How to beat the Shadow of the Erdtree Scadutree Avatar boss

The Shadow of the Erdtree Scadutree Avatar boss fight is an encounter that's easy to miss, as the Avatar is tucked away at the Scadutree Base area to the north of the Shadow Keep. And finding it is one thing - even once you get there, there's a three-storey sunflower trying to hammer you into the ground like a tent peg, a worthy challenge for one of the Shadow of the Erdtree Remembrance bosses.

Still, it's worth fighting, as the Scadutree Avatar is a powerhouse and one of Erdtree's most memorable bosses. If you're looking for weaknesses, locations and info on rewards, here's everything you need to know.

How to beat the Scadutree Avatar in Shadow of the Erdtree

The Scadutree Avatar is a tough boss that marks one of the great challenges of Shadow of the Erdtree, but there are ways to handle it. Here are some basic tips that we'll go into more detail on below.

• The Scadutree Avatar is weak to Fire damage and Magic damage to a lesser degree 
• Many of its attacks are either Holy or inflict Bleed, so build resistances to those.
• You'll want to have a Scadutree Blessing of level 8 minimum, ideally higher.
• The Avatar has three phases, triggered by resurrecting itself.
• Its melee attacks are surprisingly fast, while ranged attacks are easier to dodge.
• The Avatar's head takes far more damage than the rest of it.

The Avatar is a giant sunflower monster that uses a mixture of heavy melee attacks and ranged spells to whittle through your defenses. You'll probably want to have a Scadutree Blessing of level 8 at least and 10+ if you're sensible, if you want to consider fighting something as powerful as this, though obviously your level and build give you some leeway. If you're feeling underpowered, we have all Shadow of the Erdtree Scadutree Fragment locations listed here! 

For prep before the fight, the Scadutree Avatar is a very weak to Fire Damage, which makes sense, considering it's a big flower. It also appears to be vulnerable to Magic damage from classic sorceries, though it seems as though Fire is the more potent power against it. A wise player will equip themselves accordingly, as well as building resistances to Holy Damage, Bleed Status Effect, and keeping at Medium weight at most. The Avatar hits like a truck, so tanking or shielding these attacks isn't really an option for most.

Once you're in the arena, the Scadutree Avatar has three phases, triggered when you empty its health bar. Each time, it self-resurrects and comes back to life in the next phase, stronger and more aggressive than it was before. As a rule, here's what to expect:

• Phase 1: Slow, stationary. Focuses on long-reaching melee attacks and homing spells.
• Phase 2: More aggressive, starts charging at the player and focusing more on melee.
• Phase 3: Incredibly aggressive. Introduces an explosion move with a huge range that must be fled to be avoided.

As a general rule, if the Avatar does a spinning move/horizontal attack, roll backwards. If it does a charge, reach or lunge, roll to the side. The Avatar's reach on its arms is massive, so if you try to outpace it or challenge that reach, you'll probably lose. Its melee attacks also tend to generate thorns in a small AOE when they land, so you'll need some healthy distance.

The key target is the head, which takes far more damage than the rest of it. Ranged fighters should absolutely prioritise the big sunflower, and many attacks will cause it to hunker down into melee range for the weapon fighters.

As the fight goes on, you need to swap from aggressive to defensive over time. A strong Fire weapon like the Blasphemous Blade is great here, using its heavy, long-range Skill to devastate the Avatar. Once you've taken out the third phase, it'll finally be gone for good.

Scadutree Avatar rewards

When beaten, the Scadutree Avatar drops 260,000 Runes and the Remembrance of the Shadow Sunflower, which can be exchanged for a homing Incantation or a Colossal Weapon made out of the Avatar's head. It also drops Miquella's Great Rune, which doesn't function like all the others you'll have found in the core game. In fact, this is an item you can trigger that's used to have an effect in the fight against the Shadow of the Erdtree final boss - check that guide to find out more.

Scadutree Avatar location

If you're wondering where to find the Scadutree Avatar, it's at the Scadutree Base, a swampy region at the North corner of the map. 

Our guide on how to get to the Scadutree Base in Shadow of the Erdtree will give you further detail, but what you need to do is access the Church District via the eastern entrance to the Shadow Keep, up north from the Cathedral of Manus Metyr, then follow the rooftops around to the lever where you can un-flood the area. This'll let you access the Northern church at ground level, whereupon the elevator in there, shown above, will bring you down to Scadutree Base, a tiny area which consists basically of a church and the yellow swamp that the Avatar lives in.

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