How to beat the Elden Ring Nightreign Tricephalos, aka Gladius, Beast of Night

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Before the boss fight
Fighting Tricephalos
Tricks and tips

The first boss fight of Elden Ring Nightreign is Tricephalos, also known as Gladius, Beast of Night. A three-headed wolf that uses powerful fire attacks and eventually splits into three, the first Nightlord is arguably the most important one to beat in all of Elden Ring Nightreign, as you won't be able to fight any others until Tricephalos is completed at least once.

With that in mind, we've got all the best tips and main weaknesses for Gladius, Beast of Night, the final boss of the Tricephalos run in Elden Ring Nightreign. Having beaten it myself, I'll explain the best options for the process up towards the first of the Elden Ring Nightreign bosses itself and what you should do to prepare, and how to beat it for good once you're in the final arena.

How to beat Tricephalos in Elden Ring Nightreign

To beat Tricephalos in Elden Ring Nightreign (also known as Gladius, Beast of Night), you need to exploit its main weaknesses and pick the best possible classes going in. Here's a quick precis of the boss fight, before we go into more detail momentarily:

Weaknesses: Holy damage
Best Classes/Build: Melee tanks like the Wylder, Guardian and Raider, or Faith casters like the Revenant and Recluse
Boss attack types: Physical and Fire Damage
Phases: 2 (triggers at 75% health)

For any hope at beating the Tricephalos, you'll want to be at least level 9 by the time you reach Night 3, and level at least level 11 if you're playing solo. On top of which, you'll ideally have one of the Elden Ring Nightreign best weapons with Holy damage that's also Epic rarity, otherwise you're really going to struggle.

Before the boss fight

In the nights leading up to the Tricephalos, what you need to be doing differently from any other run is finding a Holy weapon and items to resist Fire damage. As we laid out in our Elden Ring Nightreign tips, check for locations with the Holy symbol and search them for divine firepower. If you don't find anything great, check with Merchants to see what Holy armaments they're selling.

You'll also want to search areas afflicted with flame, but not for weaponry. Instead, look for items and equipment that reduce the fire damage that you take. Gladius has a lot of flaming attacks, so you'll want to be ready to resist them.

And before the run even starts, check your available Relics in the Roundtable Hold. There's some that will boost your Faith and Holy power respectively, so make sure you check to see what you have there!

Fighting Tricephalos

Once you're in the arena, the Tricephalos plays aggressively and usually tries to get close up, with a mixture of pouncing bites and long-range sword sweeps that mean you're rarely out of melee range. However, this is where any of the Elden Ring Nightreign classes that serve as tanky, melee characters will probably be best, as it's very hard for ranged characters to get out of the danger zone at all, and the big cerberus moves too quickly to make it easy to get any ranged shots off.

When reduced to 75% health, starting phase two, Gladius splits into three and begins to shift between being three creatures and one at regular intervals. This is where massively defensive play is important, though if the players can each hold the attention of one dog, nobody needs to risk getting ganged up on. Be more cautious until Gladius reforms into one, then you can switch back to more aggressive play again.

Tricks and tips

Here's some basic advice for when you're in the arena with Gladius, though obviously you'll want to read this section before the fight actually begins.

Play more aggressively when there's one boss. It's much harder to defend yourself from three sides, so pull back and work on protection when Gladius splits into three.
The Sword Swings have a huge range. If you think you're out of the range of the chain sword, you're probably not. The range of the sword is longer than many truly ranged attacks, capable of reaching across the battlefield.
If its mouth glows purple, get ready to dodge! This highlights an upcoming grab attack that's relatively easy to evade if you know it's coming, but does huge damage.
When they split, target the one with red eyes. All of them take damage, but this one is easier to stagger when hit with a Charge Attack, allowing you to do major damage.

Want more help with the game's challenges? The very next boss after this one, the Elden Ring Nightreign Gaping Jaw, has all its weaknesses laid out here! Or if you're wondering what's ahead, we tell you how long is Elden Ring Nightreign?