Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, is one of the strongest bosses you’ll fight in Elden Ring. This warrior is the epitome of strength and speed. You’ll need to be skilled, knowledgeable of his moves, and patient to beat him.
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Where Do You Fight Godfrey?
In Elden Ring, you actually fight Godfrey twice. You first fight him at the Erdtree Sanctuary in Leyndell when you approach the Erdtree for the first time. Although the Godfrey that you fight here is merely his “spirit” form.
You then fight Godfrey, in the flesh, when you’re about to reach the game’s ending. He’ll be waiting for you at the Elden Throne, the area right after the Queen’s Bedchamber.
This guide refers to Godfrey’s physical form. However, his spirit form and the first phase of his physical form share almost the same movesets. If you’re looking to defeat Godfrey in his spirit form, simply refer to his movesets in his first phase as those are relevant to that fight.
Defeating Godfrey, the First Elden Lord
Godfrey has two phases. You first fight him as the First Elden Lord. He wields an axe during this fight. He also uses a couple of stomp and ground attacks that cause eruptions and rocks to burst from the ground.
After you deplete about 50% of his health, his second phase will commence. You’ll then fight him as Hourah Loux, Warrior. During which, he’ll rid himself of his weapon, his lion, and armor. He’ll fight you bare-chested and bare-handed.
Incredibly, Godfrey is much more menacing and dangerous as Hourah Loux. He has a lot of grapple attacks during this phase which can easily one-shot you if your Vigor isn’t high enough. His stomps are also more powerful during this phase.
Defeating Godfrey, and any boss in Elden Ring boils down to being familiar with their attacks. As long as you know what the boss is going to do and how to take advantage of them, you’ll be able to defeat Godfrey.
Godfrey, the First Elden Lord (First Phase)
Godfrey is fast during this phase. He mostly uses his axe to attack, but he’ll also constantly use his stomp attack which makes spiky rocks burst from the ground.
The good thing is that his attacks are well telegraphed. Although they are fast, Godfrey gives you ample time to react to them.
The following are every single attack he uses during this phase. Be familiar with them.
Triple Axe Swing
This is his most common melee combo. Godfrey will swing his axe with a downward slash to his right, then to his left, and ends the combo with a lower sweep to his right.
You can avoid getting damaged by this combo by dodging towards the direction of where his swings come from. You can then land a hit or two after the third attack.
Aerial Axe Toss
Godfrey will leap into the air, toss his axe in your direction, and dives towards it. You can easily avoid this attack by just running in Godfrey’s initial direction. You can then run to where the axe lands just as he’s about to dive for it. Once you’re close enough to Godfrey, you can then land a hit or two.
If you approach Godfrey slowly during the beginning of the fight, there’s a high chance that this is the first attack he’ll do.
Stomp Attack
Godfrey will begin this move by either dashing towards you or to your side. He’ll then bring one leg up before powerfully stomping it. This then sends rocks to burst from the ground in a wide, straight line across him.
You can avoid this attack by jumping just as Godfrey stomps. Alternatively, you dodge to Godfrey’s side if you’re close enough to him.
Be mindful when attacking him after this attack as he often chains it with one or two more melee attacks.
Melee and Stomp Combo
Godfrey has one four-attack combo that combines his melee attacks and stomp attack. He begins this attack by swinging his axe upward to his left, followed by a stomp, then a lower sweep to the right, and ends with an overhead slam.
Just as with his other combos, be sure to dodge in the direction where his swings come from. As for the stomp, dodge towards the side opposite of his raised leg.
Jumping Plunge Attack
Godfrey leaps up or towards you, then proceeds to plunge the tip of his axe on the ground. Dodge just as he’s about to land, preferably to Godrick’s side so you can land a hit or two after dodging.
Double Overhead Attack
This is when Godfrey slams his axe in front of him, then swings it back and around him before slamming it forward once more.
He’ll pull his axe back for just a bit before the initial slam. Dodge towards Godfrey just as he slams his axe, then hit him once. Dodge once more for the second slam and attack him once again.
Axe Stun
This is a quick attack Godfrey does. He’ll hit you with the side of his axe. He occasionally follows this with one overhead slam, but there are also times when he sticks to one attack only.
This attack is fast, which makes it somewhat tough to dodge. Keep an eye out on the blade of his axe. As soon as he pulls it back, be prepared to dodge.
Axe Drag
Godfrey will rush towards you, dragging his axe on the ground, then swinging it upwards. Dodge when he’s about to bring up his axe. You have a second to see his axe starting to ascend. Otherwise, start dodging when Godfrey gets close enough to you as that’s when he’s most likely to bring up his axe.
Earth-Splitting Slam
Godfrey has one powerful slam that splits the ground in half, dealing massive damage if you ever get caught up in it.
He begins this attack by swinging his axe above him before slamming it down. He then buries it further with his leg after a few seconds, causing the ground to shake and the split to form. When he brings his axe back up, this causes a wide chunk of the ground all the way across and behind him to split and erupt.
Avoid his initial swing by dodging away. Then, watch out for his leg and dodge to the side once again when he burrows his axe further. You’ll then notice which areas of the ground will erupt later on. Run until you’re out of its range.
Shockwave Stomp
This is an attack Godfrey does once he’s close to being at 50% health. He’ll bring his axe over his head as he charges up, raise one leg up, then forcefully slams it down. Instead of creating a rock eruption, he’ll instead send a shockwave that can reach the entire arena.
Get close to Godfrey while he’s charging up. Then, dodge when he stomps his foot. It’ll take a while for him to move again after he does this attack, so take advantage of that.
Defeating Hourah Loux, Warrior
Once Godfrey’s health drops to 50%, be prepared to fight his “true” form. He’ll fight you bare-handed this time, which only, surprisingly, makes him way more powerful. The attacks you truly need to watch out for are his grab attacks. Thankfully, they all have noticeable tells.
Power Bomb
This is the first attack Hourah Loux will do as soon as the phase begins. He’ll slowly move towards you while stretching both his arms wide in an attempt to grab you. As soon as he starts bringing his arms down, dodge to his side. Alternatively, you can also run away from him as far as you can.
This attack has three variations. They differ in how they begin, but they always end with the same slam attack.
The second variation of this Power Bomb attack is somewhat flashier. Instead of running towards you, he’ll perform a leap, creating an illusion of him moving in slow motion.
For this variation, you’ll want to dodge to the side before he reaches your position. Keep an eye out for his arms. As soon as they start going down, dodge to the side.
The third and final variation is when he runs towards you while keeping his arms crossed across his chest instead of stretching them wide. Treat this the same way as the other variations. You’ll notice his arms begin to drop from their crossed position when he’s about to perform the grab. Dodge to his side to avoid it.
This attack deals massive damage. If you get caught in the grab, you’ll be tossed in the air and he’ll jump to grab you. The animation then ends with him throwing you to the ground.
Earthshaker
Hourah Loux begins this attack by roaring. He then leaps and slams an arm on the ground. He slams the other arm a few seconds later. The ground around him, covering a wide radius, then begins to glow, signaling an eruption. If you get caught in this, you’ll receive massive damage.
As soon as he begins to roar, move away and wait for him to leap. Dodge as he lands and run away from him to get out of the Earthshaker’s area of effect.
Choke Slam
Hourah Loux will pull his right arm back, and wind it forward to grab you after a short delay. Dodge to his side as soon as he brings the arm up or simply run away from him. Dodging to his side gives you the opportunity to land a hit or two afterward.
Melee Combo
Hourah Loux also has a three-strike combo which has two variations. He’ll begin this combo by performing two consecutive swipes at you. He’ll then end the combo either with an uppercut or with a ground slam. If he does the ground slam, spiky rocks will burst from the ground in a similar manner as before.
You can dodge towards the direction the attacks are coming from. If he does a stomp at the end, you can instead jump to avoid the spikes.
Keep your guard up once he finishes this combo as he often follows it with a chokes slam.
Stomp Attack
He’ll still do the same stomp attack he used to do during the first phase. This time, though, the way he lifts his leg is higher, and the range in which rocks protrude from the ground is longer. He’ll also sometimes immediately follow it with a single swipe.
Just like before, either dodge to his side or jump to avoid the spikes. Be prepared to dodge once more in case he swipes at you after. Only attack when his combo is over.
He also has a variation of this where he leaps and drops a leg to the ground, causing the same effect. You can dodge this the same way as the previous variation. He also has a tendency of doing this twice, so be mindful of that.
Shockwave Slam
Hourah Loux will also continue doing his shockwave attack, only this time he does it with his arms instead of his leg. He also does them twice in a row. Dodge both before attacking him.
Kick
In a simple, yet powerful attack, Hourah Loux will bring one leg back before kicking you with sheer force, sending you flying away. When you notice him pulling a leg back, be prepared to dodge to his side.
Jumping Slam
Hourah Loux will sometimes leap into the air while honed in at you, he’ll then slam the ground with an arm upon impact. You can easily avoid getting damaged by this by dodging to the side or into him as he lands. You can then land an attack after.
Other Tips For Beating Godfrey, the First Lord
Godfrey is weak to poison, scarlet rot, bleed, and frostbite. Use any of these status effects to make the boss fight more bearable.
If you’ve completed Nepheli Loux and Shabriri’s questlines, you can find their summon signs before Godfrey’s boss area.
Stick as close to Godfrey as possible. He has a lot of moves that allow him to close in wide gaps almost instantaneously if you’re too far, which he follows with a punishable attack.
Healing during this fight can also be tricky because of how swift he can be. Be sure to only do them after he finishes an animation or a combo.
