How to beat Romina Saint of the Bud in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Romina, Saint of the Bud, continues the fine FromSoftware tradition of bosses that are an attractive lady on top and a monstrous insect on the bottom. You won’t get a chance to marvel at Romina’s appearance, though, as she’s one of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

As with most Elden Ring bosses, you’ll have a chance to prepare before you enter her arena, as there’s a Site of Grace just outside her boss gate. Before tackling her, ensure you’ve spent any excess Runes and prepare any items or spells that protect against Scarlet Rot.

Romina is a tough boss, but with persistence, you’ll wear her down and earn her Remembrance. Her moveset will initially seem daunting, but her pattern has holes you can exploit.

Romina, Saint of the Bud Location

Romina is on the west side of the Shadow Realm. Once you’ve defeated Golden Hippopotumas in the Shadow Keep, you’ll be able to explore and leave through the West Rampart. This lets you cross a massive drawbridge leading to a Site of Grace called Viaduct Minor Tower in the Ancient Ruins of the Rauh region.

From here, there are a series of caves leading down. This will eventually lead to a Site of Grace called the Church of the Bud, Main Entrance. You’ll see a church covered in monstrous plants, which is the area where Romina resides.

How to beat Romina, Saint of the Bud

As previously mentioned, Romina can inflict Scarlet Rot with her attacks. As such, prepare spells or items that heal Scarlet Rot or reduce its build-up. This is vital, especially when you face her second phase, as the frequency of her Scarlet Rot attacks increases.

If you’re lucky, Romina won’t charge you at the start of the fight, which will give you time to cast a summon and heal (if you’ve lost health from summoning a mimic). Once she gets going, however, she’ll be on you for the rest of the fight. Romina is extremely aggressive, so be ready to dodge as soon as she enters your area.

Phase 1

Romina fights with her sword, front centipede head, and back scorpion tail, though she tends only to use one at a time. In terms of mobility, she’s extremely fast, has the annoying Elden Ring boss trick of jumping out of counterattack range, can roll around like the Fire Giant, and has some flying attacks.

Romina’s sword has incredible range and an AoE that can strike around her entire body. Her scorpion tail is often used to punish healing, so run backward out of her range before healing.

Romina’s sword attacks seem imposing at first, but they’re easy to dodge roll through. The centipede head is also easy to dodge, but the second hit comes out very quickly after the first, so don’t panic roll into it.

One of Romina’s most annoying attacks involves her jumping in the air and shooting downward for a massive AoE attack that inflicts Scarlet Rot. To dodge this, watch for her eyes flashing or a loud noise, as this is your indicator to press the button. The sound is your better bet, as Romina can clip through the scenery, preventing you from seeing her eyes.

When Romina does her Sonic the Hedgehog roll, just dodge roll to the side when she gets close and be wary of nearby walls, as this will allow her to circle quicker.

So, how do you beat her? Like most Elden Ring bosses, you need to wait out her 2-3 attack combos, get your hits in, and prepare for another round of dodges. Evasion works better than shields, as all her attacks have obvious dodge windows.

Romina is susceptible to stagger attacks! Jumping blows alongside a Mimic summon can easily put her in a critical hit state. This is a preferable method of attacking unless you’re using fast weapons with a status effect build-up.

Phase 2: Butterflies and Scarlet Rot

Once you knock Romina, Saint of the Bud down to 50% health, she’ll enter her second phase. As soon as this happens, she’ll be surrounded by a purple aura and violet butterflies, which damages nearby characters and has a heavy Scarlet Rot build-up. She will also create butterflies that explode and inflict Scarlet Rot.

When it looks like you or your summon are about to knock her to 50%, strike and then dodge roll backward to evade her immediate attack. Then, run out of the way out of her butterflies.

Unlike some other bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, Romina’s moveset doesn’t drastically alter in her second phase. She can perform the AoE butterfly attack from when she enters the phase, so be ready to run whenever she flashes purple.

The main addition to her arsenal is a new flying move, where she strikes three times with her sword with diving attacks. This attack is easy to dodge, as it’s well sign-posted and they come out fairly slowly, so you have recovery time to prepare your next dodge. The only hard part is that you can’t counter while she’s using this move, so focus on dodging and be ready to pounce when she hits the ground.

When she dives, Romina can also leave a trail of butterflies behind her. Avoid these, as they will explode and inflict Scarlet Rot.

NPC allies

There are no NPC allies available to summon in the Romina fight, though Mimic Tear obviously remains on the table as a solid option for this fight.

Romina, Saint of the Bud rewards

Romina, Saint of the Bud drops the following after being defeated:

• 280,000 Runes
• Remembrance of the Saint of the Bud

Remembrance of the Saint of the Bud can be taken to Enia and traded, either for the Poleblade of the Bud glaive weapon or Rotten Butterflies, an incantation added to the game with the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

Romina, Saint of the Bud weaknesses

Romina, Saint of the Bud is weak against the following ailments, statuses and elements:

• Hemmorage
• Frostbite
• Holy
• Pierce

Romina is resistant to damage from Scarlet Rot, Fire, and Standard damage, the latter of which covers Pierce, Slash and Strike attacks. That, in particular, could prove tricky for a lot of builds, so bear that in mind before heading into battle.

Jumping into Shadow of the Erdtree? Check out what we thought of the expansion after spending many hours exploring the Shadow Lands.