How to beat Furnace Golems (Wicker Men) in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

You come across a Furnace Golem early on in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and while the titanic foe appears unkillable, you can put this fire out easier than you think.

There’s nothing more riveting and exhilarating than coming across a new enemy for the first time in a FromSoftware game. Elden Ring has an inexhaustible pool of riches when it comes to the variety of its adversaries—and Shadow of the Erdtree sets aside complacency and introduces another gang of grotesque horrors.

One of the standouts is the Furnace Golem—the monstrous, walking, flame-bearing baskets you see scattered around the Shadow Realm. More than one few await you in Shadow of the Erdtree, and while action against one appears futile, with some added knowledge, they aren’t overly scary.

Furnace Golem boss guide in Shadow of the Erdtree

I had my Derriere scorched more than a few times by the Furnace Golem in Shadow of the Erdtree, but I eventually nailed down its key attacks. The fights do become straightforward—and there are several of them to conquer with different attack patterns.

How to avoid Furnace Golem jump attacks

The most basic moves a Furnace Golem uses—commonly in the first couple of Golem fights—are a single-leg stomp (with either foot) creating a large AOE fire attack, and a full two-legged jump attack.

The best way to avoid these is to mount Torrent and use it double jump to avoid them. The timing is pretty easy to nail once you know the window of opportunity, and either attack allows you to quickly zone in and batter its legs once it’s landed.

As a word of warning, later Golems won’t do a single stomp. Instead, they will follow up a left leg stomp with a right leg stomp soon after, and maybe even a barrage. So be careful with later incarnations of the Furnace Golem and conserve stamina—or risk losing your steed to the fire.

How to avoid Furnace Golem ranged attacks

This section is almost redundant because you shouldn’t be fighting a Furnace Golem at a distance. It launches fireballs and long streams of fire with obscene range, making it hard to inflict any real damage on.

If you’re trying to get close to a Golem to initiate an encounter, use Torrent to evade its attacks and use cover wherever possible to avoid incoming fire.

How to avoid Furnace Golem close-quarters attacks

Early on, I was beginning to think all Furnace Golem’s had this same moveset and would be a cakewalk—I forgot I was playing a FromSoftware game. A great example of how difficult later Golems get is the Ancient Ruins of Rauh.

If you get within touching distance of its Furnace Golem, not only does it do the usual jump attacks, but it now has some pretty deadly one-shot-kill offense if you’re not careful.

It, along with later Golem’s, punch the ground to inflict a pretty hefty shockwave attack with big damage, and they kick you as well—be cautious and use Torrent to sprint out of the way of these attacks while staying close if you can.

Furnace Golem weaknesses

There are two main ways to hurt a Furnace Golem: cause enough damage to its legs so it falls and exposes its face, or use throwables into its fire.

One or two mini-boss fights have verticality, allowing you to throw things into its exposed fire. But I prefer the old-fashioned method of slogging away at a creature’s legs until it buckles. Normal attacks on the legs do little damage, but this is because we need to fell the opponent.

Ride around on Torrent and hack away at a Golem’s legs. Eventually, after enough damage, you stagger the Golem. Once this happens, concentrate on the other leg, and do the same thing. After repeating the process, the Golem falls, and you need to move around to the side of the Golem to attack its golden face mask—this is its weak spot.

Rinse and repeat, heal up, apply any attacks bonuses you you think are necessary to get the job done faster, and you can take out Furnace Golems.

Reward for beating Furnace Golem boss in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Defeating Furnace Golems rewards you with new Crystal Tears in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree and gifts you the Furnace Visage crafting item.

The main goodie here has to be Crystal Tears. The Flask of Wondrous Physick is a crucial fight-helping item that boosts key attributes for a short period. You can find a ton of Crystal Tears throughout Elden Ring to open up numerous possibilities, and killing Furnace Golems in the Shadow Realm rewards you with new ones.