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I was born a champion's cub. Now I am the Lord of the Battlefield's lion. — Radahn's Redmane Helm
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Starscourge Radahn is an optional Boss in Elden Ring. He is a Demigod and Shardbearer and the son of Radagon of the Golden Order and Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. He was also the general of the Redmanes. He is required to be defeated in order to achieve the Age of the Stars ending.
Overview[]
Radahn was the son of Queen Rennala and Radagon, and became a demigod stepchild after his father's marriage to Queen Marika.[1] He is regarded as the mightiest hero of the demigods,[2] and was feared as the strongest demigod of the Shattering.[3][4]
Pre-Shattering[]
Radahn was born the son of Radagon, a champion of the Erdtree, and Queen Rennala, head of both the Carian Royal Family and Academy of Raya Lucaria. He had two siblings, Rykard and Ranni. Radahn inherited his father's flaming red hair, and was fond of its heroic implications.[5] From a young age, he was enamored with the Elden Lord Godfrey. Attempting to emulate his idol, Radahn adorned his armor with lions, the symbol of Godfrey.[6]
At some point, the first Elden Lord, Godfrey, was robbed of grace and hounded from the Lands Between. Radahn's father, Radagon, left Rennala to become Queen Marika's new consort and the second Elden Lord.[7] Radahn and his siblings were thus raised to demigod status by their new step-mother, Marika.[8]
Not wanting to abandon his scrawny but beloved steed, Leonard,[9][10] Radahn studied gravitational magic in Sellia under a master who was an Alabaster Lord.[11] Radahn befriend the Albinauric Gaius, a senior disciple of his teacher, and the two formed a competitive yet friendly rivalry. Radahn's step-brother Messmer the Impaler was also friends with Gaius and the two became as elder brothers to Radahn.[12]
Mastering gravitational magic allowed Radahn to manipulate the forces of gravity, and to challenge the very stars themselves.[13] Radahn conquered the stars, saving Sellia in the process, using his vast gravitational powers to 'shatter' the stars and arrest their cycles, earning him the moniker of "Starscourge." During this time, he engraved the gravity crest upon his blades.[2][14]
Radahn's soldiers were known as the Redmanes for the red-maned lion raising a sword in the image of Radahn on their surcoats.[15] The longest serving of the Redmane Knights was Ogha, who studied gravitational techniques alongside Radahn in Sellia.[16] It was popularly said that the Redmanes knew no weakness.[17] At an unknown period in time, Jerren, a guest of the Carian royals, became a guest commander for Radahn's armies, and they swore a mutual oath of honorable death.[18][19]
When Radahn's half-brother Miquella ascended closer to godhood as an Empyrean, he would soon desire to take Radahn as a consort. Radahn was deeply admired by Miquella for his kindness and strength, seeing qualities of a lord in Radahn since childhood.[20] He made a vow with Radahn, where Radahn would become his consort,[21][22] and in return, Miquella would have to uphold some unspecified part of the vow.[22]
The Shattering[]
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Radahn battling Malenia.
At some point following the Night of Black Knives, Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring, and her offspring acquired the Great Runes. The maddening taint of their newfound strength led to the Shattering, a war between Marika's demigod descendants, each seeking to become the new ruler of the Lands Between.[23]
From his stronghold of Redmane Castle in the Caelid Wilds, Radahn led his armies against the forces of the other demigods. Radahn tried to challenge Godrick the Grafted in Limgrave, but the latter hid in Stormveil Castle.[24]
By the end of the Shattering, only Radahn and his half-sister Malenia, Blade of Miquella were left standing. The two fought to a stalemate in the Battle of Aeonia, their duel ending inconclusively when Malenia unleashed her Scarlet Rot.[25] As the flower blossomed, Malenia whispered in Radahn's ear "Miquella awaits thee, O promised consort."[26]
The Scarlet Rot ravaged Caelid, and consumed Radahn from the inside, eating away at his psyche but failing to kill him. Following the Battle of Aeonia, Radahn roams the Wailing Dunes as a mindless beast who devours the flesh of friend and foe alike, howling at the sky.[27] Without their commander, the Redmane Knights burned the crest on the left breast of their armor to indicate their resolve to not return home, and to serve as a bulwark against the spread of the rot in Caelid using fire.[28][29]
In spite of his madness, Radahn continues to ride his scrawny steed, as well as halt the motions of the stars. The Radahn Festival has been organized by his men in Castle Redmane to celebrate his last battle. It is a gathering of mighty warriors who might finally put the General out of his misery, and claim his Great Rune for themselves. The festival serves as Jerren's way of fulfilling his oath of honorable death to Radahn.[30][31]
Upon the participation of a Tarnished Champion, the festival is a success, and Radahn is freed from his tortured existence. His death causes the stars to resume their cycles, some of which come crashing down upon the Lands Between. One such falling star lands in Limgrave, opening the path to Nokron, Eternal City, and allowing the fate of Ranni the Witch to progress.[32][33]
Shadow of the Erdtree[]
Following Radahn's defeat, his soul met its end. However, Miquella sought to revive it,[34] still desiring for Radahn to be his lord consort. Miquella was successful in reviving Radahn, placing his soul into a vessel made from the remains of Mohg, Lord of Blood, another Demigod slain by the same Tarnished who had defeated Radahn.[35] The Tarnished encounters the newly-resurrected Radahn at the Gate of Divinity at the top of Enir-Ilim. Radahn stands guard as Miquella completes his ascension to godhood and battles the Tarnished once more. During the ensuing battle, Miquella steps out of the Gate of Divinity and embraces Radahn as his consort and fights the Tarnished with Radahn.[36] The Tarnished triumphs over Radahn and Miquella, thus preventing Miquella's age of compassion.[37]
First Encounter (Starscourge Radahn)[]
The fight against Starscourge Radahn only becomes available when the Radahn Festival commences. This requires the player to either activate a Site of Grace in Altus Plateau, talk to Blaidd the Half-Wolf about Radahn in Siofra River, or talk to War Counselor Iji about Jerren.
Torrent can be called during this fight and is useful for closing distance and evading Radahn's ranged attacks.
Multiple NPCs are available to be summoned during the fight, and their summons can be located throughout the arena. Six can be summoned at a time, and once a summon sign is used it will vanish, however each NPC has multiple summon signs that can be used.
The list of available summons is:
- Blaidd the Half-Wolf
- Alexander, Warrior Jar
- Lionel the Lionhearted
- Okina
- Great Horned Tragoth
- Patches (will leave a few seconds after summoning)
- Finger Maiden Therolina
- Castellan Jerren (only available in phase 2)
Moveset[]
| Moveset List | |
| Radahn's Rain | Phase 1 |
|---|---|
| Fires a volley of arrows into the air, which proceed to rain down in a line which homes in on the player. | |
| Gravity Arrow | Phase 1 |
| Fires an arrow infused with gravity magic, which homes in on the player. | |
| Scattershot | Phase 1 |
| Fires several arrows in front of him with a wide spread. | |
| Double-Blade Slash | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Pulls back both swords and slashes forwards in a horizontal arc, leading with the left sword. | |
| Upwards Slash | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Drags his left sword along the ground and slashes upwards. | |
| Cross Slash | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Crosses his swords in front of him and slashes forwards with both. Follows up by lunging forwards and slamming each sword downwards. | |
| Slam/Sweep Combo | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Swings his blades downwards multiple times, followed by a horizontal swing with both blades. | |
| Quick Swings | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Swings his blades multiple times in quick succession, ending with a spin. | |
| Gravity Stomp | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Performs a gravity-infused stomp with his right leg, and follows up with a slash. | |
| Cragblade | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Digs his blades into the ground and unleashes an explosion of gravity magic. When he removes his blades from the ground, they are coated in rock and will deal additional damage. | |
| Starcaller Cry | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Unleashes a roar which generates a field that pulls the player and any summoned allies towards him | |
| Collapsing Stars | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Slams his swords into the ground, creating several purple orbs which home in on the player. The player will be pulled towards Radahn if they hit. | |
| Jumping Slam | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Leaps into the air and brings both swords down. | |
| Gravity Dive | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Leaps into the air and crashes down, swinging his swords. Upon hitting the ground, he unleashes a wave of gravity magic which emanates away from him. | |
| Meteor Impact | Phase 2 |
| After his health drops below 50%, he crackles with gravity magic and slams both swords into the ground before propelling himself into the air and vanishing. After several seconds, he hurtles back down from above, causing a devastating explosion upon impact. | |
| Levitating Meteors | Phase 2 |
| Drives both swords into the ground and pulls them back up, calling four meteors to appear. They will float around him until he sends them flying towards the player. | |
| Spinning Attack | Phase 2 |
| Hovers in the air and charges twice while spinning rapidly. | |
Phase 1[]
The player will spawn some distance away from Radahn, with the boss visible at the top of a dune in the distance. Immediately, Radahn will begin firing volleys of arrows which rain down from above, homing in on the player, as well as gravity arrows. The latter can be avoided by hiding behind the clusters of weapons dug into the ground, however the weapons will break when struck. Riding Torrent will make it easier to avoid the volleys. Summon signs can be found in clusters all around the arena, and can be used to summon NPCs to assist in the fight.
Once the player is close enough, Radahn will begin attacking using his swords. He is very mobile, using his horse to cover distance easily. He also uses a number of gravity-based attacks, such as Cragblade, gravity waves, and Collapsing Stars.
Phase 2[]
Once his health is below 50%, Radahn will launch himself into the sky, disappearing for several seconds. He will then come crashing down in a ball of fire, dealing devastating damage to anyone caught in the impact. Radahn now gains the ability to raise four floating rocks, which will hover beside him and then launch at the player or their summons. He also gains the ability to float into the air and spin rapidly while charging.
Environment[]
The Wailing Dunes is a very large arena consisting of many tall dunes, with Radahn initially standing at the top of the largest dune close to the centre of the area. Clusters of weapons can be found stuck in the sand, and can be used to hide from Radahn's arrows. Summon signs can be found throughout the arena, often in clusters of two or three.
Second Encounter (Promised Consort Radahn)[]
The Second battle against Radahn serves as the final boss of the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.
Moveset List[]
| Moveset List | |
| Spinning Gravity Bomb | Phase 1 |
|---|---|
| Rushes through the air while spinning before ending with an explosion | |
| 6-Slash Basic Long Combo | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Does a right foot stomp followed by a single overhead sword slash, a double sword sweep, then, a slightly delayed dual overhead sword slash, and a ground explosion. | |
| Slash Swing Combo | Phase 1 |
| Performs a long string of attacks, starting with a right sword sweep, then a left sword sweep, a half-spin attack, a quick double sword sweep, a slightly delayed double sword sweep, and a delayed left sword thrust. | |
| Cross-Slash | Phase 1 |
| Does a quick slash with each sword in succession, and end with a delayed cross-slash. | |
| Hit Combo | Phase 1 |
| Opens with an overhead right sword swing, followed by a slightly delayed quick left and right sword sweep in succession before doing two fast right and left swings. | |
| Double-Slash Uppercut Slam | Phase 1 |
| While raising both swords into the air, will do a sideward double slash and end with a delayed double overhead sword swing. | |
| Somersault Sword Slam | Phase 1 |
| Does a front somersault toward your position and smash both swords into the ground. | |
| Bloodflame Slash | Phase 1 |
| Swings sword at close range. The trail created from the slash engulfs a small area in bloodflames and explodes after a short duration. The bloodflame causes Blood Loss. | |
| Gravity Meteor | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Slashes both swords through the ground, then slashes them upward causing rocks to fly into the air. He then leaps into the air from a distance and uses gravity magic to launch the meteors towards the target. | |
| Starcaller Cry | Phase 1 & 2 |
| Pulls the target towards him with gravity, causing them to stagger. Slams the ground and uses gravity to force ground spikes upwards. | |
| Light of Miquella | Phase 2 |
| Levitates with arms stretched out, and summons an explosion of light in a wider area. | |
| Promised Consort | Phase 2 |
| Raises both swords as they glow with the Holy Light before slashing them forward to create a blinding light. Will then quickly slashes both swords again after a delay, before jumping to end the move with a Cross-Attack Slash that creates a massive AoE explosion. Each slash spawns a pillar of light. | |
| Consort's Meteor Rain | Phase 2 |
| Slams his swords on the ground, before leaping into the air. After a delay, will fly back into the arena at the speed of light, crashing back to the ground in a glorious explosion | |
Phase 1[]
Just like in the base game, players will spawn a distance away from Radahn. While retaining his gravity magic, and as his soul now possessed Mohg's remains, Radahn now employs Bloodflame, and seamlessly switches between the two elemental magics while in combat. To defeat him, it is always important to time your attacks in between Radahn's string of attacks or pull off counters at the very end of a combo. Because of his recovery time, this makes his boss battle complicated, as he can launch other attacks almost instantly after finishing a heavy attack. As a result, it is important to note that patience and appropriate timing are the keys to defeating Radahn. The optimal moment to attack is when he finished his basic sword combos, and would take a brief pause to recover.
At the start of his boss battle, he will nearly always use a gravity attack to prevent players from summoning or buffs upon entry into the boss battle. Because of this, players are recommended to use buffs before accessing the boss and cast summons right after dodging the initial attack. During his first phase, Radahn will use a flurry of combos aside from special abilities such as a Bloodflame Slash and his Gravity attacks. After being reduced to 65% of his health, this will trigger a cutscene leading to Phase 2.
Phase 2[]
In this phase, Radahn's previous attacks are improved and he gains new powerful abilities. Most of them are Holy-powered and have a wider AoE. Overall, while his attacks become more lethal, Radahn is now faster in speed, now capable of creating mirror images to attack and using strong Holy-based abilities, making the boss battle more difficult and challenging. However, despite gaining immense power, Radahn's health has already been reduced to 75%, allowing players to gain a slight edge. It is important to capitalize on the pauses of Radahn's combo attacks, as there are opportunities to strike. Constantly taking advantage of them can deplete his health and because Radahn's attacks can be very punishing if caught off-guard, you have to be prepared to switch between offensive and defensive at times.
While Radahn can still perform similar combos from Phase 1, they have an additional Holy damage explosion at the end. As Miquella is now mounted on his back, he can do a grab attack where he will glow and jump at the player in order to grab them. If successful, Radahn will bring them close to Miquella, who will then place the player under a charm. While this doesn't deal any damage, if Radahn successfully grabs the player a second time while they are charmed, this will ultimately result in instant death.
Environment[]
The arena consists of a very wide area, with a rough white surface filled with gray-white decomposed corpses, which can be found sticking from the ground. At the other end of the arena, stands the Gate of Divinity itself, where Miquella will step out in divine aspect in the second phase.
Notes[]
- The first encounter can be cheesed by luring him up the cliff far in the north, from where he will fall to his death. Alternatively, you can make him crashland into the ocean with his phase 2 transition meteor by standing at the edge of the southern shore when he comes down.
- The introductory cutscene appears to depict Radahn, surrounded by his foot soldiers, fighting Morgott, the Omen King in his guise as Margit, the Fell Omen.
- Radahn's feet are missing, likely due the Scarlet Rot eroding them away.
- Radahn is the only Shardbearer boss with no dialogue and no cutscene either preceding the fight (unless one counts the cutscene when talking to Castellan Jerren) or at the start of his second phase.
- Radahn has no dialogue in the DLC either, but cut content reveals that he would have intro lines for his boss battle.[38]
- The old description of Longtail Cat Talisman mentions Radahn used to have a pet cat, but it was later removed.
- Hidetaka Miyazaki has admitted his favorite boss is the first Radahn battle, stating he enjoys Radahn as a character and that he likes the festive yet sad aspect of his fight.[39]
- Because Radahn's new body is made from Mohg's corpse, he now sports omen horns on his arms and legs, and uses one of Mohg's bloodflame incantations.
Gallery[]
References[]
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