- Last Updated on June 9, 2023
Early on in your playthrough, you can find a passage leading to the Church of the Dragon Communion hidden in the Coastal Cave in Limgrave. On this small island are the ruins of a church, one where the hearts of dragons can be consumed in exchange for powerful spells and incantations. Finding the church is the easy part, but getting Dragon Hearts is a little more difficult.
Five Dragon Hearts can be obtained by slaying Elden Ring’s Sleeping Dragon found just outside Fort Faroth, who goes by the name Elder Dragon Greyoll. It isn’t the easiest fight in the game if you face her at a low level, but to get your hands on Dragon Hearts that are pretty scarce in the early game, it’s a worthwhile battle. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to reach the Sleeping Dragon, and what to do once you reach her.
Reaching the Sleeping Dragon in Elden Ring
The Sleeping Dragon rests in Caelid, close to Fort Faroth. There are two good ways to reach this location – traveling through the north or being teleported. If this is your first time venturing into Caelid, you might want to bring a supply of Preserving Boluses with you.
Teleportation is definitely the easier of the two. To do this, you’ll need to pay a visit to Summonwater Village, which you’ll likely pass through anyway, even if you want to travel to Fort Faroth on foot. Here, you’ll want to kill the Tibia Mariner for its Deathroot, then take it to D back in Roundtable Hold. By doing so, you will start Gurranq’s quest, and open up a Sending Gate from Limgrave to near Gurranq’s location in Caelid. You can find this Sending Gate in the small lake right next to the Third Church of Marika. Once through, you’ll be able to touch a Site of Grace deep into this new area, and be quite close to the Sleeping Dragon to boot. To reach her, ride past the Minor Erdtree, continue west until you reach a fork in the road, then ride south. You’ll see the Sleeping Dragon in no time.
The other route is a fair bit longer and more dangerous, though you’ll explore more of Caelid in exchange. Starting from Summonwater Village in the north of Limgrave, travel east and cross the border into Caelid. From the first Site of Grace, follow the bend around to where the big dogs are. You’ll see a large crevice and a cliff with a shack on top. Look for the spot to jump over the crevice, then follow the road eastwards until you reach a fork. Head south, and you’ll be face-to-face with the Sleeping Dragon.
Fighting the Sleeping Dragon
The Sleeping Dragon fight is a bit of a unique one in Elden Ring. You won’t be fighting the boss herself, but rather the minions she calls upon for defense. Greyoll doesn’t have any attacks or skills in particular, save for a roar she uses to call the small dragons nearby and lower your stats a bit. In a sense, this does make the fight easy, but if you mismanage your position and get cornered by the little dragons, you’re an easy kill.
Greyoll has an obscene health pool, especially if you’re in the early game. To bring her down, you have two options – focus on the small dragons, as each one killed will do a big chunk of damage, or attack her where the small dragons can’t reach you. If you have any weapons that can inflict bleed or hemorrhage, they will be useful here.
Fighting the small dragons
If you decide to fight the small dragons, you should take care not to get cornered. Fighting them one by one will make things much easier, as they aren’t too much of a threat alone. Attacks are well-telegraphed, making dodging easy. The only attack that could be a problem is the charge, which is telegraphed by a scream beforehand. This can quickly close the gap between you and the dragon, which could be an issue for ranged characters, and it can force you into a bad position. Make sure you don’t accidentally aggro more small dragons as you dodge this attack. Each small dragon you kill will deal a large amount of damage to the Sleeping Dragon, and you’ll kill her after dealing with all five of them.
Fighting Greyoll directly
If you’re well prepared, choosing to fight the Sleeping Dragon directly is arguably the better choice. Having a weapon capable of hemorrhage will be vital at low levels, as each proc will do a percentage of the Sleeping Dragon’s max health. It is not reliant on your stats or proficiencies to deal good damage. Having a weapon that can inflict bleed will make killing Greyoll a bit quicker, though it isn’t necessary. Once you have the necessary weapons, simply get behind her and attack the tail. It’s difficult for the small dragons to get you here. After you’ve killed Greyoll, the small dragons will also die, making this the quicker way of the two.
Also Read: Uchigatana Location, Stats & Builds
Rewards for slaying the Sleeping Dragon
Once you kill the Sleeping Dragon, you will be rewarded with a massive 50,000 Runes, plus some more for the small dragons, and five Dragon Hearts. If you head back to the Church of Dragon Communion, you can exchange three of these Dragon Hearts for Greyoll’s Roar. This incantation does a small amount of damage, but does grant good debuffs to attack and defense on any enemies caught within. It also has good AOE, making it great for one-hit boss builds and ambush tactics.
