Shadow of the Erdtree: How to defeat the boss Ralva the Great Red Bear? Elden Ring guide, walkthrough
Ralva the Great Red Bear is one of the side bosses in the Shadow of the Erdtree add-on for the Elden Ring game. On this page of the guide we have described how to fight him and what rewards you will receive for defeating him.
Last update: 26 June 2024
Ralva, the Great Red Bear is one of the bosses in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. You will face him on the lake, east of the path leading from Ensis Castle to the Shadow Keep, in the Scadu Altus region. The boss is optional - you don't have to defeat it to continue the DLC. On this page of the guide, we described how to fight the boss and what rewards you will receive for defeating him.
Reward for defeating
For defeating the boss, you will receive 180,000 runes and the Pelt of Ralva helmet.
Ralva in a nutshell
- Ralva is very aggressive, its difficult to get the timing right, and it is even more difficult to find a safe moment to heal.
- The boss is vulnerable to fire damage.
- Fighting on horseback is not the best idea because the boss's attacks are very wide.
- The safest time to attack or heal is right after the forward lunge attack.
- When the boss digs its paws into the ground, it will cause an earthquake or send a shockwave towards you - you have to jump over both attacks. Ralva gets briefly exposed to your attacks after these moves.
- When the bear stands on its hind legs and spreads its front legs, it means to use a grab attack - retreat and dodge backwards.
- Try not to get under the boss because you won't be able to avoid the earthquake.
- The second phase begins with a roar attack - move away from the boss or raise your shield when its health drops by half.
- In the second phase, paw attacks have an additional wind effect - they deal damage multiple times instead of just once, which can make it impossible to block them effectively if you don't have enough stamina.
How to defeat Ralva?
As befits a bear, Ralva fights aggressively and has an irregular movement pattern. Its attacks are difficult to get timing right, it doesn't give you much time to heal or counterattack, its moves have a long range due to its size, and the boss's paws cause bleeding. Ralva is vulnerable to fire. We don't recommend fighting while riding Torrent - Ralva's attacks are very wide, they can easily reach your mount and quickly knock you off.
Pay attention to the boss's front paws - if it drives them into the ground, it will soon cause a small earthquake that you must jump over. This is the best moment to attack or heal - after removing its paws from the ground, the boss is exposed for a while. If you are standing far away from the boss, it can dig its paw into the ground and send a shockwave towards you, which you can also jump over.
The boss's other attacks that leave it slightly exposed are the charge and grab. The charge is a sudden leap forward, and you will recognize the grab when the boss stands on its hind legs and spreads its front paws to the sides. Back away, dodging backwards if necessary. Be careful not to end up under the boss while avoiding its attacks - you won't be able to jump over the earthquake.
When Ralva drops to half health, it will roar (stay away or block the roar), starting phase two. It is almost identical, but now the bear's paws are surrounded by a fierce wind during the basic combo, dealing damage several times with a single hit. This can make the fight much more difficult for characters wielding shields, because blocking the attack will require much more stamina - if you don't use a shield, focus on dodging.