Scadutree Avatar (LVL1 NG+7 no blessings/buffs/skills)

The first boss on the chopping block for Shadow of the Erdtree, done at level 1 in NG+7. It was definitely one of the easiest bosses in the DLC, but I will tackle the harder ones soon.

I decided that not using blessings provides a similar level of challenge to what I'm used to. It's not quite 1:1, and I'm sure some of the other bosses are a lot tankier, but I will improvise the restrictions if I start to cry that I'm too bad at this game.

You can tell if blessings are used or not by looking at the status menu. Your stats will appear gold in the DLC areas when you use blessings, so I showed the status menu (5:00) for proof that I didn't use them for this fight.

As for the boss, you can be a lot more aggressive in phase 1 since it doesn't have the same follow-up attacks as it does in phase 2 and 3. I tend to forget exactly how greedy I can be. The multiple homing magic is easiest to dodge from side to side (1:04), but the single round of homing magic has different tracking, so I run to the right as I prepare for the next attack (1:48). For the ranged thorns, I try to stay at medium range as much as possible (2:19). The tracking is very bizarre at close range, so I stay back until the boss closes the gap with melee.

Finally, the AOEs in phase 3 are very tricky and took me a while to figure out. The cue for the single AOE is too subtle, so I run away to dodge it on reaction (3:41). For the multiple AOEs, the boss radiates light beams in a random pattern (4:07), and you can use the movement of the beams to tell when to dodge, but it's still a lot easier to run away. After the first pulse, its left hand will slowly move into a vertical position (4:11), and you have to time both dodge inputs carefully to roll through the AOEs. Do not mash the roll input, since your character will cancel the last few recovery frames of the previous roll, which makes the timing ever-so-slightly off.