Elden Ring: How to Beat Godfrey, First Elden Lord Boss Fight

For someone with such a prestigious title, this version of Godfrey is much easier to defeat than you’d think. With that said, not all builds are created equal and you may encounter him unprepared when it comes to levels or gear. If you’re having trouble, we’ve got some tips to help out. Here’s how to beat the Godfrey, First Elden Lord boss fight in Elden Ring.

Preparing for Godfrey, First Elden Lord

This isn’t Godfrey’s actual physical body, so it may just be a preview of what’s to come later on. Regardless, this fight can be tough for ranged builds if Spirit Ashes aren’t summoned right away. It’s a close-quarters battle, so it’ll be tough to get some space between you and the boss if he isn’t distracted by a second attacker.

As always, the Mimic Tear Ashes is a top-tier choice for boss fights. Find it in the Night’s Sacred Ground section of Nokron, Eternal City. Then, upgrade the summon by speaking to Roderika and Hewg in Roundtable Hold. It’ll do wonders in this fight.

Godfrey, First Elden Lord Boss Fight

This Golden Shade will rely heavily on close-range melee attacks to take you down, so learning his timing to dodge roll out of the way is essential. Thankfully, a lot of his moves are heavy swings with huge wind-ups that can be seen coming a mile away. Although, that does mean that it’ll take a large chunk out of your HP if he lands anything.

There’s no second phase here, so the goal is to overwhelm Godfrey by attacking from two different angles alongside your Spirit Ashes summon. Try to stay on the opposite side of the boss so that he’s between you and your summon. He’ll have to constantly readjust or pick one target — which is perfect since he has absolutely no crazy magic or massive AOE attacks to speak of.

Godfrey will swing his giant axe horizontally or vertically in relatively slow patterns. The only way that this switches up is when he mixes in jump attacks and ground stomps that cause the ground to raise up and deal damage in a line in front of him.

No matter what Spirit Ashes you go with, it should keep all of the boss’s attention as long as it attacks regularly. So, something slower like the jellyfish might not be optimal here. Regardless, use the opportunities that the summon provides to quickly bring down Godfrey while he isn’t looking in your direction. I used the Moonveil katana with an Int-based build to do exactly that.

This fight shouldn’t be nearly as difficult as some others in the game, so that’ everything you need to know about how to beat Godfrey, First Elden Lord in Elden Ring. Be sure to have a look at our guide wiki to find more tips, tricks, and other boss guides to help you survive in the Lands Between.