If you’ve been working your way through Ranni the Witch’s questline in Elden Ring, you’ll eventually make your way down to the Lake of Rot, where the fearsome Astel, Naturalborn of the Void awaits!

Astel Location¶

You can take a coffin teleporter from the south of the Lake of Rot down into a secret area where you’ll find Astel behind a fog wall. The teleporter is hanging off the waterfall to the west of the Grandcloister site of grace, which is in the southern region of the Lake of Rot.

Astel is a part of Ranni the Witch’s questline, if you want more information on how to progress in her story, head over to our Ranni the Witch NPC page.

Astel’s Attacks¶

Below, you’ll find a complete breakdown of all of Astel’s attack moves.

Laser Beam¶

This is one of his more common attacks and he’ll use this as soon as you enter into the boss arena, so you’ll want to be ready to roll instantly. Just because this attack is pretty common, doesn’t mean it isn’t a super powerful attack! If you don’t have a high vitality, you’ll be one-shot by it. It has a very long range and is about a person wide.

Pincer Attack¶

If you spend a lot of time near his face, Astel will use his big spider-like face pincers to strike at you. Sometimes he’ll make his pincers glow with electricity and the attack will hurt a fair bit more in this instance. The pincer attack can be avoided easily as it is quite a slow attack. You’ll also be able to avoid it by just moving around more and not spending too much time smacking his head at close range.

Tail Whip¶

Astel has a super long tail with a spiky end and he will use it to whip at you, especially if you spend too much time at a distance or hitting him from behind. He can use it more than once in quick succession so don’t be lulled into a false sense of security after dodging the first tail whip. It’ll also knock you down if you get hit.

Hand Slam¶

Astel will use this attack when you’re up close near his abdomen. He’ll raise up his multiple arms and slam down, causing an area of impact around him. If you’re in the area of impact, you’ll get knocked over and also take a fair bit of damage.

Mini Purple Explosions¶

Sometimes, Astel will conjure up small balls of purple magic in his hands and swipe them across, leaving purple smoke in a trail. After a second or two, several explosions will pop out of the purple smoke. They’re not super damaging, but you should avoid them as they could knock you down and leave you prone to more brutal attacks.

Grab and Eat¶

This is a less frequent attack and will only occur when you’re spending too much time up close to his front. He will swipe his hands at you and if you don’t dodge he’ll pick you up and take some bites out of you. It can one-shot you if you’ve lost even a little bit of health so watch out for this attack! His bony hands swiping at you might not look as scary as his laser beam and other magical attacks but you’ll definitely want to avoid this attack!

Teleporting¶

Occasionally, Astel will teleport away to the other side of the boss arena. It’s a pretty obvious move, he’ll begin to glow purple and then vanish momentarily before reappearing further away. It’ll almost look like a mini blackhole and if you’re nearby the impact of it will knock you prone and do a fair bit of damage too.

Meteor¶

The Meteor attack will be a rare attack that Astel will perform at about 30-50% health - he will do it around once or twice. He will teleport away and then cast a huge spell that causes several massive purple meteors to crash down. If you get hit by one it’ll probably one shot you or at the very least knock you down leaving you vulnerable to more meteors. This attack lasts about 5 seconds so be prepared to roll out of the way of a fair few meteors.

Astel Strategy¶

Astel is a pretty tough battle because of his numerous different attacks and ability to do huge amounts of damage with several different moves. The laser beam, which he will use on you as soon as you enter the boss arena, has the ability to one-shot if you’ve not got a high vitality so be ready to do a lot of dodging.

This fight will be particularly annoying for ranged players, since Astel has so many long range abilities that can knock you prone and one-shot you. You’ll want to be on guard at all times and be ready to dodge.

On the flipside, however, melee players will find it frustrating when Astel teleports away every thirty seconds when you spend too much time hitting his face and hands. The best way to combat Astel is to try to keep agile and move around. If you’re a melee character then make sure to circle his body to the best of your abilities. Jump attacks can be useful for hitting his head but try not to spend too much time in front of his face as you’ll risk being grabbed and gobbled.

Using a mimic tear can be useful in this fight as it’ll serve as a tanky distraction. Just try to stay away from your mimic so as not to get in the cross fire of any laser beams or tail whips.

Astel doesn’t have any set phases but will perform the powerful meteor attacks at about half health. This attack can be pretty brutal and can happen more than once in a fight. You’ll find it easier to dodge them by being further away from Astel, so when you see him teleport away at around half health or less, be prepared to distance yourself and get ready to perform some rolls!

When you’ve defeated Astel, he’ll drop the Remembrance of the Naturalborn and 80,000 Runes. The Remembrance of the Naturalborn can be traded to Enia at Roundtable Hold for either Ash of War: Waves of Darkness or Bastard’s Stars.