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General Strategies For Fighting Against Bayle The Dread
How To Defeat Bayle The Dread (Phase 1)
How To Defeat Bayle The Dread (Phase 2)
At the top of Jagged Summit, you can fight Bayle The Dread, one of the hardest bosses to beat in Elden Ring's Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC. This massive dragon may remind you of former Soulsborne beasts, like Darkeater Midir from Dark Souls 3 or Kalameet from the original Dark Souls. Like both of those opponents, Bayle is a relentless force of nature that can be difficult to take down.
Similar to how the NPC Sir Ansbach in Shadow Of The Erdtree can be summoned against the DLC's final boss, there is a way to recruit a friendly character to help against Bayle. You can summon Drake Warrior Igon for this fight if you have Igon's Furled Finger. You should be able to see the golden summon sign of this character near the Summit of Jagged Peak Site of Grace.
Keep in mind that your Tarnished character cannot summon Torrent during this boss fight. Unlike other dragon battles, you cannot rely on Torrent's speed to avoid elemental breath or Bayle's massive physical strikes.
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Best Gear, Weapons, & Build Against Bayle The Dread
Have Elemental Resistances And Strong Defensive Gear
Bayle The Dread uses fire and lightning elemental attacks throughout the boss fight, making it important to equip gear that resists these two attack types beforehand. The 
Boltdrake Talisman or 
Flamedrake Talisman and their upgraded versions are useful items for negating Bayle's primary damage types. You may want to increase the Talisman slots in Elden Ring for your character so you can use these items together.
You'll want to stock up on Scadutree Fragments to spend at Sites of Grace to make your character strong enough to fight Bayle. Using Fragments will help increase the damage negation from enemies in the Land of Shadow, including the various bosses met in the game's expansion. Since Bayle The Dread has a huge amount of health compared to other bosses, you'll need to tank more damage no matter what build you have.
One of the best builds in Elden Ring you can use against Bayle is a Bleed Build using certain weapons, such as the 
Star Fist or 
Rivers of Blood . While it takes a long time to generate Bleed against Bayle, doing so takes out a larger chunk of the boss' health than any other status effect. Bayle The Dread resists other conditions like Frostbite, making Bleed the most effective strategy beyond simple high-Strength DPS.
The best weapon to use against Bayle is the 
Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana , which deals more damage against the dragon than any other tool. Any type of physical damage works well against Bayle The Dread, but this katana is a weapon meant to challenge this boss. Similar to how the Serpent-Hunter is the only useful weapon against Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, the Great Katana's main function is to eliminate Bayle.
General Strategies For Fighting Against Bayle The Dread
Avoid Aggressive Attacks And Aim For The Head
Like other dragons you've fought in Elden Ring, a good strategy against Bayle is to aim for the boss' head whenever they use a breath attack. Elemental breath attacks usually have large Area of Effect blasts you have to avoid, but getting far enough ahead will allow you to reach Bayle's face while they continue to spew fire or lightning. Use a longer weapon to strike the creature's eyes and mouth when you get the chance.
Be careful not to try and attack Bayle up close for too long, as the dragon will tend to point its mouth down and unleash a huge AoE breath attack surrounding itself to damage any characters close to it.
When dodging physical strikes delivered by Bayle, take some time to attack the dragon from the side when it isn't using a breath attack. Do not get cornered by Bayle The Dread since allowing the dragon to attack you freely is a recipe for a quick death. Your goal should always be to deal damage consistently to contend with the creature's absurd health pool in Shadow Of The Erdtree.
Bayle The Dread has two "phases" to its boss fight where they gain additional moves when their health drops below 50%. Unlike the battle against Messmer The Impaler in Elden Ring, there will be no cutscene to prepare you for this transition in the boss' attacks. Try to recognize various patterns in Bayle's movements to take advantage of attacks the boss uses that you know you can retaliate against.
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How To Defeat Bayle The Dread (Phase 1)
Stay On The Move And Dodge Physical Strikes
The first phase starts when Bayle drops suddenly into the heart of Jagged Peak, immediately attacking your character. This part of the fight is straightforward, sharing many similarities with other large dragon fights like Dragonlord Placidusax or Lichdragon Fortissax in Elden Ring. You need to dodge physical attacks from Bayle and move away from breath attacks while finding opportunities to heal when possible.
As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator Fextralife, it can be hard to stay locked onto Bayle during the boss fight. Make sure to unlock your view from the dragon from time to time, as this can help you adjust your camera freely throughout the battle.
Bayle The Dread Move List (Phase 1) | ||
|---|---|---|
Attack | Description | How To Counter |
Straight Flame Breath | Bayle breathes fire in a direct line towards your character. | Sprint to the right or left or dodge roll several times to get away from the large AoE radius of the fiery breath. |
Wide Flame Breath | Starting from their right, Bayle unleashes fire breath in a wide, horizontal line from side to side that lingers and spreads for a short time. | Dodge forward into the flames close to Bayle, then quickly go to the opposite side of the where the flames are spreading. |
Flame Purge | Bayle rears their head up when an enemy is close to it before breathing fire down at the ground, where it spreads in all directions to cover a wide area. | As you see Bayle rise up, sprint away from the boss to avoid the fire's AoE. |
Dread Bite | Bayle's mouth fills with lightning as the boss leans back before lunging towards your character with a grab attack using the dragon's mouth. | Sprint away to one horizontal side as you see Bayle's mouth fill with lightning or dodge right as the dragon lunges to you. |
Bayle The Dread Move List (Phase 1) | ||
|---|---|---|
Attack | Description | How To Counter |
Jumping Claw Swipe | Bayle shifts onto one leg before jumping across the boss arena to attack your character with a deadly swipe of its claw. | Be ready when Bayle shifts onto its leg, then dodge right as the boss lunges forward. |
Tail Swing | When your character is behind Bayle, the boss will sometimes spin around, whipping its tail to try and hit you. | Dodge to one side horizontally at the moment when Bayle starts to spin. |
Herald of Lightning | Bayle screams into the sky, summoning multiple bolts of lightning to hit around the boss arena. | Watch for sparking electricity on large sections of the ground that indicate where lightning will strike and avoid those areas. |
Talon Swing Combo | Bayle roars before unleashing a combo of claw swipes starting with the boss' right hand. The boss tries to backhand your character with the same arm before slamming it into the ground for a third and final strike. | Pay attention to the timing of each claw swipe and dodge at the last second of each swing. Alternatively, you could sprint away to get far from the combo ahead of time. |
Leaping Lightning Dragon | Flying into the air, Bayle circles around the arena before dropping onto your character, causing lightning to explode in small bursts all around the dragon. | Wait until Bayle starts to lunge, then dodge forward to get behind the dragon. Continue rolling to get away from the burst of lightning strikes. |
How To Defeat Bayle The Dread (Phase 2)
Watch Out For More AoE Attacks
The second phase of the fight against Bayle The Dread is defined by AoE attacks, so watch the ground carefully to see where elemental explosions are taking place at various times. This phase begins with Bayle using the Leaping Lightning Dragon attack from the first phase. This move has even more lightning strike follow-ups attached to it, a trait shared by many of the moves that carry over from the first part of the battle.
Many attacks from phase 1 are powered up, but you can use the same strategy from the first phase to keep fighting the dragon on your terms. Bayle The Dread gains access to some new moves during phase 2, including:
Bayle The Dread Move List (Phase 2) | ||
|---|---|---|
Attack | Description | How To Counter |
Dread Apocalypse | Bayle roars while the boss arena rumbles before pillars of fire erupt from the ground and multiple bolts of lightning strike everywhere. | Most of the fire and lightning appear around Bayle, so sprint away from the boss to avoid each AoE. Watch out for sparks or flames on the ground to see where attacks will come from. |
Flying Doomfire | Leaping into the sky, Bayle will fly and shoot a huge blast of fire breath from left-to-right. Then, Bayle launches another flying breath attack straight forward towards your character. | Sprint away from Bayle for the first breath attack, or dodge as the fire gets close to you. Then, run to the side or dodge at the last second to avoid the follow-up breath. |
Lightning Barrage | Bayle jumps up flying, leaving several pinpoints of lightning in a trail they make as they soar in the air. These points turn into lightning bolts that fire at your character. Bayle shoots large AoE fireballs from their mouth as they fly to also attack you. | Sprint to the side to avoid the lightning bolts and dodge each fireball just as they are about to hit your character. |
Taking out all of Bayle's health will cause the dragon to finally fall, leaving behind the Bayle's Heart item. This object can be brought back to the Altar of Dragon Communion Site of Grace to make two different spells new to the game. Those who manage to beat Bayle The Dread in Elden Ring's Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC can receive Bayle's Flame Lightning or Bayle's Tyranny as possible magic from the Altar.
Source: Fextralife/YouTube
Elden Ring
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- Released
- February 25, 2022
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