Elden Ring DLC: Messmer the Impaler location, weakness, and how to beat in Shadow of the Erdtree

Messmer the Impaler is quite tough in the Elden Ring DLC, but far from impossible to beat. Here’s what to do.

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In the heart of the colossal Shadow Keep Legacy Dungeon in northern Scadu Altus, you’ll find Messmer the Impaler, one of the first characters from theElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLCthat FromSoftware ever revealed. With deep story connections to both the Land of Shadow’s past and the wider lore ofElden Ring, he’s one of the most important bosses you have to face, and a significant hurdle to overcome in your journey.

Indeed, like the Divine Beast Dancing Lion and Rellana, Twin Moon Knight before him, Messmer is quite a tough foe, as he wields both fire and spear to devastating effect. With that said, he has a few notable weaknesses to certain status effects, and once you master punishing his moves, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to chunk his health down with counter-attacks.

Messmer can be hard to find and is even harder to defeat, but once you read this boss guide, you’ll know everything you need to in order to track and take him down. Below, you’ll find a detailed description of his location, some general tips about what he’s strong and weak against, and a full overview of his moveset.

Messmer the Impaler location

To fight Messmer, you’ll first need to find him. Luckily, he’s notterriblydifficult to find, and you’ll likely stumble across his arena if you thoroughly explore the Shadow Keep.

That’s becauseMessmer’s location is within the Shadow Keep Legacy Dungeon on its sixth floor, across a bridge on the west side of its exterior that’s guarded by a Fire Knight. To reach where he is,you’ll first need to pull a lever to move the statues inside the towerand thenplatform across them to a path that leads there.

Shadow Keep itself is found in northern Scadu Altus, and can be entered fromits southern main gateor by reaching and progressing throughthe Church District on its east side.

Messmer the Impaler weakness and tips

Boss guide: How to beat Messmer the Impaler

Phase 2: Base Serpent Messmer

Around half health, a cutscene will play in which Messmer pulls out his eye, crushes it, and fully embraces the power of the serpent within him. This kicks off Phase 2, which ups the fight’s intensity a bit. Here’s how to get through it and finish Messmer off.

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And that’s it! Overall, while Messmer hits extremely hard and uses some tricky delayed attacks in his combos, I found that he was actually one of the DLC’s easier bosses. With the right approach, you’ll defeat him and claim his flame in no time.

The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is finally here, and it makes one of thebest Xbox gamesandbest PC gamesof all time even better. It’s out now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Windows PC for $39.99.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree |$34.89 at CDKeys (Xbox)

Shadow of the Erdtree is Elden Ring at its most refined, with the base game’s overly formulaic elements cut away and some of FromSoftware’s best boss fights. The result is a 40-hour-long masterpiece of a DLC that’s an absolute must-play for any Soulsborne fan.

Also see:Shadow of the Erdtree (PC, $37.09)|Deluxe Edition (PC, $90.89)

Collector’s Edition:Bandai Namco Store (€249.99)

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).