Elden Ring's Lands Between is filled with a whole host of bosses for players to hunt down. Most of the bosses you'll find are completely optional, and with how powerful some of them are, it might be best to leave them be when starting your playthrough.
Flying Dragon Agheel is a great example of this. As the first dragon many players will face, Agheel has a plethora of one-shot mechanics and a massive health bar. It seems like a battle meant for much stronger players, yet it is possible to slay this beast in the first few hours of your playthrough. Let's show you how.
Flying Dragon Agheel Overview
| Flying Dragon Agheel Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Dragon-Burnt Ruins, Limgrave |
| Optional | Yes |
| Summons | Players and Spirit Ashes |
| Drops | Dragon Heart |
| Weak To | Ranged Attacks |
Flying Dragon Agheel is an optional dragon boss located east of the Church of Elleh. This boss has a massive health pool, attacks that can one-shot most players, and it is surprisingly mobile. A mount is required to kill this boss; fighting Agheel without Torrent is suicide. We also recommend that you level up a few times and have a +2 weapon before attempting to kill this boss. The Limgrave Tunnels dungeon the dragon is guarding is a great location for Smithing Stones, should you need any. Bring a hard-hitting weapon and as many healing flasks as you can carry.
Flying Dragon Agheel Attacks
Agheel is dangerous for both melee and ranged characters, mostly due to this boss' fire breath attacks. Should Agheel's mouth become engulfed in flame, it's time to run. This fight is all about patience and managing your distance. Here is what this dragon is capable of.
| Flying Dragon Agheel Attacks |
|---|
Stomp
Agheel will lift its left or right foot before stomping the ground, creating a large shockwave that deals major damage to Torrent.
Counter: Move to the opposite foot as Agheel prepares to stomp.
Bite
Agheel will extend its neck before turning 180 degrees, bitting anyone near its ankles.
Counter: Stay near Agheel's chest or dodge opposite of where Agheel is turning to.
Tail Swipe
After raising its right wing, Agheel will do a 360-degree spin with its tail, dealing massive damage to anyone caught in the attack.
Counter: Run away when the tail is raised. This attack usually happens if you stay near the dragon's tail/behind its ankles, so do your best to stay in front as to not trigger this attack.
Dragon Slam
Agheel will fly into the air, hover momentarily, then slam into the ground right above you. This deals massive damage if it connects.
Counter: Continuously run towards Agheel during this attack.
Retreat
Agheel will take a second to flap its wing then retreat, turning 180 degrees towards you.
Fire Breath
Should you stand in front of Agheel, it'll breathe fire in a wide cone. The fire has immense range and will one-shot most players.
Counter: Run sideways from the stream of fire. If you're too far, find cover.
Aerial Fire Breath
Agheel will fly into the air, mouth aflame, then release a stream of fire as it flies in the opposite direction.
Counter: Immediately run in the opposite direction of where Agheel is looking (typically the dragon's left, so run right). The flames can't hit you if you run in the opposite direction.
Aerial Fire Breath (Retreat Variant)
Agheel will fly backward and emit flames from its mouth, coating the area in flame.
Counter: Run perpendicular to where the flames will land (do not lock onto the boss when doing this). If you're at a distance, run away.
Strategies
Ranged builds will have a significantly easier time defeating Agheel than melee characters, so much so that we recommend melee builds get themselves a bow and arrow if they're struggling to kill this boss. If you aren't willing to take down a massive dragon with hundreds of arrows or spells, there are a few things you can do.
Melee Strategy
Your best bet is to stay near the dragon's claws and wings for the entire fight, using Torrent to close the gap as quickly as possible. Bait the dragon to use a stomp attack, then rotate to the other side of Agheel to land a few hits. So long as you stay near the front half of Agheel, it shouldn't use its tail swipe attack often. You do have to worry about its fire breath attacks, however, and those are incredibly tough to dodge if you're hugging the boss. For those attacks, it's best to run either towards Agheel or as far away as possible.
Surprising to some, we don't recommend that you summon spirits for this strategy. Having a myriad of minions chip away at Agheel will cause it to use its fire breath attacks more often. That'll get you killed, so focus on your positioning. Weapons that inflict bleed or deal heavy posture damage can eventually stagger Agheel, allowing you to land a deadly critical hit. Land a few hits whenever it stomps, create distance when it doesn't use that attack, and try your best to avoid the fire breath attacks.
Ranged Strategy
Equip your favorite Glintstone sorcery or bow, and have fun damaging Agheel from range. You'll want to have a sizable amount of distance between you and the dragon for this strategy, preventing you from getting hit by its melee attacks. Agheel will try to use its fire breath attacks to kill you, but you should be able to easily dodge them with how much distance is between you two. Just don't get greedy; attacking the boss without repositioning will get you killed. Land a few hits, retreat when Agheel takes flight, and repeat until the dragon is slain.
Tips
- We don't recommend using spirits for this fight. Agheel tends to use its fire breath attacks more often when surrounded.
- Torrent is required for this fight. If you don't have your mount yet, get him. Fighting this dragon on foot is not a good idea.
- Hard-hitting weapons like greatswords and warhammers deal great posture damage to this boss, allowing you to eventually land a critical hit.
- You can use the stone ruins near the arena to avoid some of Agheel's fire breath attacks.
- Agheel can be hemorrhaged with the bleed status ailment.
