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Radahn's scrawny horse is the key to how this boss lands on your ass every time in Elden Ring

Radahn's bombastic meteor attack in Elden Ring is effective, in part, because a homing beacon is involved.

There are many, many spectacular moments in Elden Ring boss fights - and really much of FromSoftware's recent work. But the Starscourge Radahn boss fight in particular stands out due to its sheer scale, unusual setup, and that one move that signals the beginning of the fight's second phase.

We're talking, of course, about the meteor landing, where Radahn launches himself into the air and comes hurtling back around in the form of a meteor to cause a massive area of effect explosion.

Cover image for YouTube videoElden Ring - The craziest attack in the game

But how does it actually work? More specifically, what allows Radahn to effectively track the player and land near them? The answer is apparently fairly simple.

According to Zullie the Witch, the well-known Souls modder behind many illuminating and... unusual discoveries, the secret is all in Radahn's horse: Leonard.

A closer look at the animation of the move reveals that Radahn sneakily pushes Leonard underground before he flings himself off. But what you may not realise is that the scrawny horse continues to track the player's location from beneath the surface, which is how Radahn is able to land at the player's approximate location so successfully.

Of course, there's a lot of game development trickery involved in the move. Radahn disappears when he ascends, and reappears in a different pose to launch himself towards the player. It's not as graceful when you look into it too much, but that's often the case for most games.

Players had suspected that Radahn always knows to land close to the player, and some even used that to bait him into landing in the water, immediately killing him and ending the fight. But it wasn't clear how.

Cover image for YouTube videoElden Ring 2 | 8 things we want in the sequel

We've been covering community discoveries in Elden Ring almost daily, and you can catch up on all our recent stories at the Elden Ring tag. If you have specific questions in need for of answering, why not click through our mega Elden Ring guide?

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Elden Ring

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Sherif Saed

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Sherif (he/him) is VG247’s go-to shooter and Souls-likes person. Whether it’s news, reviews, or op-eds – Sherif is always eager to tell you about video games. He's one of VG247's most veteran writers, with 10+ years experience on the site.

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