How to beat Furnace Golems in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring Furnace Golem
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

If you're trying to beat a Furnace Golem in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, you likely rode down into Gravesite Plain for the first time and immediately made a beeline for the giant flaming man trudging in the distance. We all saw this brazier-headed boss in the trailer, but what it didn't show is that Furnace Golems drop the new Crystal Tears for the Flask of Wondrous Physick.

And yes, I did just say Furnace Golems plural. Just like any other field boss in Elden Ring, multiple of these melted monstrosities are wandering around the map, and some of them are even invulnerable to all your attacks—we'll get to that a little lower down the page. So, here's how to beat Furnace Golems, their invulnerable variant, as well as a list of the new Crystal Tears and where to find the golems who drop them.

How to beat Furnace Golems

Defeat Furnace Golems by knocking them down and critical striking their face (Image credit: FromSoftware)

There are two types of Furnace Golem in Shadow of the Erdtree that you can find wandering the expansion's various regions. The first type is fairly easy to beat; smack them in one of their legs and stagger them three times, causing them to fall over, then critical attack their face for massive damage. After that, it's just rinse and repeat.  

If you're having trouble, here are a couple of hints to help you out:

  • Use Torrent and double jump to avoid the fire as the golem slams its foot into the ground. When the golem jumps with both feet, you'll also want to back off a little way so the immediate explosion doesn't catch you while jumping.
  • Stay close and behind the golem. This boss's two worst attacks are when it kicks a load of burning rocks at you or when it charges up and launches a barrage of fireballs out of its noggin, and both happen when you are either at range or in front of the golem. If you stick close it'll just stomp, which is easy to avoid.

Once the golem collapses to the ground, look for the face with the glowing spot on the front of its brazier and give it a good stabbing.

Image

Erdtree map fragments: Uncover the Land of Shadow
Scadutree fragments: How to level up in Erdtree
Erdtree bosses: A full hit list for the DLC
Leda quest: Track the Erdtree main quest
Sir Ansbach quest: Help the former servant of Mohg
Hornsent quest: Complete the quest for vengeance

How to damage Furnace Golems with metal legs

So you've found a Furnace Golem but smacking its legs isn't damaging it. On second look, its legs are actually bound in metal and protected. You've also tried shooting it in the face but nothing is working. The way you damage these Furnace Golems is by tossing fire pots into the top of their brazier. When you arrive at the main entrance to the Shadow Keep in Scadu Altus, you'll find the Furnace Keeper's Note by a collapsed Furnace Golem just off to your right. 

This note explains that you shouldn't toss fire pots into Furnace Golems, especially not those that "produce flaming whirlwinds" which in this case is talking about the new Hefty Furnace Pot item. While regular Hefty Fire Pots will work, too, it'll only take around three Hefty Furnace Pots to kill a Furnace Golem. You can unlock the recipe from the Greater Potentate’s Cookbook (2), which is found in the Run-Down Traveler's Rest to the south along the cliff from the Abandoned Ailing Village in Gravesite Plain. 

To craft one you'll need:

  • Redflesh Mushroom: This is a common fungi you can find all over the map
  • Ember of Messmer: This is a drop from the shadowy pyromancer enemies in the Specimen Storage area of Shadow Keep in Scadu Altus
  • Furnace Visage: You get this by defeating other Furnace Golems or finding dead ones

You'll also require a few Cracked Hefty Pots to make some. I recommend checking out the Gaol dungeons, especially Belurat Gaol to the west of the Abandoned Ailing Village across the lake. 

Now you've got your pots, head back to the immortal Furnace Golem you found and look for a Spiritspring that'll let you jump onto a ledge above it. It'll make its way over to you and start swiping the ledge with its arms—this is your cue to start throwing those Hefty Fire Pots and Hefty Furnace Pots into the brazier on top of its head until it dies. Job done.

How to move the Unte Ruins Furnace Golem

You'll need to toss a Hefty Furnace Pot into its head from the balcony alongside (Image credit: FromSoftware)

If you find yourself at the Unte Ruins in Scadu Altus, you'll discover a graveyard of Furnace Golems, including one you can kill, and a dead one that's blocking the entrance to the ruins. So how do you move it? Well, we talked about Hefty Furnace Pots earlier; you need to throw a Hefty Furnace Pot into its brazier to wake it up. If you don't have a Furnace Visage to craft one, you can grab plenty from the Furnace Golem corpses around the area. 

Once you have your pot ready, use the ruins to climb up to the balcony just to the left of it and chuck it in. If you die while fighting this Furnace Golem, you'll have to wake it up again, so be careful. Beat it and you'll get the Blood-Sucking Cracked Tear. If you look behind where the golem was sitting, you'll also find the Giant Golden Arc spell in a chest, and an altar for the Stone-Sheathed Sword, but that's a whole other thing.

New Crystal Tear locations

Elden Ring Furnace Golem - Crystal Tear

Each Furnace Golem drops a new Crystal Tear (Image credit: FromSoftware)

Since each Furnace Golem drops a Crystal Tear for the Flask of Wondrous Physick, I'll list the ones I've found below as well as their effect:

  • Deflecting Hard Tear (Enhances spontaneous guard in a mix): Beat the Furnace Golem in the Gravesite Plain
  • Viridian Hidden Tear (Temporarily removes stamina consumption): Beat the Furnace Golem en-route to the Southern Shore from Ellac River
  • Crimsonburst Dried Tear (Steadily heals allies): Beat the Furnace Golem in the soldier camp in front of the Shadow Keep in Scadu Altus
  • Cerulean-Sapping Cracked Tear (Restores FP on hit): Beat the iron-legged Furnace Golem in east Scadu Altus
  • Oil-Soaked Tear (Coats nearby enemies with oil): Beat the Furnace Golem near the Castle Watering Hole site of grace in lower Scadu Altus
  • Crimson-Sapping Cracked Tear (Grants HP on attacks): Beat the Furnace Golem in west Rauh Ruins
  • Blood-Sucking Cracked Tear (Grants increased attack but drains HP): Wake up the Furnace Golem in the Unte Ruins near the Castle Watering Hole by throwing a Hefty Furnace Pot into its head, then defeat it
  • Glovewort Crystal Tear (Grants increased spirit attack): Beat the iron-legged Furnace Golem in the far west of Charo's Hidden Grave
Sean Martin
Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.