Valiant Gargoyle | Elden Ring Wiki

Valiant Gargoyle Boss Video Guide

Valiant Gargoyle Fight Strategy

The Best Tips for Valiant Gargoyle:

• Use the Spirit Jellyfish, Ancestral Follower, or any other ashes able to draw aggression away from you.
• Use Pest Threads, as their large size means they can be hit multiple times for larger damage. Lightning Spear or Great Glintstone Shard are other ranged alternatives.
• Use Incantation Flame, Cleanse Me or Cure Poison to cure yourself of poison buildup.
• Melee users: Dodge roll to directly underneath/behind the gargoyle where it's attacks more seldom connect.
• Melee users: Utilize a shield with Barricade Shield to tank some of the gargoyles blows.
• A flask with Greenburst Crystal Tear will give better stamina recovery for blocking and dodge rolling.
• If using the Mimic Tear ash summon, consider equipping yourself (and mimic) with the Kindred of Rot Talisman, which will boost attack power by 20% when poisoning occurs.

Melee Users

We can look at the encounter as having 3 phases: Phase 1 being a 1v1 fight against the first Gargoyle only, Phase 2 being a 1v2 against both Gargoyles, and Phase 3 being a 1v1 against the remaining Gargoyle. The goal in this encounter should be to take as little damage as possible in Phase 1, quickly burn down the low health Gargoyle in Phase 2, and then have enough Flask charges to get through Phase 3.

Prior to fighting this boss, the player may want to consider having a decently upgraded Flask, a way to cure Poison and decent damage output. If you attempt this fight with low damage, you may have problems with Phase 2, when both Gargoyles are ganging up on you. Also consider having a weapon with high range in order to hit the Gargoyles properly, this can be especially effective combined with playing with the camera unlocked. You may find that ranged summons such as the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes are good for this fight, as the Gargoyles tend to move around quite a bit and their attacks have large AoEs, making melee summons ineffective (needs more testing).

Phase 1 (Sword Gargoyle)

In this phase, the goal is to simply take as little damage as possible. There is no timer, as the Twinblade Gargoyle comes into the fight when the Sword Gargoyle is around half health. Take your time to learn its attacks, most of them are relatively easy to dodge on reaction. You can be relatively aggressive in this phase if you learn the patterns, letting you get a potential stagger and consequently a critical hit coming into Phase 2. The Gargoyle will swap between its sword and halberd periodically, both of them have relatively easy to read attacks, but if you find that one of the forms is harder for you, you can always simply wait it out by dodging backwards and running away from the Gargoyle to wait for the easier phase.

It is possible to stay quite close to the Gargoyle most of the time, just watch out for the Poison Mist attack it will use at close range. If you see it coming out, you have plenty of time to simply sprint away from the Gargoyle, and you will not take any damage. You can try to get free hits on the Gargoyle while it is spawning the mist, but be careful that you do not get poisoned. The safe bet is to simply run away and wait for a different opening.

Before the Sword Gargoyle hits half health, make sure to position it around the entrance to the boss arena. This will ensure that the Twinblade Gargoyle will spawn on the other side of the arena, giving you precious time to finish off the Sword Gargoyle before the Twinblade Gargoyle is able to make its way to you.

Phase 2 (Both Gargoyles)

Depending on your weapon and level of aggression, it is possible to get a stagger on the Sword Gargoyle right as Phase 2 is coming up. This is optimal, since it will give you a large burst of damage on the Sword Gargoyle. If your weapon has a good weapon art (such as The Queen's Black Flame), you may even want to use the weapon art instead of taking the critical hit.

Regardless of whether or not you get a stagger, make sure you use your highest damage output right after the Twinblade Gargoyle spawns. The optimal scenario is to fully kill the Sword Gargoyle before the Twinblade Gargoyle makes it to your position. Do not be afraid to trade hits with the Sword Gargoyle to make this happen, just watch out to not get flanked by the Twinblade Gargoyle. This is the hardest part of the fight, so doing everything in your power to end it quickly will greatly reduce the difficulty of this encounter. Consider using any player or weapon buffs right before Phase 2 begins, simply to get the largest burst of damage (one such buff can be the damage-increasing Crystal Tears for the Flask of Wondrous Physick).

If you don't manage to kill off the Sword Gargoyle before the Twinblade Gargoyle gets to you, don't worry, you will simply have to play a bit differently from now on. If the Sword Gargoyle is not dead, it should at least be low on health. At this point, simply kite both of them and wait for openings to get hits in on the Sword Gargoyle. Try to keep both of them on your screen, and don't be afraid to take your time. It's worth noting that only one gargoyle usually attacks at a time, and it is usually the one closest to you. Run around and try to keep the Sword Gargoyle in front of you so that it will attack and you will be able to finish it off. You only need a few more hits to take down the Sword Gargoyle, so wait for your safe openings. It is highly advisable that you play with the camera unlocked in Phase 2, if you weren't already.

Phase 3 (Twinblade Gargoyle)

In the last part of this fight, you will only face the Twinblade Gargoyle, who will periodically swap between a Twinblade and a Greataxe. Its Twinblade moveset can be rather hard to read, so don't be afraid to simply wait it out until it swaps to the Greataxe. You can survive the Twinblade phase just by rolling away from it during most of its attacks. Most of the Greataxe moveset is much easier to read, and is more similar to the Sword Gargoyle's Halberd moveset. The Twinblade Gargoyle still has some very nasty attacks that can even kill you from full health if you time your rolls incorrectly. However, the fight is no longer a race against time in this phase, so take all the time you need to safely get damage on the Twinblade Gargoyle. You can slowly take it down, using flasks that you hopefully have left from the first two phases to sustain you.

Magic and Ranged Users

With this boss, its a good idea to choose either to keep close or at a distance. For ranged users, keep an eye out for when it switches weapons which will give you an opportunity to deal a number of attacks. The actions you want to look out for is the ranged wind charge which is when it lunges forward a great distance and can put you directly within range for more attacks so be prepared to run forward or away from the landing site. Another attack to look out for is its roar which surrounds it in a white glow. Back away from this attack to avoid damage.

Ranged attacks are especially beneficial when both gargoyles are present to try to handle them both from a distance and avoid receiving damage. Try to keep them both in view to avoid any unexpected attacks from one or the other. You don't want to be unaware while a gargoyle is spewing extra poison into the arena or be unprepared for when they perform a lunge and close the distance very quickly. Focus ono clearing the first gargoyle so you can use phase 3 to focus on the twinblade gargoyle.

Valiant Gargoyle Attacks & Counters

Attack	Description	Counter
Vacuum Slice	Leaps backwards and raises its sword into the air before slashing down releasing a wave of wind.	Roll to either side
Halberd Swap	Sheathes sword while pulling out its halberd, performing a slam attack.	Roll through
Sword Swap	Sheathes halberd while pulling out its sword, performing a spinning attack.	Roll through
Poison Breath	Hunches over and begins to breathe out poisonous gas, which slowly damages and builds up Poison.	Run to the sides. Use any spells or Boluses to cure the poison quickly.
Sword Slam	Grips its sword with both hands and slams it down once or twice. May follow up with a slash attack.	Roll backwards to avoid any follow ups.
Halberd Dive	Flies into the air and dives forward with its halberd, turning around and making a second attack shortly after impact.	Roll quickly.
Halberd Slam	Grips the head of its halberd and slams it down.	Roll underneath to get a few hits in.
Charge Forth	Lowers its halberd to the ground and charges forward, dealing continuous damage to anything caught in between it. It will then follow up with a Halberd Slam.	Dodge forward to avoid getting hit, as this attack tracks your movement.
Halberd Whirlwind	Begins whirling its halberd around, gathering a vortex that deals damage, before slamming it down.	Immediately run away and dodge the slam.

Valiant Gargoyle Notes & Other Trivia

• Similar in appearance to the Gargoyles from Dark Souls III, except with a more fleshed out moveset and different weapons.
• The Broken Statues appear to be broken-down Gargoyles.

Gargoyle's Greatsword