Astel is one of the Legend Bosses you will meet in Elden Ring if you are completing Ranni’s questline. While an optional encounter, you will need to beat him in order to unlock the Age of Stars ending in the RPG.
While not a particularly hard boss to take down the Naturalborn of the Void can be quite annoying for melee builds. Especially for those who are relying on weapons that do not have much reach (i.e. Daggars).
Its movesets can be quite erratic, and it can be difficult to focus its head when it just keeps moving and teleporting around. Astel also has a lot of hard-hitting moves in its arsenal and the boss will often weave in standard attacks with magic spells.
However, once beaten Astel will drop 80,000 Runes and the Remembrance of the Naturalborn. The fog gate behind it will also open giving you access to Moonlight Altar which is the next area in Ranni’s questline.
Content:
- Astel boss fight overview
- How to find Astel
- Astel movesets and counters
- Astel resistance and weakness
- How to beat Astel
Astel, Naturalborn of the Void boss fight overview
Location:
- Grand Cloister (Lake of Rot)
Optional:
- No (If you are looking to achieve the Age of Stars ending)
- Yes (You don’t need to beat him to complete the game)
Available Summons:
- Spirit Ash
Weakness:
- Attacks to the head
- Critical attack
Resistances:
- Standard Attack
- Slash Attack
- Strike Attack
- Pierce Attack
- Magic
- Fire
- Lightning
- Holy
- Madness (Immune)
- Sleep (Immune)
- Frostbite (Immune)
Boss Drop:
- 80,000 Runes
- Remembrance of the Naturalborn
- Access to Moonlight Altar
Astel isn’t necessarily a difficult fight. However, what makes the encounter tricky is being able to consistently land attacks on its head.
The boss’s weak point is the skull and you will be able to break its posture very easily with enough hits to the head. Once its posture is broken it will leave Astel vulnerable to a critical attack or a Ripost which will do a massive amount of damage.
Astel also has some of the hardest-hitting spells in Elden Ring. It will often weave in physical attacks with spells to catch you off guard.
At times it will even teleport away from you and channel a spell, or teleport behind you to perform a grab. Both attacks can one-shot you based on the amount of health you have remaining.
If you are looking to achieve the Age of Stars ending and completing Ranni’s questline then you will need to beat Astel in FromSoftware’s RPG.
Where to find Astel in Elden Ring?
To reach Astel you will first need to unlock the Lake of Rot area in Elden Ring. The zone is part of Ranni’s quest line and can be reached by interacting with the teleporter in Renna’s Rise.
Explore the lake (which is not a fun experience) till you come across the Grand Cloister Site of Grace. From there head west on the ledges and then drop down to the floor below.
You can ignore the enemies here if you want or kill them. Once you hit the floor, make your way across the small river and follow it west.
Then turn south where the path ends until you reach a coffin. Interact with it and you will be instantly teleported to a room in front of Astel’s fog gate.
Here is a Statue of Marika there, so don’t worry too much about dying and making the coffin run all over again.
Astel movesets and counters in Elden Ring
Unlike some of the other Legend Bosses, Astel does not have multiple phases to its fight. It has a set number of movesets that it will try at any time during the encounter, so you do not have to worry about new abilities once you start chipping at its HP.
Below are some of the moves that you can expect from the Astel boss fight in Elden Ring.
Cosmic Burst
- Move: If there is a lot of distance between the two of you, Astel will usually resort to its Cosmic Burst. It will summon a purple orb of cosmic energy and after a brief delay will shoot a fast beam at you. It deals a lot of damage and has high knockback power.
- Counter: Dodge to the sides right before the move lands. It’s easy to panic roll this and get hit.
Waves of Darkness
- Move: Astel will summon three orbs of energy. It will then slam them down with its hands to create shockwaves that pulse three times. The radius of the attack will increase with each wave.
- Counter: Run away from the waves, or just block them with a shield. The former is more recommended.
Wave of Darkness
- Move: Astel will now conjure six orbs one on each of its arms. It will then slam them down and create a shockwave that will keep increasing four times.
- Counter: The best way to counter it will be to run away from it. The move has a long wind-up time, so you will have ample time create some distance.
Tail Slam
- Move: Astel raises its tail and then slams it down. The move will have varying ranges and can strike multiple times.
- Counter: It’s pretty well telegraphed and you can just dodge it to the sides to avoid it.
Tail Sting
- Move: Astel brings its tail above its head and after a brief delay it will strike where you are three times.
- Counter: As it has a high wind-up time you can rush up and get some good hits on its head. Sticking to the side of its head will let you avoid the hits.
Nebula
- Move: Astel will swipe its six hands in different patterns and they will leave behind a cloud of stars. These do a lot of damage.
- Counter: Dodge to the sides. Rolling into the clouds or away from it will get you hit by the hurt box.
Bite
- Move: If you are getting a lot of hits on its head, Astel will then go for the bite attack where it will use its large mandibles.
- Cunter: Dodge into the head. The attack does a lot of damage, so avoid it the best you can.
Teleport
- Move: Astel will create an orb around it after raising its arms. After a brief delay, it will either teleport away from you or above you.
- Counter: Run away from the teleportation and prepare to dodge if it appears above you.
Meteorite of Astel
- Move: Once its health is low enough Astel will Teleport away and look to cast a big shower of meteors which will continuously bombard the area in front of it.
- Counter: While the meteors hit like a truck they aren’t that accurate. You can easily avoid them by running away or dodging through them
Reverse Gravity
- Move: Astel will charge gravitational energy and after some time will lift you up if you are caught in the AoE and then slam you down.
- Counter: Run away as soon as you see it charging the attack. It deals a lot of damage and can one-shot you.
Diving Grab
- Move: One of Astel’s deadliest abilities. It will teleport behind you and then grab you shoving you into its pincers. This move will instantly kill you most of the time.
- Counter: Wait for it to teleport behind you and then dodge into its head as soon it goes in for the grab.
Crushing Bite
- Move: Another one of Astel’s one-shot moves. It will charge its pincers with gravitational energy making them grow purple. It will then attempt to bite you and if you get hit you will be lifted off the ground in a gravity bubble. It will then look to crush you in its jaws.
- Counter: It has a long wind-up time so dodge into its head or away from it right before it lands.
Astel resistances and weaknesses in Elden Ring
Resistance
Astel has good resistance to all physical attack types including Standard, Slash, Strike, and Pierce. However, the resistance values are more on its crystalline body than on its arms and head.
The Naturalborn of the Void also has very high resistance to Magic, Fire, Lightning, and Holy. However, as a mage, if you are being able to constantly target the head you will be able to defeat it quite easily.
Astel also has average resistance values to Rot, Poison, and Hemorrhage. So you will be able to exploit that atleast once or twice in the fight. It is, however, immune to Frostbite, Sleep, and Madness.
Weakness
Astel’s weak point is its head. Hit it with your heaviest attacks long enough and you will eventually break its poise.
Once poise is broken, Astel will be vulnerable to a Ripost. So execute a critical hit and you will deal a massive amount of damage to it.
How to beat Astel the Naturalborn of the Void in Elden Ring
Astel can seem like a simple boss fight on the surface, however, its arsenal of hard-hitting skills can catch you off-guard. It’s easy to panic roll its moves if you are unfamiliar with them, and it will often lead you to getting hit and dying instantly.
Below are some general tips for beating Astel in Elden Ring, along with guides for both ranged and melee builds.
General tips for beating Astel
- If you are locking onto Astel, then your camera will be your biggest enemy in the fight. Astel’s movement patterns will make it hard for you to dodge its attacks if you have him locked. So free up the camera for most of the fight, and only lock onto the head when you are going in for some hits.
- Don’t shy away from using a Spirit Summon. They will help tank Astel for you giving you time to get some hits in. Summons are especially useful if you are a mage going for a caster-only build.
- Be wary of the Divine Grab as it can one-shot you. So every time you see Astel teleporting look above you to see if it reappears there or away from you. If it appears above, dodge into its attack. You will then get some time to hit its head.
Melee build tips for Astel
If you are using melee weapons that do not have much reach then you are going to struggle a fair bit in the fight. You can make things easier by continuously jump-attacking its head.
Jump-attacks as well as heavy attacks will have a much easier time breaking its poise. Once its posture is broken you will be able to hit it with a Ripost. It’s weak to critical hit and you can do a lot of damage to it.
Summon a ranged Spirit Ash to help with the fight. This will let both of you have some consistent DPS on it.
Ranged build tips for Astel
Astel has a large body and mages can make the fight easier by relying on spells that hit multiple times in a large area. Hence, spells like Comet Azur will do a tremendous amount of burst damage to it.
Black Flame incantations can do well against Astel as well. Once the flames hit it, it will continuously chip down its HP. Try hitting its head with your Spells and Incantations as it will do the most amount of damage and break its posture.
Summon a tankier Ash for the fight so that they let you have enough time to cast your abilities.
Once beaten Astel will drop 80,000 Runes and the Remembrance of the Naturalborn. You will also get access to the Moonlight Altar and continue on Ranni’s quest line.
