What Level Should I Be For Dragonlord Placidusax?

I‘m a huge Elden Ring fan whose battled my way through multiple NG+ cycles and helped tons of Tarnished take down even the toughest bosses. Today I‘m sharing my guide on what level you should aim for before confronting the dangerous secret dragon boss – Dragonlord Placidusax.

Placidusax Is An Extremely Hard-Hitting and Agile Foe With Around 26,000 HP

This serpentine beast is no pushover. With a staggering health pool over 26,000 HP, devastating lightning attacks, and relentless aggression, Placidusax presents a brutal challenge for even highly leveled characters. Only 60.4% of players have defeated him according to achievement stats.

His moveset incorporates long combos of claws, tail strikes, and thunderbolt barrages that easily wipe over 50% of your health. Executed well, his attacks are hard to fully avoid without perfect timing. Having vigor over 40 is strongly advised or even one mistake can mean death.

Level 125+ and Weapons of +25 Recommended For Less Pain

Through researching community experiences and testing different builds myself, I‘ve concluded level 125+ and +25 weapons provide the most balanced chance of victory.

You still need to carefully learn his moveset, but with 50+ vigor and fully strengthened armaments his blows become more survivable allowing more openings to counter-attack, stagger, and whittle down his health.

This reduces frustration and allows you to play more aggressively rather than evasively once you understand his cadence of moves.

Magic Builds Can Triumph From Level 100 But Require Precision

For those utilizing powerful sorceries or incantations, victory is viable even from level 100. However, surviving even one direct blow is unlikely meaning flawless rolling and spacing is essential.

I achieved victory at level 102 with a mage build using ranged attacks and summons, but the margin for error was razor thin. One claw combo or laser breath would instantly kill me.

Placidusax Arena and Surroundings To Understand

The placidusax arena is a fairly open circular field of ash surrounded by crumbling stone pillars and cliffs.

• Be wary of the cliffs at arena edges – it‘s possible to roll/get knocked off which instantly kills you no matter the HP level.
• Up to 3 spectral copy spawns that home in on you – keep an eye on their movements
• Destroyed pillars can provide temporary cover, but lightning AOE goes through them

There are no objects to use strategically. Keep camera locked mid-distance to keep Placidusax and clones in view and roll/sprint perpendicular rather than directly away from area attacks.

Placidusax‘s Moveset And Attack Patterns

Learning to recognize and respond appropriately to Placidusax‘s moveset through repeated attempts is key to victory for any build. Below I breakdown key attacks to watch for:

Lightning Claw Combo

Placidusax strikes repeatedly with his front claws culminating in a final double claw slam with lightning AOE. Roll towards him and under the claw swipes, then away from the final AOE.

180 Tail Swipe Combo

Rotates for a wide backwards tail swipe before swiping again. Roll early twice through the tail strikes.

Pounce Grab Attack

Crouches then pounces forward grabbing you for massive damage. Sprint early to avoid his range.

Teleport Slam

Disappears upwardbefore slamming down with lightning AOE. Listen for audio cue and sprint away.

Spectral Clone Dive Bomb

Up to 3 clones spawn then dive bomb your location. Keep moving and roll the impacts.

There are other variations like thunder rings, breath attacks etc to learn. But managing those key moves above while maintaining offense is central to defeating this epic adversary that guards access to a legendary weapon.