ELDEN RING – How to Defeat Rykard as an Astrologer / Mage / Spell-Caster

As an Astrologer class, defeating Rykard is difficult. His movement, range and area effects make it hard to cast effectively without being disrupted. This method explains a way around that, making the fight much easier for spell casters.

Guide to Beat Rykard

Сrеdit gоеs to xvii-Dietrich!

Introduction

As an Astrologer (= mage/spell-caster), I initially could not defeat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy.

The reasons for this are that I have little defence and few hit points (HP). I’m playing this as a Mind-Intelligence build, so have little Endurance or Vigor. While I can wear armour, take defensive talismans, etc. to improve this, it is not so great and it diminishes my mobility and spell-casting ability. Rykard moves a lot too, often rearing up out of range, so some spells (eg. Comet Azur or Shard Spiral) fail to hit.

And even then, Rykard’s area attacks and the pools of magma that surround him cause damage which disrupt any spell-casting. It was difficult to get close enough to kill him once, let alone twice.

Then I came up with the following method.

Warning! Spoilers follow!

Preparation

There are two critical things you need:

• Mimic Tear summon. This creates a “copy” of yourself.
• Shabriri’s Woe talisman. This attracts enemy aggression.

Most Rykard Guides do suggest the Mimic Tear. Normally I don’t use thus summon much, as it is not so good for casters. But it is critical here. I upgraded the summon as much as I could at the Roundtable Hold.

The other key item is the Shabriri’s Woe talisman from the Frenzied Flame Village, which no-one seems to mention. It directs all the enemy’s attention to the wearer. Combined with the Mimic Tear, this talisman is the key to the strategy. The fact that you have time to prepare before approaching Rykard, makes the use of this summon/talisman combination feasible.

You should also have some general defensive items.

Exactly what these are doesn’t matter so much. The idea is just to make your Mimic Tear summon as resilient as possible. I had some random armour (Lionel’s Armor/Greaves/Gauntlets, Bull-Goat Helm). Whatever has reasonable physical defence and fire resistance. I also had some negation talismans (Flamedrake Talisman, Spell Drake Talisman and Dragon Crest Shield Talisman).

And you also need a staff and a hard-hitting spell but, as an Astrologer, I’ll assume you’ll have something like this already.

Tactics

So, this is what you do…

At the Audience Pathway site of grace, rest at the grace and set-up your spells, flasks, etc. Then go down the tunnel and traverse the mist to enter Rykard’s audience chamber, at this stage you have time to prepare.

Collect the Serpent Hunter great spear which you find near the entrance. Do not advance any further than this for now.

Equip all your defensive armour, talismans and, importantly Shabriri’s Woe. Remove any spell-casting equipment (staves). Then equip the Serpent Hunter.

Summon the Mimic Tear. Use a flask to restore your HP.

Then re-equip your own character with your staves and spells and other caster-gear. I dual-wield the Meteorite Staff and Lusat’s Glintstone Staff, and used the Graven-School Talisman, Magic Scorpion Charm, Primal Glintstone Blade and Cerulean Seed Talisman. And, importantly, remove Shabriri’s Woe.

Now advance to Rykard, who will first awake as God-Devouring Serpent. He will immediately attack the Mimic Tear who has Shabriri’s Woe.

You then move behind and to the edge of the magma that surrounds him and cast your spell. I used Meteorite. If Rykard moves, you may need to adjust your position and repeat. You need to be close enough to hit, but far enough away so that you don’t stand in lava, which will disrupt your casting.

Rykard goes down quickly. Wait out the cut scene and then repeat the previous step on his reincarnation as Lord of Blasphemy. This time there are some more area effects, but Rykard’s focus will remain firmly fixed on the Mimic Tear, allowing you to approach and finish the job.

The choice of the spell Meteorite was because it does physical and magical damage, and it also works well for large bosses, with the meteorite projectiles going everywhere. But other options might be okay too. Crystal Torrent is good, as it has tracking, and Comet Azur is also excellent. You could also probably use the full-moon sorceries or even Terra Magica and Loretta’s Greatbow and then attack from distance. It sort of doesn’t matter as Rykard is wholly focused on the summon due to Shabriri’s Woe, which gives you time to calmly unleash your spell-of-choice unmolested.

Another thing that helped me was the Cerulean Hidden Tear in the Flask of Wondrous Physick. This saved me needing to top up focus points (FP) quite so much with Flasks of Cerulean Tears.

The Mimic Tear might manage to use the Serpent-Hunter weapon, and it certainly helps if this happens. But most of the time the summon will just be being pummelled by Rykard. But that’s the idea. It leaves you uninterrupted to deal the damage and take this boss down.

Conclusion

This strategy worked for me first try. I’ve not seen anything mentioning Shabriri’s Woe to defeat Rykard posted anywhere else, so I figured I’d write this guide.