While climbing the Shadow Keep dungeons Ring of Fire‘S Shadow of Erdtree, you will inevitably come face to face with the area’s Golden Hippopotamus. While the enemy must be defeated if you want to advance in the main storyline, its massive damage can become a steep wall.
To facilitate you follow in Miquella’s footsteps, here’s how to defeat the Golden Hippopotamus Ring of Fire.
About the Golden Hippopotamus and how to prepare it
The Golden Hippopotamus is a boss capable of dealing massive damage with both lightning attacks and bites, and is extremely mobile for its size. Once you’ve depleted enough of his health, the boss will unleash his inner porcupine and perform holy area-of-effect attacks. You can check out all of his moves during each phase below.
Phase | It’s moving |
---|---|
Phase 1 | – Body hit that deals AoE DMG. – Hitting the head to the side. – A series of one to two headbutts. – The boss rushes forward with his mouth open. If you get in his path, he will make more attacks while holding you in his jaw. – Regular biting attack. Can be blocked. – Normal rush attack. Can be blocked. |
Phase 2 | – All of the above. – Improved version of slam. It will cause a rain of thorns. – The boss curls up into a ball and follows a circular path. – The boss jumps away from you, throwing thorns in a immense AoE. |
To prepare for battle, I recommend using Physical and Holy talismans that halve DMG, such as Talisman of the Great Shield of the Dragon Circle and Haligdrake’s Talisman +2. Since the boss is delicate to status effects, using weapons and incarnations capable of it will also give you an advantage. For physically demanding players, choose a weapon capable of dealing high damage per hit while maintaining mobility.
As always, using Mimic Tear can make the fight much easier. If you don’t want to utilize the latter, go for Spirt Ash with a high health pool or high mobility so the boss can’t one-shot him. I also highly recommend bringing a shield.
You can also bring two golden summon sign spirits into battle: Hornsenta slightly creepy companion who gives you cross-maps, and Redman Freyja, which may have helped you defeat the Dancing Lion in another dungeon. We’ve seen player reports NO seeing these summons as available, so it may depend on how far along the respective questlines are. Be sure to contact them if you don’t see their signs.
Recommended levels of Reverend Spirit and Scadutree blessings
While I barely managed to beat the boss with both my Scadutree and Revered Spirit Ash Blessings at level 2, I recommend trying to get him to at least level 4. This is based on how at 50 Vigor his regular hits were enough to send 40 to 50% of my health back to the Lands Between.
How to defeat the Golden Hippopotamus in Elden Ring
Once you enter the boss area, the Golden Hippopotamus will likely move closer, performing its unblockable attack. To avoid movement, roll to the side. If you are using the Spirit of Ashes, utilize it right at the gate and prepare to dodge. If you fail to dodge an attack, go on the defensive and heal immediately.
Now focus on staying close to the boss’s side and attack him after each of your moves. You’ll be able to land two to four hits per opening with a fast-hitting weapon. Don’t get carried away and remember to step back and continually heal. Continue this action until you start the second phase of the fight.
Golden Hippopotamus Phase 2 Guide

After depleting approximately 45% of the boss’s health bar, the Golden Hippopotamus will grow thorns and drop a wide variety of spikes on the ground. The attack will track your position and land in a medium AoE, so constantly move sideways to avoid it. In addition to this, the boss can also roll forward in true Sonic style, using his 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 the right moments, so stay close to the boss and focus on staying to his sides and attacking him, while constantly moving to avoid his area of effect attacks. If you’re using Ash’s Spirt, let him attack the enemy and focus on punishing him from behind until his health reaches zero.
What do you get for defeating the Golden Hippopotamus?

Apart from Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns spell, defeating the Golden Hippopotamus in Shadowkeep will also net you 200,000 Runes and two Scadutree Fragments. The spell will require 27 Faith and, like the boss version, will deal Holy DMG.