While making your way up the Shadow Keep legacy dungeon in Elden Ring‘s Shadow of the Erdtree, you will inevitably come face to face with the area’s Golden Hippopotamus. Although the enemy needs to be defeated if you want to move forward in the main storyline, its massive damage output can become a steep wall.
To help you follow Miquella’s footsteps, here’s how to defeat the Golden Hippopotamus in Elden Ring.
About the Golden Hippopotamus and how to prepare
The Golden Hippopotamus is a boss capable of dealing massive damage with both rushing and bite attacks, all while also being extremely mobile for its size. Once you deplete enough of its health, the boss will then unleash its inner porcupine and perform holy AoE attacks. You can check out all its moves during each phase below.
| Phase | Moves |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 | – A body slam dealing AoE DMG. – A sideways head thrust. – A series of one to two head slams. – The boss rushes forward with its mouth open. If you enter its path, it will perform follow-up attacks with you within its jaw. – A regular bite attack. Can be blocked. – A regular rush attack. Can be blocked. |
| Phase 2 | – All of the above. – An enhanced version of the slam. Will generate a rain of thorns. – The boss rolls into a ball and follows a circular path. – The boss dashes away from you while expelling its thorns in a large AoE. |
To prepare for the fight, I recommend using Physical and Holy DMG-halving talismans, such as the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman and the Haligdrake Talisman +2. As the boss is weak to status effects, using weapons and incarnations capable of applying it will also give you an edge. For those rocking physical builds, go with weapons capable of dealing large amounts of damage per hit while keeping you mobile.
As always, using the Mimic Tear can make the fight way easier. If you don’t want to use the latter, go with a Spirt Ash with either a large health pool or high mobility so that the boss cannot one-shot it. I also highly recommend that you bring a shield.
There are two golden summon sign spirits you can bring into the fight as well: Hornsent, the somewhat-creepy companion who’s been giving you cross maps, and Redmane Freyja, who might have helped you best the Dancing Lion in another dungeon. We’ve seen reports of players not seeing these summons as available, so it may depend on how far you’ve advanced their respective questlines. Be sure to check in with them if you’re not seeing their signs.
Recommended Revered Spirit Ash and Scadutree Blessing levels
Although I was able to barely defeat the boss with both my Scadutree and Revered Spirit Ash Blessings at level 2, I recommend that you try to raise it to at least 4. That is based on how, while at 50 Vigor, its regular hits were enough to send 40 to 50% of my health flying back to the Lands Between.
How to beat the Golden Hippopotamus in Elden Ring
Upon entering the boss area, the Golden Hippopotamus will likely close in while performing its unblockable rush attack. To avoid the move, roll sideways. If you are using a Spirit Ash, use it right off the gate and then get ready to dodge. If you fail to avoid the attack, go on the defensive and heal immediately.
Now, focus on staying close to the boss’s side and attack it after it performs each of its moves. You will be able to deal around two to four hits per opening while using a fast-hitting weapon. Don’t get carried away, and make sure to fall back and heal constantly. Keep doing that until you trigger the fight’s second phase.
Golden Hippopotamus Phase 2 Guide
After you deplete around 45% of the boss’s health bar, the Golden Hippopotamus will grow thorns and send a wide array of them raining down. The attack will track your position and land in a medium AoE, so continuously move sideways to avoid it. Apart from that, the boss might also roll forward in true Sonic fashion, using its thorns to deal massive damage. Trying to block the move is a death certificate, so roll to escape its reach.
The key here is to pick your moments, so stay close to the boss and focus on staying on and attacking its sides while also being in constant movement to avoid its AoE attacks. If you are using any Spirt Ash, let them aggro the enemy and focus on punishing it from the back until its health reaches zero.
What do you get for defeating the Golden Hippopotamus?
Apart from the Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns incantation, defeating the Golden Hippopotamus in Shadow Keep will also net you 200,000 Runes and two Scadutree Fragments. The incantation will demand 27 Faith to be used and, like the boss’s version, will deal Holy DMG.
