You won’t be able to simply walk into this dungeon though. To get access to Raya Lucaria, you will need to discover the location of the Glintstone Key. It can be found in Liurnia of the Lakes, to the west of the academy, and is guarded by a strong dragon. However, you don’t have to take down the field boss to get the key. If you need some help finding the key to Raya Lucaria Academy to reach Rennala, head on over to our Glintstone Key location guide.
How to Beat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon in Elden Ring
The elevator to Rennala’s fog gate will be guarded by a Carim Knight spirit NPC. You can just sprint past him, but it’s best to get rid of the knight before attempting Rennala for one important reason. If you forget to send the elevator back down before your attempt, you will find yourself with nowhere to run from the Carim Knight and a long wait for the lift.
The grand library you enter will be the location of the first phase of the Rennala boss fight. You will immediately see Rennala raise herself above the area and ensconce herself in a protective golden shield. A huge mob of weak enemies will begin to attack you.
The puzzle here is to avoid attacks from Rennala and figure out which foes you need to focus on to deplete her shield. Once you’ve done this, a cutscene will play and you will be teleported to a more traditional final phase.
Rennala Phase 1 Attacks
The first phase of the Rennala boss fight is all about taking out the Raya Lucaria student mob while dodging the big boss’ one attack. Many of the mobs are fairly harmless; some breathe fire out of their mouths and others throw books as projectiles. You will want to focus on targeting those who have a glowing aura. These are the enemies providing energy to Rennala’s shield, and you can see it crack periodically as you eliminate more of them.
Damage the shield enough and Rennala will fall to the ground, leaving her vulnerable to punishment for upwards of 10 seconds. Near the end of this time period, she will start glowing and perform an AoE attack.
If you use this time to maximize your damage, you should be able to defeat the boss’ first phase in two cycles. You will also want to wear armor with high magic protection stats, as pretty much all the boss attacks in this fight are magic-based.
The best thing to do in this phase is use a Spirit Summon that calls multiple allies to your side. The Lone Wolf Ashes are most highly recommended, as it calls three resilient wolves that will help distract enemies and let you focus.
Phase 1, Attack 1: Light AoE
When she is about to regenerate her shield, Rennala will begin charging light in her hands. Once this animation begins, you can still get one or two more hits off, but after that, it’s time to scram lest you fall prey to Rennala’s AoE light blast. A melee approach is most common to this fight (she is vulnerable to bleed from something like the Uchigatana), but if you are performing strictly ranged damage, this move isn’t even a concern.
Phase 1, Attack 2: Scholar Tomes
Rennala has only one attack while shielded in her first form, but it’s no joke. And she will do this move a lot more after the first cycle of the fight, so be sure to do as much damage as you can during her first fall.
For this move, Rennala will transform scholars into magic tomes that she will sling at you rapid-fire. The best tactic here is to get behind the pillars at the outer edge of the room to gain protection. When she begins to levitate her disciples, you know it’s time to run for cover.
Rennala Phase 2 Attacks
The next phase takes you to an endless lake beneath a night sky. Here, Rennala uses the power of the full moon to reach her full potential. She will bombard you with high-damage attacks that can reach you from across the arena. Learn which attacks leave Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon most vulnerable.
Phase 2, Attack 1: Energy Beam
In my experience, this was almost always the first move Rennala does upon entering her second phase. This is a long-range purple beam that will reach you, so don’t try to run away. Instead, a quick dodge to the side will give you ample opportunity and stamina to run up to Rennala and get a few whacks or a couple of spells in.
Phase 2, Attack 2: Energy missiles
Likely to trigger if you are close to the boss, Rennala will summon four energy drops above her head and then shoot them at you in missile form. The best way to dodge these is by rolling forward towards the boss. If you can stay at a solid middle distance, one roll can get you close to Rennala for a damage-dealing opportunity.
Phase 2, Attack 3: Energy release
Rennala will occasionally release a single bolt of purple energy from her right hand. This is one of the least worrying of Rennala’s attacks, and it should be dodged to the side. But it also doesn’t leave you much time to rush in and attack, so pray to the RNG gods this one doesn’t come up as much.
Phase 2, Attack 4: Dark Moon
For this attack, Rennala will summon a Full Moon. She will hide behind it and be immune to damage during this part of the attack. It’s best to get some distance here because in the second half of the attack, Rennala will send the moon at you. Run away; the explosion has a large radius and does massive damage. You won’t want to be anywhere near it.
If your spirit summons are still alive and closer to Rennala than you, the moon’s final blow will target your summons instead. This is more than likely to kill them, so you will be on your own for a lot of this phase.
Phase 2, Attack 5: Summon Creature
The final attack, and potentially deadliest, will come later in the fight when Rennala is down to less than half health. The boss will summon one of four spirit creatures to aid her. Either a pack of four wolves, a giant, a crawling humanoid, or a dragon. In all instances, the summons don’t last long. Take advantage of it and lead them away from Rennala, before quickly turning around and rushing the boss. By the time you reach Rennala, the summon will have despawned and you can get multiple hits in without worry.
In the case of every summon except for the dragon, you can kite the enemies around in this fashion. The dragon has a swooping attack that will put it at the other side of the arena, so it’s best to wait for this move to happen before rushing in during this deadliest of the summons.
Once you beat Rennala, she will become an NPC at the Raya Lucaria Academy. Talking to her will allow you to respec your character by giving her a Larval Tear. This will allow you to change your stats in order to wield powerful weapons like the Sword of Night and Flame. Keep tabs on our Elden Ring guides hub for new tips daily.
