Where to Find the First Furnace Golem
The first Furnace Golem you’re likely to run into is hard to miss—literally. It towers over the landscape just south of Belurat, Tower Settlement, in the opening stretch of Shadow of the Erdtree. If you follow the main road past the ruins and stay on the cliffs, you’ll spot this lumbering behemoth pacing around like it owns the place. (Spoiler: it kinda does.)
This is one of the earliest Scadutree Fragment sources available, which makes it a prime target before you wander too deep into the DLC’s more vicious territories. You don’t need to finish Belurat to get here—you can ride Torrent straight to the cliffside, where the Golem’s slow, stompy patrol route makes it easy to approach or avoid depending on your mood (or trauma level).
Quick Tip: Activate the nearby Scadutree Fragment grace point before engaging, just in case things go full barbecue on your first try.
What Makes the Furnace Golem So Dangerous
The Furnace Golem isn’t just big—it’s mean. This towering nightmare combines sheer size with overwhelming area-of-effect attacks that punish careless movement and aggressive melee. If you thought Elden Ring’s usual giants were bad, the Furnace Golem laughs in molten terror.
Here’s why it’s a problem:
- Massive AOE Stomps: Its ground pounds have deceptively large hitboxes that can one-shot or nearly kill under-leveled players. Even if you’re on Torrent, mistiming your dodge can send you sailing.
- Fire Attacks from Hell: The Furnace Golem isn’t content to just stomp—you’ll also have to deal with wide fire breath attacks, explosive flame bursts, and in some cases, a devastating flamethrower that can wipe an entire field.
- Absurd Reach and Tracking: The Golem’s melee swings can hit you even when you think you’re safely behind it. Worse, its tracking is unusually precise, meaning if you try to circle strafe up close, you’ll probably get pancaked.
- Early Game Resistance: Most players reaching this fight in the first hour of the DLC won’t have the gear, Scadutree upgrades, or raw stats to take it on directly. It shrugs off early melee like you’re swatting it with a butter knife.
The result? A boss that punishes impatience, punishes greed, and punishes… well, basically any bad decision you’ve ever made. Without the right approach, it can easily feel like a wall—especially for melee-focused builds who try to take it toe-to-toe.
Pro Tip: If you find yourself flattening into the dirt over and over, don’t stress. You’re meant to feel underpowered here until you play smarter, not harder.
Best Strategy – Beat It Without Breaking a Sweat
The secret to slaying the Furnace Golem early isn’t brute force—it’s brains, patience, and good old-fashioned horseback archery. You can absolutely do this without smashing your controller or your dignity.
Step 1: Stay on Torrent
First rule: don’t fight this thing on foot unless you have a death wish or you’re cosplaying as a pancake. Torrent gives you speed, mobility, and the chance to actually stay alive when the Golem starts slamming the ground or breathing fire.
Step 2: Target the Glowing Brazier on Its Chest
Your main goal is simple: hit the glowing furnace-like brazier on its chest. That’s its weak point, and enough damage there will stagger the Golem, opening it up for a critical hit. The problem? Its chest is often too high for melee players without some serious risk-taking. This is why…
Step 3: Go Ranged (Poison and Rot are Your Friends)
- Poisonbone Arrows, Rotbone Arrows, or any ranged status effect are incredibly effective here. Even early-game bows or crossbows can apply poison or scarlet rot with persistence, draining the Golem’s health safely over time.
- For magic users: Glintstone Pebble, Arc, or anything fast-firing and cheap works fine too. It’s not about bursting the Golem down—it’s about whittling it down without getting squashed.
Step 4: Stay Mobile, Stay Patient
- Don’t stand still—circle the Golem’s legs on Torrent while peppering it from range.
- Never get greedy. Fire off a few shots, reposition, and watch its windups carefully. The furnace explosion attack in particular can blindside you if you linger.
- If you need to heal or reapply buffs, do it far away. The Golem has deceptive reach.
Step 5: Spirit Ashes Make It Even Safer
- Summon a durable Spirit Ash (e.g., Lone Wolf Ashes or Greatshield Soldiers) to grab the Golem’s attention while you attack from a distance.
- Even if your Ash dies quickly, that moment of distraction can give you breathing room to land crucial shots.
Key Takeaway: The Furnace Golem isn’t designed to be brawled with early on. Use your head, use your horse, and let poison or magic do the heavy lifting.
Cheese Strategy (If You’re Underpowered)
Look, not every hero needs to go toe-to-toe with a skyscraper-sized medieval radiator. If you’re under-leveled, under-geared, or just over it, cheesing the Furnace Golem is 100% valid—and honestly kind of satisfying.
The Cliff Method (Gravity: Still the Strongest Boss in Elden Ring)
- Lure the Furnace Golem toward the cliff edges near its spawn point, especially around the western ledges south of Belurat.
- With a little patience (and a little luck), you can bait its stomps and wide swings to make it take a fatal tumble—no arrows, no magic, no close calls required.
- Torrent makes this safer, letting you zip in to grab the Scadutree Fragment after it falls.
Pro Tip: The Furnace Golem AI is surprisingly clumsy near uneven terrain. With enough teasing, gravity will do what your early-game weapons can’t.
The Pillar-and-Poke Method
- Alternatively, fight near the stone pillars and terrain clutter around the cliffs.
- Use the environment to block its line of sight while peppering it with poison arrows, magic, or crossbow bolts.
- This method is slower but very safe—just don’t get stuck in a corner.
Cheese Takeaway: If it’s dumb but it works, it’s not dumb. Don’t let your pride stop you from using the environment. The Golem certainly won’t.
Recommended Loadout: Gear Up or Get Flattened
You don’t need to be endgame-stacked to take down the Furnace Golem, but you do need to show up prepared. Rolling in with your starter sword and a prayer is a fast track to becoming medieval roadkill.
1. Mount: Torrent Is Mandatory
- If you haven’t unlocked Torrent yet, turn around. Seriously. Fighting the Furnace Golem on foot this early is the kind of bad idea even Patches would side-eye.
- The fight’s designed for mobility, and Torrent’s double-jump lets you dodge AOE stomps and reposition faster than any roll.
2. Ranged Weapons: Arrows, Bolts, or Spells—Pick Your Poison
- Poisonbone Arrows or Rotbone Arrows are the MVPs here. They build up Damage over Time (DOT) while you stay safely out of stomp range.
- Crossbows work too—especially if you prefer “click and run” over “aim and pray.”
- Mages: Glintstone Pebble or any low-cost sorcery will chip away slowly. Stay mounted and fire between stomps.
Snarky Tip: If you’re still using that rickety Shortbow from Limgrave, it might be time for an upgrade. The Longbow or Greatbow from earlier zones will serve you better here.
3. Spirit Ashes: The Distraction Dream Team
- Summon anything that distracts the boss long enough for you to shoot without stress. Even weak ashes can split aggro and buy precious seconds.
- Lone Wolf Ashes or Greatshield Soldiers work surprisingly well in the early DLC zones.
- Keep in mind: Spirit ashes can and will get trampled. Use them to create openings, not to carry the whole fight.
4. Talismans: Boost What Matters
- Prioritize stamina regeneration (Green Turtle Talisman), damage boosts for ranged or magic (Arrow’s Sting Talisman), and light equip load for snappy Torrent dodges.
- If you have anything that boosts poison or rot buildup, slot it.
5. Armor & Weight: Light to Medium
- This fight is about movement, not tanking. Heavy armor won’t save you from one-shots, but light or medium setups let you react faster on Torrent.
- Fashion Souls is always valid, but speed matters more than style here.
The Loadout TL;DR: Speed, range, poison. Get in, get shots off, get out. If your gear doesn’t let you do that, it’s time for a quick shopping trip before round two.
Rewards: Why Bother?
So you’ve chipped, dipped, and dodged your way to victory. What’s waiting for you besides the satisfaction of not being squished into Tarnished jelly?
Scadutree Fragment (x1)
- This is the real prize. Each Scadutree Fragment increases your damage dealt and reduces damage taken in Shadow of the Erdtree. The more you collect, the easier everything becomes—think of it as your DLC survival tax.
A Pile of Runes
- The Furnace Golem drops a solid chunk of Runes—enough for a couple of juicy level-ups, especially early in the DLC.
- Pro tip: If you’re farming for runes, this guy can be cheesed repeatedly once you’ve nailed the strategy.
Optional Bragging Rights
- This boss is technically optional, but taking it down early gives you a serious leg up for every future encounter.
- Plus, let’s be honest: telling your friends you flattened a Furnace Golem before breakfast is just good gamer karma.
Bottom line: If you plan to survive the hell that Shadow of the Erdtree throws at you, this is one mini-boss you don’t want to skip.
Wrap-Up: Don’t Get Burned
The Furnace Golem may be your first real “what the hell is this?” moment in Shadow of the Erdtree, but it doesn’t have to be a wall. With the right tools, some patience, and a few dirty tricks (no shame), this towering death oven is totally manageable—even for underpowered builds.
Key takeaways:
- Don’t rush in blind. Early melee duels usually end with your ashes scattered across the Twilight.
- Mount up, kit out, and keep your distance. Ranged damage—whether arrows, magic, or poison—is your ticket to an easy win.
- Cheese if you must. Gravity, terrain, and stubbornness are valid weapons in Elden Ring. Miyazaki would want it this way.
Take down this molten monstrosity, grab your Scadutree Fragment, and stride confidently into the rest of the DLC. Bigger, badder horrors await—and you’ll be ready.
Got the Furnace Golem handled? Don’t miss our Dune: Awakening Deep Desert guide for survival tips when the stakes—and the sandstorms—get serious.
