How to beat Flying Dragon Agheel in Elden Ring

One of the earlier preys that you’ll set your sights on is the Flying Dragon Agheel, a gargantuan terror living in Limgrave, unnervingly close to the First Step site of grace where you emerged into Elden Ring’s open world. And we’re here to help.

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Flying Dragon Agheel location

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Agheel may be the size of a medium-square-footage house, but he actually can be missed, if you don’t happen by the minor enemies crowded around a bonfire in the shallow waters north of Dragon-Burnt Ruins, northeast of the starting site of grace. Flying Dragon Agheel will swoop down from the heavens, and will afterward be present in the same location any time you return.

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How to prepare for Flying Dragon Agheel

If you followed our earlier guide for defeating the Tree Sentinel who prowls the starting zone, then you’re going to recognize a lot of this advice. Because Agheel is similarly located in an early part of the game, it can be tempting to take him on when you’re way below the appropriate level, with starter gear that will barely be able to dent the dragon’s scales. However, we advise against it.

There’s a reason these tough bosses exist in this relatively low-level zone: to teach you to choose your battles. Elden Ring’s world is wide open from the start, meaning that you can go explore somewhere else when you find yourself up against a napalm-belching wall like Flying Dragon Agheel. Basically, you want to level up, find better gear, and start accruing upgrades before you have a shot at taking down this beast.

To start with, level up the stats that go well with the weapons and abilities you want to use. For example, if you like big swords that require lots of strength to wield, level up strength. If you want to blast foes with spells from a safe distance, add points to intelligence, as well as the mind stat, which gives you more FP (mana) for casting. And every character needs points in vigor (health) and endurance (equip weight and stamina). If you’re not sure where to begin with your stats, it’s a safe bet to take both of those up to 20 as early as possible.

Explore Limgrave

Limgrave is Elden Ring’s starting area, but you shouldn’t be in a hurry to advance past it as quickly as possible. On the contrary, the zone is rich with hidden dungeons, weapons, armor, and tools that you’ll be glad to have in your arsenal when you’re ready to fight Agheel.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

There are two essentials you should grab right away: First, rest at the Agheel Lake North site of grace near the Gatefront Ruins to get your horse, Torrent, and then travel to the Church of Elleh at night to receive the ability to summon Spirit Ashes (equip them in your hotbar and use them when you have enough FP and you see the white tombstone icon on the left side of your screen).

If you’d like a bit more guidance on where to go, there are several relatively easy dungeons near the starting point (check for their locations in the image below). Among these is the Groveside Cave, where you can get the Flamedrake Talisman, which will give you some defense against fire damage while equipped — useful against Flying Dragon Agheel for obvious reasons.

If you’re still hungry for beefier stats after exploring around the starting area, you can head south down the road from Gatefront Ruins and take on the caravan that includes two giant trolls pulling a carriage, as well as a large group of enemies acting as their entourage. If you keep going south from there, you’ll eventually come to the Bridge of Sacrifice, which will take you to a southern landmass with a ton of great loot and a wealth of low level opponents, especially in Castle Morne, the stronghold on the southern edge of the continent.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Furthermore, If your starting class didn’t begin with a shield that has 100% physical damage negation, go pick up the Beast Crest Heater Shield that we described in our guide on beating Margit the Fell Omen. Then, on the western part of the landmass that houses Castle Morne, you can easily find Sacred Tears, which will improve the recovery ability of your flasks, in the Church of Pilgrimage and the Fourth Church of Marika. Finally, if you find the Tower of Return and open the chest there, you’ll be teleported to a distant location with a massive enemy. You can try to fight it — or you can run past it, open the nearby chest, nab the talisman that gradually restores your health when it’s equipped, and fast travel away back to Limgrave.

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Best summons against Flying Dragon Agheel

Although you can theoretically summon other Elden Ring players to help you take down Flying Dragon Agheel, we don’t recommend it, since you won’t be able to use your horse in the fight if you have a human cooperator present. Instead, use the Spirit Ash summons that you can receive if you visit the Church of Elleh at night after receiving your horse. At this stage in the game, none of the Spirit Ashes you’ll have access to can really make much of a dent in the dragon’s health, but they can at least distract him long enough for you to heal or disengage if you need to regroup or go refill your flasks. It’s not much, but hey, take what you can get.

With these Elden Ring tips and strategies, you should be able to take down the Flying Dragon Agheel and claim its runes and Dragon Heart for yourself. And just in case you start to feel bad about killing such a majestic creature, don’t worry — there are plenty more dragons awaiting you in The Lands Between.

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Flying Dragon Agheel tips and how to beat

Flying Dragon Agheel is least dangerous when he’s on the ground. His foot stomps and tail swipe are well-telegraphed; you can block them with an average shield, but you should practice dodge-rolling through them, so that you can maintain your stamina and get in some hits in between the dragon’s attacks.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Keep in mind there are multiple lock-on points that you can target and focus on by clicking your controller’s right thumbstick — generally, you’ll want to be looking at his legs, not his head, unless you’re attempting a ranged takedown using spells or a bow and arrows (which is a perfectly valid strategy). You can also use a weapon that inflicts bleed damage to take large chunks of Agheel’s health away, if you can manage to hit him enough times in quick succession.

Either way, it’s Flying Dragon Agheel’s wide-ranging fire attacks that are much more damaging, and to avoid those, you’ll want to use Torrent.

Use Torrent

Agheel is an intimidating foe, and not just because he’s the size of a smallish sports arena. You can get in close with a sword and shield and bash his ankles for a time, but the dragon will inevitably take wing and rain fire attacks down on you from the sky, turning that shallow lake into a hellscape of roiling flames. It may seem impossible to avoid those fire attacks, until you realize one thing: You’re supposed to use your horse, Torrent, during this fight.

While on horseback, you can launch light and heavy attacks to either side. You can also click your left thumbstick to leap off Torrent mid-gallop, then pull the right trigger to attack while still airborne. From there, you can get a few hits in, then quickly re-mount your steed as soon as things start to heat up. Put some distance between yourself and Flying Dragon Agheel’s flames, then charge back in once he lands again, and repeat the process.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Agheel’s most common flame attack involves spewing a large cone of flame to his front, which is a good opportunity to try to get around him. However, if you’re anywhere near the flames, your best bet is to simply gallop to the side, since these attacks have a shockingly huge range. Furthermore, any time you’re up close to him and Agheel takes off into the air, you’ll want to summon Torrent (if you’re not already on him) and simply charge away as quickly as possible. It’s difficult to predict exactly where the dragon’s flames will land, and you’ll have better luck playing it safe, chipping away at its health while frequently disengaging.

Take advantage of the open world

If you’re confident in your ability to fight the small clusters of minor mobs that inhabit Elden Ring’s Limgrave, you can even flee the fight with Agheel entirely and simply ride off to refill your health and magic flasks by defeating these groups in the open world. As long as you don’t rest at a site of grace, fast travel, or die, you can return to Flying Dragon Agheel at any time and all the damage you’ve done to his health bar will be maintained.