Summary
One tenaciousElden Ringplayer managed to beat the final boss inShadow of the Erdtreewhile using a saxophone as a controller and without incurring a single hit. This astonishing accomplishment is one of the most outrageous feats thatElden Ringfans have achieved in the game’s DLC to date.
Shadow of the Erdtree spoilers ahead.
The act itself was performed by DrDootPHD, formerly known as DrDecomposing, a Twitch streamer who has been broadcasting his efforts to play Soulsborne games using an electronic saxophone since 2021. The content creator had already managed tobeat the finalShadow of the Erdtreeboss using his trusty musical instrumentwithin days of the expansion’s June 21 release.
Final Elden Ring: SOTE Boss Falls to Saxophone Player in Under 2 Minutes
Some four weeks later, DrDootPHD one-upped that feat by once again beating Radahn with a saxophone, except that this time he didn’t suffer any damage. To that end, the streamer started the fight with just 1HP, facing Radahn equipped with nothing but four Talismans and oneBackhand Bladein each hand. Coupled with a bunch of buffs, DrDootPHD’s setup managed to push enough damage to down Radahn in one minute and 46 seconds after 30 hours' worth of attempts. TheElden Ringstreamer hence completed the world’s firsthitless run of the finalShadow of the Erdtreebossusing a saxophone.
Although DrDootPHD’s achievement is the exact opposite of something that can easily be replicated by others, the footage of his astonishing run still serves to underline some general strategies forovercomingShadow of the Erdtree’s ultimate challenge. Specifically, the easiest way to beat Radahn the old-fashioned way, with rolling, is to stay close to him. This will somewhat limit his moveset, making the fight a bit more straightforward to learn. From there, dodging to his side is usually the best bet for avoiding damage, with the general idea being to roll in the direction from which the attack is coming.
On a successful dodge from up close, the player will find themselves in an ideal situation to punish Radahn. The openings for attacks are less forgiving for slower weapons, but something fast like the Backhand Blades that DrDootPHD was using can essentially make use of even the smallest windows of opportunity.
Finally, due to Radahn’s large health pool and high resistances, it’s generally a good idea to use as many damage buffs as possible; the longer the fight goes on, the greater the chance of making fatal mistakes, at least if the player isn’t using a defense-focused build. While turtling behind a shield can also be an effective strategy,Elden Ring’s damage buff options are so potent that oneShadow of the Erdtreeplayer recently even managed to kill Radahn in a single hit.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
WHERE TO PLAY
Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware’s groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.
