Elden Ring: How to beat Borealis the Freezing Fog

So there you are, Tarnished, minding your own business while riding your horse over a frozen lake...until a blizzard swoops in and obscures your eyesight. After a few moments, you'll hear a roar, the combat soundtrack will start playing, and the boss's health bar will display. The storm clears, and you suddenly face to face with a dragon, who promptly kills you with frost breath. If this describes you, you'll need to learn how to defeat Borealis the Freezing Fog in Elden Ring.

Preparations

First and foremost, some preparation. Because you must be able to ride your horse, we do not recommend calling other players for this battle. Borealis leaps from one end of the arena to the other, and Torrent lets you outrun a lot of the frost breath it fires at you. We also recommend having a high-tier Ashes summon that is maxed up or about maxed out.

Mimic Tear, Nightmaiden and Swordstress Puppets, or Bloodhound Knight Floh are all good choices – Mimic Tear, for example, can consume a flask when it runs out. Other summonses, on the other hand, lack the health to withstand several frost breath strikes.

Mount up and head into the lake from the Site of Grace. Stop when you've summoned your Ashes and buff up with whatever spells or buffs you can. Borealis can be affected by Bleed and Scarlet Rot, but you can also utilize fire spells or enchant your weapon with fire. Continue on onto the ice lake once you're ready.

Stay on your horse

The idea is to keep as close to your horse as possible. Wait for the opportunity to swoop in and get some hits as you circle around Borealis. When it's spewing frost breath over the ground, stamping its feet, and focusing on your Ashes summons, these are good windows of opportunity. You should flee if you see Borealis raise its head into the sky; it will do a small AoE of frost, followed by a massive AoE. This assault is sufficient to not only knock you off Torrent but also to kill you.

You can only take so much cold. Even with high Robustness, Frostbite accumulates far too quickly for you to live. Weave in and out of the assault range of Borealis, score two or three hits, then flee to see what it does next. The Lance Talisman, which increases your attacks while riding Torrent, is a fantastic talisman to have equipped for this tactic.