Elden Ring: How to Beat Loretta
Understanding Loretta's Strengths
Loretta excels at hybrid combat, seamlessly blending melee attacks with powerful sorceries. She fights from horseback, granting her long reach, mobility, and wide attack arcs. Her glaive strikes punish careless positioning, while her magic spells pressure players who stay at range for too long. Many deaths against Loretta occur not from a single mistake, but from panic rolling into delayed magic attacks.
Loretta deals a mix of physical and magic damage, with magic being the more threatening component. This makes defensive preparation especially important.
Preparation and Gear Choices
Before entering the fight, prioritize magic damage mitigation. Equip armor with solid magic resistance and consider using the Spelldrake Talisman, which significantly reduces incoming magic damage. If you use a shield, choose one with high magic negation; however, do not rely solely on blocking, as Loretta's attacks can quickly drain stamina.
For offense, Loretta has respectable resistance to magic, making pure sorcery builds less efficient. Physical, lightning, and bleed-based weapons perform well. Weapons with longer reach-such as spears, halberds, or greatswords-allow you to punish safely without standing directly under her glaive. Jump attacks are especially effective for melee builds.
Dealing with Melee Attacks
Loretta's melee attacks are deliberate but deceptive. Her sweeping glaive swings cover wide areas and are often followed by delayed follow-ups. The key is to roll toward or slightly past her, rather than backing away. Dodging backward often leaves you within the arc of her next swing.
After a completed combo, Loretta has a brief recovery window. Use this time for one or two clean hits-never overcommit. Greed is heavily punished, particularly in the Haligtree version, where her aggression is much higher.
Managing Loretta's Sorceries
Loretta's magic defines the rhythm of the fight. Her most dangerous spell is the floating Glintblade swords that hover above her before firing. These blades punish early rolls and often sync with her melee pressure. When you see them appear, focus on lateral movement and wait for them to fire before attacking.
Another common spell is her greatbow-like magic shot. This attack is slow, linear, and extremely powerful-but also highly punishable. Roll sideways at the last moment, then immediately close the distance. This is one of the safest opportunities to heal or deal damage.
Maintaining mid-range positioning is ideal. Staying too far away invites constant spell spam, while staying too close without discipline leads to getting clipped by wide swings.
Using Spirit Ashes Effectively
Spirit Ashes can drastically lower the difficulty of the fight. Summons that survive longer and draw aggro-such as Lhutel the Headless, Skeletal Militiamen, or tanky Spirit Ashes-are excellent choices. Their primary value is not damage, but distraction. When Loretta targets a summon, you gain safe windows to heal, reposition, or attack from behind.
Final Tips for the Haligtree Version
Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree introduces more spell variety and higher damage, but the strategy remains unchanged. Patience becomes even more important. Focus on survival, respect her magic, and slowly chip away at her health rather than rushing the fight.
Conclusion
Loretta is a fight about control and discipline. By preparing for magic damage, managing distance, and buy Elden Ring Runes capitalizing on clear openings, you can defeat her consistently. Once mastered, this battle becomes a strong demonstration of your understanding of Elden Ring's combat fundamentals-and a satisfying victory over one of its most graceful knights.