You may be wondering why nothing is working against this boss, or why it’s impossible to reach it with normal weapons. Well, this is essentially a gimmick fight. And even once the gimmick is understood, this one can be annoying, so here are some tips. Here’s how to beat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy and the God-Devouring Serpent in Elden Ring.
Preparing for Rykard & the God-Devouring Serpent
As soon as you enter the boss room, there’s a glowing weapon on your left that you’ll need for this fight. It’s called the Serpent-Hunter. Its unique skill, Great-Serpent Hunt, causes a long blade of light to shoot out of the spear when used against a great serpent. This is the gimmick.
You’ll need to use the spear’s unique skill to take down both bosses. The fight goes a lot smoother if you have a Mimic Tear Ashes summon because the mimic can copy and use the exact same equipment as you — including this weapon.
God-Devouring Serpent Boss Fight
The serpent is sitting in a large pool of lava, just out of reach of your attacks. Melee builds shouldn’t even try to use their own weapon in this one, unless they want to burn to a crisp while dodging the serpent’s attacks. Though, if you time the use of the Serpent-Hunter’s skill correctly, you’ll barely have to dodge anything at all.
The giant blade of light will stagger and interrupt the vast majority of both Rykard’s and the God-Devouring Serpent’s moves, and the button/key can be pressed twice to do a follow-up attack for even more damage.
The serpent does have a few moves to look out for, though. It’ll slam its head onto the ground multiple times, bite and grab you in its mouth, swipe its tail, and spin around to shoot lava in every direction. All of these can be avoided with a well-timed dodge roll.
Most of these can be interrupted if the spear’s blade of light manages to hit the serpent’s head at any point. And with the Mimic Tear doing the same exact attack, things should go smoothly and quickly during this first phase as long as you don’t allow the boss to constantly link one move after the other.
Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy Boss Fight
This phase is where things ramp up significantly and, unfortunately, if you die here, you’ll have to fight the God-Devouring Serpent all over again. Rykard’s attacks are much more chaotic and have far more range than the serpent’s did. That’s why it’s extremely important that the Serpent-Hunter’s skill is used to interrupt him.
Rykard can be staggered in the same way as the serpent: lock-on and aim for the head. The tricky part here is that he deals so much more damage that healing after getting hit is a necessity, which then gives him more time to start up new moves.
Phase two will have you dodging slashes from a giant sword, homing projectiles, more lava, and even a trail of light that explodes after a delay — much like the move used by Astel, Naturalborn of the Void. The boss can also hop away, out of reach of the Serpent-Hunter spear. Be aware of those moments and rush in to get closer when it’s safe to do so.
Keep up the use of the spear’s light blade and even mix in heavy attacks if you run out of FP for the unique skill. Go on the offensive as often as possible to prevent attacks while dealing massive damage and the fight will be won in no time.
That’s everything you need to know about how to beat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy and the God-Devouring Serpent in Elden Ring. Be sure to have a look at our guide wiki to find more tips, tricks, and other boss guides that’ll help in the Lands Between.
