Commander Gaius Boss Guide – Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Rewards: 230,000, Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider
Summons Available: Yes

Players exploring the Church District of Shadow Keep might eventually wander outside, only to find themselves immediately bowled over by some albinauric riding a giant boar. That’s Commander Gaius, and his charge attack quickly found its way on to the list of “most complained about FromSoft boss moves”. It’s not too tough to deal with if you properly prepare, however — so that’s what this guide aims to help you do.

General Tips

This is an optional boss, so you can always come back later with more Scadutree Fragments.
Gaius cannot be parried, although he can be staggered.
Gaius is weak to Holy Damage, and resistant to Magic, Hemorrhage, and Frostbite.
Staying behind the boar will allow you to bait easier-to-dodge attacks and prevent the charge attack.
Rolling to the right of the boss (away from the weapon) can help you avoid some of the lance attacks.
Roll towards the boss rather than sideways or diagonally to avoid attacks tracking you.
Equipping a 100% physical defense shield will let you block the charge attack (and everything else, really).
The Greatshield Soldier Ashes are good for keeping the boss in one place.
Torrent is available for this boss fight.

Strategy

Melee

Because Gaius is a typical end-game Elden Ring boss, he’s got a ton of HP — the simplest solution is some kind of Bleed combined with Scarlet Rot. If you read our Consort Radahn guide, you already know the strategy we’re going to recommend: The Antspur Rapier, with Bleed added, and the Verdigris Greatshield. This combo will make short work of the fight, as the rapier (or any other thrusting weapon) with a shield will allow you to hold block while attacking — you can then use the periods between boss combos to regain your stamina. Thrusting weapons include anything in the Spear, Heavy Spear, Thrusting Sword, or Heavy Thrusting Sword category. Don’t forget he’s weak to holy, so if you don’t have/don’t want to use status effects, using grease or a weapon art that adds holy damage is your next best bet.

Stay behind the boss as much as possible, as this will bait out attacks that aren’t the charge, and cause him to do weaker attacks in general. You’ll see the Buck a lot, which comes quickly but isn’t hard to dodge once you get used to it. This is also ideal if you’re using the aforementioned block+attack trick, as the Buck attack does low stamina damage and its easy to hold block and attack through it. If you’re running out of Stamina, consider talismans or other means to increase stamina regen, such as the Greenburst Crystal Tier, Green Turtle Talisman, or Turtle Neck.

It’s important to know that some of his attacks will actually go over your shield if you’re too close — this seems to occur more often if you’re attacking, as it will prevent your character from turning with the boss — so try and roll during the combos where this occurs (see Moveset below).

Because you’ll take some chip damage in Phase 2 while blocking, consider prepping a heal-over-time like Blessing of the Erdtree or the Crimsonburst Crystal Tear, and using it when the boss transitions.

Ranged

The aforementioned giant HP pool of Gaius incentivizes %HP damage, so Black Flame is a solid choice if you have a Faith build. For sorcery builds, quick melee spells like Carian Slicer are an option, or spells with good tracking like Star Shower.

In any case, it can be tough to keep Gaius still, so you’ll need to pick attack with good tracking, or else use a summon to stop him from avoiding your attacks. If you aren’t a Mimic Tear user, the Greatshield Soldier Ashes are a good option for keeping Gaius still long enough to land spells on him.

Torrent is fast enough to outrun the boss, so ranged players should seriously consider being mounted for this fight, as it will let you sprint away from the boss until you lose aggro — try to ride in a circle near your summon(s) so that they can DPS and regain the boss’ attention.

Mimic Tear

It’s important to remember your Mimic Tear will use any items you give it, so dropping a Marika’s Blessing or Raw Meat Dumpling in your quick item slot will allow the Mimic to use it — make sure you remove other items that aren’t your flasks, to prevent the Mimic from using things you don’t want it to use.

There’s also a trick you can use to make the boss focus your summon: it takes a bit of practice to do it fast enough in the menu, but equipping Shabriri’s Woe before entering the boss arena, summoning the Mimic Tear, and then unequipping the talisman after you summon the mimic will it take most of the boss’ attention and allow you to cast slower spells, heal more often, and generally have an easier boss fight.

Avoiding the Charge Attack

Since this is the biggest struggle for many players stuck on Gaius, let’s look at a few different options for dealing with the charge attack.

Block it with a 100% Physical Defense shield – This is by far the easiest solution. Any reasonable build will have enough stamina to block this attack, and by the time the boss turns around and reaches you again, you should have all of your stamina back.
Use Ash of War: Raptor of the Mists – If you activate this Ash of War right before the charge reaches you, you’ll take zero damage and do a little jump automatically. This option is nice because it’s a low-FP cost AoW, and you can use it throughout the fight to avoid tricky attacks — you can also DPS while you’re in the air.
Use the Windy Crystal Tear in your flask – The increased i-frames do make it much easier to avoid the charge attack via rolling. It also makes most of the other attacks trivial to roll, as well, so if you prefer a roll-based defensive strategy, this can be an option.
Equip the Feather Crucible Talisman – This is very risky, as you’ll take 30% increased damage, but if you don’t have access to the Windy Crystal Tear, this is a similar option. Just don’t get hit.

Moveset

Phase 1

Except where noted, a 100% Physical Defense shield will fully block all of the attacks in Phase 1. Staying behind the boss will prevent the longer combos and harder-to-dodge attacks. That said, note that many attacks can be partially or fully avoided by simply walking backwards when the attack starts.

Charge – You know the one. The boar rears back on its hind legs, and then plants its feet and charges the boss’ target.
If you roll straight forward right as the boss’ hitbox would connect with you, it is possible to roll through this attack.
Gravity Drill – The boss raises his lance and aims it at the player, and gravity magic swirls around the weapon. He then thrusts with his lance, sending a bolt of gravity magic at his target. This will do a small amount of chip damage if you block, but the roll timing is obvious.
Gravity Uppercut – The boss keeps his lance low and it glows with gravity magic. He then thrusts forward and upward at his target. Despite the apparent magical element to this attack, it can be fully blocked.
Rock Throw – Gaius raises his lance and swirls it, summoning five rocks. He then sends them towards his target. If you’re close to him, this will miss completely, and you can block it with no chip damage in any case.
Buck – The boar slightly raises the front of its body, then kicks out with its back legs. This attack only occurs when you are behind the boss.
Lance Slam – The boar leaps slightly, and Gaius jabs his lance down as the boar lands.
Double Lance Swing – The boss raises and then swings his lance downards towards you, then after a brief delay, swings it back the other direction. Keep a close eye on the lance, as the timing is deceptive — you want to roll not when Gaius’ arm begins to move downward, but when the lance begins its final 90 degree arc. Sometimes chains into the Lance Stab.
Lance Stab – Gaius raises his lance and points it at his target, then leans down and stabs.
Lance Swipe – Gaius brings his lance across his body to the opposite side, then the boar charges and Gaius swings the lance horizontally at his target. He doesn’t swing until he’s very close, so wait until the hilt of the lance is almost touching you to roll.
Tusk Slam – The boar raises its head high, then slams its tusks down. There are two versions of this: The one where the boar moves its head to your right and slams comes down a bit quicker than the version where the boar moves its head to your left and slams. Sometimes these will be chained one into the other. Start your roll as the head begins to move downward in both cases.
Boar Slam – The boar gets up on its hind legs, and slams its body down. This can actually be avoided by simply walking into its hind legs — if you are in between the front and back legs when the boar lands, you won’t be able to block. If you’re fast enough, you can roll behind the boss during the boar’s slam windup and get a heavy attack off.
Side Slam – The boar runs in an arc around the target, then turns its head away and flings its body sideways towards its target. Roll a moment after the boar’s head turns to dodge this one.
Double Tusk Slam – The boar jumps in the air twice, swinging its tusks down into the ground each time it lands. These attacks are chained close together, so your rolls need to be chained as well.
Lance & Boar Short Combo – Gaius raises his lance high over his head, then slams it down. The boar then swings its tusks from (your) right to left, then rises up on its hind legs and slams its body down. The lance attack can go over your shield if you are too close/are attacking while the boss attacks. The final attack from the boar works the same as Boar Slam above.
Lance & Boar Long Combo – The boar rears on his hind legs and Gaius slowly raises his lance over his head. The boar slams its head down and the lance stabs right afterwards. This is followed by a horizontal swipe with the lance, and then the same kind of attack from the tusks. The boar rears back again before doing a tusk swipe in the opposite direction. It then brings its head back to your left and swipes left to right a second time. The boss then kicks up a cloud of dirt and dust and leaps into the air, and then Gaius slams his lance down rapidly. Dodge towards the right (your right) side of the boss to avoid the lance followup on the initial part of the combo, and try to get behind the boss — this will allow you to sometimes avoid parts of the rest of the combo. You can block the entire combo if you have at least 30 Endurance.

Phase 2

Commander Gaius will enter Phase 2 around 60% HP, crossing his arms in front of himself and putting his head to his chest — after a delay, he explodes with gravity magic, so back off during the phase transition.

The boss retains all the moves from Phase 1, but his lance is imbued with magic and you’ll take minor chip damage when blocking any attack. The Rock Throw adds a lot more rocks, so you’ll have to actually roll or block that attack now. He also adds some magical gravity moves:

Sky Slam – The boar runs perpendicular to the boss’ target, then leaps high into the air. Boar and Gaius then spiral down and crash into the ground at the target. Roll forward right as the boss lands, next to/behind the boss, and you’ll avoid the initial AoE and the followup explosions — if you’re in front of the boss you will get hit by the followup. Note that you can block this — you’ll get knocked down, which will cause you to avoid the followup damage.
Leaping Charge – The boar leaps into the air and hovers briefly, then purple light appears below the boss as it swoops down and charges its target. Roll right before the boar touches you, straight forward, to avoid getting clipped by the hurtbox.
Gravity Well – Gaius raises his lance as his boar rears on its hind legs. He then flings a ball of gravity energy towards his target, which pulses three times. Each time it pulses, it pulls anything in range towards the center. After three pulses and a brief delay, it explodes. If you’re close to the boss, you can roll forwards and avoid this entirely, otherwise roll when the pulses occur to avoid being sucked in.