Gladius is the first main Night Lord boss of Elden Ring Nightreign. Here’s how to take down this three-headed hellhound.
If you’re skilled (or lucky) enough to have survived until the final day of your first Expedition in Elden Ring Nightreign, you’ll be confronted by Gladius, a monstrous three-headed dog who’s tougher than anything else you’ve faced so far.
This boss looks a lot like the mythological Cerberus, and just like him, Gladius is also a gatekeeper, ensuring you’ve engaged with Nightreign’s mechanics and are ready to tackle harder Expeditions. To prove it, you’ll need to go through him before you can face the even tougher Night Lords.
As expected for a first major Souls boss, Gladius is very hard to beat. However, there are things you can do to make life easier in this fight. Here’s a sound strategy on how to beat Gladius in Elden Ring Nightreign.
Gladius Boss Strategy in Elden Ring Nightreign
As night sets in on the Tricephalos Expedition, Gladius will manifest as the region’s Night Lord Boss, and the fight is on.
The good news is that the beast will spawn far away from you in the middle of the arena, giving your party time to buff themselves — so take advantage if this if you’re a class that uses Incantations or other spells that fortify stats.
Does Gladius Have Any Weaknesses?
Gladius is weak against Holy damage, so if you find Holy Grease while exploring in Tricephalos, save these and it on your weapon just as the boss spawns. If the whole party can do this, it’ll do even more damage to Gladius.
If you locate any weapons that do Holy damage, then keep hold of these and upgrade them as far as you can. This will put you in the best possible position to hurt Gladius.
As for casters, try to find some Holy spells and get ready to pelt him with them when the fight begins. The good news is, you’ll have a few seconds to land some attacks before he can get to you, and if the melee members of the party keep him occupied, you can keep chipping away at his health from a distance.
Gladius is also weak against Hemorrhage and Frostbite, so if at least two players hit him with bleeding attacks, this will soon stack and proc for even more damage.
However, if only one player has a bleed build but everyone has access to Holy weapons, choose that. Bleed and Frostbite work best when multiple players use them together.
Melee Strategy
With our caster and Ironeye classes staying out of harm’s way, melee-focused classes like the Wylder, Raider, Guardian, and Executor should run towards Gladius and attract his aggro. Classes like the Duchess, Recluse, and Revenant should strike with their skills, retreat, and repeat.
Gladius will be able to leap across the battlefield in one swoop, so try to stick to the above formation when he attacks, being conscious of where your teammates are. Like all Souls bosses, Gladius telegraphs his attacks before making them.
You can block and parry his lighter attacks, or simply dodge them if you’re quick, but his wind-up for his heavier attack involves him leaning back on his hindquarters before striking. This is a much more powerful attack, and it can stagger you if it connects, but it leaves him open to attack. So, our advice is to dodge this attack, then move in for a counter as he recovers.
Rolling through these attacks is preferable to blocking, as you’ll be better placed to counterattack and can avoid being stuck in a lengthy stagger animation. By the time you recover, he’ll recover, and the opportunity will be wasted.
You can avoid his sword whip attacks by sliding to the opposite side of where you predict it’s going to land — this should be obvious by where he’s aiming. Then, move to his side and hit him hard before getting out of the way. He also takes a while to wind up for this attack, so if you’re already close to him, make those hits count.
If Gladius spins his sword in a circle, the bold may want to roll through it and punish him when he recovers. If not, it’s easier to block this attack than to dodge. The only real places you can go are towards him. If you try going backwards or to the side, you’re still likely to get hit.
Predicting His Moves
Many of his moves can be predicted by his mouth glowing a different color. When it fills with lava, he’ll spit fire all over the arena, but this is easy to dodge; just run around the fire and bop him on the head if you’re close enough. If his mouths start to glow purple, then he’s winding up a bite attack. Once his third head is purple, he’ll strike.
Try to run behind him when he does this, he’ll struggle to reach you there. Once you’re out of his range, try to get some hits in. While he can hit more than one player with this attack, he’ll likely only target one.
Finally, when he begins to glow red he’ll be getting ready to split himself into three versions of himself. Once he turns into balls of fire, take the time to heal or buff, then get ready to target one of his three forms. The wolves will target one player who’ll have a glowing red target on themselves.
When this happens, that player should just focus on blocking and dodging until the onslaught is over. Other players can use this time to attack the wolves from behind while they’re fixated on the targeted player.
Once this is over, players should all focus on avoiding the three wolves until Gladius merges back into one. Then, repeat the above strategy to bring this bad dog to heel.
Once Gladius falls, he’ll drop the Trace of Night, the Night of the Beast Relic, some Murk, and some other Relics. You’ll also be able to progress in the story and will be treated to some new dialogue at the Roundtable Hold. A cutscene will then play, letting you tackle the next six Expeditions.
Were you able to survive Gladius in Elden Ring Nightreign? Let us know your thoughts on the boss at the Insider Gaming forum.
For more on Elden Ring Nightreign, check out our guide explaining the leave penalty, everything you need to know about the tricky tutorial boss, and whether you need to have played the original game first.
