Commander Gaius is an optional boss in Elden Ring exclusive to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. An albinauric warrior bound to Radahn as a brother, Gaius later became a leader of Messmer’s armies in Elden Ring to purge the Shadow Lands of the Hornsent.
Commander Gaius is one of the most difficult optional bosses in FromSoftware’s history. In this guide, we will help you find him and give you a detailed explanation on how to avoid his attacks. If you follow our guide precisely, you will be able to tackle the beast in no time whatsoever.
Commander Gaius’ Location in Elden Ring
Commander Gaius in Elden Ring can be found near the Back Gate of Shadow Keep. To reach this area, you must go through the Church District.
Start from the Moorth Ruins site of grace and find the hidden path to reach the Bonny Village. Cross the Village and go northwest until you reach the Church District’s Entrance site of grace.
This whole area is submerged in water, so you must climb the roofs carefully. Once you reach the other side of the Church district, drop down into a building patrolled by Fire Knights.
Enter the first room to the left to find a lift. Use it to reach the Back Entrance site of grace in Shadow Keep. As soon as you leave the room, the fight with Commander Gaius will commence.
Commander Gaius Stats and Weaknesses
Commander Gaius has 33,871 HP in Elden Ring. He has 123 Defense with 100 Stance. You can’t parry its attacks, but you can land a critical attack after breaking its stance.
This boss is weak only to Holy attacks, while he is immune to both Sleep and Madness. Commander Gaius is also strong against Slash attacks, Hemorrhage, and Frostbite.
However, you can use Standard, Strike, and Pierce attacks to damage the boss in addition to Lightning and Fire attacks.
Best Build for Commander Gaius
The best way to handle Commander Gaius is by using a weapon to which you can apply Holy, Fire, and Lightning magic/grease.
We recommend using the Backhand Blade +25 with Keen Affinity or Malekith’s Black Blade. You can also use Blasphemous Blade to deal Fire damage.
For sorcerer builds, go with an incantation build to use Ancient Dragon Lightning spells with Gravel Stone Seal. You can also use Giant Flame’s incantations to deal further damage.
For a melee build, go with Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Shard of Alexander, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, and Godfrey Icon to enhance your successive attacks, skills, and defense against physical attacks.
For sorcerer builds, use Graven Mass Talisman, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, Radagon’s Icon, and Sacred Scorpion Charm.
Use Deflecting Hardtear and Opaline Hardtear for maximum defense against enemies. For melee builds, invest in either Strength or Dexterity stats. For incantation builds, your solo focus should be Faith with a little bit of emphasis on Mind.
As you can summon Torrent for this fight, use it extensively to avoid incoming charged attacks. For the spirit ash summon, always use a fully upgraded Mimic Tear to distract the boss, as he won’t allow you to heal easily.
With these builds, you are more than prepared to take down the legendary Commander Gaius in no time. However, if you want to change your build further, travel to the Academy of Raya Lucaria and meet Rennala at the Grand Library.
She will allow you to undergo the rebirth process to change your specs by using Larval Tears. Don’t overspend your Larval Tears as they are limited per run.
Phase 1 – A Boorish Commander
Commander Gaius in Elden Ring always starts the fight with a charge attack using his boar. This attack is extremely difficult to avoid and deals massive damage to the players.
You can either hop on Torrent and run to the sides or wait for Commander Gaius to hit you. Just before the time of impact, roll forward. This will grant you iframes and allow you to pass through Commander Gaius unharmed.
This attack gives you enough time to do a jump slam on the boss. Don’t get greedy, as this attack is often followed by other boar swing attacks.
Another attack involves Gaius doing an overhead slam with his lance, followed by a head swing attack by his boar. Sometimes, this attack is followed by a delayed Boar Slam attack. This attack has strange timing.
The first attack is fast, while the second one is painfully slow. However, you will get enough time between attacks to land some fast hits (avoid if you are using a Greatsword or slow spell).
If you go farther away from Gaius, he will circle you and do a massive boar head swing attack.
The only way to dodge this attack is by rolling in the opposite direction of the attack. You won’t get any chance to hit the boss during this attack.
If you get too close to Commander Gaius, he will summon gravity and thrust his lance upward. This will create an AoE around the boss that deals heavy damage to the players.
Look closely at Gaius’ lance and dodge as soon as he thrusts it upwards to avoid any damage altogether.
Gaius also does two more gravity attacks. One involves throwing gravity balls at you who try to suck you in, leaving stance broken If you get caught, Gaius will do either a charged attack or a spear thrust to almost kill you.
The second gravity attack involves summoning rocks around him, which he throws at you. This attack can be avoided by either running or dodging sideways.
Commander Gaius also does a dual boar slam attack, where the boar slams its head and massive tusks into the ground. This attack can only be dodged by rolling sideways and has no window to attack the boss afterwards, as Gaius will charge most of the time following the attack.
There is a 3-hit combo where Gaius doesn’t use his boar at all. He only relies on his lance to do two swings from left to right and then right to left, followed by a slow thrust attack.
Dodge the first two attacks by rolling in a direction opposite to the attack, while the final hit can be avoided by dodging into the boss. This will give you enough time to land multiple hits on Commander Gaius.
The final attack of the first one is also the deadliest and the hardest one to dodge. Gaius uses an 8-hit combo during this attack.
The first attack is a thrust attack with his lance, and a boar’s head swing attack accompanies it. Look at the boar’s head and dodge in a direction opposite to its head swing.
Gaius will then swing to the left, along with another head swing by the boar. The strategy remains the same. Roll to the right to avoid this attack.
The next attack is an extremely fast Head Slam by the boar, which you can avoid by dodging sideways. Only five attacks have been done, and still more are to come. Don’t attempt to fight back during this flurry.
The boar will sweep its head to the left and then sweep it upwards. Just dodge backwards when the boar does the side sweep, as it will allow you to automatically avoid the upward sweep.
The final attack will come in the form of a lance slam attack, which can be avoided by rolling sideways. These attacks are extremely fast and will make you nervous the whole time. You must remember the pattern by heart to avoid any hits from connecting.
Once you take down Commander Gaius’ health to 50%, he will start the second phase.
Phase 2 – A Dance with Gravity
Commander Gaius always starts the second phase with a massive Gravity Bomb. He jumps into the air and comes slamming down at the player’s location.
He will summon rocks from the ground alongside gravity ripples. You can dodge this attack by rolling at the time of impact. This attack allows you to land multiple hits on the boss.
Most of the attacks in the second phase remain the same. However, every time the boar slams its head into the ground, it is followed by a small gravity explosion.
Look out for gravity wells as this time the boss will use three of them to suck you in. He will also do the charge attack a bit differently, but it can be avoided in the same manner as the starting one.
If you get comfortable with the first phase, the second phase is a walk in the park as it is almost a one-on-one copy of the first, just with more speed and some gravity explosions in between.
By following our guide and using the strategy mentioned above, you can easily take down one of the toughest bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
Commander Gaius Drops and Rewards
Upon death, Commander Gaius drops 230,000 Runes and the Remembrance of the Wild Boar.
You can exchange his remembrance with Enia at the Roundtable Hold to either get Sword Lance (weapon) or Blades of Stone (sorcery). Make sure to duplicate his remembrance to get both rewards.
The Remembrance of the Wild Boar can also be consumed to obtain 30,000 Runes, which is not worth it in our opinion.
