In the tradition of the Soulsborne games that precede it, Elden Ring contains some brick-wall moments where weak-willed players become chaff upon the wind. If you’ve made it to Godrick the Grafted, you’ve already experienced a few of those moments already, but Godrick is more than a brick wall; he’s a giant mega-wall that’s made out of smaller brick walls.
Godrick is a dude who decided to just start grafting pieces of other people onto his body, with nary a concern for aesthetics. How about a rotten zombie arm dangling off your lower back? Godrick doesn’t care; he rolls with it! Godrick is a Frankenstein’s monster of a beast that feels like a fever dream — he wouldn’t be entirely out of place in a Hideo Kojima game (I am thinking of one Metal Gear character in particular who’s taken up the fine art of arm grafting himself…)
So if you made it through Stormveil Castle with some semblance of forward momentum, you’ll crash into Godrick like a semi truck into a mountainside.
When I got to this part of Elden Ring, I did some Googling. What I was looking for was something absurd, like, “Hey, if you dip your sword in poison, you can kill Godrick in three hits…” Something that would allow me to cheese my way through the fight without a whole lot of effort. (That’s not a real piece of advice, by the way.)
As it turns out, that sort of guide doesn’t exist (at least, not that I’ve been able to find). Sure, there are really detailed breakdowns of Godrick’s movesets, but nothing that gives you some simple tips for cheesing the ever-loving piss out of this guy. So when I faced off against Godrick myself, I had two options: I could memorize his moveset and learn his tells and practice for hours on end to learn to counter each and every one of them, or I could make my own cheese. And since my memory ain’t so hot these days, I started working on my own cheese factory.
In the process, I figured out a few things that made the fight a lot easier, and I thought I’d share those tips with the greater Elden Ring-loving world. So here are five tips for beating Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring.
Level up to at least 40, but 50 is better
I’ve seen guides that said you can start Stormveil Castle at around level 30 (with some recommending it as early as level 23). Screw those guides. If you want to take on Godrick in a fair fight, you’ll power-level your way to near-godhood first.
There’s currently a super easy way to do that, but it’s an exploit that I assume will be patched out of the game at some point. I’ve done a full article on it already, so I won’t repeat it here, but know that you could use this trick to grind from level 20 to 50 in probably an hour or so. I used this exploit myself… for science…
If you don’t want to use the exploit, other options include exploring more of the world beforehand, while trying to do every mini-dungeon and mini-boss on the way. You’ll eventually be at level 40 (or 50), and then you can go try your luck with Godrick again.
Get the best gear possible
When it comes to Godrick the Grafted, preparation is half the battle. Well, it’s more than half the battle — I’d say it’s closer to 90% of the battle, but I’m not great at math so take that with a grain of salt. Anyway, you’ll want to be as well-prepared as possible, and that means getting your grubby little hands on some sweet gear.
There are millions of guides out there for getting the best early-game gear in Elden Ring. I’ve looked at more than I can count at this point, and there’s some stuff I still haven’t seen mentioned in any of them. So I’m going to put together a recommended gear set that you can pick up super early in the game.
Weapon – Spear +7 or Twinblade
You want a melee weapon that has a good amount of range, so there are two obvious options here. My go-to is the Spear +7, because it’s the perfect weapon for this fight. However, if you don’t have the stomach for killing Patches, you won’t be able to get it. In that case, you can instead get the Twinblade.
For me, I’m here to beat Godrick, not to make friends. If I have to be a heartless bastard on the way to that goal, then so be it. If you’re a heartless bastard like me, go to Murkwater cave, then kill Patches and take his Spear +7. It’s an incredible weapon.
If you do have a heart, you dear child, you, then you can instead go after the Twinblade, which can be found in a secret cellar in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins.
The cellar is located in the southernmost portion of the ruins, and you might need Torrent’s double jump to reach it, because it’s surrounded on all four sides by walls.
Offhand – Meteorite Staff or Great Turtle Shell
I roll with the Prisoner class in Elden Ring, so I’ve got a staff in my offhand pretty much all the time. For me, the best option is the Meteorite Staff, which has S-tier Intelligence scaling. My hat goes off to Nyce Gaming for making this discovery. You can check out his video on where to get the staff below.
If you’re instead looking for a shield, it’s really hard to top the Great Turtle Shell, which you’ll find on the Weeping Peninsula at the location marked in the map below.
When you get to the Castle Morne Rampart Site of Grace (marked on the map), you’ll find an updraft just to the east (it’s super close; you should be able to see it from the Site of Grace). Get on Torrent and hop into the updraft, which will take you to the top of a tower. On that tower, you will find the Great Turtle Shell on a corpse.
Arms and Legs – Godrick Soldier Gauntlets and Godrick Soldier Greaves
There are some obvious choices for your arms and legs, the Godrick Soldier Gauntlets and the Godrick Soldier Greaves. These can be looted off Godrick soldiers in the very beginning of the game, in the forest north of the Church of Elleh and in the Gatefront Ruins.
Another option, if you’re into grinding, would be the Banished Knight Gauntlets and Banished Knight Greaves, which can be looted off Banished Knights in Stormveil Castle. The downside to the Banished Knight set is that you have to kill a ton of Banished Knights to get the full set, and the other downside is that this gear is super heavy. Of course, I’ve created a guide to farming this set if you’re interested in getting it.
Chest – Godrick Knight Armor
There’s only one obvious armor choice here, and I’ve not seen it mentioned anywhere else. The Godrick Knight Armor is probably the second best armor you’ll find before you beat Godrick the Grafted. It’s like the Tree-and-Beast Surcoat, only with better stats and a gosh-darn cape. You’re going to look so stylish in a gosh-darn cape, Superman!
The only place I’ve been able to find this is at the Gatefront Ruins, and it’s only dropped by one enemy there. You’ll know him by the feathery tuft sticking out of the top of his helmet (and by the fact that he has like triple the health of the other soldiers in those ruins).
Buckle up, because this could be a long grind. It’s a rare drop, and this isn’t the easiest soldier to take down over and over again (you’ll generally have to clear out a few of the other soldiers first if you want to engage him one-on-one). Still, if you’re persistent, you should get yourself a lovely piece of armor that will be great for the Godrick fight.
Another option, of course, is the Banished Knight Armor. That has better stats than the Godrick Knight Armor, but it’s a lot heavier. As I mentioned earlier, I have a full guide on farming this specific set if you want to do that.
Head – Pumpkin Helm
My favorite choice of early-game headwear is the Pumpkin Helm. The grind to get it is real, though, so check out my full guide to see where you can get it. The one downside to this helm (aside from the grind) is that it’s really heavy, so be wary of that if you’ve got a low-endurance build.
A great secondary option, of course, is the Prisoner Iron Mask, which comes default with the Prisoner class. If you actually want to venture north into Liurnia of the Lakes, you can buy the Prisoner Iron Mask for non-Prisoner classes from the Hermit Merchant. But there’s really no reason to do that if you’ve either chosen the Prisoner as a starter class or you’ve acquired the awesomely stylish Pumpkin Helm.
And last, but not least, is the Banished Knight Helm, which is part of the Banished Knight set. I’ve posted a link to my farming guide for this twice now, but I’ll post it one more time here just in case you need it.
A final note on gear
Now, I should point out here that all of the gear on this list is really just my personal choice. I play as a Prisoner, and this is the stuff that works for me. I’ve explained every piece of gear I used in this fight, then gave an alternative to every piece if you want to go slightly off-script.
But you do you. If there’s gear you like better than what I’ve listed here, then by all means, go for it. I won’t be offended. I promise.
Use the Skeletal Militaman summon
You definitely want to have a summon when you’re fighting Godrick, and I’ve not found one better than the Skeletal Militiaman for this specific fight. That’s because the skeletons will reanimate themselves if they die (unless they get taken out while still in the process of being reassembled).
Godrick hits like a truck, and he’s going to wipe out your summons really quickly if he focuses on them. The Lone Wolf just doesn’t have the health for this (Godrick will routinely take out all three wolves with a single attack). A decent secondary choice is the Godrick Soldier, because I noticed that they tend to space themselves apart. Godrick will kill one of them while the other keeps a distance and shoots at him with arrows.
Even so, the Skeletal Militiaman has all the benefits of the Godrick Soldier, with the added benefit of rising from the dead when defeated (if not defeated a second time while re-animating).
So where do you get the Skeletal Militiaman Ashes? Well, you’ll have to go to Summonwater Village and fight the Tibia Mariner.
The Tibia Mariner is a creepy ghost in a creepy ghost boat who summons a bunch of skeletons. If you’ve done the first step in this guide, where you level to 40 (or 50), the fight should be a cakewalk. Just pick off the adds whenever they come up, then focus on the Mariner. When that nasty business is taken care of, you’ll have the Skeletal Militiaman Ashes (and a piece of Deathroot, but that’s a story for another time).
Keep your distance
So, I crammed a ton of information into those first three tips, didn’t I? Well, your tired eyes will thank me for keeping these last two tips a whole lot briefer. You’re welcome, tired eyes!
When fighting Godrick, you want to keep your distance as much as possible. He has some devastating combos that can knock you out within seconds, and you’ll want to avoid those. If you can keep some distance and pick him off from afar, you’ll do much, much better at this fight.
If you have magic, now is the time to use it (I used Glintstone Pebble here, and I had three Flasks of Cerulean Tears +2 on hand to keep myself stocked up). Whenever Godrick targets one of your summons, his back will be wide open, so that’s when you want to rush in for a melee attack.
Also, when Godrick does his massive leap, you actually have time to hit him with a strong attack (R2), then roll away before his leap attack lands. Well, for the record, this is possible with the Spear +7; I didn’t try it with any other weapons.
Get fireproof, son
This is the most important piece of advice in this entire guide. In fact, I would have put it first except that you won’t really need it until the second half of the fight.
In the second phase, Godrick likes to shoot jets of fire, and this animation lasts way longer than it seems like it should and deals tons and tons of damage. If you don’t find a way to mitigate fire damage, you’ll get roasted to a crisp before you have time to say “It burns!”
Thankfully, you can get some Fireproof Dried Liver. This is a consumable item that temporarily reduces the amount of damage you’ll take from fire, and you can hold up to five of them at a time. I highly recommend slotting these next to your potions. Then, as soon as the second phase of the fight starts (after that whole ridiculous animation where Godrick grafts a freaking dragon head onto his arm), pop the Liver. You’ll be surprised by how much less damage you’ll take from his fire bursts. Because the animation lasts so long, you can just dash through the flames and get several hits in while he’s doing his whole fire-shooting thing.
So where do you get Fireproof Dried Liver? Well, you can craft it yourself. There are a few steps in the process (you’ll have to get the right cookbook, yadda yadda), but I laid it all out in my complete guide to crafting Fireproof Dried Liver.
Seriously, if I’d have thought of this sooner, I wouldn’t have spent so much time on this fight. The second phase becomes almost laughably easy, because this method removes most of the sting from Godrick’s most powerful phase-two attack.
