This is a guide on how to beat Draconic Tree Sentinel, an optional boss in Elden Ring. Read on to learn more about Draconic Tree Sentinel's strengths, weaknesses, attack patterns, and lore!

Draconic Tree Sentinel General Info

Stats and Rewards

Draconic Tree Sentinel
Weakness	Resistance	Immune
Poison	Slash Fire Lightning Bleed Frost Scarlet Rot Sleep	Madness Instant Death
Affected By	Poison, Scarlet Rot, Bleed, Frost, Sleep
Spirit Ashes Available?	Yes
Rune Rewards	50000 (NG)
Summonable NPCs	・Great Horned Tragoth ・Millicent
Location	・Leyndell, Royal Capital, Altus Plateau
Item Drops	・Dragon Greatclaw ・Dragonclaw Shield

Draconic Tree Sentinel Location

Where to Find

Draconic Tree Sentinel can be found at the Capital Outskirts, in the region of Altus Plateau. He will be guarding the northeast entrance to Leyndell, Capital City. There is a nearby Stake of Marika where you can respawn.

How to Beat Draconic Tree Sentinel

Tips for Beating Draconic Tree Sentinel
As much as possible, stay on Torrent
Limit yourself to 2-3 attacks since he can easily punish you with a quick mace attack if you get greedy
Equip the Boltdrake Talisman to reduce Draconic Tree Sentinel's lightning damage

Click a link above to take you to that section.

Ranged Strategy

Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss Tips
Use poison spells
Use Spirit Ashes with poisonous attacks
Use Poisonbone arrows
Spam your spells

Use poison spells

Draconic Tree Sentinel is susceptible to poison so use spells such as Poison Mist to inflict a poison proc that will quickly tick away his health.

Use Spirit Ashes with Status Effects

You can summon Spirit Ashes that inflict poison damage. A particularly effective one is the Rotten Stray, but if you don't have it yet you can also use the Jellyfish. You can also use Cleanrot Knight Finlay, since her attacks also inflict Scarlet Rot.

Unlike other bosses, you shouldn't use Spirit Ashes as a distraction in this fight since Draconic Tree Sentinel will just destroy them with his damage. Instead, you'll have to act as the distraction by taking aggro and letting your summons attack freely.

Use Poisonbone arrows

In line with the previous tips, use Poisonbone arrows with your bow to deal more damage over time and pierce Draconic Tree Sentinel's heavy armor.

Spam your spells

Unlike the first Tree Sentinel you encounter, Draconic Tree Sentinel does not have a shield that can reflect magic projectiles back to you. This makes the fight more bearable for sorcerers as you can fire spells at him without any worry. Glintstone Pebble will be particularly effective since you can use it even while moving, which you'll have to be in order to avoid his attacks.

Melee Strategy

Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss Tips
Ride in and out of Draconic Tree Sentinel's range with Torrent
Imbue your weapon with Poisonous Mist

Ride in and out of Draconic Tree Sentinel's range with Torrent

It's vital that you don't stay close to him for long or he can punish you with AoE lightning attacks or even just his mace. An effective strategy would be to wait for him to finish an attack pattern, then use Torrent to get close to him and attack him a few times. Get out of range immediately to avoid getting punished.

Imbue your weapon with the Poisonous Mist Ash of War

To increase the damage you deal, exploit his weakness to poison by coating your melee weapon with Poisonous Mist. If you combine this with a Spirit Ash summon with poisonous attacks, you'll chip away his health much more easily.

Poison Mist Strategy

Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss Tips
Sneak behind Draconic Tree Sentinel then use Poison Mist

Sneak behind Draconic Tree Sentinel then use Poison Mist

This is an extremely reliable, but cheesy tactic that requires Poison Mist and may take 10-15 minutes to pull off.

Start by sneaking directly behind Draconic Tree Sentinel. You can do this by sneaking through the tree lines on either side of the gate its guarding. Position yourself just behind the horse's tail — be as close as possible, but not to the point where you're touching Draconic Tree Sentinel or its horse.

Once you're in position, simply cast Poison Mist from behind and re-cast the spell whenever the mist dissipates. Draconic Tree Sentinel will not react to the poison as long as you maintain your position. Repeat this process until Draconic Tree Sentinel dies.

How to Get and Use Poison Mist

Draconic Tree Sentinel Attack Patterns

Phase 1

Mace and Shield Attacks

Mace and Shield Attack Variations
Mace Slam: Draconic Tree Sentinel hops forward to deliver a massive overhead slam with his mace. If you're caught in its range, the best way avoid this is to dodge either inward or towards his shield arm. He'll commonly chain this move with other attacks so be prepared to continue dodging.
Backward Swipe: If you're attacking him from behind, Draconic Tree Sentinel will sometimes swipe at you with his mace. Dodging sideways is the best way to avoid this if you're caught in range.
Underhand Strike: Draconic Tree Sentinel will quickly strike his mace at you using his underhand. The speed of this attack can make it hard to telegraph, be aware of when he pulls his mace back to know when to dodge.
Shield Drop: Draconic Tree Sentinel will slam his shield to the ground. He'll do this whenever you're attacking his left side, but it should be easy to evade.
Shield Swipe: This is similar to his Shield Drop, but is a forward attack instead. He'll use this move if you're attacking him from the front.

Horse Attacks

Horse Attack Variations
Fireball: Draconic Tree Sentinel's horse can launch fireballs at you. Try to keep a distance when it starts launching fireballs since it's much easier to avoid this way.
Trample: If you're attacking Draconic Tree Sentinel from the front, his horse will sometimes stand on its hind legs before slamming its hooves to the ground. This is easy to avoid by just dodging to the side.

Phase 2

Aside from new lightning attacks, Draconic Tree Sentinel will imbue his mace with lightning as well, increasing its damage.

Lightning Attacks

Lightning Attack Variations
Lightning Wave: Draconic Tree Sentinel will plunge his mace to the ground, then swipe at your direction. This launches a wave of lightning at you. Dodging to the side will be enough to evade this.
Targeted Lightning: Draconic Tree Sentinel will call down lightning at you. You'll immediately get knocked off Torrent if you get hit by this. If you can time it to when he drops his hand, you can dismount before the lightning hits, which will give you invincibility frames. You can mount Torrent again right after.
Smite AoE:This is similar to his Mace Slam but includes a thunderous AoE strike that will heavily damage you if you're caught in the vicinity. The safe option will be to dodge away once he lifts his mace overhead.
Lightning Storm: Draconic Tree Sentinel will cast several lightning strikes at the area in front of him. He'll swipe his shield to the side before he casts these so back away once you see that animation.

Elden Ring Related Guides

List of All Bosses

DLC Bosses

Main Bosses

Optional Bosses

Mini-Bosses

Hostile NPCs and Invaders