Once you arrive in Elden Ring’s Forbidden Lands you’ll soon be met with a gigantic and terrifying foe. Here’s how to beat the Fire Giant in Elden Ring and exploit his weaknesses.
The Forbidden Lands in Elden Ring may look like the game’s very own winter wonderland, but you’ll soon realize the area is just as deadly as anywhere else. To make matters worse, it’s patrolled by an enormous Fire Giant who you need to beat in order to progress in the game’s story. The Giant guards the Forbidden Flame, something you’ll need on your quest if you’re to pass through the vines of the Erd Tree.
While the Fire Giant in Elden Ring may not be a demigod or a shard-holder, he’s just as powerful as many of the main bosses you’ve fought so far. He’s easily one of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring and will stamp out hasty players with ease. However, there are effective strategies to bring him down. Here’s how to defeat the Fire Giant in Elden Ring as well as his weaknesses.
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Where to find the Fire Giant
The Fire Giant is a boss you’ll face by simply progressing through the game’s main story. Once you arrive in the Forbidden Lands, you’ll inevitably make your way to the Mountaintops of the Giants where the boss lies in wait.
He’s guarding the flame you need to burn the Erd Tree’s vines, so he’ll need to be killed for you to progress the story. He’ll be outside the Forge of the Giants, which is your next destination. The only issue is he stands between you and it.
Therefore, equip as many fire buffs as you can and prepare for an epic clash.
NPC summons to defeat the Fire Giant
You can summon Warrior Jar Alexander to aid you in this very difficult fight. While this will give the Fire Giant a health and power buff, having an ally in this battle to draw his attention can be very valuable. You can also still use your Spirit Summons alongside Alexander.
Alexander’s gold summon sign can be found between the site of grace and the fog gate. Remember though, in order to summon Alexander you’ll need to have been following his questline. Summoning him here also helps you progress his story.
How to defeat the Fire Giant in Elden Ring
Just because the Fire Giant is big, don’t make the mistake of thinking he’s slow. Unless you’re highly skilled or significantly over-leveled, fighting this boss on foot will see you smushed into the mountainside very early in the battle. So, make sure you tackle the giant on horseback to make it harder for him to get a lock on you.
Of course, if you’re playing in co-op you’ll need to fight on foot, but his attention will be split between you more so than it would be between you and your Spirit Summons. Having one player attack his feet while another slings spells from afar can be an effective strategy for two or three players.
Even if you’re far away from him, the Fire Giant can still throw fireballs and make fire burst from the ground around you. He can also shovel snow at you that rips through scenery such as trees. This can be avoided best on horseback, but blocking also works well. It’s a notoriously hard attack to dodge due to the area it covers.
Phase 1
His opening attack will usually be his snow shovel so be ready to block or ride away. Once his initial attacks end, ride or run quickly towards him, targeting his left ankle. You’ll notice he has some sort of injury here, so this is the game’s way of telling you where to strike. He’ll have a splint keeping his foot in place, so attack this with ruthless aggression. Just be ready to dodge and don’t get too greedy in your attacks.
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Whether you’re a melee build or a ranged/magic build, this should be your target. Watch his attack patterns and try to time your strikes during the moments when he’s coming out of an attack animation. He’ll usually perform his attacks in a sequence but don’t count on this. The Giant also has a lot of health, so don’t expect this to be a quick win.
However, using a weapon with bleed effect will make this first phase end quicker. He’s also susceptible to scarlet rot. While this won’t take much of his health away, it will chip away gradually while you’re running/riding around and repositioning for attacks.
Phase 2
Once you get him to around 50% HP, a cutscene will play in which the Fire Giant rips off his own foot and uses its fire to buff himself. He won’t be able to walk anymore, but he’ll now roll around the map which can cause heavy damage if he happens to do so over you. It’s a hard attack to dodge, so stay mobile and look for tells. Don’t stay in one place for too long either.
In his second form, Fire Giant will now have a ridiculous amount of health and defense. You’ll notice your attacks don’t do the damage they did during phase 1. At times you may even wonder if this boss is immune to physical damage. He’s not, but it sure can look that way to those simply trying to slug him to death.
Attacking his hands and feet still works, but you’ll get precious little openings to hit him there before he rolls away. He takes more damage from his hands than from his feet, but they are harder to hit.
His weak spot is the eye that opens on his chest, but this is incredibly hard to hit for a melee build unless you’re riding Torrent or using weapon arts that do decent AOE damage. Learn his patterns and strike there when you can, this is the best way to bring him down, rather than hacking away at his feet until he catches you in a roll.
His new fireball attack does massive damage, so avoid this at all costs. Try to stay behind him on Torrent and continue your strategy. You can take advantage of Spirit Summons in this battle too, and we’d suggest using ranged attacks so you’ve got more chance of hitting his weak spot. However, you’ll need to hold his attention while your summon fires their volleys.
Mage or ranged builds should summon a tanky Spirit Ash to keep him occupied while you aim for his chest. If you’re a glass cannon, it won’t take many hits here to bring him down. Just don’t get caught in his AOE fire attacks, these can kill you in one hit, or stun-lock you and kill you in 2 or 3.
So, that’s how you defeat the Fire Giant in Elden Ring. Make sure you check out our Elden Ring page for all the latest news and guides.
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