Elden Ring Godskin Duo boss fight walkthrough
By the time you reach the Godskin Duo, you’ve probably seen some form of both bosses before. The Noble guards one route to Rykard, as well as the bridge to Ranni’s Divine Tower of Liurnia. The Apostle appears in less essential areas, but you may recognize him from the Windmill Village, where you must fight him to progress Millicent’s quest. Despite wielding melee weapons, both the Noble and the Apostle have sizeable threat ranges. Understanding what these ranges are and how they overlap is the key to this fight. The Godskin Duo shares a health bar, but both the Noble and the Apostle also have their own health pool. If you can kill one, you’ll find yourself in a much more favorable 1v1 fight for a short time. Eventually, the dead boss will respawn with a refilled individual health bar. This has no impact on the shared pool though. If you can drop the shared health bar to zero, you will win the fight regardless of where the Duo’s individual bars sit.
How to beat Godskin Duo: top tips for success
Here are our top tips for victory in the Godskin Duo boss fight.
1. Find the sweet-spot range
Both the Godskin Noble and Godskin Apostle have more range than you might expect from large, slow-moving melee weapon users. The Apostle can stretch its weird, gross body to reach across the arena with its weapon, while the Noble can inflate and turn on its side for a rolling charge. The pair also share a ranged fireball attack that they will happily spam if you are out of range of their other attacks. That fireball range is the first key to this fight. If one member of the duo is on the other side of the arena, they’re going to spam fireballs until you get closer. That makes it very difficult to get damage in on their partner. Melee players should strive to keep both members of the Duo too close to spam fireballs but not so close that both can use their quicker melee attacks. Of course, you won’t always be able to manage this in a hectic fight. That’s where our next tip comes in.
2. Use the pillars to split the Godskin Duo
If you have played Dark Souls 1, the layout of this fight will be immediately familiar. Like Ornstein and Smough, this is a dual boss in a church full of pillars. Those pillars are once again your best friend. They stuff most of the Godskin Duo’s ranged attacks, including the aforementioned fireballs. If you can keep a pillar between you and one of the Duo, the fight gets much more manageable. The pillars do eventually break, making it easier for the Apostle to stretch past them and smack you. However, they will still stop fireballs from most ranges. Unfortunately, some attacks bypass the pillars whether they’re broken or not. The Godskin Noble’s rapier thrusts will go straight through the pillar and hit you, so avoid standing right up against them. You need to stay out of his reach, even if you have cover. Thankfully, this works both ways. Many weapon skills and spells can also deal damage through these pillars, allowing you to get attacks off safely. The Icerind Axe, Sword of Night and Flame, and Blasphemous Blade can all fire their skills through the pillars. If one of these fits your build, it will make the fight much, much easier.
3. Keep the Godskin Duo in front of you
This one sounds simple, but it is worth emphasizing. Keep both members of the Godskin Duo in front of you as often as you can. The fastest way to die in a dual boss fight is an unexpected hit. With the Duo’s range, that hit can come from anywhere. If you lose track of one, use the pillars to reposition safely and get the Duo back in your line of sight.
4. Focus on the Godskin Noble first
Both members of the Godskin Duo are deadly, but the Godksin Noble is unpredictable. That makes him the bigger threat, and you should always try to kill him first. The issue here is his rolling attack. Most of the time, you can put a pillar between you and the noble to leave him rolling against it and you safe on the other side. This generally works whether the pillar is broken already or not. However, sometimes the Noble will just roll straight over the top of a broken pillar and crush you. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to this. The only way to prevent it is to just kill the Noble. He will eventually respawn of course, but ideally, you will take the Apostle down before then to make the fight more manageable. If you are struggling with the rolling attack, try using the Bloodhound Step or Raptor of the Mist weapon skills. Both skills afford better invincibility frames than a standard dodge roll, and can you help you reposition behind the tumbling Noble. That’s everything you need to drop the Godskin Duo! This is one of the hardest required boss fights in the game, but with the right approach, you can make it look easy. If your build needs adjusting before the fight, check out our guides to the best weapons and best talismans in Elden Ring for some ideas. Track down the rest of the game’s bosses with our complete list of every boss location in Elden Ring.
