How to beat Bayle the Dread in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Bayle the Dread is a supremely powerful boss in Elden Ring’s Shadow of Erdtree DLC, and defeating it is a crucial part of Igon’s questline. The boss hits like a train and moves surprisingly quickly, making the dragon easily one of the more difficult bosses in the whole of FromSoftware’s game.

Our Elden Ring DLC guide covers not only how to beat Bayle the Dread in Shadow of the Erdtree, but will also reveal the boss’ weaknesses, and how to prepare for the encounter.

Bayle the Dread location in Elden Ring DLC

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Bayle the Dread is located at the very end of the Jagged Peak section of Shadow of the Erdtree. Starting at the very bottom of the entire region, you need to work your way up the mountainside using narrow pathways, jumping on Torrent to ride those huge gusts of wind all the way up to the top of the mountain.

You’ll find a site of grace and a summoning pool right outside the boss’ lair at the Jagged Peak Summit, so you can die repeatedly with ease.

Bayle the Dread weaknesses and how to prepare

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Bayle the Dread is a dragon, so Frost is your friend against this gigantic foe. In all fairness, that’s never quite a guarantee whenever you’re facing a dragon in Elden Ring, but Frost works a treat against this big guy, as does Scarlet Rot — a weapon that builds up either with as few hits as possible is going to be really important for this fight.

For spell users, Ranni’s Dark Moon, which deals Frost damage, works pretty well against Bayle the Dread. Comet Azur is also a really solid option, and if you’re a Faith-based player, then Black Flame and Black Blade are two decent options that allow you to stay pretty far away from the boss.

Additionally, Bayle the Dread is classed as a field-type boss, so you can use Spirit Summons against the foe. Unfortunately, there isn’t a story-centric NPC summon available for this fight, as you’d have found against other bosses like Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, for example.

Colossal-grade weapons, or those that hits very hard, will work well against Bayle the Dread, since the boss can have its poise broken. Ancient Dragon Lightning Strike works surprisingly well against Bayle the Dread — a pleasant surprise, given that the boss deals both Fire and Lightning-based damage.

How to beat Bayle the Dread in Elden Ring DLC

Bayle the Dread is a quick boss, which may come as a surprise given its size. One really important thing to note is that the camera for this fight can very easily go haywire; since Bayle the Dread is so big, you can easily get stuck underneath part of the boss itself with your character blocked from view. If you’re a melee user, I’d recommend locking onto the boss’ head and sticking near him — this makes it easier to dodge his attacks.

Bayle the Dread boss fight phase 1

You should generally be trying to dodge through Bayle the Dread’s attacks, rather than back from or around them. This means when you come up from a dodge roll, presuming you’ve dodged the attack, you can lay into the dragon’s head with a melee weapon — this is the best method of staggering Bayle the Dread.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

If you stay away from Bayle the Dread throughout this first phase, the boss will breathe a line of lighting-infused fire towards you. This is most common when you first enter the arena, and if you do see it, either roll or sprint to the left or right of the boss itself.

Another common attack is when Bayle the Dread infuses its wing with lightning damage, and then strikes the ground in front of you. For this attack, you need to make sure you’re dodge-rolling through the attack at the very last second, right before the wing hits the ground. (This is a really good rule of thumb with Bayle the Dread’s attacks in general, for what it’s worth.)

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

The boss can also chain together two swipes with its wings along the ground, without infusing them with an element. Again, dodge-roll through these, but roll in the direction of the wing that’s attacking you. For example, if Bayle the Dread uses its left wing to strike you, roll in the right direction.

Bayle the Dread boss fight phase 2

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

At roughly half health, phase two of Bayle the Dread’s fight will start. For starters, the boss charges up a huge area-of-effect attack, so you need to sprint away from that, while also avoiding the pools of fire on the ground. After this, Bayle the Dread will take off into the sky and fly around the arena, sending repeated balls of fiery lightning towards you. If you’re quick enough, you can position yourself under the outskirts of the arena to actually block out the bolts themselves.

Other aerial attacks come about when Bayle the Dread rises into the air, and sprays fire horizontally, then vertically. I’d heavily recommend sprinting, not rolling, sideways to get out of the way of these attacks.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Another attack sees Bayle the Dread continuously scream, during which a line of lightning strikes pepper the ground near your position. Again, you need to sprint away, preferably to the side so you’re keeping the boss fairly near, to avoid this.

One gigantic attack sees Bayle the Dread channel together energy and unleash it on the ground all around him. During this, you need to sprint back from the boss, but if you’re clever, you can jump when the attack hits, and then use Aspect of the Crucible: Wings to keep yourself off the ground and strike back.

Once Bayle the Dread is defeated, you’ll gain 490,000 Runes for your trouble, and the Heart of Bayle item. But the best prize? You can continue Igon’s quest.

For more Elden Ring DLC bosses, see our guides on all Remembrance bosses and learn how to duplicate Remembrances. Need to power up? We’ve got location guides on where to find Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes, and an interactive Elden Ring DLC map.