ELDEN RING – Samurai Strategy for Grafted Scion (First Boss)

This guide is intended to give players a visual example of one of the ways that the Grafted Scion can be fought a little more comfortably.

The items it drops are actually incredible for getting them so early, and the straight sword is similar to Ricard’s Rapier in the Dark Souls games of past, albeit with a built in weapon buff, to boot! The Samurai is a fun class in general, and has versatility in how it can approach the Scion, so even if you can’t finish it off with your ammunition, you still have devastating damage through your katana’s weapon skill. I hope my video helps, and it was really fun to experiment with the different classes, to find what might work for others! I’m sure other people have already figured this out as well, and I’m just a rando trying to illustrate the method.

Grafted Scion (First Boss)

Around 01:39 into the video, I start my approach to the boss, after choosing the Samurai class. I’ll explain from this point, and then elaborate on the other nuances I feel will help anyone new to this kind of game, or just interested in trying out my method.

Spoilers on Boss mechanics ahead!

This is where I approach the boss and demonstrate how to set up “Mighty Shot,” a weapon skill that will allow you to land a considerable amount of damage (around 200 if aimed well) as the boss is landing on the arena to fight you. Simply wait until you see your stamina and health bar appear, signifying you are in combat, and ready your draw of your Mighty Shot. If you hold the arrow for max time allowed, you will reliably strike the boss for a nice start to the battle!

With 30 arrows between your total ammo in the two types within your quiver, you should reliably be able to whittle the boss down to at least a quarter of its health. Arrows can hit for around 69 to 103 damage, depending on where they land, and if you get comfortable enough, Mighty Shots can also be mixed in, especially if you are playing on PC and have the accuracy of a mouse.

However, don’t feel like you have to rely only on ammo! A well-timed weapon skill from your katana can hit for 264 damage, and take plenty of health off the Scion, as well.

The biggest attack to watch out for, in my humble opinion, is when the Scion begins to swipe with its dual-wielded blades. They can reach further than your eyes may be able to measure, and it only takes 2-3 hits to end your life in this battle, as you cannot heal! The Scion will thrust with one of its swords after the first two waves of swipes, and this is where the attack gains variety: The Scion may continue with one more swipe, using both swords, or it may pull back into maneuvering around you. I suggest trying to get one shot in at a time, and not finding yourself caught drawing the bow back a second time, as the Scion can strike just fast enough to punish you for doing so.

The easiest attacks to fire arrows between, or evade and fire during, are as follows;

The Scion has a leaping attack where it plunges the sword in the ground, and if you wait just a moment before rolling away from the impact area, you can reliably let off an arrow into the boss. The other attack is a sort of ground pound, where the Scion will strike the ground in front of it multiple times, and these two attacks can be baited fairly reliably, once you get a feel for the proper distance that is needed to instigate them.The Scion has one other slightly rare attack, where it will take an upright stance, and charge you, before executing a series of thrusts. It has no set timing on when the charge will take place, so be aware this attack, and the variation of swipes, are both easily capable of throwing off your tempo, if you are “in the zone” fighting the boss. The video has examples of everything I’ve described, and should be very straight forward. It also shows the item lore from the boss drops, and their stat requirements. The entire video is only 5 minutes, and there are time stamps so you can skim for what you need! Feel free to use it how you please, so you can get back to the game as fast as possible lol. Farwell, fellow Tarnished, may your journey lead you to your destiny, as the Elden Lord!

Volodymyr Azimoff
About Volodymyr Azimoff 8044 Articles
I love games and I live games. Video games are my passion, my hobby and my job. My experience with games started back in 1994 with the Metal Mutant game on ZX Spectrum computer. And since then, I’ve been playing on anything from consoles, to mobile devices. My first official job in the game industry started back in 2005, and I'm still doing what I love to do.

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