How to beat Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring

Update: Elden Ring has undergone quite a few patches since its launch, so we've update this Elden Ring Godrick the Grafted boss fight guide to reflect that. We've streamlined information and added some additional tips to help you fell this foe.

Elden Ring has one of the toughest bosses in any Soulsborne. Godrick the Grafted is yet another major obstacle you’re going to run into that will humble you. As imposing as his name might be, he’s actually one of the game’s earliest bosses.

Godrick the Grafted is the second major boss in Stormveil Castle, which we’re confident will be remembered as the game’s hardest Legacy Dungeon. Assuming you’ve already beaten Margit, the Fell Omen, and explored the intricately-designed castle itself, you now have a date with Godrick.

Godrick is a Shardbearer demi-god, meaning you will get his Great Rune after defeating him. Assuming you’re still early enough in the game, this will likely be your first ever Great Rune, and your first fight with a demi-god.

Godrick is the lord of Stormveil Castle, and it’s a boss you cannot avoid, so get yourself ready for a tough fight. In this guide, we’re going to detail how you can easily beat him and offer a couple of hints that’ll make the process smoother.

When should you fight Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring?

As tough as he might be, Godrick is still an early-game boss. As we explained in our Margit, the Fell Omen guide your weapon’s upgrade level is what ultimately matters here.

We recommend starting the fight with a +4/+5 weapon, and around level 29 for your character.

How to make Godrick the Grafted boss fight easier in Elden Ring

While Godrick takes Bleed damage, he’s not as susceptible to it as you might think. Still, if you have a weapon that inflicts Bleed, it will cause him to lose a chunk of HP.

If you spent a bit of time exploring Stormveil Castle, you may have come across Nepheli Loux, the warrior NPC standing over a corpse. If you exhaust her dialogue, she’ll explain that she wants to join you in the fight. When you arrive at Godrick’s boss arena, you’ll find her golden summon sign on your right before you traverse the mist gate.

Nepheli can be summoned an unlimited number of times – and doing so will actually advance her quest. Unfortunately, she’s not great. If you summon her, you’ll be doing it for her ability to keep the boss engaged, not her damage output. It's also worth keeping in mind that summoning her will also see Godrick - or any boss you're fighting while having an NPC summoned - have their damage buffed and HP increased. This is just like taking on boss fights in co-op.

We also recommend bringing in a melee-focused Spirit Summon, to up your chances of the boss ignoring you and targeting the AI even further.

How to beat Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring

The main thing to note with Godrick is that his shape is malformed, which makes it hard to read his outline. This will cause you to miss-time dodges and blocks, because it won’t be immediately clear which part of his body is about to hit you.

This is something you’ll have to watch out for as you play. He's also immune to Madness, in case you planned on using that against him somehow.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the arena has several stacked tombstones and other obstacles on the outer edges, which will get you stuck if you’re not careful, and can mess with the camera. Godrick can and will destroy them, but if you roll into them the wrong way it can be a pain to try and get out as you’re watching out for his attacks.

Some of his ranged attacks can be avoided by using the clearings on either side of the dragon corpse for cover, which cannot be destroyed. The difference in elevation in the arena – particularly near the stairs - can also prove handy when breaking out of cover and attempting your attack.

Godrick boss fight phase one

The first phase is generally easy to wrap your head around. Godrick is slower than Margit, but hits harder. The main thing to watch out for is the timing of his swings. Like other bosses in Elden Ring, Godrick will delay the start of the animation to try and bait you into dodging early.

Don’t do it on instinct, and instead wait for the animation to play so you can dodge just before the hit lands. Phase one Godrick also has a fast cartwheel move that can be hard to run away from if you’re not anticipating it. This move ends with a multi-hit combo that is impossible to get out of, and will kill you if you get caught up in it.

Another devastating attack in phase one is his ground slam, which has a long wind-up, and produces two shock waves in quick succession, the second of which extends further outwards from him. You can either run away, or time your dodges to avoid the ground spikes from both shock waves. If you decide to dodge and stay close, you’ll be rewarded with a long window where you can land two or more hits.

This phase also includes a brief ranged attack, where he summons up a mini-storm and unleashes gusts of wind at you when you stray too far. They’re easy to dodge, especially since the animation that precedes them is long. That said, Godrick sometimes launches into a different melee move when he summons up the storm, so it may not necessarily combo into a ranged attack.

Though you can get by with a shield in this fight, we recommend just dodging his attacks – just watch your stamina.

Of course, the best way to break Godrick’s super armour is through jumping heavy attacks. However, because his attack combos can be long, you may not always get a window to perform one. When you’re at a distance, you can always quickly switch to a bow or throw a dart or two to prevent his super armour from recharging.

That said, he is capable of easily deflecting some throwable items such as pots or darts, so you'll want a back-up (or a safe spot to retreat to) if that fails.

Godrick boss fight phase two

Phase two requires patience more than anything, because it has fewer openings and devastating ranged attacks. In this phase, Godrick replaces his left arm with what’s basically a flamethrower. His flamethrower attacks have exceptional reach, and the flames disperse in a wide cone in front of him.

The mini-storm returns in this phase, except it’s also imbued with fire, giving it a slightly wider reach in close-range, and adding a fiery ranged attack.

If you’re far enough away, Godrick will instead use his flamethrower arm as a mortar, firing fireballs into the air which will land in front of him in a wide arc. Those are easier to avoid than the normal attack.

What you’re trying to do is either get close enough so you can stay behind him as he spews fire (easier to do with summons as he’ll focus on them), or wait for your window after he’s done to get in and steal a hit before backing out.

In this phase, Godrick will occasionally slam the ground with his hammer, which creates a big shock wave that will catch you even if you’re behind him. Spewing fire around his feet is another tactic to force you to create some distance, so watch out for that.

If you keep getting touched by the fire, consider bringing a Fireproof Dried Liver and using it at the start of the phase to up your fire damage negation.

How to restore the power of Godrick’s Great Rune in Elden Ring

Now that you’re in position of Godrick’s Great Rune, you need to power it up. Restoring power to Great Runes can only be done at the appropriate Divine Tower. The doors of each tower are tightly shut, and will only open with the appropriate Rune in hand.

Luckily, the item description reveals that we need to head to the Divine Tower of Limgrave, which happens to be close by. Fast travel to the Limgrave Tower Bridge Site of Grace, south of where you are, and you’ll find a teleporter at the end of the broken bridge that’ll get you into the tower – just watch out for the giant sentinels protecting it.

Once you reach the top, you’ll find the carcass of two fingers surrounding the Rune. Interact with it to power it up. Now, you can equip this Great Rune at any Site of Grace. However, in order to take full advantage of its benefits, you’ll need to consume a Rune Arc – which will immediately power it up and remain until death.

Where to go after beating Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring

After beating Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring, you'll want to make your way to the Raya Lucaria Academy. There's plenty to do along the way, and you should spend some time levelling up and upgrading your weapon.

Sooner or later, you'll likely wind up fighting Red Wolf of Radagon and Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon here, but you can choose to skip them entirely and complete Elden Ring without beating them.

If you'd rather not fight them, we highly recommend exploring the surrounding areas and gradually making your way further north as best you can. Take your time, though!

More help like this can be found in our Elden Ring guide, which continues to get updated. Just this weekend, we added recommendations for where to go in your first 20 hours, this primer on how to get every ending, and some absolutely critical hidden mechanics you might not know of.