How to Beat the Erdtree Burial Watchdog - Elden Ring

You’ll find different versions of the Erdtree Burial Watchdog throughout the lands between. The various Erdtree Watchdogs are identical except for their ranged attacks and the types of damage they do. While the boss moves slow, he utilizes some quick attacks, and can be fairly tough if you don’t get the timings down.

Rewards:
- Stormfoot Catacombs (Limgrave)
  - Noble Sorcerer Ashes
  - 1,300
- Impaler’s Catacombs (Weeping Peninsula)
  - Demi-human Ashes
  - 1,300
- Cliffbottom Catacombs (Liurnia)
  - Kaiden Sellsword Ashes
  - 3,200
- Minor Erdtree Catacombs (Caelid)
  - Mad Pumpkin Head Ashes
  - 7,400
- Wyndham Catacombs (Altus)
  - Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing [1]
  - 12,000
Summons Available: Yes

Strategy

Any time there are adds, your best bet is to clear all of them immediately before working on the boss.

Melee Strategy

The easiest strategy is to bait the leaping attack by standing outside of melee range and/or using a ranged attack. When he slams his sword down after leaping, roll to the side of the boss and attack him once — he’ll often chain this into other attacks, so roll immediately — and then repeat.

Sometimes he’ll use a lunge instead of a leap, or start a different attack instead of repeating the leaping strike. The boss can also cast spells from its , but you can either roll/run past him to avoid it, or run horizontally if you’re further away.

While using summons, the boss will often target them, and you can take advantage of this to get some free hits in. However, he will often turn towards you mid-attack to hit you instead, so make sure you’re full health if you’re attacking while he’s in the middle of a combo or attack. He also has some sweeping attacks, so watch for those as well (using jump-attacks can help you inadvertently dodge these).

Ranged Strategy

Although he attacks quickly, the boss moves incredibly slow. It’s very easy to back off and cast spells. Whenever you damage him from far away, he’ll use a leaping attack — simply roll to avoid.

Get to one side of the room, attack, then reposition to the other side when he does his leap. Since this boss’ attacks are so easily avoided, you’re better off saving your FP for spells and forgoing Spirit Summons. The exception to this is when you’re fighting the duo version of this boss, in which case summons can help buy you time to reposition.

Moveset

While standing in melee range, the boss has a few ways to try and kill you:

Downward Slam: The boss will bring the flat side of his sword down to the ground, sometimes with a second hit as a follow up. Roll to the side towards the boss, or backwards, to safely avoid it.
Frontal Swipe: This swipe attack has two different versions. One will be a frontal swipe that will cover a wide area in front of the boss. while the other will be a double swipe instead. You can either roll through the boss, or do a couple rolls backwards in order to avoid the occasional double swipe.
180° Swipe: The boss will initiate a frontal swipe, but will turn around during the swing, bringing his sword all the way around him. He will mostly initiate it while you’re standing behind, so to avoid it, dodge out of melee range.
Full Spin: The boss will point his sword towards the ground, and do a quick spin around him. Roll out of melee range to avoid it.

While standing out of melee range, the boss has access to the following attacks:

Ranged Spell (Varies): When his mouth starts glowing with whatever it’s magical infusion is, the boss’ heads will soon start spewing flames, or firing projecctiles, or even shooting a ball of lightning, while rotating around to follow your movements. The range on these varies, but your best bet is always to run horizontally, or if you’re close, get behind the boss and try to stay there.
Lunge Attack: Mid-range attack, where the boss does a small forward lunge bringing his sword forward. While the attack is fairly quick, it’s also easily dodgeable by rolling to the side or backwards.
Leaping Attack: The boss floats above, towards you, before unleashing a downward thrusting attack. While you don’t want to get hit by this one, it’s also an easy one to dodge. Wait for the boss to be at its maximum height before dodging either backwards, to the side, or to the side towards the boss.