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Elden Ring has lots of bosses that inspire both fear and awe in the community. Godrick the Grafted's second phase is terror-inducing but incredibly fun, and fighting Rykard is as horrifying as it is visually spectacular. The Godskin Duo are one of these Elden Ring bosses that is incredibly challenging but instills a feeling of relief like none other upon defeat.
Sure, they're some of the only bosses that continually respawn until their Health pool has been depleted, and sure, the Godskin Noble's rolling attack is frustrating to deal with. The reward for beating them is useful, though, and the Godskin Duo is more intimidating than they are dangerous if you know how to use the arena to your advantage.
The Godskin Duo's Moveset (and How to Counter It)
The Godskin Duo is made up of a Godskin Noble and a Godskin Apostle. You may recognize these enemies from the Temple of Eiglay in Volcano Manor and Windmill Village in the Altus Plateau. In Crumbling Farum Azula the Godskins are fought separately with a shared Health pool.
When one is defeated, it will reappear a short while later as long as there is Health remaining in this shared pool. Because of this, it's a good idea to put most of your efforts towards taking down one of the Godskins at a time, as this leaves the remaining one much more vulnerable until their partner comes back.
Godskin Noble (Wide, Rapier)
Close-Range Stomp: The Noble will rear up in close-range and do two stomps in quick succession. Can be avoided by dodging to the opposite side of the stomp or away from the Noble.
Noble Presence: The Noble releases a quick blast of Black Flame energy in all directions, like the Incantation of the same name. Doesn't deal much damage but can interrupt attacks on a dime.
Flurry Thrust: The Noble rears back and lunges towards the player to close a huge distance, then rapidly stabs them several times before finishing with a powerful thrust. The flurry can be avoided by dodging to the left or right, then wait about half a second to dodge the heavy thrust.
Rolling Attack: Only when at 50% Health, the Godskin Noble will regularly leap into the air, turn sideways while expanding, and continuously roll in the player's direction to deal huge Health damage. You can dodge left or right to avoid being hit, but it's a better strategy to get a broken pillar between you and the boss so it gets stuck on the environment, leaving it wide open for attacks.
Godskin Apostle (Tall, Shotel)
Spinning Weapon: Just like the Ash of War, the Godskin Apostle will rapidly spin its weapon in front to hit the player over and over again. Deals medium damage but will hit over and over again if you don't get out of the way. Can be dodged by sprinting backwards as soon as you see the Apostle begin to spin its Shotel Twinblade.
Jumping Attack: The Apostle leaps into the air and crashes down after a short delay, dealing massive damage in a wide area of effect. When the Apostle leaps into the air, sprint the opposite direction and dodge away right as the attack is about to land, which will leave the Apostle open for an attack or two.
Body Stretching Cleave: Only when below 50% Health the Apostle will stretch out its body across an enormous area and cleave the player over and over again. This is very hard to avoid, but you can dodge behind the boss to get out of the way of these attacks and get some swings in while it shrinks back.
Slam and Cleave: The Apostle extends upwards and stabs downwards, followed by a quick cleave over a large area. Sprint backwards or dodge to the side to avoid the initial slamming attack, then get behind the Apostle to avoid the follow-up.
Unique Black Flame Spells: The Apostle has two unique Black Flame abilities: a Black Flame-infused Twinblade combo that ends with an AoE explosion, and a burst of Black Flame cast in a forward arc as the Apostle spins its body around. Avoid the Twinblade combo by staying out of range of the follow-up AoE explosion, and avoid the arcing Black Flame attack by dodging towards the Apostle - the hitbox for the attack is further away, so this essentially gives a few seconds of free hits while the Apostle recuperates.
Shared Abilities of the Godskin Duo
Stab Combos: The Godskin Noble will has several moves that begin with a long-range stab to close distance, most often followed by a flurry or a powerful overhead slam. The Godskin Apostle can either stab downwards and follow up with an uppercut, or stab forwards then rapidly pull its Twinblade back, dealing damage for both the initial hit and retraction.
Black Flame: Both the Godskin Noble and the Godskin Apostle can cast a regular Black Flame Incantation. It is different from the one players can use as it has a much longer range – almost the entire boss arena. The Godskin Apostle tends to use the spell more often while the Godskin Noble prefers to stay in close-quarters combat, and both will use this spell when players attempt to heal.
Black Flame Ritual: Black Flame Ritual is an explosion of Black Flame pillars in a circle around the caster. Both the Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble can use this ability, though the Godskin Apostle will use it much more often than the Noble.
Strategies for Beating the Godskin Duo
The Godskin Duo are a fearsome force together, but by this point in the game players have likely faced both the Noble and the Apostle separately. The key to this fight is to single out one of the Godskins and focus all your efforts on them. The Godskin Apostle tends to be easier to eliminate than the Noble, and is worth taking out first to stop its bombardment of Black Flame spells for a moment.
The best Spirit Ashes to use against the Godskin Duo are those that spawn multiple allies, like the Greatshield Soldier ashes, or that can put one of the bosses to sleep, like Dolores the Sleeping Arrow. Multiple summons will split to distract one of the Godskins and help you focus down the other at the same time. Dolores the Sleeping Arrow (and the Archers) can reliably put one of the bosses to sleep and let you both put all attention towards taking out the remaining Godskin.
Easiest Strategy: Pillar Exploit And Sleep Pots
There are two things that can make the Godskin Duo fight a walk in the park: an exploit involving the ruined Pillar bases strewn around the boss arena, and the Godskins' susceptibility to the Sleep effect. Using Sleep Pots or Spirit Ashes that inflict the Sleep effect are surefire ways to get one of the Godskins out of the way.
The Godskin Noble's most powerful move is its Rolling attack, which it will only use when below 50% Health. As soon as the boss jumps in the air to begin this attack, run behind one of the pillar bases in the room and get it exactly between you and the boss - the Noble will get stuck on the obstacle, and you can jump on top of the pillar base to get a solid five to six seconds of attacks. Though it might not feel honorable, this exploit is perfectly ban-safe as it just uses the environment to the player's advantage.
Melee Strategy
The Godskin Noble and the Godskin Apostle can both be staggered, but most players will only be able to reliably get one or two Critical Hits on the Duo throughout the whole fight. A better strategy is to equip a shield with a high Guard Boost stat to block the Godskins' less powerful attacks. The Noble's thrusting attacks, for example, are almost all blockable with little effect on the player's Stamina. Don't block attacks that wind up or have a delay, and be sure to dodge towards any Black Flame spells cast your way to stay out of their hitbox. When one of the Godskins is downed, head to the far side of the room and prepare to charge a Heavy Attack as soon as it re-appears.
Ranged and Spellcaster Strategy
Ranged players and Spellcasters will generally have an easier time with this fight, though the Apostle in particular is tough on punishing players for healing or recovering FP. AoE spells are great for this fight as long as the Duo stay relatively close together, just be sure not to use Black Flame spells against them. If you have trouble finishing casts with all the interruptions, consider swapping to spells with faster cast times, use the Radagon Icon, or use Spirit Ashes to gain a little bit more breathing room. Ranged players can use Sleep Arrows to break this fight, as both Godskins can be put to sleep incredibly fast. Put them both to sleep, choose one to focus down, and go to town while making sure not to wake the other up.
Rewards for Beating the Godskin Duo
There are two rewards for defeating the Godskin Duo: a Bell Bearing and a new Ash of War. The Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing (4) can be offered to the Twin Maiden Husks at Roundtable Hold to unlock the Smithing Stones (7) and (8) and the Ruin Fragment crafting material for purchase. Smithing Stones (7) and (8) upgrade regular weapons from +18 to +24, while the Ruin Fragment is used for items like Rainbow Stones and Glowstones.
The Black Flame Tornado Ash of War is the same attack that the Godskin Apostle uses, where it raises a weapon now infused with the Black Flame, spins it, then slams it into the ground to create an AoE effect not unlike the Black Flame Ritual spell. It can only be used on Halberds, Twinblades, and Spears and gives a weapon Flame damage and Faith scaling by default.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.