As the first of the major bosses introduced to the player in Elden Ring, Godrick the Grafted possesses unique attacks. Many of his moves have delays that make dodging them difficult. Thankfully, there’s a way to avoid each of them.
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Godrick the Grafted’s Attacks
All of Godrick’s attacks will involve him using his greataxes, his many fists, and, in phase 2, the head of a dragon that he grafts to himself in the middle of the fight. The variety of both the nature and the timing of the boss’ moves can make this battle a true challenge.
Jumping Axe Sweep (0:14)
If you are in front of Godrick but are out of melee range, the boss may leap at you and attempt to slash you with a horizontal sweep from his 2 greataxes. This move can hurt a lot and knock you back, however, it’s thankfully easy to dodge.
Right before Godrick lands, dodge roll anywhere—even towards the boss. He’ll be low to the ground, but you’ll be able to get under his attack without ending up beneath him. This is a great place to use a rolling attack for easy damage.
Earthquake Attack (0:16)
Anytime you’re nearby, Godrick may lift his golden greataxe into the air with its head pointed downward. He will then plunge it into the ground in front of himself to create shockwaves in an area of effect around his location. Godrick will do 2 earthquakes, with the second being larger in radius. You can’t block or dodge this attack while on the ground.
To avoid taking damage from this assault, you’ll have to jump twice with precise timing or get out of range. If you decide to use the latter method of evasion, try sprinting away instead of repeatedly dodge rolling. If you stay barely out of range, you’ll have enough time to sprint at Godrick after his move and land a running attack before the boss’ next assault.
Frontal Axe Attack (0:24)
If you are standing in front of the boss, he’ll often try to hit you with a basic axe attack or 2. Godrick will most often attack twice for this move, however, he’s been seen to attack once and then uses another move shortly afterward. This makes planning a counterattack awkward for most melee builds.
However, dodge rolling around to the side or back of the boss here would be ideal. You may not have time to land an attack, but you can get into a better position to dodge any following blows from Godrick.
Rolling Attack Combo (0:27)
On occasion, mostly if you’re just out of melee range, Godrick may lift his huge left arm quickly before rolling in a curved path towards you along the ground. As the boss closes in, he’ll try to swipe at you with his meaty left hand. This attack will only do a bit of damage, although, if you’re close, Godrick will follow it up with a backhand swipe. If you’re still within range, the boss will then throw a punch at you from above, which can be hard to see coming as his fist will be raised above the camera if you’re close to him. Alternatively, instead of attacking with his left hand, Godrick may end his roll with a greataxe slam in front of himself (1:06).
The moment you see Godrick rolling towards you, roll away from him and stay clear until he starts his next attack. There are almost no good windows for a counterattack here, as Godrick will slightly reposition himself throughout his oddly delayed combo and can target you unless you are directly behind him.
Delayed Axe Sweep (0:32)
This move is another one that will feel awkward to dodge at first. When Godrick looks like he’s winding up a strike, he’ll have both his greataxes held up to the left side of his body. Though, Godrick will take a full 2 seconds before actually swinging. During this time, the boss will menacingly walk and turn towards you. Because of how wide the sweep is, it can potentially hit you on the backswing even if you think you’re out of range. Furthermore, Godrick will occasionally follow this attack up with a swipe or 2 from his left hand for good measure.
To evade this attack, it’s best to dodge roll when Godrick actually swings his greataxes to get behind him and avoid his first possible follow-up punch. This can give you enough time to hit Godrick once with a rolling attack before he tries to swipe you. His first follow-up swipe will be aimed in front of him. Though, the boss can aim the second one behind himself with a quick turn, so be wary of being around Godrick during this move—regardless of where you are.
Axe Combo (0:37)
If you are in front of Godrick, he will sometimes perform a 5-hit combo that will gain power and range towards the latter blows. When the boss uses this move, he will always do all 5 attacks, which makes it predictable. However, getting hit by any of the moves can stun you long enough for the following one to hit you as well. As such, getting caught in the middle of this flurry of strikes can mean certain death.
Although this combo has a significant range for a melee attack, the boss room is large enough that you can sprint out of range if you act quickly. The moment you see Godrick holding both of his greataxes in front himself, run back a generous distance. If you try to dodge roll through all of his attacks, you will have to do so 5 times with precise timing. The latter course of action is risky, though can allow you to land a hit or 2 after the combo is over. Although, the safer method is to get out of range and heal or buff your weapon while you have a moment to breathe.
Lunging Attack (1:02)
If you are to the front of Godrick and are out of melee range, the boss may try to close the distance to you with a lunging attack. Godrick will hold his 2 greataxes up to his right side for a moment before thrusting forward swiftly.
This attack is fairly easy to avoid if you dodge roll forward and to your right (the boss’ left). This will also put you in a decent position to hit Godrick once or twice.
Whirlwind Combo (1:32)
Once in a while, the boss will swing his greataxes above his head to summon fierce winds in an area of effect around himself. Godrick will create 3 sudden gusts before following up with 1 of 2 possible options. The first 2 gusts will be small, but the third one will be larger. After the third and largest whirlwind, Godrick will either do a rolling attack that ends in a jumping axe sweep or will use 2 storm blade ranged attacks.
The 3 AoE gusts are fast and hard to see coming, however, dodge-rolling away from the boss’ location will take you out of range of the wind attacks. The rolling attack that ends in a jumping axe sweep is easy to avoid if you stick close to the Godrick and dodge roll when he lands. After the sweep is a good time to hit the boss, as he’ll need 2 seconds to recover. The storm blade ranged attacks are a bit trickier to evade as they have subtle homing and travel quickly. You’ll need to dodge roll to the side of each of the 2 storm blade attacks to avoid taking damage.
Long-Ranged Flamethrower (1:58)
During phase 2, Godrick will use this attack whenever phase 2 begins or if the player is very far from him. The boss will initially lift his new dragon arm above his head. He will then sweep it slowly in front of himself while it shoots out flames that have a huge range.
You can dodge through the fire with a well-timed roll. However, if you want to take advantage of this slow attack, you can land some huge hits on Godrick. During this flamethrower attack, if you hit Godrick 3 times, you will stagger him. This will let you then perform a critical attack on his chest for big damage. It’s recommended to close the distance to the boss by sprinting at him in a straight line. If you begin sprinting the moment Godrick lifts his arm before the attack, you should be able to get underneath his arm by the time it’s pointing at you. When you’re close, use a running attack to land hit 1 before following it up with 2 more light attacks to hit Godrick thrice while the flamethrower attack is happening.
Heavy Earthquake Attack (2:34)
Also during phase 2, Godrick’s earthquake attack will change. Instead of doing 2 shockwaves, the boss will now cause 3. The third one is also larger in radius than the second one in phase 1.
As with the other earthquake attack, you’ll want to get out of range or do some well-timed jumping. The tricky part about this attack is that you may not be expecting the third earthquake if you haven’t seen phase 2 before. However, after learning that the earthquake attack changes in phase 2, you should be able to avoid it fairly easily if you get some distance from Godrick. After the third impact would be a good time to attack the boss for a bit of quick damage.
Fiery Whirlwind Combo (2:43)
This attack is the same as the whirlwind combo—including the variable follow-up moves. However, the wind attacks will now deal fire damage and have a slightly larger range.
You’ll need to dodge this assault as you would the regular whirlwind combo. However, since the first 2 flaming gusts are pretty quick, you may take a bit of fire damage. To dampen the impact of these tricky flames, it’s recommended to equip the Flamedrake Talisman if you have it. There are also incantations that you can use to increase your damage absorption, like Flame Fortification, which you can buy from a merchant in the Roundtable Hold.
How to Stagger Godrick the Grafted
The first time you’ll be able to stagger Godrick the Grafted by simply attacking is when the boss drops below 60% HP (1:45). This will trigger an event that leads to Godrick cutting off his main left hand. However, the moment Godrick goes below 60% HP, he will get stunned for a few seconds. During this time, you can attack him with near impunity. As such, be sure to unleash your greatest blows at this moment! Just don’t stand in front of the boss, as his act of cutting his own hand off can damage you as well, even if Godrick isn’t aiming this particular strike your way.
After Godrick severs his hand, a cutscene will play that shows him grafting the head of the nearby dead dragon onto his arm where his hand was once located. This will begin phase 2 of the boss fight, where Godrick will have some new fiery attacks.
The following times that you can stagger Godrick will be during phase 2. Whenever the boss does his long-ranged flamethrower, you can hit him thrice to stagger him. This will let you perform a critical attack on Godrick’s chest if you use a light attack directly in front of him (2:05).
The Rewards for Beating Godrick the Grafted
- Godrick’s Great Rune
- Remembrance of the Grafted
- 20,000 Runes
The first item you get, Godrick’s Great Rune, will eventually give you a nice buff. However, you need to visit the Divine Tower in Stormveil Castle in order to activate the Great Rune and equip it. When you do, equipping Godrick’s Great Rune will passively give you increased attributes.
The Remembrance of the Grafted is an item that you can turn into a boss weapon. To do so, you’ll need to talk to Enia the Finger Reader in Roundtable Hold. She’s located just beyond the door that was once locked. After beating Godrick, you’ll be able to open it. Speaking to Enia will let you turn the Remembrance of the Grafted into either the Axe of Godrick (a greataxe) or the Grafted Dragon (a fist weapon). Alternatively, if you don’t want either of these weapons, you can consume the Remembrance of the Grafted to gain a ton of Runes.
