Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is filled to the brim with powerful enemies, but very few can compete with Bayle the Dread, one of the most fearsome dragons created by FromSoftware. Taking down this enemy is rather difficult, but you can make your life easier in several different ways.
Bayle the Dread is fought at the summit of the Jagged Peak, which can be reached easily by climbing the mountain. The location is pretty linear, so simply following the main path will allow you to reach the summit. However, you will have to fight two bosses, the Jagged Peak Drake and the Ancient Dragon Senessax, on the way, so be prepared for some intense fights. Also, make sure to speak with Igon at Pillar Path Waypoint, read Igon’s message at the Dragon Pit Terminus, visit the Grand Altar of Dragon Communion to speak with the Dragon Priestess to be able to summon Igon during the Bayle fight and receive his gear when the Dread has been defeated.
Preparation is extremely important to have an easier time against Bayle the Dread in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. For starters, the boss is meant to be some sort of ultimate challenge, and so its difficulty is on par with that of the boss of Enir-Ilim. For this reason, it’s best to attempt to take down the dragon after improving the Scadutree Blessing as much as possible and level up Vigor to at least 60, as the dragon hits extremely hard and can one-shot you with some of its attacks. To increase your survivability, equip Boltdrake and Flamedrake Talismans to increase Fire and Lighting damage reduction. If your build allows you to use it, the Ancient Dragon Hunter’s Great Katana is an excellent weapon to use, thanks to its Weapon Skill, Dragonwound Slash, which unleashes a powerful ranged attack with its charged version that can be easily directed at the dragon’s head by simply locking onto it. If you have no means of hitting the dragon’s head consistently, you will have to attack the damaged leg. Hitting any other part of the body will deal lower damage, making the battle longer than it should and increasing the chance of your defeat in the process.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – Bayle the Dread First Phase
As soon as you cross the fog wall, before doing anything else, you should summon Igon by interacting with his sign by the arena’s entrance. As the NPC is summoned when the battle has already begun, Bayle’s HP will not increase, so he can be a pretty decent help. Also, you need to summon him to complete his quest, so make sure to always do so.
Once Igon has been summoned, you may want to use your Spirit Ashes summon to get an extra helping hand. As Bayle is pretty aggressive, you will have to do so during one of the same windows of opportunities you will use to attack the dragon, so after the breath attacks, the bite attack, which is signaled by a glow in the dragon’s mouth, or after he has performed the spinning tail attack.
The first phase of the fight is actually pretty easy to get through if you’re careful. Instead of locking onto the boss, wait for the dragon to come closer to you and get under its body to attack the damaged leg. The vast majority of times, you can attack the leg a couple of times, get away to avoid the breath attack, rinse and repeat. The timing to avoid the breath attack is pretty strict, so do not dodge roll unless you are at light equipment load. If the dragon is targeting Igon, doing this is even easier, as Bayle won’t even attempt to retaliate with one of his breath attacks.
If you’re using a ranged or magic build, you will have to watch out for more attacks. Thankfully, they are rather telegraphed and somewhat easy to avoid. The first breath attack, which shoots a beam of fire and lighting straight at you, can be avoided by running to the side, while the other with the advancing flames can be avoided by rolling into it. The aforementioned tail-spinning attack can be recognized by the dragon’s stepping back and can be easily avoided by dodging it as well. The crashing down attack, which comes after Bayle leaps in the air, can be avoided by dodging into it as well, but refrain from attacking for too long, as this attack has low recovery, and you risk getting hit if you overextend.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – Bayle the Dread Second Phase
Once you have depleted half of his life, the second phase of the fight will begin. During this, Bayle will often fly around the arena to unleash hell on you. Avoiding the projectiles from the air and the ground attacks is simple enough, but you will have to be even more careful when approaching him to attack or when healing. In phase 2, staying below the dragon to attack his damaged leg is still a viable strategy, possibly even so, but his attack patterns become faster and more unpredictable, so never get greedy unless you are sure your next flurry of attacks will take the boss down.
Once you have defeated Bayle the Dread, you will get the Bayle’s Heart item, which can be traded at the Grand Altar of Dragon Communion for Bayle’s Flame Lightning or Bayle’s Tyranny. In the area, you can also pick the Priestess Heart, which can be used to turn into a dragon when unrobed, and the Flowerstone Gavel weapon.
