Magma Wyrms are one group of repeating boss fights in Elden Ring, and one of the main ways you can earn the Dragon Hearts you need to unlock dragon incantations. Once you master the fight, beating Magma Wyrms, including the named Makar, is one of the easiest tasks in the game.
How to Beat Magma Wyrms and Makar in Elden Ring
Magma Wyrms are big, (mostly) slow-moving behemoths. Every one of them uses the same attacks, from the lowly Makar in the Ruin-Strewn Precipice to the chad in the Consecrate Snowfield. The only differences are their health pools and damage output. The later you can find them in the game, the harder they hit, and the longer they take to kill. There are two schools of thought to beating the Magma Wyrm: at range or up close.
At range, Soceries are your best option. Any of the Glintstone spells magic missile spells are fantastic, as are the Night Sorceries or anything that deals Frostbite buildup. Just know that these bosses have ways to quickly and dangerously close the gap on you. I don’t really recommend bows or thrown items, but if you have a big stock of more mundane ranged options and don’t mind spending them, then by all means, plink away.
For melee, buffing your weapon with Lightning or Magic Grease can give your damage the boost you might need to finish the job. As with all other dragons and drakes, aim for the Magma Wyrm’s head whenever possible, as you’ll deal more damage and increase the boss’s stagger meter. You’ll know you’re hitting its head by the crunchier hit sound. Heavy and jump attacks are also great for building stagger. Damage the Wyrm enough, and it will fall to the ground with a glowing eye that you can use to get a critical attack.
The Magma Wyrm also has two phases, like most fights in Elden Ring. The second starts when it reaches about 60% health or so. The transition animation sees it rear up on its hind legs and cause its sword to glow hot, then slam it down into the ground. He gains a new set of attacks in phase two, but the basic principles remain the same. Hit the head, dodge the swings, and do damage when possible.
Magma Wyrm Phase One Attacks
The Magma Wyrm has around a half-dozen attacks per phase. If you know them beforehand, you’re better equipped to beat it.
Magma Wyrm Phase One, Attack One: Fire Breath
The simplest of the Magma Wyrm’s attacks, its fire breath comes shortly after it raises its head and fills its mouth with a bit of lava. Once it spits the lava out, the stuff will linger on the ground for, so avoid it if you can.
Magma Wyrm Phase One, Attack Two: Fireball
The startup animation of the Magma Wyrm’s fireball attack is slightly different from its fire breath. It lifts its head higher. Dodging to the one side is the easiest way to avoid it.
Magma Wyrm Phase One, Attack Three: Flame Charge
The most common attack in the Magma Wyrm’s phase one arsenal, its charge attack, sees it raise its head, fill it with lava, and then stomp straight ahead for almost a hundred feet. There’s no counter to this attack, but it’s easy to avoid. Step to one side and the boss will miss you altogether, letting you plink away at it with ranged attacks or wait out the animation.
Magma Wyrm Phase One, Attack Four: Sword Slam
Yes, the Magma Wyrm does, in fact, have a sword in its right front paw. It doesn’t use it much in its first phase but sometimes rears up to slam the sword down in a massive AoE. If you’re up really close, you’ll probably need to dodge right before the sword hits the ground. But you might have time to simply run out of the radius.
Magma Wyrm Phase One, Attack Five: Sword Swipe
This 180-degree attack has a very long windup. The Magma Wyrm brings its sword arm back behind it for a good two seconds before swinging in an arc in front of itself with frightening speed. If you’re not already a good distance away, you must roll forward or backward to avoid the attack. The timing is fairly specific.
Magma Wyrm Phase One, Attack Six: Sword Drag
The other grounded sword attack sees the Magma Wyrm reach out and do a small slam in front of itself, then drag the sword back. The slam and the drag have separate hitboxes, so getting hit by one makes getting hit by the second much more likely. As with most of this boss’s attacks, a side dodge or a quick run away will avoid it.
Magma Wyrm Phase Two Attacks
Phase two of any Magma Wyrm fight begins when the boss hits around 60% HP. At this point, its sword begins to glow. If you don’t stagger it during the transition, it will start the phase with the two-handed slam. Otherwise, the fight proceeds without a transition animation. The Wyrm maintains the big slam from its first phase. And because it remains on its back two legs for the rest of the fight, replaces its old attacks with new ones.
Magma Wyrm Phase Two, Attack One: Spinning Swing
A rarer attack, the Magma Wyrm will sit back on its behind and slowly spin around, eventually ending with a fast swing of its sword in front of itself. You can dodge back or forward to avoid it.
Magma Wyrm Phase Two, Attack Two: Double Slam
The Magma Wyrm raises its sword in one hand, then slams them down twice in quick succession. You can recover and roll away if you get hit by the first attack. However, both slams have a small AoE, so get out of there fast to avoid double damage.
Magma Wyrm Phase Two, Attack Three: Two-Handed Slam
This attack is different than the phase transition slam in that the Magma Wyrm holds the hilt of its sword with two hands rather than the hilt and end of the blade. The effect is the same — a massive AoE — though the timing is different. This attack has a much more deceptive delay, making it easier to mistime your dodge and eat the hit.
Magma Wyrm Phase Two, Attack Four: Swipe into Magma
For this attack, the Magma Wyrm swings its sword once, then does a short charge attack at you, spewing lava from its mouth the whole way. You’ll want to dodge into the boss to avoid all damage, as there’s no hitbox for the thing’s stomach, only the sword and the lava that falls on the ground, which you’ll hit if you try to roll backward.
Magma Wyrm Phase Two, Attack Five: Lava Spew
The Magman Wyrm raises its head to the sky and bubbles lava in its mouth before spitting all of it in a 180-degree arc ahead of it. Like the last attack, you need to dodge toward the boss to avoid getting hit, as getting farther away from the Wyrm will only get you clipped by the lava. Just dodge too far forward, as there are a few pools close to the boss, as well.
Magma Wyrm Phase Two, Attack Six: Quick Stab
After pulling back its sword to its side, the Magma Wyrm stabs in front of it faster than you’d expect. The animation looks like the Wyrm is coiling its arm like a spring before releasing it with the stab, and the boss gets close to the ground to put its full weight into the attack.
And those are our tips for taking down Magma Wyrm bosses in Elden Ring. Our Elden Ring guides page is the perfect place to find more boss strategies like these. Get a Great Rune in no time by taking down Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. Or, if madness is making you frenzied, check out our guide on how to cure the frustrating status effect.Â
