Elden Ring, like said above, alongside all the other Souls games in the franchise, is often regarded as perhaps one of the hardest games available today. Why? Well, because even the smallest and weakest can obliterate you into non-existence. Trust me, I can vouch for that, I have been killed in this game more times than I can imagine. And that’s not taking the bosses into account! Oh man, I suck at these games. However, with all of that, there is always some way, some strategy, some trick you can pull to defeat all enemies in the game. Yes, skill is the most important asset, but from time to time, the game will give you a hand. Well, we have good news for you today. Here is how to easily beat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy in Elding Ring
How to Easily Beat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
Yes, there is a way to easily defeat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, an optional boss in Elden Ring. You see, while you may try to kill him with everything you have collected so far, you will have a very hard time dealing any type of damage. That’s why when you enter Rykard’s chamber, you will have to pick up the Serpent-Hunter, a weapon that is lying next to a corpse on your left. It is extremely effective against Rykard. This is a two-phase battle, so you will have to make the best out of this weapon. We will take a look at both phases briefly, and then we will talk about how to easily beat Rykard using the Serpent-Hunter. Let’s go.
First Phase: God-Devouring Serpent
Once you start the fight, you will fight Rykard’s first phase: the God-Devouring Serpent. Here is a table of all the possible attacks you might encounter during this fight:
| Serpent’s Attack | Description | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Snake Bite | The Serpent will lounge at you, trying to knock you down. | Dodge. |
| Digging Magma | After plunging its head into the ground, the Serpent releases a magma eruption when it comes out of it. | Keep your distance. |
| Grab | The Serpent will raise its head and try to grab you with its mouth. | Dodge. |
| Head Magma Slam | After hitting the ground with its head, the Seprent will send magma toward you. | Dodge backward. |
| Poison Spit | The Serpent will spew poison in front of it, leaving a damage-dealing poison pool in its place. | Keep your distance. |
| Magma Thrash | After raising its head and looking to the side, the Serpent will start spinning around, thrashing its stall all over and causing magma to appear all over the place. | Block or run away if at distance. |
Second Phase: Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
The second phase will see the Serpent’s head dead, but its neck will reveal that there is a face hidden over there. Oh yes, that is Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. A pretty blasphemous look if you ask me. Anyway, here is a table detailing all his possible attacks.
| Rykard’s Attack | Description | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Stab Combo | Rykard will stab the area surrounding the player, three times. | Run away or dodge. |
| Sword Combo | His most used attack, Rykard will swing his sword from one side to the other. | Dodge towards the direction the swing comes from. |
| Magma Leap | After leaping up, Rykard slams down and sends magma everywhere. | Keep your distance, and dodge if necessary. |
| Snake Bite | Rykard will lung the serpent toward the player. | Dodge to your left. |
| Sword and Snake Bite Combo | After swinging his sword, Rykard will lung the serpent two times from both directions. | Dodge towards the direction the serpent head comes from. |
| Explosive Trails | Rykard will release red skulls from its mouth. They will track you down and explode. | Run away until the skulls explode. |
| Rain of Skulls | After raising his sword and turning the sky red, a large number of red skulls will appear and track you down and explode. | Run away until the skulls explode. |
| Sky Cleaver | Rykard will empower his sword and channel the fire from the sky. He will then slam the blade into the ground, causing an explosion. | Run to any side and dodge as necessary. |
Boss Strategy
As you can see, there are quite a decent amount of moves that both the God-Devouring Serpent phase and Rykard himself will attempt to make. You only have three with your Serpent-Hunter. A poke as a normal attack, a sweep attack as a heavy attack, and a special skill, which is a charged attack that pokes the Serpent at long-range. This last one is the most powerful of the bunch. Use a combination of the three in between all of the attacks. Your charged attack, while it uses a decent amount of FP, will deal quite a lot of damage, and it is possible to spam it all the way to victory.
Whether you would like to do it this way or in a combination with all the other two attacks is up to you. Like said before, don’t use any spells or other weapons, since they will not render any significant damage. If you like to make the fight a lot easier, you can use Mimic Tear while having the Serpent-Hunter equipped. This will ensure some extra damage done and will also divide Rykard’s attention. With all of the above, you will have everything you need to defeat Rykard in no time, and easily.
Related: How to Easily Beat Commander Niall in Elden Ring – Boss Fight Guide
The Serpent is Hunted
And that’s pretty much all you need to do to easily beat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Don’t get overwhelmed by the various number of attacks that you will have to run from or dodge, you will have a decent time window to avoid them. Use your Serpent-Hunter freely and you will be victorious, getting Rykard’s Great Rune, which is an Elden Ring’s rune. Believe me, it is worth it. Anyway, have a good time with Rykard! I bet you won’t be forgetting this fight any time soon, especially if you have tried to beat him without the Serpent-Hunter.
Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows. Please check out Gamer Journalist on Facebook to join the discussion and keep up to date with our content. You might also like to check out our guides on How to Get Every Ending in Elden Ring or How Does Matchmaking Work in Elden Ring Colosseum.
