Players tackling the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC might find themselves running into a strange wall with the Golden Hippopotamus, but certain builds make beating it so easy that they border on cheese.
Elden Ring has all manners of fantastical enemies ranging from three-headed dragons to two magicians in a lion costume. Shadow of the Erdtree heavily promoted the new snake-filled fire mage Messmer the Impaler as the new super-boss Malenia, but players may actually have more trouble with his pet hippo than the man himself.
The Golden Hippopotamus is a whirlwind of stomps and tackles that can easily overwhelm players. In fact, those who are using builds that prioritize speed or spells might find themselves getting steamrolled by this boss. Other players might just sprint through it without trouble though, and there’s a straightforward reason for that.
Elden Ring’s Golden Hippopotamus is so easy to beat it barely qualifies as cheese
The Golden Hippopotamus can be beaten quickly with heavy weapons and high poise.
Elden Ring players looking to chip away at the Golden Hippopotamus with Swift Glintstone Shards or thrusts from an Estoc might find themselves getting mauled to death in seconds. That’s because this boss requires players to meet force with force in order to beat it. Rather than slowly draining its health bar, players need to blow it away with big attacks of their own.
The best option for this is a colossal weapon, colossal sword, or great hammer. Players can add any infusion they like to maximize damage based on their build, as the Golden Hippopotamus doesn’t have any particularly exploitable weakness to any damage type.
Instead, the Golden Hippopotamus’ main weakness is its incredibly weak posture. A few jumping heavy attacks are enough to knock it down for a critical hit. Players can also use abilities like Lion’s Claw or Stomp follow-ups to tank through attacks. While there are two phases to this fight with the Golden Hippopotamus sprouting thorns at half health, the strategy remains the same. This same approach makes easy work of other bosses in the Elden Ring DLC, too, so committing to this build is something of an investment.
If players are still struggling, they can boost their defenses further with heavy armor and talismans that increase HP and equip load. Don’t worry about fat rolling, either. The goal here is to trade hits with the hippo, not to avoid taking hits. After winning, players receive the new Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns incantation and two Scadutree Fragments.
Farm Golden Hippopotamus for Scadutree Fragments
Players can farm Scadutree Fragments from Golden Hippopotamus across the Elden Ring DLC.
While there’s a limited number of these field bosses on the map, lesser Golden Hippopotamuses can be found in a few spots in the Elden Ring DLC. Each of them drop a Scadutree Fragment as a reward. Here’s each one:
A loud minority of Elden Ring players has bristled at the use of Scadutree Fragments as a means of buffing characters, but these are an essential commodity for advancing in the game. That makes hunting Golden Hippopotamuses a worthwhile way to spend time in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
