Elden Ring: How to Beat Astel, Stars of Darkness

Here’s how to beat Astel, Stars of Darkness, one of the toughest secret boss fights in Elden Ring.

Elden Ring’s world is full of creative monsters and brutal enemies, and we see both of those converge in its boss fights. Some of Elden Ring’s bosses are the most entertaining and memorable fights that the Souls franchise has ever seen.

And some of them are just pure nightmare fuel.

Astel, Stars of Darkness is one such fight, but thankfully it’s an optional boss. If you manage to take it down though, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most overpowered spells in Elden Ring!

Here’s how to take down the challenging boss.

Update 9/01/22
- Added the location of this boss

Table of contents

Where to Find Astel, Stars of Darkness
Best Strategy to Beat Astel, Stars of Darkness
- Phase 1
- Phase 2

Where to Find Astel, Stars of Darkness

You can locate Astel, Stars of Darkness at the end of the Yelough Anix Tunnel on the southwestern edge of the Consecrated Snowfield. You can find this tunnel southwest from the Inner Consecrated Snowfield Grace, past the Yelough Anix Ruins.

To get to this location, you need the reach the Consecrated Snowfield by obtaining the Haligtree Secret Medallion and traversing the Hidden Path of the Haligtree.

Best Strategy to Beat Astel, Stars of Darkness

You may notice that Astel, Stars of Darkness, is very similar to Astel, Naturalborn of the Void. However, this secret boss has a few major differences from its more notorious counterpart.

Phase 1

First of all, make sure you have the Mimic Tear Ashes – Elden Ring’s strongest summon for this encounter. Don’t forget to upgrade the Spirit Ash Summon too, to make sure it can keep up.
When entering the boss room, Astel will start off by shooting a rail gun-esque beam at you. When it lowers its head, wait a beat and then dodge-roll towards it for pass through unscathed.
For melee users, you’ll want to get right up in Astel’s skull face for the majority of the fight. Here, you can dodge its pincer attacks but you won’t have to deal with the insanely long ranged damage that the boss can dish out.
Magic users can keep their distance and fire off attacks, but when you see Astel moving its tail left and right quickly, prepare to dodge. The boss has a very long range tail whip attack which is capable of one-shotting all but the strongest of players.

When Astel reels up and its hands begin to glow, back up to mid-range. The boss will slam down its hands, creating powerful shockwaves that it’s best not to be around.
When the boss swipes its hands to create a sparkly galaxy-style fog, try to stay beneath Astel. This way you’ll get some free hits in while the fog is exploding.
After taking enough damage, Astel will teleport. There’s a good chance that it’ll be fleeing across the stage, but sometimes the boss will simply teleport into the air above you. If this happens, prepare to roll as Astel comes in for a lethal grab that will end your fight quickly.
When up close, if Astel’s pincers twitch, it’s time to roll to avoid an attack. Afterwards, you’ll have time to get one hit in before readying for the next attack.
However, Astel will sometimes do two pincer attacks one after the other. This usually signifies that a third, heavier attack is coming next.

Astel, Stars of Darkness Grab Elden Ring

Phase 2

In Phase 2, Astel will occasionally reel back to fire a wave of meteorites at you from the sky. The easiest way to dodge these is to get as far back as possible and run to the side. Then, you’ll have an easier time of dodge-rolling through the one or two projectiles that fly in your direction.
If Astel’s pincers begin to glow with energy, wait a little longer before dodging the incoming grab. As with many Elden Ring bosses, Astel tries to bait an early roll before moving in with what is often a one-hit-kill grab attack.
If Astel teleports and you can no longer see it anywhere in the arena, run to the center of the room ASAP. Clones of Astel will swoop in for a grab from all directions, so head to the center and roll when all attacks are coming in.
Finally, if the earth beneath Astel’s feet begins to glow and its head tilts back, it’s time to back up. A huge attack that removes the gravity beneath your feet is coming, and you don’t want to be anywhere near when it does. Thankfully, this is the perfect time to heal or hit Astel with a ranged attack.