RED WOLF OF RADAGON

Phase Strategy

The Red Wolf of Radagon guards the entrance to Raya Lucaria's inner sanctum. This fight is a gear check disguised as a skill check — if you struggled with Margit, you will struggle here. If you cleared Godrick, the wolf should fall in 3-5 attempts once you understand its single unbreakable rule: stay close.

The arena is a long, narrow hall with scattered debris. The wolf uses this space to create distance, then punishes you with magic while you close the gap. Every moment you spend more than 10 feet away from this boss is a moment you are losing.

The Core Loop

The Red Wolf has two states: melee and ranged. In melee range, it uses predictable lunges, bites, and spin attacks. At range, it summons a glowing sword and throws delayed projectiles that track you across the room. The sword animations are deliberately deceptive — the projectile fires 0.5 seconds after the slash animation completes. New players panic-roll during the slash and get clipped by the delayed shot.

Critical: The wolf's magic sword projectiles are not dodged on visual cue. Count "one-Mississippi" after the slash animation, then roll. Lock this timing into muscle memory in your first three attempts. Everything else will follow.

The wolf phases between melee and ranged unpredictably, but it always telegraphs the transition by leaping backward 15-20 feet. When you see the backward leap, sprint forward immediately. Do not wait to see what it does next. Close the gap before the sword appears.

Attack Windows

The Red Wolf is fast, but its recovery windows are generous:

• After any bite combo (2-3 hits), it pauses for 1-1.5 seconds. This is your primary punish window.
• After the spinning slash (360° ground spin), it lands facing away from you. Free backstab or charged R2.
• After aerial dive (rare), it stumbles on landing. Two R1s guaranteed.

The fight has no phases in the traditional sense — it is a single continuous loop of close/ranged/close. Your job is to minimize the ranged portions by aggressive positioning.

Attacks & Counters

| Attack | Counter | |--------|---------| | Double-bite lunge | Roll into the wolf on the second bite. Punish with 2 R1s. | | Magic sword slash (ranged) | Do not roll on the slash. Count to one, then roll left or right. | | Triple projectile barrage | Three swords in quick succession. Roll left on each after the 1-second delay. | | Spinning ground slash | Roll backward to avoid. If you're directly behind it, free backstab. | | Aerial dive (rare) | Roll forward through the dive. Wolf stumbles on landing — punish heavily. | | Backward leap (transition) | Sprint forward immediately. This is not an attack; it's your cue to close distance. |

Recommended Loadout

The Red Wolf is highly vulnerable to strike damage and physical aggression. Sorcerers and ranged builds will struggle more than melee fighters.

• Weapon: Any strike weapon +4 or higher. Flail, Morning Star, or Mace all trivialize this fight. If you don't have strike, any +4 melee weapon works — bleed is less effective here than raw damage.
• Spirit Ash: Lone Wolves +3 or any tanky summon. The wolves distract the Red Wolf's target priority and force it into melee mode more often. Summon immediately on entry.
• Talismans:
  • Radagon's Scarseal (+3 VIG/END/STR/DEX, minor damage penalty — worth it at this stage)
  • Crimson Amber Medallion (+HP buffer)
  • Assassin's Crimson Dagger (heal on critical hits — pairs well with backstab opportunities)
• Items: Starlight Shards if you're a caster. Otherwise, standard Crimson Flasks are sufficient.

For pure casters: equip a Meteorite Staff and spam Rock Sling. The poise damage from Rock Sling staggers the wolf in 4-5 casts, opening a critical hit window. This is slower but viable.

Positioning is Everything

The Red Wolf punishes hesitation. Many players instinctively create distance when the fight gets chaotic — this is exactly backward. The more space you give the wolf, the more it uses magic. The less space you give it, the more it uses melee attacks you can see coming.

When the wolf leaps away:

1. Sprint directly toward it (do not dodge, do not pause).
2. Close to melee range before it finishes the sword animation.
3. Circle-strafe clockwise around its right side.

The clockwise strafe is key. Most of the wolf's melee attacks swing left-to-right (your perspective). Strafing right keeps you outside the bite cone while maintaining pressure.

If you get caught at range and it starts the triple projectile barrage, do not panic. Walk forward between rolls. Each projectile is individually dodgeable, and forward movement closes the gap for the next melee exchange.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Rolling on the sword slash animation instead of the delayed projectile. This gets 80% of first-timers. Slow down. The projectile is always delayed.

Mistake 2: Chasing the wolf when it repositions. Let it come to you after a backward leap. Sprint forward to meet it halfway, but do not chase it into a corner — you'll clip the environment mid-roll.

Mistake 3: Using slow weapons without poise. If you're two-handing a colossal weapon, wear heavy armor or use the Bull-Goat's Talisman. The wolf's bite interrupts slow swings unless you have 51+ poise.

The Red Wolf is not testing your reflexes. It is testing your discipline. Stay close, roll late, and punish greed with single hits instead of full combos.

Lore Pause

The Red Wolf is not a natural creature — it is a summoned construct, identical to the wolves Rennala herself conjures in her boss fight. Radagon left these sentries behind when he departed for Leyndell. The crimson hue and glintstone blade are Raya Lucaria signatures, marking this as an academy guardian rather than a living beast.

You will fight another Red Wolf later in the Consecrated Snowfield. Same moveset, same counters. Consider this your training.

Related Bosses

Defeating the Red Wolf opens the path to Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. Stock up on Thawfrost Boluses (frostbite resistance) before proceeding — Rennala's second phase leans heavily on cold damage. If the Red Wolf gave you trouble, take a detour through Liurnia's eastern shore to level your weapon to +5 or +6.