Elden Ring Godrick Guide – Taking on Godrick the Grafted

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Callum Marshall

Cal is the Managing Editor at RPG Informer, so all that you see before you is under his watchful eye. Despite this workload, he does his best to carve out some time to write up some eyecatching pieces and showcase his love for RPG's. His standout titles within the genre are Fallout New Vegas, Disco Elysium, Bloodborne, Kingdom Hearts, and his main squeeze right now is Elden Ring. Outside of gaming, Callum is a podcaster, a skateboarder, and an all-around sound guy.

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It’s not often that you get to call a game a masterpiece, especially in these modern times where even the most technically impressive and aesthetically pleasing games of the era are getting review bombed within an inch of their life. However, even in this era with huge gamer expectations, Elden Ring has been heralded as one of the best games of the year, and indeed all time, very high praise indeed. This praise isn’t unwarranted, though, as Elden Ring has taken the tried and tested FromSoft formula and overhauled the format massively to deliver an open-world adventure that is unlike anything we have ever seen before, both in terms of game mechanics and in terms of graphics, world-building and sheer scope of the project. I could go on forever about the brilliance of this game, and if you want more on that, check out my Elden Ring Review, but today we are focusing on one aspect of this game’s brilliance, the bosses.

Much like any Souls-like game, Elden Ring has a plethora of in-game bosses, some necessary, most of which optional, that all serve as worthy opponents and provide some of the toughest challenges you will likely find within the medium of gaming. However, if you are a new player to the Souls-like genre, you are likely working very hard just to beat the initial bosses and progress to areas beyond Limgrave. First, let me tell you that there is no shame in that, as some of these bosses are tough as nails. So if you have managed to beat Margit the Fell Omen, the next logical step would be to progress further into the first legacy dungeon Stormveil Castle and defeat the first Shardbearer within the game, Godrick the Grafted.

In this guide, we will take a look at the best ways to prepare for this battle and what gear will serve you best when you take on Godrick. If there is any spirit summon or items that will give you an edge in battle, and we will also take a look at the best strategies to take down this tricky customer. Godrick the Grafted is arguably not as tough as Margit, but he still has a lot of attacks that can decimate any unprepared Tarnished, so you’d be a fool to underestimate him. So without further delay, here is our Elden Ring Godrick Guide

Who is Godrick the Grafted?

We should probably give you a little bit of backstory on the maniacal killer you are about to step into the ring with. Godrick is, within the context of The Lands Between, a bit of a loser. Yes, he does look like a gruesome monster capable of tearing mere mortals limb from limb, but among other monsters, fiends, warriors and demi-gods, Godrick is a little bit of an outlier, and some would argue unworthy of even having a Great Rune of his own. You see, Godrick, before the player’s entry to the world, was a ruler of a very modest kingdom nowhere near as impressive as Stormveil Castle. As a distant relative of Marika and Godfrey, Godrick was somewhat respected during his time in Leyndell, but this would all change as he became too big for his boots. Godrick would begin throwing his weight around and talking a good game, but he rarely had the mettle to back this up. This all led up to a duel with Malenia, who handily dealt with Godrick with little difficulty. This battle would have surely led to Godrick’s demise, but instead of dying with Honor, he would beg at the feet of Malenia for mercy. He was granted mercy, and he would go into hiding after this exchange. Then after many years hidden away, he would surface again and take over Stormveil Castle. This is where the player finds Godrick.

Godrick being the least impressive and mighty of the demi-gods in The Lands Between, would resort to a very uncouth method of body augmentation known as grafting to help him rule over stormveil and become a shard bearer. This is a form of necromancy that takes the body parts of the dead and grafts them onto the host to take control of this body part as their own. It is believed that he took inspiration from a distant relation Godefroy who players can battle in the Golden Lineage Evergaol. This, along with creating an army of Grafted Scions and soldiers to help him maintain his hold on Limgrave, all point to his insecurity as a leader. Overall, Godrick is a challenging foe, but he is a coward, an insecure character and one that was never truly accepted or respected by his peers.

Godrick Battle Preparation

Now that you know the man behind the various grafted body parts, it’s time to prepare to take him down. Before you begin your assault on Stormveil, you will need to level up your character a little, get your hands on some tasty weapons capable of slaying a shard bearer, and there are a few other things that players can do to make this fight a little easier for themselves. So let’s get into it, shall we?

Level Recommendation

Let’s begin with a level recommendation. Obviously, if you are a Souls-like aficionado, you will probably be equipped to take on this boss regardless of the level you reach Godrick at, but let’s assume you are a newbie that wants this to be a relatively fair fight. If this is your first playthrough of Elden Ring, we would suggest that you raise your character level to somewhere around 25-30. This will mean that you will be well on your way to establishing what build you are planning to go with, and you should also have a much more favourable health bar, endurance bar or FP bar to work with.

Weapon Upgrades

While your choice of weapon can vary greatly depending on your playstyle, the strength of your weapon shouldn’t. We would urge all players to gather up diferent qualities of smithing stone and upgrade their weapon to at least +3 or +4. There are tonnes of cave areas in Limgrave and the Weeping Penninsula, marked on the map with an orange-tinged hole that will contain all the smithing stone resources you need to scale your weapon.

Armour of Choice

Onto the armour of choice for this fight. It really depends on what build you go for, so let me give you my opinion on the best armour for each playstyle. All of these choices will be realistic, so players can actually get their hands on them before this fight.

Melee Fighters – Twinned Armor

There are a lot of lesser armour sets that could do a reasonable job in this fight, but if you want a set that will serve you from the early game right through to the mid-game, then you will need to get the Twinned Armor set. You obtain this by first acquiring some Deathrot, which will trigger a quest with D in the Roundtable Hold. This will also allow you to begin Fia’s quest. She will give you a dagger and ask you to return it to its rightful owner and to save you time, that’s D. You simply give him the dagger, reload the area, and in the room beyond the blacksmith, Fia will be standing over his dead corpse. Simply grab his dropped items, and voila, you are now the proud owner of Twinned armour. However, don’t get too attached to it, as you may have to part with it during Fia’s questline.

Magic-Users – Sage Armor Set

If you want to get your hands on a decent magical armour set as opposed to a handful of odd armour pieces, then Limgrave won’t serve you all too well. As Liurina of the Lakes plays host to the Raya Lucaria Academy, that region has the best early game magic armour set. You may be thinking that Godrick is the gatekeeper to this area, but in truth, you can skip Stormveil Castle if you know-how. All you have to do is head to the broken bridge where the finger reader hangs around. Here you will find a ledge below, and if you are savvy, you will find a secret path to the Church of Irith, and just like that, you have a whole new world the explore. Then from here, if you head to Stillwater Cave, you’ll find the Sage Armor at the beginning of this cave, and this should serve any magic user well in this battle against Godrick.

Weapon Of Choice

Next, we have the weapon of choice. As Godrick is weak to hemorrhage and Poison, there are clear favourites for this fight. So I want to give you some great options and where to find them. Here are a few below:

Blood Loss Option – Bloodhound’s Fang

Now, we could have picked Reduvia, but this one is slightly better with a blood loss buildup of 55, and it’s not much harder to get. To get your hands on this one, you will need to take on the boss which you encounter by travelling through a portal in Limgrave called the Forlorn Hound Evergaol. Here you will encounter the Bloodhound Knight Darriwil. This is a tough early-game fight and will require a miss of well-timed blocks and some quick reactions to dodge the hound’s flurry of attacks, and that’s without even mentioning the potential blood loss buildup. If you stay mobile here and avoid relying on your shield too much, you should take this boss out without too much difficulty, and the Bloodhound Fang will be yours.

Poison Option – Serpentbone Blade

I’ll be honest, this one isn’t all that realistic for new players, as players will have to travel to a mid to late-game area known as Volcano Manor, and not only that, but you will also have to complete a questline where you have to defeat Rileigh the Idle, and despite the name, he is no slouch. However, in terms of dedicated poison weapons, there isn’t really a better option. So for those that want to skip Godrick and come back later, this can be a very good option, but there are definitely more viable options and Ashes of War that can supplement for lack of a poison weapon.

Blunt Force Option – Twinblade

There are quite a few early-game weapons that players seem to love and stick loyally by throughout most of the game. It doesn’t really matter which blunt weapon you choose really, so long as you regularly upgrade it. However, of all the early game options, the Twinblade is a very good option and a powerful one at that. The Twinblade is the best way to double up as a Darth Maul interpreter, get in lots of hits fast and if you stick some fire grease on there, and, well, you might as well have an actual lightsaber. You can grab this weapon really easily as it’s a stone’s throw from The First Step. If you read to the Dragon-Burnt Ruins and head into the underground area, you’ll find this weapon a the chest.

Magic-User Option – Meteorite Staff

Then lastly, we have the best magic option. In all honesty, a Glintstone Staff would probably serve you just fine if you have the right stats and spells, but if you want something with a lot of firepower, you can head out to Caelid and get the Meteorite Staff. If you head to the Street of Sages Ruins, you will find a corpse with an item near some poison flowers. This is the Meteorite Staff, so grab it and get to work on bringing Godrick to his knees.

Talismans of Choice

Next, we have the Talismans you should wear when you take on Godrick. Take a look at my pick of the bunch and where to nab them:

• Spelldrake Talisman: This is a talisman that will negate the damage caused by magical attacks, and Godrick has a few that pack a punch. You can find this one.
• Twinblade Talisman: This enhances the damage caused by your final hit in a chain attack. You can find this one in the Weeping Penninsula at this area’s legacy dungeon, Castle Morne.
• Erdtree’s Favor: This Talisman raises max HP, max Stamina and Max Equip Load. You can get this one before you even leave the starting area of the game. If you pick a Swordstone Key as your keepsake, you can enter the Stranded Hero’s Grave, and you can get it sitting below two Grafted Scions.

Useful items

There are also a few items that we would urge you to get before you take on Godrick. Here is a few handy items listed below:

• Fire Grease
• Gold Pickled Fowl
• Iron Whetblade
• Flask of Wondrous Physick

Getting to Godrick

Let’s assume that you have just beaten Margit the Fell Omen, and you now have to make your way to Godrick. What lies ahead is Stormveil Castle, and what waits within is a plethora of foot soldiers, knights, Grafted enemies, bloodthirsty hounds and other perilous enemies. However, if you know where you are going, you don’t necessarily have to tangle with all of these enemies, and you can make your way to Godrick pretty easily. The first choice you have to make is whether you want to take the main gate up to Godrick, which is faster but much more dangerous. Or you can take the path that scales the facade of the fortress and get in through the backdoor, so to speak. I would personally urge players to take the side door, as you will find more useful items and avoid being one-shotted by those with powerful ranged attacks through the main gate.

Once you make your way along the side path, you will have to deal with some blade-footed birds. These are annoying enemies, but if you hide behind your shield and let them attack first, you will be fine. Then you will have to make your way through the next set of rooms and find a key to progress. The foot soldiers and bomb-throwing enemies won’t cause you much of a problem, but when you get to the room with the key, you will have to face off against a tough knight to escape. So long as the player dodges their strong attacks and doesn’t get greedy with their attacks, this won’t spell the end for you.

This will then grant you access to an area with a series of levels and a huge hole in the middle. You can largely avoid the enemies here as there is a site of grace at the top, so run ahead. Once at the site of grace, you can then proceed to an area where more blade birds will be waiting. They all will be carrying a projectile explosive, so it’s best to agro them and deal with them one at a time. There are three in total, as one is waiting around the corner to the left after the second bird. You then need to cross the bridge and drop down into the Church area. Then you hook around to the right, and you’ll see a path where a knight and foot soldier are patrolling. It’s quite hard to run past and avoid them, so to fight them, take care of the lesser enemy when they are walking away, and then proceed to fight the knight. He is very tough and hits hard, so watch his moves and evade where possible, as they are capable of breaking your guard quite easily, and they have a far range, so don’t rely on rolling away.

When you make it past, there is another area where you can either drop down into an area with dogs or an area with another strong knight through the door to the right. We urge players to take the knight’s room and avoid him by sneaking to the left when he is patrolling the right of the room. A little bit further will lead you to an area where there is a huge army of enemies in the courtyard. You are close to a site of grace now, so sprint through this yard and avoid contact with these basic enemies; then, past the troll to the left is a site of grace. Activate this, and you will be safe. Then from here, if you run straight, you’ll have to fight a few tough bird enemies and avoid a Giant, but after this, you will be right at the gate before you encounter Godrick, congrats!

Godrick the Grafted Battle Guide

Okay, so you are all equipped and ready to take on Godrick, and now it’s time to take on the big man himself. So let’s not delay. Here is our Godrick strategy guide below:

Before You Enter the Battlefield

Unlike the previous fight at Stromveil Castle with Margit, there is no special item like Margit’s Shackles that you can acquire, but you can interact with an NPC who will be more than happy to help you take on Godrick. However, if you talk to Nepheli loux before you battle Godrick, you will be able to summon Nepheli to help you in battle. They are a strong and rather durable warrior that serves as a decent distraction in this fight. If you prefer spirit Ash summons, then ignore this suggestion, but outside of this and multiplayer or spirit summon options, Nepheli Loux is a good option to help turn the tide.

We would also suggest that you do some admin and ensure your weight management is handled; you have mixed your Wondrous Physick as required, and you have allocated Flasks as desired before you enter the fray.

Phase One

So, after refusing to kneel before the monstrosity that this Godrick the Grafted, the battle begins. The First Phase is the easier of the two for sure, but you will still be required to stay mobile, understand his attack patterns and get behind the hulking boss as much as possible. In this section, you will have to watch out for airborne and ground-based axe attacks. The airborne attack is a blessing as it is very obviously telegraphed and serves as a great opportunity to get a few shots in. However, the ground attacks are harder to spot and have a big range, so keep your shield up when he’s on the ground. Then there is also a ground attack where he crushes the ground. He will strike the ground, and this will have a small range of effect, but will then pulse again and perform a very powerful attack with a much larger area of effect. So when they strike the ground like this, don’t hang around; create some distance.

Phase Two

When you grind Godrick down to 50% health, or less if you get a good combo going, a cut scene will begin, and in this scene, Godrick will call upon his ancestors to guide him through the battle, he will chop off his own arm, and he will graft the head of a dragon corpse onto his arm, allowing it to reanimate and grant him access to new, devastating fire-based attacks. This is where the real fight begins, as he now has access to a much wider range of attacks, but equally, if you can get behind him regularly, he doesn’t have as many defensive moves in this phase to knock you back. In this phase, he will use his dragon arm to launch a dragon breath attack which casts a stream of fire across the battlefield from left to right. A simple dodge roll will render this useless. Then the other fire-based attack is a series of fireballs that rain down from above. This is a little trickier to avoid, but if you close the gap between you and Godrick and get behind him, you should be safe.

Aside from these new attacks, though, the battle is fairly similar to the first phase as Godrick still has access to the moveset from the previous phase. The goal overall here is to stay mobile, keep trying to get in behind him, and, if possible, use Spirit Ash summons and NPC summons to keep him distracted throughout the fight. Just remember, Godrick is most dangerous when he is using his axe to take wide swings and draw you in for ground crushing attacks, so keep an eye out for those, and you will be fine.

Rewards For Defeating Godrick

Congrats, if you followed the guide above, you should be standing over the body of the defeated Godrick the Grafted. So you may be wondering what rewards are on offer if you beat Godrick. Well, we won’t leave you in the dark here. These are the rewards you will receive when you beat Godrick:

Runes

Firstly, the player will be awarded a bunch of runes for their efforts. The player will get their hands on 20,000 runes there and then, which could easily grant you 3-4 levels depending on what level you take on Godrick at. Be sure to pop a Gold Pickled Fowl if you want a little more runes for your efforts, but only if you are confident of securing the victory. 

Remembrance of the Grafted

You will also be awarded ‘Remembrance of the Grafted,’ which is an item that can be traded in with the Finger Reader at the Roundtable Hold for special items relating to Godrick. You will have a choice of two, but the pick of the bunch, in my opinion, is Godricks Axe, especially if you are going with a strength build. The other item can be bought later as this reader serves as a merchant as well. 

Godrick’s Great Rune

Then lastly, you will gain a great rune for your efforts. This is an item that can be equipped to your character and activated with the use of a Rune Arc, offering a pretty tasty boost, usually to all stats. However, you will have to go to particular places on the map to activate these runes. The Divine Tower in Limgrave is the destination you’ll need to visit to activate this Great Rune. 

Do You Need to Beat Godrick?

Then lastly, before we sign off, you may be wondering, if you can skip Stormveil castle as we suggest above, do you really have to fight Godrick at all. Well, if you want the best overall ending in the game, then you will have to beat him eventually. However, you technically only have to beat two of the shard bearers to beat the game, these being Morgott and General Radahn. So no, you don’t need to beat Godrick technically, but if you are doing your first playthrough and want to play the game as intended, then you might as well dethrone this mad tyrant. 

Become the King of Stormveil Castle

As you can see from the guide above, Godrick is a very strong foe, especially if you are making a beeline through the gam to kill the five shard bearers without stopping to smell the roses and level up your character. Truthfully, Godrick’s first phase is very manageable; it is when he literally rips off the head of a dragon corpse, attaches it to his body and has it reanimate when the real battle begins. Boy, there is a string of words I never thought I would write. Anyway, we hope that this guide serves you well on your quest to become Elden Lord and as always, thank you for reading RPG Informer.

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