So, you made it to the top of the tower in Belurat. Give yourself a pat on the back, that’s no easy task by itself. Those jerks with the giant maces ain’t messing around. Unfortunately, you’ve got one last challenge to take on before making your leave of the place, and if you’re having trouble getting through the Divine Beast’s deadly dance, we’ve got your back.
Divine Beast Dancing Lion’s Abilities
If there’s a running pattern with all the bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, it’s that they have absolutely no chill. For most of them, that’s metaphorical, as they start out trying to catch you off-guard with a move that can one-shot you if you aren’t careful. In Dancing Lion’s case, it’s ironic, since the first thing he does when he sees you is unleash a freezing breath that can drain the life right out of you, and if you just stand there when you first enter his room, that’s the end of you in about two or three hits. He’ll typically try this move if you get too far away from him later on as well.
If you survive this initial blast, the lion will get in close to leap, spin, twirl and bite, and do it quick. And because the design of this thing is so wild, it can be hard to tell what’s an incoming combo and what’s just the Lion taking a step backward. The easiest attack to actually anticipate is when he rears back on his hind legs before executing a spinning combo that ends with him headbutting into the air. That said, that can be confused with his bite attack where he rears back and smacks his lips together a couple of times before he makes you his chew toy, knocking off most of your health in the process. That’s just phase one.
For phase two, he’ll bring the rest of his elemental attacks out to play. He’ll switch to lightning first, and try a bunch of area-of-effect attacks which make a lot of very pretty and very dangerous patterns on the ground. He’ll also toss a spear at you that he then turns into a massive lightning rod. His ice attacks function the same way, except instead of the very pretty patterns, it’s mostly just pools of ice that eventually explode and afflict you with Frostbite. Lastly, there are his wind attacks, which just involve either spitting a tornado at you, or becoming one himself. If you ever wondered what a Geostorm on four legs would look like, well, here ya go.
Strategy: Defeating Divine Beast Dancing Lion
Thankfully, even though this fight can turn into a chaotic and messy disaster with all the elemental attacks going on, this is also a fight where you’ll have some extra help. Not only can you summon Spirit Ashes, but there’s a summon sign for Redmane Freyja right outside the door. There’s still the matter of actually getting to summon said Spirit Ash, though, which can be dicey since the freezing breath is coming the second you walk in the door. It’s doable; just be prepared to immediately roll left or right after the summon animation’s done. If you’re bringing the Mimic Tear, maybe take a chug from your flask when you’re done to top off your HP.
Once the Lion jumps towards you, the fight basically turns into one of those cartoon dust clouds full of fists and cursing, but with Freyja and your Spirit Ashes in play, you get the privilege of creating some some distance while they go to work. Magic users will have an easier time of it, as they can stay at midrange and throw spells at it all day long; just keep an eye out for when the Lion’s got its sights set on you, and don’t be in the middle of an animation when it flies at you looking for a snack.
For melee users, pick your moment to jump into the fray, specifically after the Lion tries a spin combo, but roll out for a breather after two or three hits, especially if you’re near a wall. The lock-on camera has a tendency to go a little haywire during this fight. If you’re tanking it, your Greatshield should be able to eat a hit or two of the combo and leave some left over for a couple of hits. Weapon-wise, run with speed more than power here. The Lion’s way too fast to muck around with anything with a slow wind-up, but if you jump in at just the right moment when Freyja and your Spirit Ash get to lay into this thing, you can stance-break him with some regularity.
Youll have to be a bit more strategic about when to jump in with phase two, however. For the lightning, you’ll be able to see the patterns on the floor for where it’s about to strike, and weave between them to get close to the Lion, but if you get too zealous trying to land hits, chances are good you’re getting thunderstruck when you least expect it. Again, distance is good, but, here, the Lion will also throw spears at you that you want to be far, far away from before they explode. Same goes for the ice. The explosions don’t do as much damage as the lightning, but if you’ve wandered into a cluster of ice when they explode, the frostbite effect can compound, leaving your defense stats at rock bottom, which usually means the Lion’s next hit will be your last. Either wait it out a minute, or have a Freezing Bolus to pop at the ready when you’ve rolled out of danger for a second. The Lion’s tornado attacks can do some decent damage but, thankfully, these are also the easiest attacks to dodge.
The lion will shift between all three of these at regular intervals, but when its health starts running low, it’ll basically switch between them whenever it damn well pleases, which can get unpredictable, but the same principles apply. Pick your moments to jump in, whale on him when your summoned buddies do, and don’t get so wrapped up in the fight that you don’t see the next big attacks.
When, finally, the lion sleeps tonight, you’ll get a ton of runes, and a Remembrance item you can trade in for either a talisman that enhances storm abilities, or an ice-elemental stomp attack. Those are all well and good, but the S-tier reward is the Divine Beast Head, which is a damn-near universal piece of gear, raising poise, attacks, and defense for melee users, as well as magic attack and defense. The only real flaw is that it provides zero Focus (which means you’re vulnerable to any attacks that inflict Madness), and the head is so obnoxiously huge it can be hard to see around sometimes.
Oh, also, if you’re a magic user, hopefully you managed to get into the Storeroom down near the Small Altar Site of Grace. Take a quick trip back down there, wear the Beast Head, and talk to the little old lady inside for a bit of lore and the Watchful Spirit incantation.
