Mid-game spoilers. Taurus is a Chapter 4 story boss with a Chapter 8 rematch. This page names locations, phases and rewards.
Quick strategy: Open with a Bind to stop its rearing animation, then treat the fight as two rules — parry the horn swipes, dodge everything with a red ground marker. Keep Acid on it at all times, and switch to the bow whenever it gallops away instead of chasing it.
Chapter / levelChapter 4 · boss levels 26 & 29 · Chapter 8 rematch at level 44
LocationPilgrim's Zone, Mountainous Region · rematch in the Crater Zone, Wasteland Region
WeaknessAcid (both sources) — Burn buildup rated highly effective (Fextralife)
Parry windowHorn swipe combo (1–3 hits) and the tail projectile volley
Cannot be parriedSpikes from below, homing ground spikes, horn charge
PhasesSecond encounter adds a berserk second phase after the bar empties
RewardsThe Botan skill line across all three fights — details below
Balance changed on August 9. Update 1.0.7 lists "various balance adjustments to bosses across all difficulty levels" and separate adjustments to enemy encounters on Normal. The tells and counters below still hold, but damage numbers and how long each phase takes may differ from launch-week reports. See the patch notes tracker.

Before the fight: what to bring

Taurus covers a huge radius and rarely holds still, so the loadout that works is one that keeps hurting it while you're out of melee range:

  • Acid on everything. Equip Koo with a Bottle of Acid for damage plus corrosion buildup, and stock Acid Arrows and Acid Bolts for the bow and crossbow. Fextralife also singles out Koo's Amber Corrosive Fang as effective here.
  • Bring a Bind. A bloom art or mod that binds is the single most useful tool in this fight — binding briefly incapacitates Taurus and is the cleanest answer to its habit of charging away. Higanbana: Roots works from the opening second.
  • Raise Emma's defenses. Fextralife recommends going in with overall defense boosted; several of Taurus's chains end in an unblockable, and the second encounter hits noticeably harder.
  • Save Entanglement Overdrive for a staggered or bound moment rather than firing it off on cooldown.
  • Keep arrows in reserve for the second encounter's phase two, where ranged damage does most of the work.

If you're still assembling a loadout at this point in the game, the builds guide covers how captured Nushi skills slot together, and the combat guide covers parry timing — which in this game wants earlier inputs than Souls muscle memory expects.

Opening the fight

Taurus starts by rearing up on its hindlimbs. That animation is the free hit the fight gives you: bring up Koo's skill wheel immediately and bind it before the first swing lands, then unload melee or ranged damage until it recovers. From that point on the fight settles into its real rhythm — long chains of attacks separated by short recovery windows, with Taurus galloping across the arena between them.

Every attack and how to answer it

Game8 catalogued the moveset attack by attack; Fextralife's write-up describes the same set from the player's side. The important split is which moves are parryable — get that wrong and the unblockables will punish you badly.

AttackTellCounter
Horn swipe (1–3 hits)Pulls its head to one side; usually two swipes, sometimes one or threeParry each hit. This is your main source of Entanglement meter and Koo's Bloom Arts gauge
Projectile tail spikesTail grows, then fires three projectilesParry or dodge — often used while running away, so don't chase blindly
Spikes from belowPaws the ground, then stomps; a vertical line forms under youUnparryable. Dash out of the area or perfect-dodge. In phase two it skips the paw tell entirely
Homing ground spikesStomp, then spikes travel toward you along a red ground markerUnparryable. Dodge just before they reach you
Horn chargeForms a unicorn-style horn, then charges straight at youUnparryable — dodge. Long recovery afterwards makes this the best damage window in the fight
Horn swing → ground stompSwing followed immediately by a slamParry the swing, dodge the follow-up, then counter

The chain pattern matters more than any single move. Game8's description matches what most players run into: Taurus opens at range, lunges in, chains horn swipes or an AoE slam, retreats, then throws one last projectile on the way out. The mistake that kills runs here is punishing too early — wait out the retreat projectile before committing.

The second encounter and phase two

The level 29 fight in Pilgrim's Zone is where Taurus gains a second phase: when the health bar empties, it enters a berserk-like state instead of dying. Attacks come faster, the paw-the-ground tell disappears, and Taurus spends even more time out of melee range.

  • Switch to ranged as the default. Fextralife explicitly recommends leaning on ranged weapons here — Acid Arrows and Acid Bolts into the weakness.
  • Read the red pings. With the wind-up tells shortened, the red ground markers become your primary warning for where the next spike attack lands.
  • Keep Burn ticking. Building Burn through Koo's skills is reported as strong sustained damage in this phase, on top of the Acid weakness.
  • Bind is still the panic button. Every time it charges away, a bind buys Koo a free window and buys you repositioning time.

The Chapter 8 rematch (level 44)

Taurus returns in the Wasteland Region's Crater Zone at boss level 44. The moveset carries over, so the counters above still apply — the difference is raw numbers and the fact that by Chapter 8 you should have a much deeper Acid kit and a stronger bind. Treat it as a damage check rather than a new fight to learn.

Rewards: what you capture

Taurus is the source of the Botan skill line. Our two sources agree on the shape of the progression and differ on one entry:

EncounterRewards
Chapter 4, level 26 (first fight)Nushi Skill: Charging Botan · Taurean Memories (Fextralife credits Memories to the initial encounter)
Chapter 4, level 29 (second fight)Bloom Art: Botan: Chaser (Koo) · Blade Art: Botan (Emma)
Chapter 8, level 44 (rematch)Botan: Chaser II · Finisher: Botan — Game8 additionally lists Blade Art: Dokuzeri here

Source note: Game8 lists Blade Art: Dokuzeri among the level 44 rewards; Fextralife's reward list for the Wasteland encounter does not include it. We keep both accounts rather than pick one. Single-source reward listings stay provisional until a second source or an in-game clear confirms them.

Next: Taurus sits between two other Nushi hunts — see the full roster with weaknesses, chapters and levels on the all bosses page, or jump ahead to Corvus in Chapter 7.

All bosses page

FAQ

What is Taurus's weakness in Beast of Reincarnation?

Acid. Both launch guides reviewed here agree on the Acid weakness, and Fextralife additionally rates Burn buildup as highly effective. Restrain and Bind effects do not damage it but lock it in place for free damage windows.

Where do you fight Taurus?

Taurus is a Chapter 4 boss fought in the Pilgrim's Zone of the Mountainous Region at boss levels 26 and 29, then again as a Chapter 8 rematch at boss level 44 in the Crater Zone of the Wasteland Region.

Which Taurus attacks can be parried?

The horn swipe combo is the reliable parry window and can be parried on each of its one to three hits. The tail projectile volley can also be parried. The spikes-from-below, homing ground spikes and horn charge cannot be parried and must be dodged.

Does Taurus have a second phase?

In the second encounter, Taurus enters a berserk-like second phase when its health bar empties. Attacks come faster and it stops telegraphing the spikes-from-below with a ground paw, so lean on ranged Acid damage and read the red ground markers instead.

What do you get for beating Taurus?

The level 26 fight grants Nushi Skill: Charging Botan and Taurean Memories. The level 29 fight adds Botan: Chaser and Blade Art: Botan. The Chapter 8 rematch at level 44 grants Botan: Chaser II and Finisher: Botan, with Game8 additionally listing Blade Art: Dokuzeri.

Something different in your game? Patches change fights — Update 1.0.7 adjusted boss balance across all difficulties — and this guide is built from cross-referenced launch coverage rather than our own clear. Tell us what you saw and we'll correct it. In-game re-verification is in progress.

Sources