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Shadow of the Erdtree: Golden Hippopotamus Boss Guide

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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has players traversing the Land of Shadow and seeking out Miquella the Kind, an Empyrean frequently mentioned but rarely seen in the base game. This journey will take you from the Gravesite Plains to the Shadow Keep, facing all kinds of new foes and learning the history of this lost land.




One foe standing in your way to victory in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is the Golden Hippopotamus, guardian of the Shadow Keep’s main entrance and deceptively fast for its size. This hulking foe can either be an easy encounter or a tremendously challenging one, depending on build and strategy, so here are some strategies and tactics to help you take it down.

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Golden Hippopotamus Moveset

Phase 1

Elden Ring_SOTE_Gold Hippo 1


On entering the Boss Room, the Golden Hippopotamus will usually open the fight by charging at you with its mouth open, attempting a bite attack. If this connects, it will grab you and perform a multi-hit slam, which can drain a lot of your health. This can be dodged by rolling diagonally towards the Hippo, aiming for its left or right, or by sprinting directly to the left or right and circling around it. It can repeat this attack throughout the fight. It will also thrash its head sideways to slam into you, which can be dodged by rolling towards the Hippo and in the direction its head is swinging from.

When it stretches its mouth wide, it is preparing a bite attack, which deals a lot of damage but can be dodged by rolling just as it starts to bite. It raises its head high sometimes, indicating it is about to perform a triple downward slam. This slam attack can be dodged with well-timed rolls, but ideally, you should try to roll or run away from the initial slam and get out of the way of the follow-ups. When it rears up on its hind legs, it will slam down onto the ground and create a shockwave. This shockwave can be dodged by jumping just before the Hippo hits the ground, which puts you in a great position to counterattack. If you are directly under the Hippo you should roll instead and use the I-Frames to roll through the slam and the shockwave.


Phase 2

At half-health, the Golden Hippo will begin to glow and sprout golden quills from its body while performing a ground slam. This will also cause spikes to rain from above in the area immediately around the Hippo, so its best to back off and use this opportunity to heal. In addition to all its usual moves, the Hippo can now empower its quills while rising onto its hind legs, before spinning around and firing out quills around itself. This attack does an incredible amount of damage and should be dodged by rolling away from whatever direction it is moving in. Roll a few times to make sure you avoid all the spikes. It isn’t worth trying to attack while the Hippo is spinning.


The Hippo can also jump into the air, curl into a ball, and roll towards you. You can avoid this by running to the side and then rolling when the Hippo gets close to you. Finally, the Hippo’s Ground Slam attack will now cause the spike rain, making it safer to just roll/back away whenever it rears up to perform the Ground Slam.

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General Strategy

Generally, it’s best to either be behind the Golden Hippo or on the left/right side of the Hippo when attacking, since it can’t turn very quickly and this will protect you from its slamming and biting attacks. The attack to watch out for the most when staying near the sides is the spinning attack in Phase 2, which can easily flatten you if you don’t see it coming and move away.


Melee Strategies

When choosing a melee weapon for this fight, fast weapons that deal lightning damage or inflict bleed perform incredibly well. This gives Dexterity and Arcane builds an easy way to deal damage to the Hippo, but Strength builds aren’t out of luck here. Strength Builds should grab a heavy weapon and break the Hippo’s Stance, going for the critical attack whenever it breaks to deal a ton of damage. The weak point you need to hit after breaking the Hippo’s Stance can be found near its left eye. The Hippo is surprisingly easy to Stance Break, so this can make the fight easier.


Sorcery Strategies

Since the Hippo is severely lacking in ranged attacks, you can summon an ally as a distraction and blast it with magic, keeping a safe distance and leaving you plenty of time to react if it decides to charge in your direction. Old classics like Glintstone Comet and Night Comet perform well here, as do some of the new spells like Glintstone Nail. Inflicting Frostbite to take advantage of the 20% boost to all damage taken will help you end the fight even faster. Gavel of Haima can help you break the Hippo’s Stance, giving you time to cast Zamor Ice Storm to inflict frostbite while dealing a lot of damage.


Incantation Strategies

Faith Builds have it in the bag with this boss fight. Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike will obliterate the Hippo in no time flat, so long as you manage to charge and cast it a few times. Throw on a Lightning Scorpion Charm and Radagon’s Icon, grab an ally to hold its attention, and you can burst down its health bar in no time at all. If you don’t want to use summons or Spirit Ashes, you can get behind the Hippo and charge the spell while it’s turning around. If you manage to Stance Break the Hippo first, this will dish out incredible damage while it’s unable to counterattack.


Speaking of summoning and Spirit Ashes, there are a lot of good Spirit Ash options for this fight. Melee players might consider Stormhawk Deehn to provide them with melee buffs, or Demi-Human Swordsman Yosh to help pile on damage and split their attention. If you’re using a bleed build, consider the Fanged Imps or the Bloodfiend Hexer to help stack bleed faster.

Perfumer Tricia is helpful for any build, providing a shield to help you tank hits, while Taylew the Golem Smith or Black Knight Commander Andreas can tank the hits on your behalf while you strike from a distance. The Mimic Tear is, as always, a fantastically powerful option, as is Black Knife Tiche with her percentage-based damage. Divine Bird Warrior Ornis is possibly one of the best damage dealer Ashes available and has incredible mobility, so they can be a good choice here too.


How to Unlock NPC Summons for the Golden Hippopotamus

While no summon signs will initially show up outside the Hippo’s boss room, this can be remedied by heading back to talk to a few people now that Miquella’s Charm has broken. Visit the Hornsent at the Highroad Cross Site of Grace and exhaust his dialog to make him head for the Shadow Keep, causing his sign to appear to the right of the boss room’s fog gate. Visit Redmane Freyja at the Gravesite Plain Site of Grace and exhaust her dialog to make her head for the Shadow Keep, causing her sign to appear to the right of the boss room’s fog gate. These two can both be helpful, especially the Hornsent since their weapons inflict bleed. Freyja is quite tanky and can help out with breaking the Hippo’s Stance.


Rewards for Beating the Golden Hippopotamus

Beating the Golden Hippo will allow you to move further into the Shadow Keep, while the Hippo itself drops two Scadutree Fragments and the “Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns” incantation. The Scadutree Fragments are hugely useful, while the Incantation is sadly one of the weaker ones added by Shadow of the Erdtree.

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