Commander Gaius | Elden Ring Wiki

Commander Gaius Boss Video Guide

Commander Gaius Fight Strategy

The Best Tips for Commander Gaius:

• Use the Black Knife Tiche Ash Summons
• Opt for a Great Hammer like the Heavy Curved Great Club
• Bring Flask of Wondrous Physick (Greenburst Crystal Tear and Opaline Hardtear or Windy Crystal Tear) Item
• Use Crucible Feather Talisman to make dodging his charge easier

Melee Users

Before you begin the fight, make sure to replenish your Flask by resting at the nearest Site of Grace. You can also prepare your loadout by equipping the Flask of Wondrous Physick and using it with the Greenburst Crystal Tear and Opaline Hardtear to give you a temporary boost to all damage negation and stamina recovery speed. Once these items are ready, you can now head towards the fight. As soon as you walk into the arena, make sure to summon Black Knife Tiche. This is an Ash Summon with immunity to all Status Effects and is the ideal summon for this fight.

Commander Gaius rides a giant wild boar that can rush forward in great speed. You will be battling both the rider and the Wild Boar here, and they can combine their attacks as you take them on. For melee users, the key to this fight is heavy attacks and jump attacks. This trades off defense for a chance to break the boss' stance and deal additional damage. While fighting this boss, try to stick to its sides and back. This gives you the best chances to avoid getting damaged especially during the first phase. The boss doesn't use a lot of its gravity attacks early on but will rely mostly on Standard damage type with its weapon swings.

To begin, Commander Gaius will always open the fight with the Wild Boar Rush as you enter the arena, which is a move where he charges at you as you enter the arena. You can dodge by rolling into him at the very last second. While you are near this boss, it can use Wild Swing together with a Kick and Head Slam from the wild boar. If you're feeling confident, you can roll towards the swing of the weapon, and toward the Wild Boar for the Head Slam. The kick is a little difficult to dodge because it gives very little time to react. However, you can anticipate this attack if you spend too much time attacking from behind. Each time the boss finishes its string of attacks, prepare for a heavy or jump attack. This is your chance for retaliation and an opportunity to break its stance.

The boss' second phase will begin once its health drops to about 50%. You will notice this when the boss clutches its body as the purple color mixed with lightning courses throughout his armor. During this phase, the boss will start using all of its gravity attacks and its basic attacks will deal additional gravity damage. These attacks are easily discernible because his weapon will glow purple, and you can hear a crackling audio cue as it charges up.

There are about 5 Gravity attacks that we saw when we took down this boss, and one of the most dangerous ones is the Gravity Plunge. This is an attack that begins with a jump toward the sky, the boss will spin in place to charge the attack and plunge at high speed. The impact has a pretty wide AoE, so you shouldn't underestimate it. Ideally, you want to roll backward and away from the impact, but in situations where you prefer a high-risk/high-reward scenario, you can try to roll forward as the boss plunges and pull off a jump attack while the boss recovers from the impact.

The other gravity attack worth mentioning is the Gravity Thrust, this is a move that he does where he charges up his weapon with gravity magic and then makes an upward thrust with it, creating an AoE damage within the area around him. When he does this, roll forward to dodge and you can retaliate with a light attack.

Commander Gaius deals primarily physical damage and moderate amounts of magic damage. A greatshield with full physical block and high Guard Boost stats can block every attack Gaius can throw, making him extremely vulnerable to guard-counter loadouts; about 6 guard counters with a katana can cause the first stance break.

Final Tips: Don't forget to consume your Flask of Wondrous Physick and summon Black Knife Tiche at the start. The bonus stamina recovery speed and damage negation will help in this fight. Summoning Black Knife Tiche is only recommended for players who don't require FP in Combat as it consumes 132 FP but will greatly benefit you against Commander Gaius. Alternatively, you may also use Cerulean Hidden Tear in your physick if you don't have the required FP for Black Knife Tiche (this eliminates all FP consumption).

Magic and Ranged Users

Use your buffs before entering the boss area. Wait a second before summoning spirit ashes after entering the boss area or the summoning may fail. You may summon Torrent, but the fight is generally easier without him. Gaius' boar is much faster than Torrent, and Gaius can kill Torrent very easily, leaving you vulnerable to a follow-up attack. It is also generally safer to stay in melee range.

The fight will always start with the boss charging at you. He will dodge all attacks during this first charge. The hitbox for this attack is massive, and a mistimed dodge through the boss will have you take damage from the charge once, twice, or even thrice, likely one-shotting you. Instead, dodge to the side, or use ashes of war such as Bloodhound's Step, Vow of the Indomitable, or Raptor of the Mists. For sorcery users, Miriam's Vanishing can be used similarly to Bloodhound's Step and can evade the attack. This attack will be periodically repeated throughout the fight, indicated by the boar raising its head and charging at you.

Sorcery users will require spells with good tracking, given Commander Gaius' tremendous speed and maneuverability. Stars of Ruin is perfect in that regard. Carian Slicer is another great option. Avoid spells with long casting times that would leave you open to incoming attacks.

Incantation users should employ the same strategy casting spells such as Catch Flame or Black Flame. If you find the opening, Burn, O Flame! might be another good option.

Commander Gaius Attacks & Counters

Attack	Description	Counter
Force of Gravity	The boss clutches his body as purple lightning courses through it. After a few seconds, he explodes, sending out gravity that can send you flying if you're too close.	Don't attack during this period and wait for the gravity to explode at a safe distance. Run away in the opposite direction and wait for the animation to end.
Gravity Thrust	The boss aims his weapon toward you as it turns into a purple color. Once the weapon is fully charged, it fires a burst of gravity which explodes either at close or medium range.	Stay close, watch Gaius's torso, and only roll forward once he begins leaning down.
Gravity Dash	During the second phase, the boss briefly jumps toward the sky, and after coming down, dashes towards its target, hitting everything in his path.	When he comes down from the sky and is back atop his mount dodge roll towards him, as this will make the attack go through you.
Gravity Plunge	The boss jumps up towards the sky and starts spinning in place. After the attack is fully charged, he plunges to the ground.	Wait past the spinning until you see Gaius actually start to descend, then roll forward. If you dodge this, it's a great opportunity for some serious damage.
Gravitational Missile	The boss creates a black hole that emits three gravity waves that pull you closer, then explodes.	Dodging all three gravity waves is tricky, so just get on Torrent if you aren't already and run far away from the black hole or use Carian Retaliation to disable the orb.
Head Slam	The Wild Boar slams its head sideways when you are near it. This attack is usually a combo with Wild Swing.	Stay close to the head and roll against the direction of the swing to avoid getting damaged. Be careful while the boss is doing this combo as he can also pull off the Wild Swing while the Wild Boar is slamming its head.
Hoof Stomp	The Wild Boar stands on both hind legs and pauses in this position for a few frames before stomping the ground underneath it.	Roll towards the back of the Wild Boar while it gets ready for this attack. This lets you pull off a heavy attack for a chance to break the stance of Commander Gaius.
Wild Boar Rush	Commander Gaius rushes towards you, and the boar rears its head when you're close. He becomes immune to all damage when he's doing this. Usually done after performing Gravity Thrust at medium range.	If he's close, roll to either side so he charges past you. If he's further away (particularly at the beginning of the fight), you can mount or dismount Torrent at a standstill when he's about three lengths from you and use the i-frames from that to avoid taking damage. Alternatively, you can roll forward at the precise moment and use the i-frames to dodge the boar rush at the beginning of the fight.
Wild Swing	Commander Gaius proceeds to swing his weapon up to 2 times on his side and finishes off the attack with a long-reaching stab.	Keep out of the range during the first 2 swings, then roll sideward toward the boss during the stab. Go for a heavy attack while the boss is recovering after this attack.
Wild Kick	Spending too much time on the backside of the Wild Boar will prompt it to do a back kick.	This attack comes out quick and is hard to anticipate. The best way to handle it is to avoid spending time directly behind him in the first place, and if you're forced there expect a kick soon to follow.

Commander Gaius Notes & Other Trivia

• The boss switches to Gravity attacks during the second phase. This begins when its health drops to about 50%.
• Description of Gaius's Greaves confirms that he is a First Generation Albinauric, a race of artificial beings.

Shadow of the Erdtree Bosses Ranked

Gaius's Greaves

Blades of Stone

Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider