Commander Niall | Elden Ring Wiki

Commander Niall Fight Strategy

The Best Tips for Commander Niall

• Niall will primarily focus on buffing his allies while they are still alive and will perform relatively simple attacks that are easily avoided.
• Focus on the dual greatsword Knight with at the beginning, as it is more aggressive than the shield Knight.
• Charming one of the Knights with Bewitching Branches can make the first phase quite simple.
• Use a tanky Spirit to distract the Banished Knights.
• Take advantage of when Niall tires himself out after his Charged Whirlwind dash move
• You can jump to avoid his shockwave foot stomp.
• Kill at least one Knight before summoning your spirit.
• Killing the last of his knights while he is in his buffing animation will lock him in his first phase until about half health
• Using kukris/throwing knives or ranged attacks triggers him to do his kick attack, if done correctly he can be put into a "positive feedback loop" in which he will jump attack you forever as long as you dodge into throwing a knife at him
• Backstabbing one Knight at the start of the fight, preferably buffed by the Dagger Talisman, is an effective way of dealing with the Knights quickly.
• A rare glitch may occur if the user is struck right before entering the arena, causing the boss to freeze.

General Fight Strategy

Commander Niall is accompanied by two Spectral Banished Knights, one equipped with dual greatswords and the other equipped with a sword and shield. Success in this battle hinges on your ability to manage the two very dangerous knights. Niall himself doesn't get too dangerous until the knights are defeated. He will lumber around the arena, making no real effort to close the distance so focus on the knights at the beginning. Of the two, the dual sword knight is the most aggressive and dangerous. It is highly recommended that you summon a tanky spirit to more easily manage both knights at once. They are also susceptible to Magic Damage so Sorcery mains should have a slight advantage damage-wise.

The easiest way to be rid of the Banished Knights is to, immediately, after traversing the fog, run into the right-hand corner of the arena and await the charge of the dual-wielding Knight, and using a Bewitching Branch on him, turning him into an ally (it might take a few tries to get the timing right, the animation is rather long). This will cause the sword-n-board Banished Knight to immediately aggro him, while your new ally attacks Niall himself, ripping away a huge chunk of his health. Bewitch the second Banished Knight, while avoiding Niall's windstorm attacks, back away and summon your spirit ashes and apply any buff you need. Niall should have taken out both knights by this point (he kills them extremely quickly), or they will have brought him below 50% health, at which point they will despawn, as Niall enters his second phase.

Once the knights are killed, Niall begins actively pursuing you and using his more dangerous moves. Niall commands the powers of Ice via a whirlwind he summons around him, as well as Lightning via infusions on his prosthetic leg. Niall's most dangerous moves always involve him summoning whirlwinds of frost around him. He can then follow up with a stomp of his peg leg, infusing it with lightning and then leaping towards you to perform a powerful leg smash that creates a lightning shockwave on impact. He can also follow-up with two versions of a dash attack. The first is a single whirl of his halberd followed by a quick dash into an uppercut with his halberd. The second version sees Niall charging up for a few seconds as he sucks in frosty winds towards him, he then whirls his halberd several times, creating an expanding whirlwind of frost. Finally, he dashes to the side and then runs toward you, culminating in an uppercut with his halberd. This move tires Niall out and he will be kneeling and vulnerable for several seconds. This is the biggest damage window throughout his fight so be sure to dodge the uppercut and get as many hits in as possible as he recovers.

Melee Users

Start with heavy R2 On right summon dual wielding knight, the attack should land at or just before he materializes. Then a second heavy R2, and he should stagger. If lucky, you can get a crit in which should kill him at appropriate level for this boss and you will be invulnerable. Roll away and or heal. Next bait out the 2nd summon and do a running R2, back up, rinse and repeat. If he teleports to you, roll behind him. Be selective. Running R2 should bait him into an attack and an auto stagger when he is walking with his shield up. You have plenty of time on the 2nd summon as the boss will be passive during this phase.

Next the Commander Niall will charge up frost and electric attacks after his summons have died. Roll at the last second for his attacks. When he charges his leg and flip kicks, roll to his right (your left) to get an opening for an attack. He does a delayed heavy swing after one consecutive attack he has where you should roll twice in a row to dodge it every time, and then punish him accordingly with a few swings. When he does a frost wind and then a charged electric attack, dodge roll into a single r1, watch for a quick poke and then a heavy telegraphed swing, again rolling to your left. Now the charged electric stomp AOE, difficult to manage and hard to avoid. With the swinging frost winds, he has multiple attacks that look similar to this. The one you're looking for is a melee attack ending that you can punish. The other frost AOE should be avoided. So just manage close range and then outside his AOE blasts. Managing your distance and opportunities is key. You should stay up close to him and back away when you see a frost swing coming. Upon one of his charged frost and electric attacks he will kneel and pause for a huge opportunity to hit him with heavy R2s, you should be able to stun him and deal a crit. Definitely dealing with the summons without getting hit was a big advantage to have as much flasks as possible to fight him, because his electric AOE stomp is near impossible to avoid when up close. After frost winds, be ready to charge in.

Magic and Ranged Users

For magic and ranged users, you would want to equip a heavy-hitting spell/incantation for this fight. As stated above, defeat the two knights first before engaging Commander Niall. For a bow and arrow user, try equipping arrows or bolts that has status effects on them like bleed or rot.

If you have the Comet Azur spell, cast a Terra Magica at the edge of the Mist gate (make sure the knight outside the arena is already killed), consume a Flask of Wondrous Physick with a Cerulean Hidden Tear to nullify FP consumption. Once you enter the boss arena, immediately lock on to Commander Niall then charge and release your Comet Azure. It is also recommended to add a Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear besides the Cerulean Hidden Tear for increased magic damage. This setup will most likely one-shot Commander Niall, even on higher NG+ playthroughs.

Commander Niall Attacks & Counters

Attack	Description	Counter
Call Spirits - Banished Knights	At the beginning of the fight, he will wave his standard and summon two Banished Knights. While they are alive, he will continuously buff them until they die or he reaches half health.	Focus the dual-wielding knight, as it is the most aggressive. Use a Bewitching Branch on one if you have the materials.
Halberd Combo	A standard 3-hit combo beginning with a stab, a low sweep and ending with a slow overhead smash.	Get some distance away from him or dodge each attack. The final hit is charged exceedingly slow so beware of timing or simply run away.
Storm Kick (Airborne)	Niall stomps his prosthetic leg on the ground, creating a frost whirlwind around him and infusing the leg with lightning. He then leaps up towards you and after a short delay, crashes down, releasing a lightning shockwave a small radius from the point of impact.	Maintain distance during the whirlwind to prevent getting frosted. Once he leaps, wait for him to drop before dodging.
Storm Kick (Grounded)	Niall raises his prosthetic leg up high in front of him, infusing it with lightning and then stomps down in front of him, releasing a lightning shockwave from the point of impact.	Time your dodge very well, especially if he raises his leg up high as the shockwave released has a massive radius. You can alternatively jump to avoid damage.
Whirlwind Dash	Niall twirls his halberd once, creating a whirlwind of frost around him. He then dashes straight towards you and performs an uppercut with the halberd.	The dash itself does no damage but serves to throw you off your dodge timing. Dodge the uppercut instead.
Whirlwind Dash (Charged)	Niall turns his back towards you and charges up, sucking in frosty winds towards him. He then twirls his halberd several times, releasing an expanding whirlwind of frost. Niall dashes to the side and then runs towards you, culminating in an uppercut with his halberd. Note that sometimes, he only performs the charging portion of this move, without the whirlwind release nor the dash. The frosty winds can still inflict Frostbite on you so maintain distance.	Maintain distance as he is charging and releasing the whirlwinds. Beware their expanding radius that covers most of the arena. When he dashes towards you, wait til the uppercut before dodging. Successfully dodging this attack tires Niall out, rendering him vulnerable for a very long time. This is your biggest damage window for him.

Commander Niall Notes & Other Trivia

• His armor set can be purchased from Finger Reader Enia after killing him: the Veteran's Set
• The name "Niall" is a first name of Scottish-Gaelic or Irish-Gaelic origin with unclear meaning. Presumed meanings are "cloud", "chivalrous" or "victorious". All of these meanings make sense for the character being a military commander wielding weather-themed power.
• Though their relationship is unconfirmed, Commander O'Neil, uses the same model as him, same voice actor, same armor and Commander's Standard and the same first phase moveset, down to summoning disgraced warriors (Exile Soldiers in O'Neil's case), with the lone exception that O'Neil whips up Scarlet Rot winds versus Niall's blizzards.
  • "O'Neil" means "Son of Neil", with "Neil" being a variation of the name "Niall".
  • Both have an implied connection to the twin demigods Miquella and Malenia; O'Neil carries the Unalloyed Gold Needle made by Miquella and the Commander's Standard references his former master being Malenia, while Niall protects the Haligtree Secret Medallion (left). The Veteran's Armor cape also features a red cloth similar to that of Malenia's Armor, down to Miquella's unalloyed gold wreath being embroidered onto it.
• Niall's presence at Castle Sol also implies a connection to Godwyn the Golden and the eclipse worshipped there that will allegedly resurrect his soul. Niall wielding lightning powers and the dragon-themed decorations on the Veteran's Set may imply he was a Dragon Cult Knight in service to Godwyn before the latter's death.

Veteran's Prosthesis

Veteran's Armor