BEASTMAN OF FARUM AZULA (GROVESIDE CAVE)

Phase Strategy

The Beastman of Farum Azula is one of the first optional bosses you can challenge in Limgrave, and the game puts him here intentionally. He is a tutorial — not on dodging, not on stamina management, but on parry timing. If you walk out of Groveside Cave with a feel for the parry window, you have gained something that will serve you for the rest of the game.

That said, he will kill you if you are careless. 580 HP does not mean helpless. His curved blade hits hard at level 1-5, and his aggression in the small cave arena can feel overwhelming on a first encounter. Keep your back away from the walls, stay just outside his swing range, and bait single attacks rather than full strings.

Approach — Patience in a Small Room

The cave arena is cramped. Your instinct will be to roll backward — resist it. Rolling back puts you against the wall immediately, which kills your dodge options on the follow-up. Instead, sidestep and circle to his off-hand side. He favors attacks that track his weapon hand, so staying to his left keeps you outside the natural arc of most of his swings.

He has no second phase, no health threshold gimmicks, and no ranged attacks. Every threat comes from his blade at melee range. Once you accept that this is purely a melee spacing puzzle, he becomes straightforward.

Critical: If you have a Small Shield or the Buckler (purchasable from the Twin Maiden Husks), now is the time to equip it. The Beastman's attack rhythm is clean and consistent — parrying two or three hits in a row will stagger him completely, leaving him open to a critical strike that removes a third of his HP in a single hit.

Attacks & Counters

| Attack | Counter | |--------|---------| | Single overhead slash | His most common opener. Roll to his left side or parry on the downswing. Punish with 2 R1s safely. | | Two-hit horizontal combo | He swings left then right in quick succession. Roll through the first hit toward him; the second swing passes over you. | | Leaping overhead slam | He jumps and crashes down. Roll forward through him just before he lands — the hitbox is directly below the impact point. | | Low sweeping slash | A crouched wind-up precedes this. Roll backward or simply jump over it. The sweep tracks forward, not laterally. | | Three-hit flurry | Rare but fast. Don't parry attempt this one early. Back off and let him finish, then punish the recovery. |

The parry window on his single slash and two-hit combo is generous by Elden Ring standards — more forgiving than anything you will face at Stormveil. If parrying feels out of reach right now, pure dodging is entirely sufficient. He telegraphs every attack with an obvious wind-up.

Recommended Loadout

At the level range you are likely fighting this boss, optimization matters less than the basics. Still, a few items make a noticeable difference:

• Weapon: Any starting weapon or early Limgrave find at +1 or +2 works fine. The Uchigatana (found in the Deathtouched Catacombs, or starting weapon for the Samurai class) is worth mentioning — its passive bleed buildup will proc on a full combo and shave meaningful HP. The Beastman has no particular resistance to bleed.
• Shield: Buckler for parry practice, purchasable from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold for 1,000 runes. Its small parry window actually trains better habits than larger shields. If you just want to survive, any medium shield with 100% physical block works.
• Spirit Ash: Entirely optional here, but Lone Wolves Ashes split his aggression and give you free punish windows while he swipes at them. If you are struggling, summon them without hesitation.
• Frost: If you have any Freezing Grease or access to frost-infused weapons, apply it. The Beastman is notably weak to Frostbite — a single proc will deal bonus damage and reduce his absorption, shortening the fight meaningfully.
• Talismans: At this stage you likely have limited options. The Crimson Amber Medallion (+HP) from the chest in the Cave of Knowledge is worth equipping if you are dying to two hits.

Critical: Do not spend Smithing Stones upgrading a weapon specifically for this fight. He is early enough that raw damage is secondary to learning the rhythm. Save your stones for a weapon you intend to carry further.

A Note on Parry Practice

The Beastman is one of only a handful of early bosses whose attack cadence is slow and consistent enough to make parry practice feel fair. The mechanics are simple: hold your shield up, press the parry button just before his weapon makes contact, and if your timing is right, he staggers. The visual cue to aim for is the moment his arm commits downward — not when he raises it, not when the swing finishes, but mid-descent.

Most players parry too early. If you are getting guard-countered instead of a parry, delay your input by half a beat. Two successful parries into a critical strike ends the fight in under a minute.

This investment pays forward immediately. Margit, the very next major boss, has several attacks with similar parry windows. The muscle memory you build here is not wasted.

Related Bosses

Groveside Cave is just northwest of the First Step grace in Limgrave. After clearing it, the logical progression is toward Stormfoot Catacombs for another minor dungeon challenge, or south toward Murkwater Cave where Patches waits with his particular brand of hospitality. When you feel ready for a named boss, Margit, the Fell Omen stands at the gates of Stormveil Castle — the true measure of everything Limgrave has been teaching you.