Throughout your journey in Elden Ring, you will encounter several boss fights, which will prove to be exceedingly difficult to beat. While the number of boss fights required to beat Elden Ring is minimal, the sheer number of possible encounters is beyond belief. All the more impressive is that all boss fights receive the same level of care and attention and are well-polished and highly gratifying to beat.
To familiarize you with the combat mechanics, Elden Ring pits you against Grafted Scion, the tutorial boss of the game and, technically, the first boss you will encounter. Although you are not supposed to beat the boss at this stage, doing so does come with some worthwhile rewards.
Grafted Scion also makes appearances in Stormveil Castle, Fringefolk Hero’s Grave, Liurnia of the Lakes, and Mt. Gelmir.
Grafted Scion Overview
Hit Points:
Grafted Scion will have 2597 HP on your first playthrough.
Types of Damage:
Grafted Scion deals Standard Damage, Pierce Damage, Strike Damage, and Holy Damage. It may also inflict Madness.
Weapons:
Two swords occupy two of Grafted Scion’s many limbs and a shield in another.
Parrying the boss:
Parrying Grafted Scion is highly effective, irrespective of whether your build is tuned for parrying. Most of Grafted Scion’s attacks can be parried, leaving him open for a counter at virtually all times.
- Parrying its Horizontal Swing: You must parry once it charges up a horizontal swing towards you with its bottom hand.
- Parrying its Stab Attack: Once the hilt of its sword is level with its head, you must parry its stab attack.
- Parrying its Jumping Attack: You must parry just as its feet leave the ground during its jumping attack.
- Parrying its Twirling Combo: During its low twirling combo, you must parry as its body begins to move to one side.
- Parrying its high twirling combo: You must parry once the Grafted Scion’s hands are at their highest point.
- Parrying its Stabbing Combo: Finally, for its stabbing combo, you must parry once its hands reach their highest point during its final two-handed stabbing attack.
Main Attack Pattern:
Grafted Scion will start by deploying its “Two Slash” attack, where it performs two wild slashes with its swords. Next, it will start slamming its shield on the ground, followed by some slashes with its swords. It will repeat the previous two actions for a second time before jumping and thrusting both its swords and shield into the ground. It will perform a mix of these attacks throughout the battle and a scream now and then.
Combos:
Grafted Scion tends to strike in long, erratic combos that cannot be blocked. Rolling and avoiding its combos are detrimental to preventing your guards from breaking and placing your character in an awkward situation. Avoiding its combos will be easier if you’re using a non-melee build, as you will be keeping your distance at all times.
Special Attacks:
- Leap Attack: The Grafted Scion will leap forward and stab the ground with its swords.
- 5-hit Attack: It will swing both swords at you horizontally, from right to left, alternating its attacks.
- Stance: Depending on your distance, it will perform a deadly spinning slash or several quick thrusts in quick succession.
- Shield Slam: It will lift its shield up and swiftly smash it down on the ground around you.
- Shield smashes, slashes, and jumps: The Scion will stand up higher and begin stabbing the ground whilst walking before leaping off the ground and slamming down both its swords and shield on your character. You can dodge the leaping attack and maneuver your way around its stabbing efforts.
- Scream: It will screech once for a couple of seconds, releasing a close-ranged attack that can inflict severe damage on your HP and quickly break your guard. Thankfully, the build-up for this attack is easily recognizable, signaling you to run away.
Pre-fight Preparation
Casters Should Choose Glintstone Pebbles
You should switch to the Glintstone Pebbles, as they are faster to cast and easier to fire off. That being said, Glintstone Pebble incurs less damage than its counterparts. However, for our purposes, that should not matter. As they say: “Slow and steady wins the race.”
Ranged Players
- Pick The Samurai Character Base: Choosing the Samurai Character Base is highly advised, as it comes with the Long Arrows, the Standard Arrows, and the Fire Arrows. Coupled with the armament skill, Mighty Shot, the Samurai Character Base is as complete a build as you will get for this fight.
- Pick Either the Crimson Amber Medallion or the Boiled Prawn: Out of all the Samurai’s keepsakes, the Crimson Amber Medallion and the Boiled Prawn are the only two viable options for this fight, offering you 6% extra HP and increasing your physical damage reduction, respectively.
- Place the Bow in Your Right Hand and Remove the Other Armaments: Placing your bow in your right hand before commencing the boss fight should make accessing your bows quicker. As we will be fully reliant on ranged attacks, there is no need to carry the rest of your armaments, as they will add additional weight.
- Remove Your Three Pieces of Armour: Good agility and quick reflexes are key to your strategy as a Ranged Player. Reducing your weight as much as possible should help make you quick and nimble. And since you will be keeping your distance at all times, there is not much point in carrying extra weight for protection.
Fight Strategy
Capitalize On the Free Hit
The minute The Scion spawns in, you should attack it once, as it can not react quickly enough. If you use a melee build, rush it, attack it, and fall back. Line up your mighty shot and let fly if you are using a ranged build.
Be Mindful of Your Surroundings
The Chapel of Anticipation is filled with hazards and cliffs that can end your run before it has even started. Therefore, you should keep a keen eye on your surroundings and where your next dodge or roll will land you.
Melee Players
- Be Patient: You should pick the right time to attack, as Grafted Scion can easily use its shield to block your attack or at least reduce the damage it would otherwise incur.
- Bait it into a Long Recovery Attack: You should keep your distance from The Scion and bait it into a jumping or spinning whirlwind attack while dodging and blocking its quick attacks.
- Do Not Attempt to Block Its Combos: Grafted Scion’s erratic combos cannot be blocked easily, and therefore, it is best to avoid them, which could prove a tad difficult due to the tight spacing.
- Cheesy Parry Tactic: If you are confident that you can successfully and consistently time your parries, this strategy should be the easiest to perform. As most of Grafted Scion’s attacks can be parried, you can try to parry each attack and counter it with a devastating hit.
Ranged Players
- Keep Your Distance: It should be obvious from the get-go that the best way to extract the most out of your ranged build is to keep your distance and be mindful of when to strike.
- Bait It into a Combo: The best time to strike is when The Scion is midway through or towards the end of a combo. Thus, baiting it into a combo by locking onto it and sprinting in circles near it can be greatly beneficial.
- Do Not Waste Your Powerful Shots: You should always choose your striking windows carefully. And if you do not have enough time to line up a shot with your Special projectile, then a standard projectile should do just fine until you have a longer window.
- Maintain Your Composure if and When You are Hit: Refraining from panicked rolling and wasting your Special arrows should be a top priority in this battle. If you sustain any damage, no matter how major, quickly regain your composure and, create distance between you and The Scion, go at it again.
- Cheesy Tree Tactic: For this tactic, you will have to run past The Scion and towards the tree to the right of the statue. Then, you will have to jump between the two branches near the tree’s base and make your way up to higher on the branch, out of The Scion’s reach. You can continue to haul projectiles at it with no risk of damage or repercussions.
Rewards
On your first playthrough, grafted Scion will drop an Ornamental Straight Sword, a Golden Beast Crest Shield, and 3200 Runes.
Besting the Grafted Scion will not unlock any playable areas. Still, it is more than worth fighting, thanks to the powerful sword and shield and the considerable number of Runes.
