhand strike. Rellana can add several in the middle of her combo, or a downward slash from both swords, or even a small spinning slash.
3. The combo ends with a strong finisher, where she crosses both swords before taking them down with a powerful punch.

Rellana can cancel her attacks and switch to another combo move, seamlessly switching between targeting a summon or you. It all sounds a bit overwhelming – and it feels overwhelming to play at first – but Rellana’s attacks have one thing in common: they’re all forward-facing. Your first instinct might be to back up and get away when she starts her barrage of attacks, but dodging forward will get you out of harm’s way more effectively.

Still, Rellana turns quickly, so you won’t have much time to rest after you’re gone unless she’s distracted by something else.

Her other attacks involve a strong thrust followed by a second thrust or a strike from her other sword. Rellana also summons Carian blades that fly at you after a few seconds, similar to what the Carian Knight did earlier in Castle Ensis, and will sometimes fire an arc of magical energy at you. Dodge forward or to the side when you see her hand and sword glowing blue.

The fallen Carian princess also possesses a devious trick that negates the need for most powerful attacks and extensive weapon skills. When you start doing one of those attacks, Rellana spins around at a 270-degree angle (that’s three-quarters of a circle) and hits you with an upward slash from one of her swords. Sometimes she also follows that with a downward blow. Your skill misses, and you also get a lot of your HP taken away.

Stick to the normal attacks when Rellana is facing you, and only opt for something more fun when she is with another character.

After a few minutes, Rellana summons a Carian Greatsword and performs a vertical slash, which you can dodge sideways to avoid, followed a second later by a sweeping horizontal slash. Dodging forward or sideways works for this, but if you miss the right timing you will take heavy damage.

Rellana boss fight phase 2

Things kick off even more once Rellana’s HP drops by about half, and this is the time to summon your Spirit Ash if you haven’t already. She pauses for a moment and lights her right sword with magic and her left sword with fire, and she will follow that with a firestorm that spreads around her in a diagonal pattern, or with a flurry of sword blows that strike her. fire damage if they connect.

If it’s the firestorm, make sure you’re not standing in a flame spot before it erupts. If it’s the sword attacks, try to dodge them.

Rellana’s basic attack combos remain unchanged in this phase, although they can deal magic and fire damage when they connect. However, she also has some new tricks.

Her sword summons are now more similar to Greatblade Phalanx than Glintblade Phalanx, but even though they do more damage when they hit you, you can still dodge them the same way as before. Rellana will also use her Carian swordslash ability more frequently and aggressively, often firing multiple bows in rapid succession.

Rellana will also occasionally thrust both swords forward, creating a small tunnel of flames. Dodge sideways from it and use the few seconds as she completes the animation to land a hit or two.

Once Rellana’s HP reaches about a third of its maximum total, she will occasionally jump into the air and summon two moons. One moon collapses into the ground after a second or two, sending out a shockwave of magic, and the second moon follows immediately after. Then Rellana herself crashes back onto the battlefield, sending out an even larger wave of magic.

These moves happen quickly, and are not only difficult to dodge, but getting hit by all three – or even just Rellana’s final descent – is enough to send you back to the nearest place of mercy. Given the nature of the attacks as circular waves, the best way to avoid them is to dodge forward as they make contact with the ground. Alternatively, if you are very fast and Rellana is not in the center of the arena, you can retreat to the far edge of the room and avoid damage that way.

You might also get lucky and avoid this last trick of hers altogether, if you press the attack hard enough and keep Frostbite going.

Defeating Rellana earns her Remembrance, which you can give to Enia during Roundtable Hold in exchange for Rellana’s Glintblade Swords or her Twin Moon sorcery.

Looking for more Shadow of the Erdtree Guides? Check out our guides on new Elden Ring DLC weapons, armor, map fragments, places of mercy and talismans. We also have location guides on where to find Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes, and an interactive Elden Ring DLC map.