Quick Links
How To Prepare For Commander Giaus
Commander Gaius Attacks And Combos
How To Defeat Commander Gaius
Few bosses in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC can get your frustrations building like Commander Gaius. With his strange hitboxes, long combos, and very aggressive attacking style, Commander Gaius sets an odd difficulty threshold despite his low count of attacking options.
Related
Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree - Shadow Keep Legacy Dungeon Guide
This complete guide to the Shadow Keep Legacy in Elden Ring will take you through all the prominent bosses and help you grab every essential item.
Despite his limited options, Commander Gaius keeps things interesting with his gravity magic. Reminding the player of General Radahn, the proud boar-rider and rival of Radahn will give you everything he's got on land and in sky. If you're not sure how to put the anchor on the boar once and for all, we've got everything you'll need to make it happen.
How To Prepare For Commander Giaus
Commander Gaius is found at the Back Gate of Shadow Keep guarding the Scaduview area. To reach him, you must have discovered and completed the east side of Shadow Keep (the Church District and all it entails through the Specimen Storehouse and Lofts).
If you don't know how to reach the Church District, please refer to our walkthrough guide on this area.
He's not the hardest boss you'll face in this DLC, but he can sometimes feel like the most annoying.
Thankfully, a patch update has made Commander Gaius an easier pill to swallow, but you'll still want to bring these preparations with you:
- A non-Slashing weapon.
- Sources of Fire or Holy damage.
- Equip the
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman and/or the Spelldrake Talisman . - Have at least seven Scadutree Fragments .
- If you're using Fire damage, use the Flame, Grant me Strength incantation. Otherwise, use Golden Vow .
- Use the Stonebarb Cracked Tear or something to increase jump attack damage (e.g., the Claw Talisman ).
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
Spelldrake Talisman
Flame, Grant me Strength
Golden Vow
Stonebarb Cracked TearCommander Gaius Attacks And Combos
Thankfully, much like the Golden Not-A-Hippopotamus, Commander Gaius has a very limited moveset but deals a massive punch with each attack. The road to success with Gaius is learning all of his moves to effectively dodge as even small mistakes will be heavily punished.
His most dangerous attacking combo, by far, is his Lance-Boar Head Combo where he'll make a series of attacks that:
- Each has a quick follow-up attack from his boar's tusks.
- Deal significant damage.
- Has a combo-attack total of seven attacks.
Once you reduce Gaius to approximately 50 percent health, he will switch to his minor second phase. This will introduce more gravity-based attacks, but the changes will be limited mostly to a few new attacks and then additional magic damage for the same attacks as Phase One.
For a full insight into his attacks, refer to the chart below.
Phase One And Two Attacks | ||
|---|---|---|
Attack Name | Attack Description | Suggested Counter |
Boar Charge | The boar briefly rears before charging forward, wind visibly forming around Gaius. It has the ability to slightly change course in efforts to follow the player. | Sprint to the left or right as Gaius begins charging and then roll dodge forward and a slight left or right (in the same direction you had been sprinting in). |
Gravity Thrust | Commander Gaius gathers gravity energy around his lance as he leans over his boar's side and then thrusts forward with the weapon. It deals first a physical damage attack and then an explosion of gravity magic around the boar. | Roll forward through the attack and then make an attack of your own. |
Blades of Stone | Gathering minor gravity energy around his lance, Commander Gaius waves his lance in the air above his head and summons five rocks that will fly toward the player. | Keep your distance and then roll dodge in your preferred direction. |
Boar Head Minor Crush Combo | The boar raises its head shortly to its left and then slams on the ground. It then follows up by doing the same from its right side. | Dodge forward-right then forward-left. Attack. |
Lance-Boar Head Combo | The boar holds its head to its right as Commander Gaius pulls his lance back. The boar swings its head from its right to its left and Gaius follows with a forward thrust attack. Then, Gaius attacks next with a forward swiping lance attack quickly followed by the boar's sweeping tusk attack. The boar follows again with a Boar Head Crush into a large tusk swipe that causes a dirt smokescreen to cover up Gaius's final vertical slice attack. | Dodge forward and right, staying on the boar's left side as much as possible. |
Backward Kick | The boar braces itself and then lets out a kick behind itself, hitting directly behind and slightly off to its right. | Dodge roll forward through the kick or sprint in either direction (whichever takes the shortest time to reach the boar's side). |
Lance Combo | A three hit attack where, with a small rear of the boar, Gaius raises his lance high and brings it down with a back-to-forward sweep on the boar's right side. He then brings his weapon backward in the opposite direction before ending with a straight, outward thrust. This combo can end prematurely. | Dodge forward three times through each attack. |
Boar Head Crush | The boar tilts its head back for a large opening and then slams its head down on the ground in front of it. | Take a few steps back then roll forward as the boar slams its head on the ground. Follow-up with an attack. |
Lance Thrust (Left) | Commander Gaius pulls his lance back and attempts to strike the player with an outward, straight thrust over to the boar's left side. Triggered when the player is standing to the left of him/the boar. | Dodge into the lance strike. |
Boar Shoulder-Check | The boar starts to run around the player. It will complete one full rotation and then, at the end of a second rotation, jump toward the player with a shoulder-check and tusk swing. | Stay in the center, locked-on to Gaius, and dodge roll through the boar's attack. |
Phase Two Only Attacks | ||
Gravity Burst - Transition | Commander Gaius becomes covered in purple gravity magic energy which then bursts after three seconds of build-up. | Begin sprinting away and making phase two preparations. |
Spinning Gravity Thrust | Commander Gaius leaps with his boar into the air. Then, he begins spiraling midair and crashes into the ground near the player. | Stay still and then forward dodge |
Blades of Stone (Upgraded) | Similar to the Blades of Stone above, but the stones now number approximately 10. | Dodge twice in either the left or right direction or sprint and roll forward once. |
Gravity Well | Gaius throws forward a ball of magical gravity energy that slowly follows the player then comes to a standstill. Where it pauses, it releases swells of gravity magic that pull the player into its center. | Sprint away from the well and keep distance. |
read more
How To Defeat Commander Gaius
Health | 35,000~ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Weaknesses | Fire, Holy | Resistances | Cold, Slash |
Immunities | None | ||
Parryable? | Yes | Backstab? | No |
Staggerable? | No | Stance Broken? | Yes |
Weak Spots: | None | ||
Special Notes |
| ||
As of patch 1.12.3, Commander Gaius no longer begins his fight charging in toward the player once you attempt to fight him more than once. Each and every fight will begin with Commander Gaius at the far gate to the back left. He does still prefer to charge you in the start, but at least you don't have to immediately be on guard when you walk through the door each time.
Your first temptation in this fight will be to summon Torrent and match his boarback battle on even terms. However, we don't recommend this. In gist, these are things we learned by fighting Commander Gaius over several trial runs on Torrent:
- You are short enough to stand under some of Commander Gaius's attacks without needing to dodge (which is a plus).
- You can outrun his charging and Blades of Stone attacks with a dash.
- What you have in mobility, you give up in i-frames. If you are caught in his Spinning Gravity Thrust or Lance-Boar Head Combo, you will die.
- The fight becomes much longer on horseback as you can normally only hit and dash, costing greater values of time each time you lose.
Learning his moveset, you'll find Commander Gaius is a little more show and far less tell. That is to say: he looks scarier than he is. Once you pick up these tips, you'll be putting Commander Gaius down quickly:
- The best opening for attacks against Commander Gaius is his Gravity Lance Thrust, where you should always dodge forward to set up for another attack.
- His most dangerous combo (the seven-hit combo) can be mitigated by keeping to the boar's left side (your right). Just keep dodging forward-right.
- His Spinning Gravity Thrust has a very large dodge window and is quite forgiving. Just dodge forward as he lands on you; keep calm.
- Gaius's most unfair attack is his Charge as, even with a proper dodge, you might still get hit by his odd hitbox at the end. That's okay. Just make sure you have enough health to tank it.
- Jump attacks are recommended here to whittle down his health and work for the stagger; his poise bar is quite high.
Some players have taken to cheesing this boss by hiding around the corner of the Back Gate section (exit the fog wall and take an immediate left to hide around the corner). Standing there, you can strike Commander Gaius with the 
Zamor Ice Storm sorcery and defeat him without ever having to truly fight him.
If you feel disrespected by Commander Gaius's rude Charge hitbox, we give you permission to disrespect him back.
As long as you follow the tips and review his movepool, you will get him. Remain as tenacious as a Redmane, and he'll reward you with his 
Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider . But the real prize is the five Scadutree Fragments in the area beyond his Scaduview Site of Grace and access to the surrounding areas.
Next
Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree - Every Scadutree Fragment Location
Having a tough time in Elden Ring's DLC? Then you should find the 50 Scadutree Fragments spread over the new regions. Locations here!
