Elden Ring: How To Defeat Leonine Misbegotten
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If this boss of Castle Morne is giving you a hard time, we have a full breakdown of its attacks and what you can do to counter them.
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Leonine Misbegotten is another one of the many challenging optional bosses found in Elden Ring. This ferocious foe is both fast and powerful, making for a pretty daunting encounter. Worse yet, he has an expansive moveset to call upon, which will initially make him feel very hard to predict.
However, as fearsome as Leonine is, and he is fearsome, he isn’t without weaknesses. Thankfully, he isn’t particularly robust, which means that this fight can become a series of scrambles where high amounts of damage are exchanged. Luckily we have all the information anyone will need to catch this cat by the tail.
The Leonine Misbegotten Overview
From the final Site Of Grace in Castle Morne (referred to as “Beside The Rampart Gaol” on the map), all you need to do is jump off the nearby bridge (don’t worry, you won’t take any damage) and run directly to the Fog Gate.
Leonine Misbegotten is fast and powerful. That being said, he leaves plenty of opportunities for you to strike. And better yet, he can be stopped in his tracks by heavy attacks. Don’t get the wrong idea; Leonine can be a real thorn in your paw, and he can quickly end any encounter with a single attack, but with the proper guidance, you can get the upper hand.
Leonine Misbegotten’s Attacks
Leonine Misbegotten has an enormous repertoire of attacks to pull from. Many of these attacks have him lunging at you. These allow him to cover a great deal of distance. He also has some attacks where he winds up, which will disrupt your timing. Thankfully, we have all the information you need to deal with every attack.
Lunging Attack
Leonine lunges at the opponent while taking a giant hack with his sword.
Counter: This lunge attack is very, very fast. You will want to dodge into it while he is about halfway through his jump arc. You can get a risky jumping heavy attack in while he is recovering from it, but the safer option is to wait for his next attack (he often follows up with a slash followed by a plunging attack).
Plunging Attack
Leonine leaps into the air and brings his sword down.
Counter: Leonine typically uses this after a single horizontal slash (sometimes following his lunging attack). The attack radius isn’t particularly threatening, and he is in the air long enough to make this very readable. You can punish it with a heavy jumping attack.
Two Hit Lunging Swipe Attack
Leonine lunges at you with a sword strike that takes him well past you. Then he repositions himself and lunges at you again.
Counter: This is an excellent opportunity to get some hits on Leonine. Dodge both attacks, making sure the second dodge is towards him, and you should be able to get off a jumping heavy attack (and a follow-up light if you are quick enough). Leonine telegraphs this one, too, so make sure to watch for him hopping to the side. When you see him leap to the side, that always means this attack is coming.
Big Swing
Here, Leonine will hold his sword with both hands and wind up for a huge slash. If this one hits, it does a ton of damage.
Counter: Timing this attack can be a little disorienting, as he holds it for a solid second or so. However, once you get the timing down, you will be able to dodge the attack and hit him with a heavy attack. Watch his feet when he is doing this one, he shuffles forward once before letting it rip.
Pouncing Attack
Here Leonine jumps up into the sky, holding the hilt of his sword with one hand and the blade of the sword with the other, and brings the sword down flat, causing a shockwave.
Counter: Leonine will use this attack quite frequently. He will sometimes use it following a combo, and sometimes he starts with it. You can only get a single quick slash off safely. Be warned, he will sometimes do two in a row. Thankfully, there is enough time to dodge the first pounce, take a swipe (that will miss if he performs a second attack), and then still roll in time to dodge the second pounce. This method ensures you will never be hit, and you will always hit him.
Double Spin
Leonine steps on your toes and then performs two spinning sword swipes.
Counter: This is another one you will see a lot. The full rotation takes quite some time, so you mustn’t panic and mash the roll button. After rolling through the second attack, you will have a nice opportunity to land a jumping heavy attack. If you see him stomp there is a good chance he will be following with this attack.
Double Claw Swipe
Leonine swipes at you with his claw twice.
Counter: This is one of the less damaging attacks that he does when you are close. You should just roll away from him. You can also disrupt this attack with a heavy attack if you feel dangerous.
Leonine’s Roar
Leonine lets out a fearsome roar.
Counter: Leonine seems to use this attack to get you off of him. The range isn’t that impressive, and it doesn’t do much damage, but it will stop you if you are close to him and attacking. Just roll away from it.
Four Hit Combo (Ending In A Giant Hack)
Leonine will start with a slow horizontal slash, followed by another, leading to an upward sword swing, and finally, he will hold his sword behind his back for an agonizingly long period of time before bringing it down on you.
Counter: This is another excellent opportunity to get some damage in, but you are going to need to learn the timing of the final slash. He holds it for an unbelievably long time, and the final slash does a ton of damage, so if you don’t have the timing down, just roll away.
The first swing of this attack is also excellent parry material. So, if you are into it, that slow horizontal slash is your prime opportunity.
Four Hit Combo (Ending In A Sword Swipe)
Leonine takes four horizontal swipes, alternating left to right, which get successively quicker.
Counter: This attack string can be pretty dangerous as the last two attacks are so quick that you won’t be able to roll through both of them. Leonine pauses when preparing for the first swipe; this is your chance to roll away. If you are too close to roll away, dodge the first two swings and then block the last two.
Much like the other four-hit combo, the first swing of this attack is an excellent attack to parry.
Strategies
Leonine is a hyper-aggressive foe, so he is going to be running you down throughout the battle. His attacks all do a tremendous amount of damage. However, there are a number of opportunities to deal damage yourself, and the arena provides a number of obstacles to help buy you some time.
Melee Strategy
The first thing you need to know about Leonine is that a heavy attack can disrupt most of his attacks. So, you are often better off going for a jumping heavy attack. Even if he is starting his next attack, it is likely to disrupt it. That being said, a quick slash will be safer with his pouncing attack.
Generally, nearly all of his attacks have enough recovery for you to attack afterward. However, the biggest opportunities are his two-hit lunging swipe attack, his giant two-handed swing, and his plunging attack. These are all really obviously telegraphed, so they are good ones to look out for.
If you are looking for an attack to parry, your best opportunity is when he does a slow horizontal chop. Both of his four-hit attack strings start with this slash.
Beyond that, this battle is going to be focused heavily on stamina management. You will be dodging and slashing without taking much of a break in between, which means that you are going to need to periodically back away so that you can let your stamina recharge. Use the obstacles dotting the arena to get a little assistance. These will also help you get your summon out safely. A good time to summon your spirits is mid-way through the battle. This will allow you to recover some health, and then get some easy shots in while he is distracted.
Ranged Strategy
The fight with Leonine Misbegotten isn’t necessarily easy when you use ranged attacks, but it certainly is a lot easier than fighting him with melee weapons. When Leonine comes charging at you from a distance, you will typically be able to pop off a shot (though you need to get a feel for this, as if he is too close you will be getting lunged at).
You will always want to be creating distance, so when he successfully gets close, dodge away from him. At times, if you get a large enough distance, Leonine will slowly stalk you. If you fire at him while he is doing this he will dodge some of your shots, but others he will take on the chin (so if you have the arrows, feel free to let loose). With summoned spirits, this fight will go even smoother, as he will be fighting swarms of wolves or knights while you are shooting him in the back.
Make sure to be aware of your surroundings and use the large pieces of rubble to protect yourself from his attacks. They provide you with the opportunity to heal, reload your crossbow, or do whatever you need to do. Ultimately, a ranged strategy is an effective one when fighting Leonine.
Battle Tips
- Be aware of where you are in the arena. There are multiple sizable obstructions that you can put between yourself and Leonine that will allow you to heal.
- Pay close attention to your stamina bar. That is the key to winning this fight.
- When getting back to Leonine, you can run straight off the bridge without sustaining damage.
- Use summons if you are struggling. The wolves work well against him, but any summon will effectively split his attention.
- A shield is very useful in this fight, especially as the last hit of his four-hit combo is unrollable. However, if you block a hit, roll away, as you will have incurred substantial stamina loss.
- If you are struggling with Leonine, he is weak to fire. So, Fire Grease could be a big help to you. At the very least, it will allow you to eke out a little more damage with each attack.
- Don’t get greedy. None of Leonine’s attacks have a particularly long recovery period. You can often get a jumping heavy slash off as a punishment, but you will need to roll away immediately. Otherwise, just a single quick slash will be sufficient. He is a little on the squishy side, so it won’t take too many hits to down him.
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