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 things worse, it’s patrolled by an enormous Fire Giant which 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 going 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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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.

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.