Hannan Mundia 
With the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC requiring players to beat Starscourge Radahn, fans will want to know the fastest way to start the Radahn Festival and reach the demigod.
Elden Ring has multiple bosses to defeat. While less than a dozen are mandatory for progressing to the end of the game, others act as prerequisites for the Tarnished player character’s quest. The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has a handful of prerequisite bosses that must be defeated before the DLC’s content can be explored, and one of them is Starscourge Radahn.
Being one of the strongest surviving demigods, more or less, Starscourge Radahn is challenged during the Radahn Festival. For those eager to start exploring the DLC as soon as it releases, here’s the fastest way to reach Radahn and some tips to defeat him.
How to start the Radahn Festival in Elden Ring
The Radahn Festival can be triggered by progressing in Ranni the Witch’s questline or reaching the Atlus Plateau. The fastest way to start the Radahn Festival and begin the Elden Ring DLC is by reaching the Altus Plateau.
The Atlus Plateau is theoretically a mid-game area, but it can be reached as soon as players have access to the open world. There are multiple ways to do so, with a sprint through Liurnia of the Lakes to the Grand Lift of Dectus being the quickest. Here is the step-by-step process for starting the Radahn Festival as quickly as possible:
- Start the game and skip Stormveil Castle
- Ride along the eastern edges of Liurnia to the Grand Lift of Dectus site of grace
- Obtain the first half of the Dectus Medallion from Fort Haight in Limgrave
- Visit Gurranq, Beast Clergyman via the waygate in Limgrave
- Head to Fort Faroth and sprint through to get the second half of the Dectus Medallion
- Fast-travel to the Grand Lift of Dectus Site of Grace
- Activate the lift, head to the Altus Plateau, and reach the Altus Plateau site of grace
This list is easier said than done, though. Even experienced players will have trouble remembering how to do all this. That makes it worth taking a deeper dive into these directions.
How to reach the Altus Plateau as quickly as possible in Elden Ring
The fastest way to trigger the Radahn Festival and start fighting Starscourge Radahn is by reaching the Altus Plateau. The most manageable way of doing this is by using the Grand Lift of Dectus.
Here’s the path that the player should take to reach the Grand Lift of Dectus as quickly as possible:
Players can skip Margit the Fell Omen and Stormveil Castle by scaling the cliffs along the northern end of Stormhill. Head north on the road near the Stormhill Shack, which leads to a broken bridge. Follow the path around the eastern perimeter of Stormveil Castle, which leads to the Lake-Facing Cliffs site of grace.
After reaching the Lake-Facing Cliffs, head down the cliffs to the northeast along the platforms to reach the eastern mountain range of Liurnia. Follow the path to the north to reach the Uld Palace Ruins area. From there, head northwest and drop down the cliff platforms to reach the Bellum Church and East Raya Lucaria Gate sites of grace. Follow the path through the Carian soldier encampment to reach the Grand Lift of Dectus.
WARNING: This process makes the player miss the Legendary Armaments achievement. The Ruins Greatsword disappears after the Radahn Festival starts, so Elden Ring players should plan accordingly. To preserve a save’s platinum trophy potential, players should rush to Redmane Castle and beat the Crucible Knight and Misbegotten Warrior before activating the Grand Lift of Dectus
The Grand Lift of Dectus takes the player to the Altus Plateau but activating it requires both halves of the Dectus Medallion.
How to get both halves of the Dectus Medallion
The two parts of the Dectus Medallion can be found in Fort Haight in Limgrave and in Fort Faroth in Caelid. Both of these areas can be reached in the early game, but Fort Faroth is most certainly not an “early game” area.
The first half is inside Fort Haight, found on the southeast corner of Limgrave. Instantly start running up the stairs on the left side after entering the fort. Climb the lookout tower using a long ladder to find the Dectus Medallion’s left half inside a chest.
The second half of the Dectus Medallion is in Fort Faroth in Caelid. This area is significantly tougher than Fort Haight, but it’s possible to blitz through and obtain the second half after activating the nearby site of grace.
The fastest way to reach Fort Faroth in Elden Ring is by using the waygate north of the Third Church of Marika. This is part of D, Hunter of the Dead’s questline. The waygate sends players to Gurranq the Beast Clergyman in Greyoll’s Dragon Barrow. Head south and across the bridge and follow the path past the Minor Erdtree. Follow the path west off the Dragonbarrow Fork site of grace until the path forks again. From there, wrap around to reach Fort Faroth.
The path is due east of Sellia Crystal Tunnel, but is difficult to reach from the tunnel due to its elevation.
Turn left after entering the fort and climb the ladder, avoiding the poisonous bats. The chest containing the second half of the medallion will be right in front of the player, allowing them to map warp out of there after acquiring it without facing more enemies.
With both pieces of the medallion acquired, go to the Grand Lift of Dectus in Liurnia of the Lakes. Standing on the circular lift will give the option to “Hoist Medallion,” which takes the player to the Atlus Plateau. Activate the Site of Grace North of the lift after reaching the plateau to trigger the Radahn Festival.
The fastest way to reach the Radahn Festival in Redmane Castle, and fight Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring
After triggering the Radahn Festival, the fastest way to reach Redmane Castle is by using the Waygate next to the Greatbridge site of grace.
The Radahn Festival takes place inside Redmane Castle, in the southeast corner of Caelid. The player must cross the Greatbridge to reach the castle, but using a Waygate can cut the time and danger.
Go to the Greatbridge Site of Grace where a Waygate leads the player inside Redmane Castle. This Waygate can only be utilized if the player triggered the Radahn Festival. Otherwise, it won’t be operational. With the Waygate used, climb the stairs and enter the Festival Grounds behind the flamethrower encampment.
Players can reach the Festival Grounds before triggering the festival by crossing the Greatbridge and reaching the area the old-fashioned way. However, doing so will spawn the Misbegotten Warrior and Crucible Knight duo boss in the area. This method will also grant the Ruins Greatsword to those who defeat them. The duo boss can’t be accessed after triggering the Radahn Festival.
Walk past all the NPCs in the Festival Grounds and climb the stairs. Interact with Jerren, the Witch Hunter, and ask to join the event. This will trigger a cutscene, allowing the player to take the back lift to the Wailing Dunes where Radahn awaits.
Tips for beating Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring
Elden Ring players can defeat Starscourge Radahn and win the Radahn Festival using summoned allies around the boss arena.
FromSoftware players will be familiar with trademark gimmick fights, but the Radahn fight is different. Instead of running through a linear arena to one-shot the boss, players can infinitely summon allies for aid. While this boss’ attacks might be difficult to track, the various NPC summons make things easier. Summon signs are scattered around the battlefield and can be used to distract Radahn while dealing decent damage.
Defeated summons have their summon signs randomly spawn again on the battlefield, allowing players to summon every NPC multiple times. Riding on Torrent and springing or jumping to avoid attacks is recommended thanks to the extra mobility boost.
Radahn also has a second phase, similar to other major boss fights. The most dangerous attack here is when he uses Gravity to throw giant boulders at the player. Touching one of these boulders will likely instantly kill the player and summoned NPCs. However, distracting him using the summons and staying far from the demigod is a good way to wait out the attack before swooping in with Torrent to deal some damage.
