Elden Ring: Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella (Ainsel River) Boss Fight
Published: June 26, 2025 at 2:07:58 PM UTC
Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella is in the middle tier of bosses in Elden Ring, Greater Enemy Bosses, and is found deep underground in the Ainsel River area beneath Eastern Liurnia of the Lakes. Like most lesser bosses in the game, this one is optional in the sense that you do not need to kill it in order to advance the main story.
As you probably know, bosses in Elden Ring are divided into three tiers. From lowest to highest: Field Bosses, Greater Enemy Bosses and finally Demigods and Legends.
Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella is in the middle tier, Greater Enemy Bosses, and is found deep underground in the Ainsel River area. Like most lesser bosses in the game, this one is optional in the sense that you do not need to kill it in order to advance the main story.
As you explore the underground area of Ainsel River, you will at some point come across a huge room with a huge throne in it. Upon the huge throne sits what appears to be a huge skeleton, dead for centuries.
Now, if you’ve made it this far, you’re clearly experienced enough with the shenanigans that go on in this game, so just because something looks like it’s been dead for centuries, more often than not it will choose the exact moment you approach to wake up and be in a foul mood. I fully expected this huge skeleton to be a boss, but I was wrong and very startled when the actual boss dropped down from the ceiling. The foul mood part was exactly as expected though.
The boss is a huge dragon-like humanoid. As so often with bosses of this size, the camera feels like it’s the real enemy, as it’s very difficult to see what the boss is about to do if you’re actually close enough to melee it.
However, for this particular boss, there is a trick to it. If you can manage to position yourself on the inside of the boss’s right leg, the boss will keep pushing you out of harm’s way as he turns around and swings at you. As you can see in the video, I managed to stay in this position for a while, but not for the entire fight. I know it’s a bit cheesy, but finding those weak spots on bosses is a valid strategy in a game of this difficulty, in my opinion.
If you’re fast enough, you can kill the boss before he enters phase two. I didn’t quite manage to, so you will see him in his new and improved lightning-infused state near the end of the video. He gets a lot more annoying in this phase, as he gains several different lightning-based abilities and we all know who his favorite victim is.
After taking a few lightning bolts to the face, I got tired of his unwillingness to die and hand over the sweet loot, so I decided to finish him off from range with my trusty longbow.
After killing the boss, you will not be able to proceed further unless you’re on a specific side quest. You will gain access to a room inside the huge throne that contains a treasure chest for you to loot though ;-)