Commander O’Neil is an optional boss in Elden Ring and defeating him will help you start Millicent’s questline. This quest, when completed, will give you Miquella’s Needle. Commander O’Neil is a slow-moving boss, but the fight can be a pain to finish if you are not careful around him.
In this guide, we will discuss where the fight will be, what to expect in the fight, how to summon the spirit, and how you can defeat Commander O’Neil in Elden Ring. Additionally, we’ll also look at how you can cheese this boss.
Commander O’Neil location in Elden Ring
Commander O’Neil is located in the Heart of the Swamp of Aeonia, Caelid. This area is filled with Scarlet Rot. The Site of Grace closest to Commander O’Neil is the Inner Aeonia Site of Grace.
To get to this Site of Grace and the fight without dealing any damage from the rot, you can use the road moving around the swamp and reach the Southern Aeonia Swamp Bank Site of Grace.
The road is the same one that passes through the Stormhill Shack and Warmasters Shack. You can then move north towards the Sellia Gateway and look for a shack to your left. Sellia Gateway is indicated in yellow on the map above. The shack is indicated in red on the map.
When you reach the shack, you will find Sage Gowry. Talk to him, and he will ask for the Unalloyed Golden Needle. You can find this Needle as a dropped item from Commander O’Neil.
How to defeat Commander O’Neil?
Commander O’Neil has two main abilities that players will have to deal with. The first is the boss summoning headless knights and Archers to aid him during the fight. The other is his spin attacks, which he combines with Scarlet Rot.
If trapped, you’re as good as dead. There are two types of these spin attacks, varying in the area of effect around him.
The first type is the Rotting Winds which he will use a lot of times during combat. When you are in the wind or get hit by the spin attack, you will have Scarlet Rot on you, which will chip away at your health quickly.
The second type is the Rotting Whirlwind, which has a larger area, but Commander O’Neil will use this attack rarely. He takes about 4 seconds to initiate the red winds so this attack is easily avoidable on torrent and foot.
Commander O’Neil will summon 3 Exile Archers and 3 Exile Knights when you first start the battle. These foes must be dealt with before you engage with Commander O’Neil.
They don’t have much health, but he will buff their health and attack damage. He will not summon them again if they are defeated as soon as they spawn until his health reaches about 40%.
At about 40% health, Commander O’Neil will summon 3 axe-wielding Exile soldiers. These have about the same health as before but deal a lot more damage. You should also deal with them before coming up to Commander O’Neil again.
Commander O’Neil can be easily defeated by charging up to him on Torrent, landing a few strikes, and then pulling away. This will require a lot of patience because he has a lot of health.
You can also defeat him on foot by parrying his heavy swings, giving you a small window to land a couple of hits, or dodge his attack combos and wait for him to rest before attacking him.
If you have a Range or Magic-based build, you can hop on to Torrent and keep a safe distance while dealing damage from afar. Commander O’Neil will not dodge your arrows or magic spells and will only follow you slowly.
After defeating Commander O’Neil, you will receive 12,000 Runes, an Unalloyed Golden Needle, and Commander’s Standard Halberd.
How to Summon Polyanna for the Boss Fight?
From your talk with Sage Gowry, you can summon Polyanna to fight alongside you. Before summoning her in this fight, you must defeat her beforehand. The NPC can be found near the Inner Aeonia Site of Grace and before the fight.
You can also summon Spirit Ashes, such as Mimic Tear or the Marionette Soldiers, which will hold off Commander O’Neil. You can deal with him from a safe distance or use them as a distraction.
How to cheese Commander O’Neil?
Commander O’Neil is a boss that relies heavily on his summons, throughout the battle he’ll summon several times, throwing your strategy off balance and potentially even killing you. The best way to deal with these summonses, and in the process, cheese Commander O’Neil is to use Bewitching Branches.
Bewitching Branches allow you to turn one enemy against another. If you use it on any of Commander O’Neil’s summons, they’ll attack him instead of you. You can combine this strategy by summoning Polyanna, riding around on Torrent, and using spells from a distance to make quick work of this boss.
