Tricephalos Expedition Guide | Nightreign Wiki Elden Ring

Gladius Beast of Night Boss Video Guide

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Gladius Beast of Night Fight Strategy

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Gladius, Beast of Night (Tricephalos), is a three-headed wolf carrying a sword chained to its back. In its original form, its attacks and combo strings are fairly straightforward, making it easy enough for players to dodge and counterattack. Occasionally, it uses the chained sword to sweep across the battlefield, covering a wide area that can damage even players positioned behind it if the attack isn't dodged in time. Once its health drops to a certain point, though, Gladius splits into three separate wolves, with one of them still carrying the sword. At that point, a group of players can split up the three wolves' attention, allowing for one-on-one fights with each until the boss eventually reforms back into the Tricephalos.

Phase 1

In this opening phase, Gladius relies on basic swipes, slams, fire breath, and bites from its three jaws. Most of its attacks only reach a short distance, with the exception of when it drags its sword around the battlefield using the chain. Players tend to find this first form manageable, since its attacks are easy to dodge while sticking close to retaliate. Gladius is also extremely weak to Holy Damage, so it's worth planning a run around locations that offer gear or upgrades dealing that damage type.

As mentioned, Gladius occasionally uses its chained sword for wide sweeping attacks or slams, swinging both the sword and the chain itself across the battlefield. Even players positioned behind Gladius need to stay cautious during these sweeps, since they can still take damage even while attacking from that angle. Despite this, the fight remains fairly simple overall, since dodging toward the chain or sword is usually enough to avoid these attacks entirely. Successfully dodging gives players a window to land one or two attacks before Gladius recovers and resumes its assault.

Phase 2

Once Gladius's health reaches 75%, it becomes wrapped in flames and turns into a fireball that flies forward before materializing again, this time splitting into three separate wolves with their own basic attack strings. These three wolves alternate between passive and aggressive states, so players can focus their attention on whichever wolf is currently being aggressive. The wolf carrying the sword acts as the pack leader and will occasionally command the other two to attack at the same time, which can quickly overwhelm an unprepared solo player. Because a lone player can be punished heavily by this pack, it's generally recommended that solo players retreat from the wolves until they merge back into the Tricephalos. Groups, on the other hand, have the option of luring the wolves apart to fight them individually, and certain ultimate abilities, such as those belonging to Guardian and Raider, are particularly effective against the pack.

After roughly 45 seconds, the three wolves reform back into Gladius. This time, however, Gladius returns with stronger variants of its attacks combined with fire. Whenever it attacks with its sword, there's now a chance it performs the Sword Slam Blast, soaring into the air before diving down and striking the ground with its sword to create an explosion. Gladius can also drive its burning sword into the ground and pull it back out to send a wave of fire forward. Generally speaking, players want to stay close to Gladius's side as much as possible during this phase, since most of its attacks are aimed forward. Occasionally, though, the Tricephalos channels a spell that creates a blast around itself, though this is easy to evade thanks to its small area of effect.

When Gladius is defeated for the first time, players will unlock six new Expeditions. They will also receive the Night of the Beast and Old Pocketwatch relics, giving players the following effects once equipped:

• Night of the Beast
  • Stamina recovers with each successful attack +1
  • Starting armament deals fire damage
• Old Pocketwatch
  • FP Restoration upon Successive Attacks
  • Dexterity +3

Gladius Beast of Night Attacks & Counters

Elden Ring Nightreign Gladius Beast of Night Lore, Notes & Other Trivia

• Other Notes and Trivia Go Here.

Gladius, Beast of Night (Everdark Sovereign) Video Guide

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Gladius, Beast of Night (Everdark Sovereign) Fight Strategy

Everdark Gladius Overview

Initially, Everdark Gladius will start fighting as three hounds, with one wielding a blade, similar to the base Gladius fight. During this form, the hounds will slowly walk up to the player, with the sword-wielding hound trailing the two hounds. It will use normal hound attacks to swarm at the Nightfarer if playing solo, overwhelming them. During this phase, the player should look into luring one hound at a time, as its attacks can easily be dodged, allowing for retaliation. Its basic attacks will mostly consist of different variants of bite, such as a normal bite as it runs at the player, or it can use two consecutive bites that can catch impatient players.

Once its health reaches around 70%, Everdark Gladius will merge to become the Tricephalos, gaining attacks significantly stronger than when it was separated. When merged into one, Everdark Gladius can use lethal attacks that can generate blasts or quickly pounce at the player from afar. It will also utilize its sword to slash at the player or create flaming fissures all over the arena.

Eventually, Everdark Gladius will separate into three again, this time, adding more attacks to its repertoire. In the third phase, Everdark Gladius can spew fire from its sword, spreading across the area in front of where it swipes. After a short while, it will merge back again into the Tricephalos. Everdark Gladius can be difficult to catch in this phase, as it will be highly mobile with attacks that can keep the player away from it. However, once players get to be in melee distance of Everdark Gladius, they can avoid the chains and the sword that hits mid-range, allowing players to retaliate as it misses its attacks.

Everdark Gladius will still be weak against Holy, so it is recommended for players to plan their route to obtain Incantations and Weapons that deal Holy damage. However, if players cannot find any gear related to Holy, Everdark Gladius is a bit susceptible to the Sleep status effect, so players can find it effective if they can build it up on the boss.

Phase 1

The fight with Everdark Gladius will start against the three hounds, identical to what the players faced during the base Gladius fight. In this form, the three hounds will attack the player separately with basic attacks that can be easily dodged. However, players shouldn't underestimate this form, as the hounds can easily overwhelm players when they attack as a group. Players should lure the hounds one at a time to open them up to attacks. The sword-wielding hound will be trailing the other two hounds, so players can avoid the encounter with it and focus on the two hounds instead, as it will have attacks that are more difficult to deal with. Players should also be attentive to the position of the hounds during this phase, keeping them on the screen to avoid being backstabbed or hounded. When players focus on only one hound, it can easily be staggered, allowing players to deal more damage to it instead of spreading the stagger build-up on all hounds.

Phase 2

When Everdark Gladius's health reaches around 70%, it will merge into the Tricephalos. For all encounters with Everdark Gladius, it will always do its opening attack, wherein it will bite on the sword and perform two dash attacks (Slice and Dice) at the player. Players can dodge roll towards Everdark Gladius to avoid taking damage. In Phase 2, Everdark Gladius will be more mobile, performing lunging attacks and combining them with its sword that can hit from afar. It can also perform a new attack, wherein it will launch its sword towards the sky, imbue it with fire, then slam it on the ground, generating an explosion that covers a lot of ground in the arena. This move is heavily telegraphed, as the Everdark Gladius will always perform this move after slashing its sword on the ground twice. When Everdark Gladius launches its sword up, players should sprint away from it as far as possible to be able to dodge it more easily or to escape its blast radius. During Phase 2, players should be patiently waiting for their turn to attack, as Everdark Gladius will have zoning attacks that can make it difficult for players to approach it.

Phase 3

Everdark Gladius will then split into three again after its health reaches around 30%-40%, with the hounds becoming more aggressive and having additional attacks. At the start of the third phase, right after Everdark Gladius splits, the hounds will then perform Flaming Dashes towards the player. Players will have to know the location of each hound, then strafe sideways or dodge roll the dashes at the moment of impact to avoid taking damage. Then, it will continue using then attacks during the first phase. However, the sword-wielding hound can send out flames (Desecrated Ground) toward the player's direction, so players staying away from it can be damaged.

After a short while, the three hounds will transform back into its Tricephalos form, which is an easier form to fight against compared to the three hounds. In this form, players should always stick beside Everdark Gladius to avoid getting hit by the chain and the sword from mid-range while also being able to retaliate against it when possible. Once Everdark Gladius is defeated, players can purchase the Dark Night of the Beast from Collector Signboard.

Gladius, Beast of Night (Everdark Sovereign) Attacks & Counters

Gladius, Beast of Night (Everdark Sovereign) Lore, Notes & Other Trivia

• inflicting enough holy damage will inflict it a damage and defence debuff