How to Beat Every Boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has no shortage of difficult bosses. Here’s how to beat every boss in Elden Ring.

Table of Contents

• How to Beat Rellana
• How to Beat Golden Hippopotamus
• How to Beat Messmer the Impaler
• How to Beat Romina
• How to Beat Furnace Golems
• How to Beat Blackgaol Knight
• How to Beat the Scadutree Avatar
• How to Beat Ghostflame Dragons
• How to Beat Death Knight
• How to Beat Chief Bloodfiend in Elden RIng
• How to Beat Demi-Human Swordmaster Onze
• How to Beat Demi-Human Queen Marigga
• How to Beat Commander Gaius
• How to Beat Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame
• How to Beat Putrescent Knight

How to Beat Every Boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree: The Ultimate Guide

There are four main story bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree and fifteen optional ones. Here, we’ll give you an in-depth strategy on how to beat each of them, starting with the main story bosses. There will be very mild spoilers ahead.

How to Beat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight in Elden Ring

Rellana can be extremely tough for players who aren’t familiar with the parrying system in Elden Ring, but for those who are experts with this mechanic, this should be a breeze. If you successfully parry Rellana multiple times, she will be vulnerable to a critical strike, and given her sweeping combinations, there are plenty of opportunities to parry.

If you’re a magic user, then this can be a tough fight as she has great magic defense, and as such your attacks aren’t likely to do much damage. In this situation, we suggest seeking out lightning spells as she is vulnerable to lightning, and these can make the fight much easier.

How to Survive Rellana’s First Phase

Most of Rellana’s phase one kit relies on sweeping strikes with her swords. You’ll want to roll through these moves and take advantage of openings to do damage once the combination is complete.

If you’re at a distance, then Rellana can use Glintstone Arcs. These projectiles can easily be dodged by rolling, but be aware, she often sends multiple at once, but can instead shoot one marge projectile that does significantly more damage.

How to Survive Rellana’s Second Phase

During Phase Two, Rellana will imbue her sword with fire and begin using a combination of magic and fire attacks. She’ll also become much more aggressive, meaning that even the combinations you’re familiar with will be tougher to avoid.

With her fire magic, Rellana’s combinations now include spinning combos from close range. Again, rolling through these is the optimal way to avoid them. Her Carian Greatsword move is a powerful attack that begins with a 360 sweep around her position, followed by a crashing strike to the ground at your location. You can roll through the sweep and away from the final strike to avoid taking damage.

Rellana’s Twin Moon attack is her most dangerous ability and must be avoided at all costs. This will see her levitate in the air, creating two moons that crash to the earth before she does herself. You need to jump over these attacks as they make an impact with the ground to avoid them, and the further away you are from her, the better so we suggest running right as you see the attack be initiated.

Last Resort Tips for Beating Rellana

The Mimic Tear Spirit Ashes is a great way to beat this fight if you’re having trouble. This summoning ability will help you in combat not just by dealing damage, but also by pulling agro so you can work on your own attacks.

There are two NPC spirits available to summon outside of Rellana’s boss room, however, we would advise against summoning either. They are both vulnerable to Rellana’s attacks and won’t survive long in combat. Summoning also increases Rellana’s health so it’s simply not worth it in this situation.

If you do need to summon, consider summoning an online player, as they’ll likely be more equipped to beat Renalla than these NPCs are.

How To Beat Golden Hippopotamus in Elden Ring

Most of the attacks from the Golden Hippopotamus in Phase 1 are close-range bashing-type moves. These can be easily avoided by rolling through them and dealing damage once the action is over.

Like most FromSoftware creature bosses, getting behind the Golden Hippopotamus makes beating it much easier. From behind, only a few attacks can hit you and they tend to be easy to see coming. When the enemy repositions to get in front again, roll through its attack and get behind once more. You can repeat this all the way into phase two.

During Phase 2, things get much trickier. The Golden Hippopotamus will start to emit golden spikes from its body. These have two purposes: they deal damage to anything close when they appear, but they also shoot out of the creature’s body, flying at the player. This ranged attack is easy to see coming and can be rolled to avoid.

Aside from the spikes, Phase 2 of the Golden Hippopotamus fight is almost identical to the first and as such you can use the same method of getting behind the beast to deal damage and eventually take it out.

If you’d like to make things easier, you can always use Spirit Ashes to draw agro and help out with repositioning and dealing damage to the boss. The best choice is likely going to be the Mimic Tear, as it will have the same weapons and armor that you are using, which can be tailored to your style and build up status effects during the fight.

How to Beat Messmer the Impaler in Elden Ring

Fighting Messmer in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree will require some preparation. While you can use the old-fashioned method of learning the fight to dodge every move and slowly wear down his health, we’d suggest entering the battle primed for victory.

Messmer is vulnerable to magic attacks so using sorceries will allow you to break his stance and deal critical blows much easier. I like to play melee builds, so using Ashes of War worked perfectly for me. The best one I found was Glintblade Phalanx, but any magic attack is going to be helpful so go with what you’ve got.

Most of Messmer’s damage comes from fire attacks so it is preferable to choose armor that has good resistance to fire. How heavy this armor is will depend on your build, but medium is optimal to ensure you still have the ability to roll out of Messmer’s attacks.

How to Survive Messmer’s Phase One

During phase one, Messmer has a handful of attacks. He will usually open by launching himself into the air and charging a ball of fire before crashing to the ground at your location. This can be easily avoided by rolling through the moment he is about to make an impact but be sure to roll away from his location a second time as he will detonate his flame shortly after he lands.

Messmer can sometimes lift his hand in the air and create a ball of fire. If this ball of fire floats off on its own be ready to roll, as it will be shortly firing in your direction. But, if Messmer starts to run towards you with the fireball in his hand, you must sprint away from him or get ready to time a roll just as he goes to grab you. This grab move is an instant kill even with quite a bit of health so you must avoid it at all costs.

Outside of these abilities, Messmer’s phase one kit is generally simple. You’ll want to roll through his swiping combinations, and to the side of his spear jabs. If he crashes to the ground at the end of a combination, you must be prepared to roll away as the ground can be detonated after impact.

Use the openings after his combinations to charge in and deal damage or activate your magic from a distance.

How to Survive Messmer’s Phase Two

Once you reach phase two, the Messmer fight gets a little easier. Opening this phase will be his giant snake smash. This move is almost the same as his initial opening attack, but thanks to the giant snake it is easier to time. Roll away from his impact, and then again before it detonates. There is a small window after this to deal damage so be prepared to rush in and land a few blows.

From here Messmer has a few new attacks which include a dark pool that can be created on the ground. This deals big damage so you escape the zone before it is detonated. He can also use giant snakes to strike you from a distance or become one himself to dash in and quickly close the distance dealing big damage. All of these snake attacks can be timed and rolled through.

Outside of these new moves, the kit stays mostly the same so you can stick to the same method as phase one and easily claim your Embers of Messmer.

Last Resorts for Beating Messmer

If you’re truly stuck against Messmer then you can always use the help of the Mimic Tear ashes. This spirit is perfect to take agro from Messmer allowing you to use magical attacks from a distance. Unlike NPC summons, Mimic Tear won’t buff Messmer’s health so you’ll be able to take him out at the same pace as you would without the ashes.

Of course, there is always the option to summon other players but just be warned. Fighting Messmer with additional health can be more trouble than it’s worth, so we’d suggest sticking to Mimic Tear if you can.

How to Beat Romina in Elden Ring

The first thing to consider when challenging Romina is what armor you will use. Much like Melinia, Romina uses Rot as her offense so you’ll want to take armor with high immunity to counter it.

How to Survive Romnia’s Phase One

For the fight itself, Phase 1 is tricky but simple. You’re going to deal with long-swiping combinations. These can either be two or three long, however, you can roll into them to avoid taking damage. Sometimes she can end a combination with a rolling attack which can also be avoided, so just be careful if you see her start to spin.

From a distance, she will attempt to strike you with her scorpion tales, but you can avoid these by closing the gap and rolling as they are about to make an impact. You’re better off staying close to the boss if possible as her close-range moves in Phase 1 are easy to avoid and it leaves an opening for you to deal damage.

How to Survive Romnia’s Phase Two

In Phase 2 all of the same moves still apply, but she starts to use one ultimate move. This new ability will create a whirlwind of butterflies around her that can be lethal if you’re close. Run away from her when you see this ability start but be careful as the whole arena will now have butterflies floating around. You need to find a spot with no butterflies to avoid taking damage or use your shield to lessen the blow.

From here it’s back to basics, simply follow the tips from Phase 1 and use them to avoid taking any damage while getting in shots of your own. Eventually, you will beat this boss and get access to the next area.

Last Resorts for Beating Romnia

If you’re really struggling you can use Spirit Ashes to help out in the battle, and as usual, the best of these is the Mimic Tear. This clone can help you deal damage, but also tank damage for you and provide opportunities to get behind and safely attack. 

You can use summons to bring in another player to help, but we would suggest trying Mimic Tear first as it doesn’t increase the boss’s health in the same way that a player or NPC summon would.

Romnia marks the last of the main story bosses, and rewards you with the Remembrance of the Saint of the Bud. Now, let’s tackle the optional bosses.

How to Beat Furnace Golems in Elden Ring

Beating the Furnace Golem in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree might look daunting but this is no Tree Sentinel. In fact, you can defeat this monstrosity from the first moment you step foot into the Shadow Realm.

First, there’s one incredibly easy way to kill Furnace Golems. And that’s by chucking a Hefty Furnace Pot into its basket. Doing this will deal massive damage to it. But Hefty Furnace Pots can be hard to come by, so here’s the standard method.

The Furnace Golem has weak spots on its face plate and a large opening on its back. However, you can do some damage to its legs which will eventually cause the monster to fall over allowing you access to the vulnerable places.

Ride Torrent into battle avoiding any of the molten rocks being flung in your direction as you position yourself behind the monster at its legs. While you are in this position there’s only a small amount of moves it will use.

The first comes as you see one leg raised in the air. Get ready to double jump over the flames as the foot is about to hit the ground. Using Torrent to stay airborne while the flames torch the ground means you will take no damage. Similarly, if the Furnace Golem jumps in the air with both feet it will unleash a more powerful version of this move, but it can be avoided the same way.

If you remain behind the Furnace Golem, the only other moves it will use are an attempt at swiping you with its arms, which doesn’t reach behind him, so it can be easily avoided while you attack the legs, and a smaller stomping attack that only impacts the area in front of that specific foot.

When you have done enough damage to the legs and the Furnace Golem falls to the ground, simply dismount Torrent and head to the face plate on its body to deal a critical strike. From here, go back to the initial strategy and in no time you’ll have conquered this challenge and earned your rewards.

Killing the Furnace Golem will cause it to drop Crystal Tears and a Furnace Visage.

How to Beat Blackgoal Knight in Elden Ring

The key to beating the Blackgaol Knight is rushing when he loads the crossbow and countering after every two attacks. When you enter the mausoleum to start the fight, the knight will typically start loading up the crossbow from across the room. He uses standard bolts first and then explosives after a second reload. Make sure to just sprint to the right in a half circle and then attack after he runs out of bolts the first time.

After you engage in melee range, the Blackgaol Knight does a few different combos. Most of them consist of two wide swings that can easily catch you if you spam the back dodge. But if you know when to create space, it can be a massive advantage. It can cause the knight to go back to the crossbow, which is an easy window to damage.

The deadliest attack is a charged swing that appears to have holy damage attached. After slamming his sword, the attack unleashes the energy, and he will follow up with a dash. Space won’t help you much in this case so you need to prepare for evasion or else he can easily two-shot kill you. Just dodge and wait for another opening.

Tips on How to Beat the Blackgaol Knight in Elden Ring

• Rush to the side when he loads the crossbow.
• Do not spam backward dodges or you will get caught.
• Utilize weapon grease with Holy damage.
• Watch for the second rush attack after his Holy move.

You won’t be able to use Spirit Ashes in this fight so it makes the battle even tougher. The Blackgaol Knight also likes to abuse poise on his power attacks so don’t spam your own melee attacks. Wait for openings and eventually, you will have a nice new solitude armor set.

How To Beat Scadutree Avatar in Elden Ring

The easiest way to beat the Scadutree Avatar is to use a ranged build that will allow you to cast magic or projectiles at the creature’s head. This vulnerable spot does a substantial amount of extra damage compared to the body, so any time you can prioritize the head, that should be your goal.

In total, you will need to kill the Scadutree Avatar three times in this fight. Each time it will provide an opportunity to deal a critical strike to the head starting the next phase with 25 percent less health.

During all three phases, the moveset stays almost the same. In Phase 1 you can easily avoid ranged attacks such as the vines or magic arrows simply by rolling to the side. In close you’ve just got to watch out for the head slam and the AOE thorns that can often be activated at the base.

In Phase 2 there is a new ability where the creature will put its arms into the ground lift its body and then fling itself directly at you for huge damage. This can easily be rolled through so that you can stay safe and we suggest using these reset opportunities to get close or deal ranged damage. Be very careful during this phase as the creature will be at its most aggressive.

Phase 3 might be the last, but it also happens to be the most easy of the phases. In this stage, the Scadutree Avatar will be labored in its movements and if you’re careful you can simply sit nearby and roll through its attacks. After most attacks, it will drop its head to the ground allowing even melee builds to get close and deal massive damage.

If you aren’t able to reach the head then there’s no harm in attacking the body, in fact, this can be a great way to get the creature to attack you with its head in turn allowing you to get close to the critical target.

Last Resort Tips for Beating the Scadutree

Those who are truly stuck can use the Mimic Tear spirit ashes to help out in this fight. This will provide you an ally to deal extra damage or simply take agro from the creature while you get in position and safely make progress at chipping away its health.

As usual, you can also call on the help of another online player, but we’d caution against this as it will increase the health of the Scadutree Avatar.

How to Beat the Ghostflame Dragons in Elden Ring

As you reach the Cerulean Coast on the way to the Southern Shore map fragment, you’ll be ambushed by a massive undead dragon. This dragon, aptly named the Ghostflame Dragon, hits like an absolute truck. And if you’re struggling with putting it back in its grave, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there are a few tricks to handling it. And if you just want to cheese it, skip to the end.

First, Torrent is integral to this fight. The Ghostflame Dragon is exceptionally mobile and will create massive distance between you and it if you try to abuse its underbelly.

Second, it’s always best to aim for its head. Hitting two to three physical shots on its head will cause it to collapse forward, revealing a bright orange crit spot on the right side of its head. Make sure you’re not locked into any part of it, then use a heavy attack to start the critical animation. This will do around 4,000 damage or more, depending on your weapon and build.

Third, play cautiously. The Ghostflame Dragon has several attacks that will one shot you if you don’t have enough vitality. If it begins spewing flames, try to dodge through it, towards its body, or use Torrent to quickly skirt away going left or right. Going in the opposite direction of the flames will almost always lead to death. When the dragon throws its head up and its stomach begins to glow white, don’t approach it. This is an area-of-effect attack that will summon the undead. Kill the undead as quickly as possible, as they’re strong enough to take you out if you’re spending too much time focusing on the dragon. Finally, the easiest time to actually land several consecutive hits is when the dragon dives you. If you successfully dodge this attack, it will stay locked on the ground for several seconds, giving you the opportunity to absolutely wail on it. elden Again, always aim for the head, as there’s a chance it will be enough to open its crit point.

Now, here’s the real cheese. If you’re tired of playing it fair, there’s a sorcery that absolutely devastates the poor Ghostflame Dragon. And that’s Loretta’s Mastery and Loretta’s Greatbow. These long-range sorceries can hit from a massive distance and seek out what you’re locked on, so you don’t even have to be facing the dragon to hit it. You can safely spam these attacks while far enough away to avoid the death flames the Ghostdragon spews out. And certainly far enough away to see when the dragon’s pulling back for a charge and dive.  

Loretta’s Greatbow is a pale shadow compared to Loretta’s Mastery, but it can be obtained earlier in the main game. Head to Caria Manor, just north of Liurnia of the Lakes. Loretta is an optional boss, but she’s significantly weaker than the Ghostflame Dragon. If you want Loretta’s Mastery, you’ll need to go all the way to Miquella’s Haligtree, where you can fight her in the courtyard.

Both skills take a sizable chunk of FP, but with this sorcery you won’t take any damage, so feel free to spam those mana pots.

How to Beat the Death Knight in Elden Ring

If you’re struggling to beat the Death Knight boss in Shadow of the Erdtree you’re not alone. The Death Knight wields twin axes and can use lightning magic. Besides throwing lightning bolts, the boss can also channel power into his body and dash toward you.

The Death Knight’s most dangerous move is when he sprouts a pair of ghostly wings. If you’re too close, you may get knocked back by the wind, and in the worst-case scenario, he’ll grab you. The Death Knight will then lift you into the air and sap your HP to restore his own health.

Before entering this boss fight, you should equip the Boltdrake Talisman to reduce your damage from lightning. The best strategy to defeat the Death Knight is to utilize heavy attacks, which can stun-lock the boss. You may also consider using Bleed weapons since he is weak against this status effect.

How to Beat Chief Bloodfiend in Elden Ring

Upon entering his arena, the Chief Bloodfiend will almost certainly rush to attack you. The arena is fairly large and the Chief is surprisingly fast, so trying to maintain a distance between you and him will be key to victory. Sometimes the Chief Bloodfiend will jump at you too to close the distance, so when you see him hop into the air prepare to roll into the direction he jumped from. If he jumps while standing in place, then that means he’s going to use a wide AOE attack upon landing, so staying far away from him and poking him when you get the chance is the best tactic.

Most of the Chief Bloodfiend’s attacks are vicious close-range combos where he’ll wail on you with his club. If you’re too close, dodging out of his wild swings will be hard, and you can easily be killed if you get hit by a few of them. He’ll frequently alternate between club smashes and pounding the ground with his fist and he’ll usually string multiple hits together. It’s rare for one of his attacks to be single-hit, so if you fight with a lot of close-range attacks, be mindful of this.

Something else to be careful of is he can emit a red mist that will cause a bleed build-up. He’ll do this for a couple of seconds so it’s best to dodge roll back as quickly as possible so you don’t get hit with bleed. If you’re far away however, then this is the perfect opportunity to heal up and use whatever items you need to. Funnily enough, the Chief Bloodfiend is vulnerable to bleed damage, so if you use weapons like the new Beast Claw, you could potentially make the fight much quicker by afflicting him with bleed.

Most likely, this will be an aggressive fight, but the Chief Bloodfiend should go down without too much difficulty, netting you the Bloodfiend Hexer’s Ashes.

How to Beat Demi-Human Swordmaster Onze in Elden Ring

You can find Demi-Human Swordmaster Onze at the very bottom of the Belurat Gaol, a dungeon located along the east border wall of Belurat Tower Settlement. And while you’ll primarily encounter pots and the monstrosities within on the way to him, Onze is the true terror of the dungeon.

If you’re struggling with this fight, heavy attacks that can break poise and consumables that increase your resistance to frost and magic are a good shout. Spellproof Dried Liver and Thawfrost Boluses are good items to add to your hotbar for this fight.

Onze is very small, as he’s a demi-human. But don’t let his stature fool you. He’s exceptionally fast and utilizes speedy combos. He can also teleport in the air, blinking to your location. If you’re struggling to hit him, wait until he does a grab or slam from mid-air, then dodge through it. Once he does this move, he’ll be open to attacks.

And while he’s quite fast, his health pool isn’t massive. Dodge or trade blows with him, ideally breaking his poise with heavy attacks, until he goes down.

How To Beat Demi-Human Queen Marigga in Elden Ring

Upon arrival at the inlet in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree‘s Cerulean Coast where Demi-Human Queen Marigga makes her home, you should be able to see her in the distance, towering over the other Demi-Humans she keeps for company. While it would be tempting to just run up to her and begin the fight, this is actually the worst thing you could do as she will immediately call the Demi-Humans to sic upon you. While I didn’t get an exact count of them, there were certainly around a dozen, and they will easily overwhelm and kill you.

So before you even think about attacking Demi-Human Queen Marigga, make it a point to sneak around and kill as many Demi-Humans as possible. You can either use throwables to lure them out or you can sneak up on them, but the key is to eliminate them before Marigga sees you. I was personally able to kill about six before she spotted me from a distance, but that was enough to ensure victory.

Like other Demi-Humans, Marigga is a bit of a glass cannon. But while her health is fairly low, she makes up for it with quick attacks that can leave you hurting if you’re not prepared. If you fight her from a distance, she’ll use Glintstone Magic to launch homing attacks at you, while up-close battles will see her use her staff to try and smash you. She also has a scream attack that can stagger you, and she may eventually toss her staff in favor of aggressively slamming her body against you.

Your general strategy to defeat Demi-human Queen Marigga should be to end this fight as quickly as possible before the remaining Demi-Humans swarm you. Because this fight takes place outside, use Torrent to try to kill the remaining Demi-Humans (I was able to kill most of them in 1-2 hits), then focus on Marigga. Because her moves are widely telegraphed due to her size, you should be able to dash out of the way with Torrent before she completes her attack, allowing you to circle back and damage her a little bit. If you’re choosing to fight her without Torrent, rolling into her will have you dodge most of her attacks, but be careful of her scream as it can stagger you.

Last Resort Tips for Beating Demi-Human Queen Marigga

If you’re having trouble killing Queen Marigga because of the Demi-Humans, you can summon your Mimic Tear to help. In all likelihood, the Mimic Tear will draw aggro from the Demi-Humans and leave you plenty of time to focus on Marigga. With a strong enough build, she should go down in less than a minute, provided you don’t get swarmed by her.

How to Beat Commander Gaius in Elden Ring

Commander Gaius can be fought on foot or with Torrent, which makes him unique compared to the other major bosses in the DLC. Utilizing Torrent can give you a lot more space on the battlefield, but you’re also prone to getting stunned over and over again. For that reason, I don’t recommend actually using your mount. Get in the Commander’s face and start tracking the attack patterns he has. For the first part of the fight. he relies on combos from his spear when you get close along with attacks from his mount.

When Commander Gaius isn’t using the spear to poke damage, he will use the boar to charge at you. After each charge, he has the potential to swing again and keep moving. In some cases, he can even have his mount kick you as you try to attack from behind. The goal is to wait for an opening in this fight and get safe damage rather than attempting aggressive combos. Strength builds are going to feel the best here.

Tips to Beat Commander Gaius:

• Fight the boss on foot instead of with Torrent.
• Watch for tusk charges.
• Wait for the spear combos to end to deal damage.
• In phase 2, wait for the delay on the gravity slam.
• Prepare for projectile attacks and continue evading gravity attacks.

In phase 2, Gaius starts using gravity magic. He floats into the air and slams back down, causing thorns to erupt. Don’t dodge the slam right away because there is a slight delay. But if you evade the right way, then you can avoid the thorns. The boss will continue to use projectiles and gravity magic attacks on his spear combined with attacks from the previous phase. Just like before, you want massive damage in small windows to continue defending. Before you know it, he fight is over and you can claim your Scadutree Fragments up ahead.

How to Beat Midra, Lord of the Frenzied Flame in Elden Ring

The fight against Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame is a hard boss to beat in Shadow of the Erdtree. This fight is all about dodging the madness flames and managing your madness meter. This boss is aggressive in both melee attacks and the spells used at range. It will use the spear to close the gap, and if you run away, there is a mix of Frenzied Flame bursts that deal a ton of damage. I recommend having the talisman for focus equipped and some boluses if you want to avoid your madness meter building up from the flames as well.

Two of the deadliest flame attacks that Midra uses are variations of the Frenzied Flame burst. The first version is done in two separate shots. Each one appears like a ton of tentacles that can easily catch you as you attempt to dodge. Make sure to move sideways as fast as possible to avoid the tendrils. As for the other Frenzied Flame attack, it shoots out like a much faster singular beam. This can be dodged in any direction, but you need to be ready.

Tips to Beat Midras, Lord of Frenzied Flame:

• Equip a Focus Talisman.
• When Midra charges up, move sideways to dodge tendrils of flame.
• The bolt of Frenzied Flame shoots much faster but is only in one direction.
• Melee can be aggressive but it has easier animations to track.
• Utilize Spirit Ashes for more opportunities to attack.

You can always use Spirit Ashes for this fight as well and that will take a ton of the aggro. Melee attacks from Midra aren’t nearly as bad as other bosses and you can easily dodge them in a pattern. As long as you can manage the Frenzied Flame spell attacks, you can easily pummel Midra while their gaze is on the ashes.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is available now.

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