You'd think that decapitating Medusa in Dragon's Dogma 2 would be a relatively simple process—find snake lady's head, chop off snake lady's head—so long as you avoid that whole getting turned to stone thing. But if you've already killed Medusa, you were likely surprised that you couldn't just loot her head, or slice it off after the fact with a simple swing of your sword.

No, getting the Medusa Head is a feat of Monster Hunter-esque complexity as you only have a specific opportunity with which to claim her noggin. Down below I explain the process in-depth, offer some tips for the fight, plus explain how to use the head to petrify stuff. Obviously, there are spoilers for the Medusa in this guide and you should probably stop reading now if you want to learn this stuff yourself.

How to decapitate Medusa

The first step in decapitating Medusa is getting a big sword, and that means switching to the Warrior vocation. If you haven't already unlocked it, you'll have to complete the Vocation Frustration quest at the guild in Vernworth. It's possible that a Thief, Fighter, or Mystic Spearhand would also work for this, since they all have bladed weapons, but Warrior is the only one I can 100% confirm works. 

Your next step is heading to the Caliginous Depths cave in the south of Battahl, to the southwest of the capital of Bakbattahl, where the Medusa makes her lair. The fight itself is relatively easy provided you watch out for when she activates her petrifying gaze. Her eyes will glow red, and at that point you should get behind a pillar to break line of sight and give your pawns the “To me!” command so they shelter with you as well. 

It might also be worth bringing some Panacea and a pawn with the Chirurgeon specialisation to use on any other Pawns who get petrified. You could also give your main pawn the Ring of Motility if you have it, which prevents petrification entirely. 

Now all that's covered, here's the exact process for beheading Medusa:

• Hit Medusa in the head lots. The best way I found is to climb her during the fight and smack her head as much as possible with light attacks. You’ll know you’re hitting the right part as snakes will fly off as well as purple-ish blood.
• Once you smack her enough, Medusa will slowly fall flat on her face; this is your time to strike. It’s worth noting that this stun is pretty rare and doesn’t seem to happen multiple times per fight. Jump off her head and chop away at it—two downward strikes with the greatsword worked for me.
• If you do it right this should result in an insta-kill and give you an achievement for decapitating Medusa. Loot the items from her body as usual to get her head.

If you fail to get the stun and chop off her head the first time, she respawns around four days later, so you'll be able to try again. To use the head, equip it in your inventory, and then choose the “Brandish” option. Obviously, only do this when you want to petrify a monster. 

Also note that the head will wither once you use it enough and it's not entirely clear whether the Medusa continues to respawn for you to get another at that point.