Messmer the Impaler is one of the major bosses in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.
He’s one of the toughest bosses in Elden Ring, including the base game. But, like all bosses, there is a way to defeat him.
In this guide, we’ll explain how to defeat Messmer the Impaler in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
Messmer the Impaler guide — Messmer location in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
Messmer the Impaler is located at the top of Shadow Keep, in front of the Dark Chamber Entrance Site of Grace. You’ll have to reach it by venturing through the Specimen Storage section and turning on the lever to go higher up the building.
You’ll have to avoid or kill quite a few enemies including Fire Knights on your way to find his boss arena.
Best build for Messmer the Impaler boss and Messmer weaknesses in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
To fight Messmer you’ll need to build up your fire resistance as well as have high physical damage. For fire resistance equip the Flamedrake Talisman and consume the Fireproof Dried Liver. The Flame, Protect Me incantation will also provide you with fire resistance.
To deal physical damage, use Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength as they stack together to gain some physical damage boost. Make sure you have your Scadutree Blessing up to +7 at least.
Messmer is weak to bleed, rot, and frostbite. So, using any of these or even a combination of these is useful. Weapon-wise, the Bloodhound Fang at +10 with the Bloodflame Blade will do massive bleed damage to him.
Additionally, using the Bloodhound’s Finesse skill will take chunks of his health as well. Alternate that with Ezykes’s Decay which does rot damage.
To make things relatively easier in the fight, it’s recommended that you use the Mimic Tear Spirit Ashes+10 as well as +6 with Revered Spirit Ash Blessing.
You can also summon Hornsent as well, with his summon sign located just in the middle right inside of the fighting arena. Mimic Tear and Hornsent’s main job here will be to draw Messmer’s aggro and combos, which do massive damage.
How to beat Elden Ring Messmer the Impaler boss in Shadow of the Erdtree
Messmer the Impaler guide — Messmer first phase
As soon as you enter the arena, Messmer will come in with a thrusting attack and a follow-up fire burst. Both of these can be dodge-rolled and will let you move far away. After that there will be two types of attacks he’ll do, he’ll throw a fire spear from the air which can be dodge-rolled.
Next, he’ll do a fire grab which takes a huge chunk of your health. This can be avoided by simply moving away from him or dodge-rolling through it sideways.
He also alternates this with a few spear stabs successively, which can be dodged sideways. Another of his common attacks is using flames that follow you wherever you go. To dodge these is to roll sideways. Both of these attacks have slight openings where you can put in a few hits.
His next move is some pretty devastating combos which have huge areas of effect. One is his version of the Waterfowl Dance, where he goes up in the air, shoots flames at you, and stabs you with his spear a few times while finishing it up with an area-of-effect fire attack, where spears come up from the ground.
The way to dodge this is to roll away from this as soon as you see it happening. There’s a small window to attack him after he does this attack. You’ll be able to land two or three hits on him before he repeats the previous types of attacks. His attacks come very quickly, especially when he’s hit so you’ll have to be precise when dodging them.
When he goes aggro, his area of effect and spear attacks become more quick and frequent. So, you need to be patient with him to land some hits. This is why summoning Mimic Tear and Hornsent are beneficial as they’re able to take a lot of the aggro while you’ll
When you get him down to 50% of his health, his second phase will begin.
Messmer the Impaler guide — Messmer second phase: Base Serpent Messmer
Messmer turns into Base Serpent Messmer in his second phase and attacks with a snake. His area-of-effect fire Waterfowl Dance and spear attacks become more frequent but fortunately, the fire attacks are done.
His attacks mainly use the snake now while alternating with his first-phase spear and area-of-effect fire attacks. Attacking him after the snake attacks and his area-of-effect fire attack is the best choice because he takes time to recover from these.
The first snake attack is a fire-biting attack with an area-wide burst afterwards. This can be dodged relatively easily. You’ll know he’s planning to do that attack when you see the ground filling up with blood quickly.
The second snake attack is a ground-thrust, which can also be dodge-rolled quite easily. A beneficial thing here is that these snake attacks give less damage compared to the fire ones in the first phase.
He also does three successive bite attacks if you’ve aggro-ed him. After his biting attacks with the snake, there is a bit of a window to attack him. His snake attack animations are a bit slower compared to the other ones in this phase which gives you the time to dodge or heal.
If you use the Mimic Tear and Hornsent, they’ll take the aggro during this phase while you swoop in with a few attacks to end him.
Messmer the Impaler drops and unlocks
The reward for defeating Messmer is 400,000 Runes and the Remembrance of the Impaler which lets you get Spear of the Impaler or Messmer’s Orb. You’ll also get Messmer’s Kindling which is required for getting into the Tower of Shadow.
That’s all you need to know about defeating Messmer the Impaler in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.
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