Venturing through the Lands Between in Elden Ring, the thrill of encountering formidable bosses is undeniable. Recently, I faced two such challenges: the Divine Beast Dancing Lion and Rellana. I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts on these encounters.
The Divine Beast Dancing Lion boss fight, to put it simply, was genuinely fun. It took me 29 attempts to finally claim victory, but each attempt was engaging. Luck might have played a small role in my success, as the boss seemed to favor its wind-based attacks over the random elemental assaults during my winning run. However, what truly stood out was the boss design. It’s visually impressive and, refreshingly, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion offered actual openings for attacks, a welcome contrast to some of the more relentlessly aggressive bosses in the base game, like Maliketh or Godfrey. Despite some aggressive moves, the Dancing Lion’s attack patterns felt manageable, avoiding overwhelming multi-hit combos. Overall, I have a positive impression of this boss encounter in Elden Ring.
Then there was Rellana. The whispers comparing her to Malenia, the Blade of Miquella, had me apprehensive. After facing her myself, I can say that those comparisons are “partially true.” Rellana certainly lives up to the hype in terms of aggression, unleashing flurries of attacks that demand precise dodging. However, unlike Malenia, Rellana doesn’t stagger easily. It requires a more sustained assault, often with charged attacks, to break her poise. Rellana possesses a few particularly challenging moves, most notably her “twin moons” attack. This attack sees her ascend into the air before crashing down with two moon projectiles, creating massive, arena-wide shockwaves. Mistiming your jumps to avoid these shockwaves often results in death. Despite these challenges, I found Rellana to be less punishing than Malenia, primarily because she lacks a second phase, a feature that makes Malenia such a grueling encounter. It took me 19 attempts to defeat Rellana, and her relentless aggression was truly something to behold. Interestingly, I wonder if my strength-based build influenced the perceived difficulty of this fight. Perhaps a different build would present a greater challenge against Rellana.
What are your personal experiences with the Divine Beast Dancing Lion and Rellana in Elden Ring? I’m curious to hear how other players have tackled these bosses and their thoughts on the difficulty and design.
