How to beat the Elden Ring Godrick boss fight

Elden Ring review — (Image credit: FromSoftware)

The Elden Ring Godrick the Grafted boss fight is the first real challenge you'll face in the game. He's basically a bottleneck gateway guarding the way to the rest of the game once you've explored the opening area enough and feel ready to progress through Stormveil Castle. You'll find out later that he's one of the weaker Elden Ring main bosses overall but it won't feel like it when you meet him for the first time.

So to help you defeat Godrick in Elden Ring, we've assembled this guide to beating him, and the two phases he throws at you. We've tips to deal with that, as well as the best weapons level recommendations to avoid making things hard on yourself in Elden Ring. Well, harder than they need to be at least.

Tips and tricks to beat Godrick
Godrick phase 1
Godrick phase 2
Godrick boss fight rewards

Godrick boss fight tips and tricks to prepare

Elden Ring godrick boss fight how to beat the grafted — (Image credit: FromSoftware)

Godrick is a devastatingly powerful foe who uses slow but wide-reaching area attacks, bolstered by a mid-match powerup after some impromptu battlefield surgery. For that reason, we've split our advice into his two phases - first the initial battle, then the second half that takes place after the cutscene. Nonetheless, there are some useful tidbits to keep in mind no matter what phase he's in.

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To be ready for this fight, you want a weapon that's at least +3, and ideally better than that. You should also have some decent attributes to back it up, as we talked about in our Elden Ring weapon scaling explained guide.
The Site of Grace right outside this boss fight means you can always teleport back after some grinding or exploration. This is actually a really good time to practice against some other enemies - Godrick is a proper pig, and you'll want to do some training first.
Want a friend to help? Down the long central path opposite Godrick's arena (the one with the Troll standing with his back to you) will be a small cellar close to a gold tree with a Golden Seed in it. Inside is an NPC named Nepheli - talk to her and exhaust her dialogue, then do so again at the Roundtable Hold. She'll leave a summon sign outside Godrick's arena for you to use from that point on!
Once you're in, Godrick's attacks are mostly melee strikes of various kinds, sometimes empowered with magical effects that give them a little extra reach. If you can keep him at a distance and use ranged attacks, he'll struggle to keep up with you.
The attacks Godrick uses will either tear through your shield, or stagger you even on a successful block, being so powerful. This is a fight where rolling and evasion are the far better option over simple blocking.
Be careful about the geometry of the arena - there's lots of tombstones and rocks that can get in your way bordering the central path, but Godrick's attacks will cut right through them, so they can't even be used for defence.

Godrick Phase 1

On the surface, Godrick in Elden Ring appears to be your standard common or garden golden robed demigod with dozens of arms and a dragon fixation, but he's actually more complex than that. His initial attacks are pretty deadly, and surviving to the halfway point is already a massive challenge. Here's some basic tips on how to get that far.

Once you're in, Godrick will appear quite far back along the path, so this is your chance to use Spirit Ashes - we recommend either the Lone Wolves or Skeletal Militiamen, if you've got them. Godrick's attacks can devastate any summon, so having multiple ones appear is better to divide his attention.
Godrick's most deadly attacks have obscure, but noticeable windups. If he's swinging his axe above his head, he's about to be surrounded by lethal storm winds. If he raises it in both hands with the head pointing down, back away as fast as you can, as far as you can! He's about to do a two-part ground-smash that can kill most players anywhere close to him or can knock you to the floor if you survive.
For any of Godrick's jump attacks, the best option is usually to roll straight at him while he's in the air - if you time it right, he'll sail right over you.
Godrick sometimes starts combo attacks that can change unpredictably at key points, depending on what the player is doing. For example, after summoning the storm winds, he might follow up either with a rolling attack, or ranged magic, all based on how close the player is. Don't get complacent - he can always surprise you.
The best time to drink Flasks is after his biggest attacks, like his earthquake ground-smash. There's usually a momentary cooldown which is your chance to heal up and restore stamina.

Godrick Phase 2

Where to go after Godrick?

Elden Ring red wolf of radagon boss fight guide — (Image credit: FromSoftware)

After Godrick the world opens up, making it difficult to know where to go next. Don't worry - our Elden Ring main bosses page will take you through all the bosses you need to fight in order.

Get him down to half health and a cinematic starts where Godrick decides to upgrade his abilities. Severing his arm off and grafting a reanimated dragon's head on the stump may sound extreme, but now he's got new attacks, and many of his previous moves are imbued with literal fire power.

The main advantage of sticking on a big wyrm arm is that he's got more ranged offence now, but he's still very much a melee boss deep down. Here's some sage advice to help you slay this dragon and make it through the final stage of the Godrick the Grafted boss fight. Nearly there, Tarnished!

Godrick's dragon arm can breathe jets of fire - that's how he starts phase 2 - but it's so long and unwieldy now that it's possible to get under it and slash him without ever being burned, depending on which attack animation he's doing.
Most of his attacks are now more damaging than ever. If you're ever below three-quarters max health, you're at risk of being one-shotted, depending on your armour and stats.
They're also more elaborate. The ground-smash now comes in three strikes, and has a greater range and shorter warning. That being said, it also seems to be a little more directed in front of him (though those on his flank should still hurry back).
The best strategy here is to keep your distance until he starts trying to use his fiery ranged attacks, then running in once he's locked into that animation to do some damage. He'll probably follow up with an axe swipe to get rid of you, which is your moment to roll away and goad him into more ranged attacks.

Godrick the Grafted rewards

Killing Godrick the Grafted is a major story moment that unlocks a lot of the further game, but on a more material level, players will get a ton of Runes (we got 20000), as well as the Remembrance of the Grafted, and Godrick's Great Rune. The Remembrance can be brought back to Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold and exchanged for either unique weapons or spells (or consumed for more Runes). However, the Great Rune currently does nothing - to unlock its full awesome power, you'll need to know how to find the Divine Tower of Limgrave in Elden Ring, one of the Elden Ring Divine Tower locations.