The Fire Giant is one of the most iconic bosses in not just Elden Ring, but in all FromSoftware games because of his stature. The Fire Giant is, of course, the biggest boss in the game, and naturally, he has an overwhelming health pool that can take countless attempts to get through. Because of this, Tarnished can commonly be burnt out after failing to get past him. Thankfully, this guide is here to help you continue your journey and become Elden Lord.
Fire Giant Overview
The Fire Giant is a massive boss enemy in Elden Ring. This giant with red hair and a long, braided beard is easily capable of dealing tons of damage with powerful attacks that cover large areas, as well as surprisingly swiftly moving around and rolling, making you run back over to him and risk being hit.
If you are a Souls veteran or otherwise a particularly experienced player, you can likely fight and defeat the Fire Giant as early as level 80. If you are less experienced (or don’t have very much vigor), you might want to try doing some side quests or farming to get to around level 100 or higher before challenging this boss. You will also want to make sure you have a strong weapon that suits your level for the fight.
All kinds of weapons suit this battle, so whether you are wielding a dagger or a colossal weapon, it will affect the fight by only a tiny bit. Except your fists, don’t use those.
Elden Ring Fire Giant Location
The Fire Giant is found in the southeastern section of the Mountaintops of the Giants called the Forge of the Giants, which can be reached by traveling south from the Frozen Lake, past the Guardians’ Garrison. It is very hard to miss this section.
Is the Fire Giant mandatory?
Yes, defeating the Fire Giant is required in order to progress and beat Elden Ring. You will be soft-locked permanently unless you defeat him.
Pre-Fight Strategy
Before heading into this boss, make sure to take some time to properly gear up and whatnot. Here are some tips to help make the fight more comfortable and shorter.
Light the Foot of the Forge Site of Grace
Although obvious, this Site of Grace sitting outside the Boss area can be missed. Light it so you can get back into the fight faster if you die.
Equip fire negation items
As implied by its name, the Fire Giant is capable of dealing with a lot of fire damage. Thus, if you have any armor, items, or Talismans that reduce the amount of fire damage you take, those are highly recommended.
Talismans that negate fire damage are the Flamedrake Talisman, Mottled Necklace, and Immunizing Horn Charm.
Raise your vigor
You can also raise your fire negation stat naturally by leveling up your character’s vigor, which is recommended anyway as many of the Fire Giant’s attacks will one-shot if you do not have enough health. It can be very frustrating to flawlessly go through this fight only to be unfairly killed by an unavoidable attack.
Mix the Spiked Cracked Crystal Tear in your Flask of Wondrous Physick
The Spiked Cracked Crystal Tear, which can be found in the Minor Erdtree in Mistwood, makes your charged attacks much more powerful. Charged attacks in this fight will be your best friend, as not only do they increase your damage tenfold, you can safely perform more of these in a row than usual due to the Fire Giant’s slow attacks. The Fire Giant can also, fortunately, have his poise broken, so if you are lucky you can break his stance.
Do not bring low health Ashes
In other fights, bringing Ashes such as the wolves or the fanged imps can usually provide a lot of aid by helping you overwhelm an enemy and cause fast damage, but in this boss, Ashes like those can be taken out in the blink of an eye. The Fire Giant has attacks that cover a brutal amount of space, and while this can be dodged by you, the player, Ashes are not able to do the same as you. Do bring strong Ashes such as the classic Mimic Tear, or high mobility Ashes such as Black Knife Tiche.
Fight Strategy
This boss battle has two phases, and the two require very different strategies to overcome. Keep reading to find out how to effectively keep up with the Fire Giant.
Phase I
Take advantage of your mobility with Torrent
Because of the size of the arena and how far away its entrance is from the Fire Giant itself, you should utilize Torrent in order to close the distance and dodge the first attack at the beginning of the fight, which is a giant wave sent out by the giant slamming its shield into the ground. This attack has the potential to one-shot and is tricky to dodge on foot, but utilizing Torrent’s i-frames makes it much more manageable. If you do end up on foot, however, roll forward into the avalanche at the last second to avoid it. This can take multiple tries before figuring it out.
(Optional) Summon Alexander, the absolute champ
Alexander is an available summon for this fight, but summoning him will render Torrent unusable, so if you would rather keep Torrent, do not summon him. However, Alexander is unsurprisingly durable; after all, he participated in the great Radahn festival along with you.
His durability is second to none, as he is able to tank multiple hits that most Tarnished cannot. His damage output is nothing special, but it does end up helping, and while it is rare, he can break the Fire Giant’s stance, allowing you to get even more damage in. If you also end up using Ashes, you can get him down even faster.
Do not keep your camera locked in at all times
During the first phase, the Fire Giant will stand on his legs and will attack through various swipes with his arms and jumping slams with his shield. While these attacks aren’t particularly difficult to dodge, they are all highly damaging and most require i-frames to get through, and being locked on can mess your perception up and cause you to lose the fight. Unlock your camera and simply aim for his feet.
Be ready for his rolls
The Fire Giant also frequently rolls around the arena, sometimes leading slower, more powerful player attacks to miss. Not only that, but his rolls cause huge amounts of damage, in some cases fatal. Be extremely cautious of this, and be prepared to dodge or strafe back to avoid any damage.
Pull out any bleed weapons in your arsenal
The Fire Giant is very resistant to fire damage and frostbite, so other methods of dealing damage are recommended. The Giant is somewhat resistant but not immune to other afflictions, and because of its large health pool, scarlet rot can be effective. However, as usual, Bleed is the absolute best choice you can choose. Equip a bleeding blade and slash away at his feet. While his resistance to the hemorrhage state is higher than other bosses, he will still eventually bleed, and it will be worth it.
Attack his left ankle instead of his right
In the first phase, the Fire Giant’s weak spot is on its left ankle. When staying close to the Fire Giant and attacking its legs, it will often lift up its feet before stomping them back down, so be ready to dodge if you see it raising its legs up. Attacking this point will deal a lot of damage, but after a certain point, the chain on the ankle will break, and the Fire Giant will gain access to some new, enhanced fire attacks. Be on the lookout once the chain breaks, as he will always without fail roll somewhere else, so avoid it if possible.
Keep an eye on him when he rolls away
If the Fire Giant rolls away from you, it will likely take the opportunity to hurl a large fireball in your direction that will deal massive damage if it hits you. This attack is very common, and you will eventually grow used to dodging it, but the first few times it can be hard to completely avoid it. If you can, hop on Torrent when this happens and sprint away to make him miss, then ride back under his legs.
Be patient to avoid sudden death
After breaking the chain on its ankle, the Fire Giant gains many devastating abilities that will inevitably cause panic. Being greedy will increase your chances of death tenfold, so instead only deal the damage you are able to afford, and wait until he finishes other moves. One of these devastating moves is when the Fire Giant summons vastly highly damaging pillars of fire around him. While it is possible to stay very near the Giant and dodge these pillars in the moments before they trigger, it’s easiest to just back away from the giant for the duration of the attack. The Giant also utilizes its shield for some of the most damaging attacks, so be wary whenever the giant lifts up the shield or slams it into the ground, as it usually follows up a ground slam with some sort of push or pull into the player.
Phase II
Run away once this phase begins
At the start of Phase II, the Giant will let out a roar and rip off its left foot during a cutscene. Afterward, the fight changes quite a bit.
The Giant will begin this phase by raining down a barrage of flaming rocks, so once the cutscene ends, you should immediately run away from the Giant. The ugly face on its torso comes to life and starts using many more fire attacks that can be tricky to deal with.
If you are able to, consider using Torrent during the entirety of Phase II (depending on your playstyle). Some might find it more liberating, some might not.
Watch your distance to avoid being flattened
In general, the Giant becomes much less mobile and unpredictable, mostly moving around on all fours, but it will use its roll to reposition more often. Although he already rolled around during Phase I, those were much easier to avoid due to him standing and you having a clearer field of view. But now, with his being on all fours, and you having to be extra close to him to deal damage, the chances of you being rolled on will be more common. Keep a close eye on his movement, and run away when you reckon he will roll away.
Attack his weak points, with care
During this portion of the fight, the Giant’s weak points are its wrists and the eye on its torso, but attacking these points is also very dangerous as directly in front of the Giant is where its most damaging attacks are directed. The Giant abandons its shield for this part of the fight, but will still constantly attempt to slam and swipe at players with its now-flaming hands. These attacks have a lot of delay from the windup to when they actually come out, so be careful not to dodge too early as a lot of the attacks can be avoided with little risk simply by running directly away.
Be ready to sprint, dodge, and watch his hands
If the Giant rears back and the mouth on its stomach begins to fill with fire, it is about to shoot a stream of flames towards you for a few seconds. For this move, you’ll just want to sprint to the side for the duration of the attack.
The Giant will frequently sit up and summon two slow-moving balls of fire from its hands that track the player. These can be very difficult to deal with when also trying to dodge other attacks, so getting close when not immediately threatened and “baiting” these fireballs into exploding is the best way to get rid of them.
Sometimes when the Giant sits up, rather than summoning the slow-moving fireballs, it will instead shoot two powerful, fast fireballs at the player. The difference in the wind-up between these two attacks is that for the slow-moving trackers, the Giant will summon them with its palms up, it will summon the fast ones by moving its palms towards the player.
Rewards
- 180,000 Runes:
- Remembrance of the Fire Giant: This can be either consumed to gain 30,000 runes or given to Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold to obtain either the Giant’s Red Braid whip or the Burn, O Flame! Incantation.
Now that you’ve learned how this massive enemy thinks and works, take him down and move on with your journey to become Elden Lord.
