When I thought I had forgotten Queelag from Dark Souls, Romina, Saint of the Bud in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree showed up and the memories came flooding. Romina is one of the bosses in the Elden Ring DLC that you must defeat to progress but beating her is about to be one of the most frustrating experiences of your life. But I’ve gone through the pain and suffering, so here are some tips and tricks to remember while fighting Romina in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.
Romina Location in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
You must reach the Church of Bud to track Romina in the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. This is an area located south of the Scorpion River Catacombs.
To reach this place, you’ll first have to progress through the Shadow Keep to get to the Ruah Ruins West location. From here, activate the Ruah Ancient Ruins West Site of Grace and head straight through the large arches.
Then, head up the stairs and straight through an arch to exit to a sizeable water-filled location. Here, take a left from the structure in the middle of the water and go through the ruins on the right side of the waterfall. Then, keep heading straight till you find a lift on the left side, exiting you right in front of the Romina boss room in Elden Ring DLC.
Romina Weaknesses in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
Now that you know how to find Romina, let’s take a look at some of her weaknesses to gain leverage in the fight. Fortunately, Romina has quite a few weaknesses we can exploit.
- Weak to bleed: One of the best things about Romina is just how much bleed damage she can take. Like most bosses in Elden Ring, if you run an arcana or dexterity build with weapons like a katana, don’t be shy about using it. Furthermore, weapons like Reduvia and Rivers of Blood will do wonders against her. Just keep an eye on your health while doing so.
- Weak to physical: Romina is weak to physical damage like most enemies in-game. So, if you carefully fight against her in the battle, you’ll break her poise and take a chunk of damage from her.
- Weak to magic: Many users have pointed out that magic damage works against Romina in the Elden Ring; even I’ve tried some of it using Rellana’s Twinblade. Hence, you might have a better chance against her if you are an intelligence build runner.
My colleague and I tried these things during the boss fight. In both instances, these three damages worked heavily against Romina.
How to Beat Romina, Saint of the Bud in Elden Ring
You will have to remember a few things to beat Romina in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. First, this boss does a lot of Scarlet Rot build-up. And second, I do not like this boss. This is easily one of my most hated bosses in the DLC. And I think nothing will top that when I was fighting against Rellana. But, keeping my feelings aside, here’s how to tackle the boss.
- Build a mixture of damage-negating and strength Crystal Tear: It is time to take advantage of the Flask of Wondrous Physick again. Since Romina takes damage from Bleed, Physical, and Magic attacks, consider using a mixture of a respective shrouding cracked tear based on which damage you want to do. Additionally, I suggest using a defensive crystal tear.
- Don’t be shy of calling a Spirit Ash: Romina in Elden Ring can be an overpowering and overwhelming boss. So, don’t be shy to call in your favorite Spirit Ash for some assistance. Your Spirit Ash should be able to damage Romina much if you’ve used Revered Spirit Ash on them.
- Stock up on some Preserving Blouses: Romina will deal a lot of Scarlet Rot build-up on you, resulting in Scarlet Rot. To combat that, stock up on some Preserving Blouses. This item reduces Scarlet Rot build-up and cures you in some cases.
- Look out for the bloody slash: When you first enter this Elden Ring boss room and go near Romina, she’ll start the fight by charging her blade and slashing at you. On impact, you’ll get Scarlet Rot build-up. Hence, roll forward when she slashes. This will protect you from the damage.
- Keep hitting her body: If you are a strength user, perform some jump attacks on Romina’s body. This will break her poise, allowing you to do critical damage.
- Look out for the flying lunge: Romina will briefly fly in the sky. When she does that, you will see a bright pink flash before she jumps down. When she does that, roll forward. That way, you will dodge the damage.
- Immediately run away to ignore the AoE: Following the lunge, Romina will call in a Scarlet Butterfly storm around her. Staying inside this storm will result in increased scarlet rot build-up. So, if you’ve successfully done the previous method, run away. Otherwise, get up and run to a distance.
- Look out for the butterfly blast: When you are fighting Romina at a close distance, she’ll briefly float in the air and summon a swarm of Scarlet Rot Butterfly around her. You have only a few seconds to run away before she makes the butterfly blast the immediate vicinity, dealing Scarlet Rot damage.
That is pretty much what you have to keep in mind while fighting this boss. If you’ve fought Queelag in Dark Souls, this is essentially the Queelag fight but ten times worse. So, I suggest following these tips to beat Romina successfully in Elden Ring.
Romina Rewards in Elden Ring SOTE
Defeating Romina will reward you with the Remembrance of the Saint of the Bud. This item lets you have Romina’s weapon — Poleblade of the Bud. It deals 131 Physical damage, requiring 14 strength, 22 dexterity, and 20 arcane.
Alternatively, you can get yourself the Rotten Butterflies using the remembrance. This will provide you with Romina’s skill, where you can call in a swarm of butterflies and set off a chain reaction, resulting in Scarlet Rot around you. And yeah, you get 380,000 runes for defeating her for leveling and upgrading purposes.
So, did you beat Romina, Saint of the Bud in the Elden Ring DLC yet? Let us know in the comments below.
