Messmer's legions stand in your way, and his towering war machines are some of the deadliest foes to block your path.
When hopping into Shadow of the Erdtree, the massive expansion for FromSoftware and Bandai Namco's Elden Ring, you'll quickly notice hulking, wicker man-esque monstrosities lumbering across the battlefields and graveyards in the Shadow Realm (and in London). These are the Furnace Golems, war machines used by Messmer the Impaler in the Land of Shadow. Their appearances are not deceiving, and they are among the gnarliest, most dangerous foes that FromSoftware has ever cooked up, posing massive threats to even endgame-level players with top-tier equipment.
Fortunately, they can be brought down, and these scorching titans have some nifty rewards for your endeavours. Even once you know what to do, it's not going to be easy though, and it'll require a healthy amount of preparation, skill, and frankly a bit of luck. Here's how to take on Furnace Golems in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.
How to beat Furnace Golems in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
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Furnace Golems are unique, even by the standards of FromSoftware's creations. Unlike the overwhelming majority of enemies and bosses, they can't simply be shot with arrows, blasted with spells, and hacked with melee weapons. With a couple of small exceptions detailed below, Furnace Golems are simply invulnerable to damage.
In order to take on a Furnace Golem, it's also important to recognize that there's two different kinds of these sauntering, smoldering, statuesque opponents. One kind is armored around the legs, while the second one isn't. It's a solitary distinction that's critical to understand, as it completely changes how you'll approach toppling these machines.
Before fighting either kind of Furnace Golem, make sure that you are rested up, and that you have a full Flask of Crimson Tears in order to heal yourself and Torrent if you get hit.
The unarmored Furnace Golems are almost certainly the first kind you'll encounter, as one can be found striding across the opening region when you first enter the Land of Shadow. Here's how you fight them.
- Hop on Torrent. Unless you're the world's greatest Bloodhound step user, the fight will be on Torrent's back.
- Close the distance fast. Furnace Golems have powerful ranged attacks where they launch fiery rocks at you that can kill you in just a couple of hits. It's possible to block some of this damage by hiding behind trees or ruins, but this can be inconsistent. It's better to get up-close.
- Slash at the Furnace Golem's unarmored legs. You'll only do an infinitesimal amount of damage per hit, but keep at it, because you'll eventually be able to topple it this way.
- Watch out for close-up attacks: There are two main attacks to worry about when you're under a Furnace Golem. The first sees the machine raise one foot that starts to glow, and it slams it into the ground, sending a wave of fire in every direction. You can jump over this with Torrent. The second (more dangerous attack) has the colossus jump up and slam both now-glowing feet into the ground, sending out a larger wave of fire. You have to DOUBLE-JUMP over this, it is not possible to dodge if you aren't riding Torrent.
- Eventually, the Furnace Golem will fall: After taking enough hits in its legs, the golem will fall, revealing a glowing weak point on its face that you can attack to deal absolutely massive damage, usually around half the machine's health. Repeat this process until the golem is destroyed.
So, that's all well and good for taking on the unarmored version. But what about the ones that do have leg armor? In that case, start praying to your chosen deity or pantheon, because these are going to be even harder to beat. The leg armor prevents these Furnace Golems from being toppled over. Instead, you'll need to use ranged and throwing weapons.
- Try to get around the height disparity: Sometimes you can fight these golems from a cliff, where you'll be on more even footing and looking it in the "face."
- Watch out for slam attacks and fireballs: If you are fighting it from a cliff and at a face-to-face viewpoint, watch out, as it will try to slam its arms down on you and throw fireballs in your direction.
- Use ranged weapons on its face: The sun-esque mask is a weak point, and can be targeted by ranged spells and arrows. I highly recommend Greatarrows.
- Throw damaging pots into its back: Alternatively, if you have the right vantage point, you can also throw fire pots and hefty fire pots into the basket on the Furnace Golem's back, which will also deal damage.
Most important of all, remember that Furnace Golems are optional challenges. If you find yourself getting frustrated, go explore and try to accomplish something else in the DLC before coming back later at a higher level, and perhaps with some new gear or magic.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: Furnace Golem rewards
With that level of immense challenge, it's a good thing that taking down Furnace Golems will grant some special rewards you can't find anywhere else. The primary treasure you'll acquire from destroying these gargantuan war machines are new Crystal Tears, which can be used to further customize your Flask of Wondrous Physick.
As an example, the Furnace Golem located right at the beginning of the expansion will reward you with the Deflecting Hardtear, which enhances your spontaneous guard.
Felling Furnace Golems will also reward you with Furnace Visages, extremely rare crafting items that can be used to construct Hefty Furnace Pots.
A dark new land to conquer
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is a massive expansion, greatly increasing the number of bosses to take on and the world to explore. This mythic game (which first launched back in 2022) recently passed 25 million copies sold, and with the expansion's arrival that's only going to increase.
In our 5/5 review for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, my colleague Brendan Lowry writes that "The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is Elden Ring at its most refined, with overly formulaic elements of the base game's open world design cut away and some of the most exhilarating boss battles in the entire FromSoftware Soulsborne catalog."
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is now available across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4, meaning one of the best Xbox games and best PC games is now even better once you purchase the expansion.
