Deathbirds are a recurring boss in Elden Ring that only appears at night and spawns from the sky.
Overview[]
Deathbirds are gigantic decaying birds with incrusted corpses over their body.
All deathbirds are said to be the offspring of an entity called the twinbird, which is an envoy of an outer god.[1]
In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame, and the Deathbirds were the keepers of that fire.[2] They were graveyard fire keepers and were said to rake out the ashen remains of the dead from their kiln.[3] From the cinders of the dead burned with ghostflame arose vengeful spirits.[4] The Deathbirds were regarded as malevolent deities by some.[5]
Through the ancient act of the rite of Death, priests of old were permitted to come among the deathbirds and become their guardians, and act which serves as an oath sworn to their distant resurrection.[6] Such priests can be seen inside the wings of the Death Rite birds as spirit beings wielding death ritual spears.
Curiously, they count as Those Who Live in Death despite it seeming as if they would predate Godwyn the Golden's death.
Boss Fight[]
Deathbirds usually rely on melee attacks which can be either dodged or blocked, except for its peck and grab attacks. It's recommended to avoid being under it's head to avoid getting pecked.
Moveset[]
Phase 1[]
| Moveset | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assortment of melee attacks | ||
| Phase | Physical | Can Be Parried/Cannot Be Parried |
| Many of this boss' swipe attacks have it move backwards, meaning rolling towards it tends to result in getting hit. | ||
| Screech | ||
| Phase | Physical | Can Be Parried/Cannot Be Parried |
| A short screech that inflicts Death Blight if close. Will follow up with a grab attack if the player is at mid-range. | ||
| Grab | ||
| Phase | Damage Type | Can Be Parried/Cannot Be Parried |
| When the player is at mid range (not close enough to melee but not extremely far away), the bird can try a grb attack that can be dodged. If not dodged, will inflict heavy damage. | ||
| Peck | ||
| Phase | Physical | Can Be Parried/Cannot Be Parried |
| If the player is directly under the birds head, it will do a peck attack from above. | ||
Weaknesses[]
As they count as Those Who Live in Death they are weak to Holy damage and extremely weak to specific anti-undead weapons. Ash of War: Sacred Blade and Holy Water Pots are useful tools to make short work of these enemies, even if the user doesn't have a lot of Faith.
Drops[]
| Item | Drop Rate | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Blue-Feathered Branchsword | 100% | Limgrave |
|
Sacrificial Axe | 100% | Weeping Peninsula |
|
Red-Feathered Branchsword | 100% | Liurnia of the Lakes |
|
Twinbird Kite Shield | 100% | Capital Outskirts |
Bosses[]
Background[]
Found east of the Warmaster's Shack at night. From the shack's bonfire, walk entirely east and get on top of the first ruins seen. The area is surrounded by trolls, bats and rams.
Background[]
Found at night, north-west of Castle Morne on top of cliff. Walk near the Ruins to make it appear.
There are Tarnished Golden Sunflowers just where it spawns that can be used to make Holy Water Pots (recipe from Missionary's Cookbook 1, bought from Merchant Kalé).
Background[]
Found at night and spawns when near the ruins that are very close and north-east of the Scenic Isle grace.
Background[]
Found at night on the far north of the outskirts, west of Hermit Merchant's Shack on the cliff that overlooks the minor Erdtree in the are with giant death snails.Gallery[]
