Is Placidusax Weak to Dragonwound Grease? The Definitive Answer & Guide
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Yes, Placidusax, the Dragonlord, is susceptible to Dragonwound Grease. While he is a powerful, ancient dragon and formidable foe in Elden Ring, applying Dragonwound Grease to your weapon allows you to stagger him more easily, significantly shortening the time it takes to open him up for critical hits. However, understanding the degree of this weakness and how best to exploit it is crucial for a successful encounter. This article delves into the specifics of Placidusax’s vulnerabilities, offering strategies and answering common questions to help you conquer this optional, yet challenging, boss.
Understanding Placidusax’s Resistances and Weaknesses
While Dragonlord Placidusax is susceptible to the stagger effect induced by Dragonwound Grease, it’s important to clarify that he doesn’t take increased damage from dragon-type attacks in the traditional sense. The Grease primarily affects his posture and ability to maintain his attacks.
- No Increased Damage: Dragon-type incantations or weaponry don’t inherently deal more damage to Placidusax. His primary vulnerability lies in his posture.
- Posture Break Focus: The key benefit of Dragonwound Grease is its ability to inflict significant posture damage. A sufficiently powerful weapon, especially those with high stagger potential, will greatly benefit from this effect.
- Multi-Hit Weapons: Weapons with multiple hits per attack, such as twinblades or dual katanas, can apply the Dragonwound Grease effect more rapidly, leading to quicker staggers.
- Location Matters: While stagger is the main benefit, hitting Placidusax in the head tends to build up posture damage faster, making him fall more quickly. This is a general principle for many enemies in Elden Ring.
Effective Strategies for Using Dragonwound Grease Against Placidusax
Applying Dragonwound Grease effectively requires more than just slapping it on any weapon. Consider the following strategies:
- Weapon Selection: Choose a weapon with inherently good stagger potential. Greatswords, Colossal Swords, and Hammers are excellent choices. Even faster weapons like katanas can work well if dual-wielded and used aggressively.
- Grease Application Timing: Apply the grease shortly before engaging Placidusax. The buff duration is limited, so don’t waste its effectiveness by applying it too early.
- Aggressive Playstyle: To maximize the benefit of the grease, adopt an aggressive playstyle. Continuously attack Placidusax to rapidly build up his posture meter.
- Jump Attacks: Jump attacks deal significant poise damage. Incorporate them into your attack pattern to further accelerate the staggering process.
- Mimic Tear Ash: The Mimic Tear Ash can be an invaluable asset. It will also benefit from the Dragonwound Grease, effectively doubling the posture damage output. Make sure your Mimic Tear uses a good weapon with substantial stance damage.
- Talismans: Consider using talismans that boost attack power, stance damage, or weapon skill damage to further enhance your offensive capabilities.
Crafting or Acquiring Dragonwound Grease
There are two primary ways to obtain Dragonwound Grease: crafting and purchasing.
- Crafting: To craft Dragonwound Grease, you need the Armorer’s Cookbook [6]. This cookbook is found in Siofra River, specifically on a corpse hanging off a platform near the area’s main aqueduct. The required crafting materials are:
- Root Resin (1): Commonly found throughout the Lands Between.
- Cracked Crystal (1): Found near crystal formations.
- Grease (1): Can be crafted or purchased from merchants.
- Purchasing: You can buy a limited supply of Dragonwound Grease from Nomadic Merchant Kale in the Church of Elleh in Limgrave, but only after starting a questline with Bernahl.
- Efficiency: Crafting is generally the more reliable way to acquire a consistent supply of Dragonwound Grease, ensuring you’re well-prepared for multiple attempts against Placidusax.
Alternative Strategies and Considerations
While Dragonwound Grease is effective, it’s not the only way to defeat Placidusax. Consider these alternative or supplementary strategies:
- Black Flame Tornado: This weapon art deals percent-based health damage, making it effective against high-health bosses like Placidusax.
- Blood Loss: Weapons and skills that inflict blood loss can deal significant burst damage.
- Summoning: Utilize spirit ashes, like the Black Knife Tiche or Lhutel the Headless, to distract Placidusax and provide openings for attack.
- Learning Attack Patterns: Thoroughly understanding Placidusax’s attack patterns is crucial, regardless of the strategy you employ. Knowing when to dodge and when to attack will significantly increase your chances of success.
- Faith Builds: Faith builds can use strong incantations like Black Flame Protection or Golden Vow to buff themselves, or use powerful offensive spells like Black Blade or Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can Dragonwound Grease be applied to any weapon?
Yes, Dragonwound Grease can be applied to most standard weapons that can be infused with Ashes of War. This excludes unique weapons and those with pre-determined infusions.
2. How long does the effect of Dragonwound Grease last?
The duration of Dragonwound Grease is approximately 60 seconds. This is generally sufficient for at least one stagger if applied and used correctly.
3. Is there a stronger version of Dragonwound Grease?
No, there is no upgraded version of Dragonwound Grease in Elden Ring. The standard version is the only one available.
4. Does Dragonwound Grease affect Placidusax’s damage output?
No, Dragonwound Grease primarily affects Placidusax’s posture and stagger resistance. It does not directly impact his damage output.
5. Is Placidusax weak to any specific element?
Placidusax doesn’t have any pronounced elemental weaknesses. Focus on exploiting his posture with strong attacks.
6. Can I use Dragonwound Grease with weapon buffs like Electrify Armament?
No, you cannot stack weapon buffs. Applying Electrify Armament will overwrite the effect of Dragonwound Grease, and vice versa. Choose the buff that best suits your strategy.
7. What is the ideal level to fight Placidusax?
A recommended level range for fighting Placidusax is between 120 and 150, with a fully upgraded weapon.
8. Where is Placidusax located?
Placidusax is located in Crumbling Farum Azula. You must lie down in a specific spot within the area to trigger the boss fight. Look for the interactable spot on the floating platform with the dragon corpse remains.
9. What rewards do I get for defeating Placidusax?
Defeating Placidusax rewards you with a large number of runes and the Remembrance of the Dragonlord, which can be traded for powerful weapons or spells.
10. Are there any other enemies in Elden Ring weak to Dragonwound Grease?
Yes, other dragons and dragon-like enemies, such as the various dragon bosses found throughout the game, are also vulnerable to the posture damage inflicted by Dragonwound Grease.
11. Does the Mimic Tear benefit from Dragonwound Grease?
Yes, when summoned, the Mimic Tear will also apply Dragonwound Grease to its weapon if you have it active on your weapon before summoning. This dramatically increases the stagger potential.
12. Are there any talismans that enhance the effectiveness of Dragonwound Grease?
While there aren’t talismans that directly enhance the Grease, talismans that boost attack power, stance damage (like the Stonebarb Cracked Tear in your Wondrous Physick), or weapon skill damage will indirectly enhance its effectiveness by helping you break Placidusax’s posture more quickly.
13. Is it possible to use ranged attacks effectively against Placidusax while applying Dragonwound Grease?
Yes, but it’s less efficient. The Grease only affects your weapon. Ranged attacks will still deal damage, but they won’t benefit from the posture damage increase. A hybrid approach, where you apply the Grease and use ranged attacks strategically, can be effective.
14. Can I use Dragonwound Grease in multiplayer?
Yes, you can use Dragonwound Grease in multiplayer, and it will benefit both you and your summoned allies when fighting Placidusax, as well as any other dragon boss you may face.
15. Does Placidusax have any immunities?
While resistant to some status effects, Placidusax doesn’t have complete immunity to any. He is more resistant to status effects than many other enemies, so relying solely on them might not be the most effective strategy.
By understanding Placidusax’s vulnerabilities and employing these strategies, you can overcome this challenging boss and claim your victory in the Lands Between. Good luck, Tarnished!