How to beat Borealis the Freezing Fog in Elden Ring

So there you are, Tarnished — just minding your business, riding your horse across a frozen lake…when suddenly a blizzard swoops in, obscuring your view. Moments later, you hear a roar, the battle music kicks in, and the bosses health bar appears. The blizzard lifts, and you’re suddenly squaring off with a dragon — who proceeds to kill you immediately with frost breath. If that was you, then you need to know how to beat Borealis the Freezing Fog in Elden Ring.

Preparations

First up, some prep-work. We recommend not summoning other players for this fight, because you need to be able to ride your horse. Borealis leaps from one end of the arena to the other, and Torrent allows you to outspeed much of the frost breath it shoots your way. We also recommend having a maxed out, or nearly maxed out, high-tier Ashes summon. Mimic Tear, Nightmaiden and Swordstress Puppets, or Bloodhound Knight Floh work well — Mimic Tear in particular has the ability to drink a flask when it gets low. Other summons unfortunately don’t have the health to survive multiple frost breath attacks.

Mount up from the Site of Grace and head into the lake. Stop when you can summon your Ashes and buff up with whatever spells or buffs will work for you. Borealis can be afflicted with Bleed and Scarlet Rot, but you can also just enchant your weapon with fire or use fire spells. Once you’re ready, continue forward onto the frozen lake.

Stay on your horse

The goal is to stay on your horse as much as possible. Circle around Borealis and wait for opportunities to swoop in and get some hits. Good windows of opportunity include when it’s spewing frost breath along the ground, when it’s stomping it’s feet, and when it’s focused on your Ashes summons. If you see Borealis point it’s head up into the sky, you need to dash away — it will do a small AoE of frost, followed by a massive AoE. This attack alone is enough to not only knock you off Torrent, but also kill you in the process.

You cannot take many frost hits. Even with high Robustness, you accumulate Frostbite way too quickly to survive. Weave in and out of Borealis’ attack range, score two or three hits, then dash away to see what it does next. A good talisman to have equipped for this strategy is the Lance Talisman, which improves your attacks while riding Torrent.