Elden Ring Godfrey boss fight: how to beat Godfrey and Hoarah Loux
Use our top tips to defeat Godfrey and Hoarah Loux
Looking for an Elden Ring Godfrey boss fight walkthrough? Godfrey, first Elden Lord, is the penultimate boss of Elden Ring. However, this boss is actually split into two different foes. When Godfrey reaches half health, he will become Hoarah Loux, Warrior. You'll need to defeat both bosses consecutively to move onto Elden Ring's final boss.
In this guide, we'll share our top tips for defeating Godfrey and Hoarah Loux in Elden Ring, so that you can enter the Erdtree and get closer to one of Elden Ring's many endings. If you want to know what comes next, take a look at our Elden Ring walkthrough to prime yourself for the finale of this huge FromSoftware RPG.
Elden Ring Godfrey and Hoarah Loux boss fight walkthrough
If Godfrey sounds familiar, you're not mistaken. Elden Ring actually pits you against the first Elden Lord during your first adventure through Leyndell earlier in the game. However, that version of Godfrey was a golden spectre, while this is Godfrey in his physical form. As you might expect, this second Godfrey variant is a lot stronger. However, Godfrey also has a third form that you'll encounter soon enough, as he shifts into Hoarah Loux, Warrior, during the second phase of this fight.
You can watch the video below to see our guides editor, Ollie, defeat Godfrey and Hoarah Loux. After that, read on to see our top tips for defeating both Godfrey, the first Elden Lord, and Hoarah Loux, Warrior, in Elden Ring.
How to beat Godfrey and Hoarah Loux: tops tips for success
Here are our top tips for defeating Godfrey and Hoarah Loux:
- Use heavy armor
- Boost your physical damage negation
- Summon spirits for a helping hand
- Use heavy attacks to stagger
- Take your time and learn their combos
1. Use heavy armor
Both Godfrey and Hoarah Loux use a range of physical strike attacks, meaning you should bring the heaviest armor you own. With a strong defence, you'll be able to shake off any of their attacks and easily overcome this challenge.
Many of the options in our list of the best armor sets in Elden Ring will suit you well here. In the video above, Ollie uses Lionel's set, but Radahn's armor is also worth considering if you missed out on finding Lionel's armor earlier in the game.
2. Boost your physical damage negation
While the armor sets above will certainly help, there's no need to stop there. You can use a range of items to boost your physical damage negation, making the Godfrey/Hoarah Loux boss fight a walk in the park.
If you're looking for an item to equip, our list of the best talismans in Elden Ring explains where to find the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman. This greatly boosts your physical damage negation, but you can push it even further. If you visit Boilprawn Shack in Liurnia, you can buy a Boiled Prawn item from Blackguard Big Boggart.
Using these items will make your physical defence even better, ensuring that any hits from Godfrey/Hoarah Loux inflict much less damage than normal.
3. Summon spirits for a helping hand
Godfrey and Hoarah Loux are both incredibly fast bosses, performing relentless combos like the best fighting game characters you could imagine. These attacks might prove tricky to dodge consistently, so we suggest summoning spirit ashes to help. They will hold Godfrey's aggression, allowing you to get in some easy hits while he tries to chase your summons.
4. Use heavy attacks to stagger
When you see an opening to attack between attacks from either boss, try using heavy attacks to break his poise. Godfrey and Hoarah Loux are surprisingly easy to stagger with heavy attacks, so you should be able to perform a few visceral attacks throughout the fight.
When you stagger Godfrey or Hoarah Loux, move around to the front and use a light attack to trigger a visceral. This will deal a huge chunk of damage without putting you in any danger, offering a welcome respite and giving you a great advantage in this fight.
5. Take your time and learn their combos
As mentioned above, you should only try to attack between combos. Godfrey and Hoarah Loux have a mix of swipes and smacks that they can chain together into unpredictable combos. Below, we'll list the main attacks that we saw in each phase and explain how to avoid taking damage:
Godfrey, the first Elden Lord (phase 1):
- Melee attacks: Godfrey uses a mix of moves with his axe. These include an uppercut, swings from either side, and a twirl over his head leading into a slam. He also occasionally lifts his leg before stomping down. You can roll to dodge all of these as they land, but you'll need to pay attention so that you can nail the timing.
- Fissure: Godfrey will slam his axe into the ground and cause a fissure to open. When he pulls his axe up, it will cause the fissure to explode. Get some distance and wait for the explosion before getting close to attack again.
- Shockwave: Godfrey will lift his leg for an extended period of time before slamming it down into the ground. This will send a shockwave throughout the arena. You can roll to dodge this, but the timing is tricky. Fortunately, Godfrey doesn't seem to use this move if you stay nearby.
Hoarah Loux, Warrior (phase 2):
- Melee attacks: Hoarah Loux ditches Godfrey's axe, but he still uses a range of melee attacks chained together. Again, these combos are unpredictable, so watch the attacks and learn when to dodge for your weight class.
- Grapple: The key in this phase is to avoid any melee attacks that could lead into a grapple, as these lock you into an animation that deals massive damage. The most common grapple attack that Hoarah Loux uses involves reaching back with his right arm before lunging forward to grab you. However, he does also seem to grapple after using the cross swipe melee attack, in which he rushes towards you while crossing his arms in an X shape. Avoid these by dodging away from Hoarah Loux as the strike is about to connect.
- Ground pound: Hoarah Loux lifts his leg for an extended period of time, similar to Godfrey's shockwave move. However, Hoarah Loux will perform a slightly different move, slamming into the ground with his fists. He will then slam into the ground again, sending out two shockwaves in total. Stay far away from Hoarah Loux and prepare to roll when the shockwaves approach.
If you master the timing of the moves above and pepper Godfrey and Hoarah Loux with heavy attacks in-between, you should manage to defeat this boss with ease.
That wraps up our Godfrey and Hoarah Loux boss fight guide. To make this fight even easier, check out our lists of the best weapons and best builds in Elden Ring. If you find yourself healing a lot, check out our Elden Ring Golden Seeds and Elden Ring Sacred Tears locations guides to upgrade your flasks. If you want to mop up any optional bosses before taking on the final boss, check out our Elden Ring boss locations guide.