The Furnace Golem is one of the first enemies you’ll come across in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and proves — like the main game’s Tree Sentinel — it doesn’t shy away from tough foes from the get-go.
The first towering, flaming monstrosity you find in the Gravesite Plain isn’t technically a boss — although it is tougher than plenty of them — nor is it the only one in the DLC.
Taking down a Furnace Golem requires some thought, so attacking it in the usual manner isn’t recommended — unless you want to be burnt to a crisp.
Our Elden Ring guide explains how to beat Furnace Golems, and the rewards for doing so.
How to prepare for Furnace Golems
Though most Furnace Golems can be taken down the aid of additional items, the long and short of it is getting Hefty Fire Pots or, preferably, Hefty Furnace Pots, will aid you most in defeating them.
We have a separate guide on how to get Hefty Fire Pots and Hefty Furnace Pots, and can be crafted once you have the required materials. It’s worth noting to get a Hefty Furnace Pot, in most cases you need to have defeated a Furnace Golem first to get the crafting material required. See the problem?
When you do have one however, throwing one into the enormous basket — essentially the main body of the Furnace Golem — will deal significant damage, while the Hefty Fire Pots will take off one fifth of its health.
Again, these are optional for most Furnace Golems, so let’s go through the strategy whether you’re equipped with them or not. Either way, it’s highly recommended you pick up a few Scadutree Fragments first to increase your chances of survival, especially if you are just starting out.
How to beat Furnace Golems in Elden Ring
When you are in combat with the Furnace Golem, there are a few attacks you’ll need to defend against. They’ll spot you from a mile away, at which point they’ll shoot fireballs out of both their hands and feet, along with flaming jets. When you get closer, they’ll also jump into the air and come crashing down, which causes a huge wave of explosions.
This can be dodged by jumping the second the feet hit the floor, and the same goes for the slightly smaller version of this where they only stomp with one foot. Note that if you are fighting a Furnace Golem from up above, it can swing at you with both hands, so don’t assume you’re safe.
On the ground, your best bet is to stay behind the Furnace Golem as much as you can, and make sure you summon a Spirit Ash — my recommendation is the Mimic Tear — to help take some of the aggro during the early stages of the fight. If you’re in front of the Golem, they will often try to pick you up with a sweeping hand, which results in you being thrown into their basket and insta-killed.
If you have a Hefty Pot, how do you get them into the basket? Well, you need to either be in an elevated position compared to where the Furnace Golem is, or you need to bring the Golem down to your level. Some Furnace Golems — the ones that don’t have armor on the legs — can be attacked from the ground, which will break their stance and bring them crashing down once you’ve dealt enough damage to both legs, not just one.
From here, you can either deal a critical hit to its face, or throw a Hefty Fire/Furnace Pot into the basket. Rinse and repeat this a few times and it’ll die, granting you some valuable rewards. If the Furnace Golem does have leg armor, you’ll need to try and get above it though, using the terrain around you. If you have ranged capabilities, you can also target its face from ground level with arrows and spells. This will deal more damage, but the fastest route to eliminate them is still via the Hefty Pots.
Furnace Golem rewards
Defeating Furnace Golems will reward you with DLC Crystal Tears for your Wondrous Physick flask, so they are worth taking on when you have the tools to do so.
Furnace Golems are also one of the primary sources of Furnace Visage, which is used to craft Hefty Furnace Pots, helping you take down even more Furnace Golems (and are particularly useful for those which are armored.)
Looking for more encounters after taking down your first Furnace Golem? Our DLC boss locations can help you track down other challenges.
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