Beating Godrick in Elden Ring isn’t quite as tough as the previous boss. For most players, Godrick will be the second major boss fight. He’s nimble, hits hard, has ranged, and area effect attacks, and only gets tougher in his second phase. However, after fighting him a few times, we’ve got a solid strategy that can defeat Godrick and get players their first Great Rune.
How to beat Godrick in Elden Ring
Beating Godrick in Elden Ring is tough one-on-one. He’s not too bad if players can keep their distance, but he has enough HP that fighting him from afar isn’t going to be possible for most players. Odds are, at this point in the game, players are going to run out of arrows/bolts or FP before taking him down.
So, the trick is to make Godrick on something else while players beat on him from his blind spots. We’ll need to pick up a few things first to do this.
Preparation
Before we can use our strategy, we need to do three things:
- Acquire Ash of War: Golden Vow: Take the road from Stonehill Shack east to find the Warmaster’s Shack. From here, head south-southwest to find a mounted Stormveil Knight. Defeat the knight, and it’ll drop Ash of War: Golden Vow.
- Obtain Godrick Soldier Ashes: From the Stonehill Shack, head west on the road and keep an eye out for a graveyard to the north. Explore the graveyard to find the ashes.
- Talk to Nephali in Stormveil Castle: In the section of the castle just before the Secluded Cell, there’s a room containing an NPC named Nephali. Talk to her until she runs out of things to say, then leave.
At this point, players can likely upgrade their weapons as well. Those who haven’t should also find Roderika at either the Stormveil Shack or Roundtable hold and show her the Chysalids’ Momento obtained from killing the Grafted Scion. Then visit her at the Roundtable Hold and exhaust the dialogue between her and the blacksmith. It may take a few visits, but she should eventually open up shop and allow players to upgrade their Spirit Ashes. We recommend upgrading the Godrick Soldier Ashes to at least +1. Also, make sure Golden Vow is equipped to a weapon (it doesn’t have to be the one players want to use as their primary).
First Phase
Our strategy for defeating Godrick in Elden Ring relies heavily on having him aggro on our NPC companions. Just before the yellow fog door that leads to him, players can use the nearby summon sign to bring Nepheli along for the fight.
As soon as the fight starts, use the Godrick Soldier Spirit Ash and be prepared to dodge his first ranged attack. Players should then quickly refill their FP with a Cerulean Flask, get close to the spirits and Nepheli, then use Golden Vow. This ability gives a small boost of attack and defense to both the player and any NPCs in range, which will help them stay alive longer.
Part of this fight is luck because, ideally, the NPCs will continue to aggro Godrick for most of the battle. Sometimes he just starts waling on them super hard, and they’ll go down quick. Others, he seems to get a bit stumped, and they occupy him for longer. Your primary strategy is going to be keeping a medium distance from him. Circle him and close in with a strong jumping attack, then retreat. Most of the time, the NPCs will aggro him again immediately, but if not, he might chase the player or use his ranged attack. If this is the case, be prepared to run further away or dodge.
Second Phase
When Godrick reaches half HP, he cuts his arm off and replaces it with a dragon head. Most of his attacks will remain the same, but he also adds a sweeping flamethrower move which isn’t too hard to dodge under.
Players who struck hard during the first phase should still have their NPCs around distracting him. Just keep slashing him in the back and retreating. If the Spirit Ashes and Nepheli are defeated, things will get a little more complicated. However, players should have observed Godrick’s patterns by now and know his tells. Also, he shouldn’t have more than a quarter of his health left by the time players are on their own.
The best time to hit him at this point is while he’s using the flamethrower sweep. Players can dodge under it clockwise and his him from the side. It should only take a few hits for him to go down at this point.
Still having issues beating Godrick in Elden Ring?
Godrick is a tough boss, and players might still have issues defeating him. Remember that Elden Ring’s open-world is pretty wide open for the most part. Players should try leveling up, looking for new armor, weapons, and items, and upgrading their gear if they’re finding Godrick too hard.
