Commander Niall |
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| Location | Castle Sol |
| Drops |  90,000Veteran's Prosthesis |
| HP | 15,541 |
| Strong VS |
Neutral to |
Commander Niall is a Great Enemy Boss in Elden Ring. Commander Niall is found in Castle Sol in Mountaintops of the Giants. This is an optional boss, as players don't need to defeat it in order to advance in Elden Ring. However, he must be defeated before entering Consecrated Snowfield.
Commander O'Neil is another variant of this boss.
Commander Niall, veteran of Castle Sol, offered his prosthesis in exchange for the lives of defeated knights held prisoner. He went on to lead these men as an army of no nation.
Elden Ring Commander Niall Boss
- This is an optional boss. However, he must be defeated before entering Consecrated Snowfield.
- At the beginning of the fight, Niall summons two Banished Knight spirits that vanish once he enters Phase 2. If both spirits are killed, he will immediately enter Phase 2 regardless of his health.
- Closest Site of Grace: Church of the Eclipse
- Multiplayer is allowed for this boss
- You can summon Spirit Ashes for this boss
Elden Ring Commander Niall Location
From the Church of the Eclipse Site of Grace in the southeast section of Castle Sol, take the church's eastern exit towards another building. Go through this building and you'll arrive at the upper level of the eastern section. In this upper level you'll see Commander Niall's fog gate as well as a lift you can send down as a shortcut for future boss runs. [Map Link]
Commander Niall Combat information
- Health: 15,541 HP
- Defense: 117
- Stance: 90
- Parryable: Yes
- Is vulnerable to a critical hit after being stance broken or parried
- Damage:
Standard, 
Strike, 
Pierce (Phase 1), Standard, 
Slash, Strike, Pierce, 
Lightning (Phase 2) - Inflicts:
Frostbite - Drops 90,000, Veteran's Prosthesis
Negations (or Absorptions)
Magic
Fire
HolyThe negation numbers are the % of your damage that gets blocked. For example, if a negation is 60, 40% of that damage by that type will go through and 60% will be negated. Bigger number = less damage. A negation of 100 means no damage goes through, and a negation of -100 mean the enemy takes 2x damage from that source. 0 means damage goes pretty much as is.
Resistances
Poison: 343 / 441 / 731 / 1188
Scarlet Rot: 343 / 441 / 731 / 1188
Hemorrhage: 343 / 441 / 731 / 1188- Frostbite: 343 / 441 / 731 / 1188
Sleep
MadnessThe resistance numbers are the buildup amount to trigger it. For example, if a resistance is 100 you must deal 100 points of the given buildup to trigger it. Note that these go down over time, and increase each time the effect procs. The values after the "/"s indicate the increased resistances after each successive proc.
NG+ and Beyond (click to reveal)
Banished Knight Spirit Combat information
- Health: 1,967 HP
- Defense: 114
- Stance: 65
- Parryable: Yes
- Is vulnerable to a critical hit after being stance broken or parried
- Damage: Standard, Strike, Pierce
Negations (or Absorptions)
The negation numbers are the % of your damage that gets blocked. For example, if a negation is 60, 40% of that damage by that type will go through and 60% will be negated. Bigger number = less damage. A negation of 100 means no damage goes through, and a negation of -100 mean the enemy takes 2x damage from that source. 0 means damage goes pretty much as is.
Resistances
- Poison: Immune
- Scarlet Rot: Immune
- Hemorrhage: Immune
- Frostbite: Immune
The resistance numbers are the buildup amount to trigger it. For example, if a resistance is 100 you must deal 100 points of the given buildup to trigger it. Note that these go down over time, and increase each time the effect procs.
NG+ and Beyond (click to reveal)
| NG | NG+ | NG+2 | NG+3 | NG+4 | NG+5 | NG+6 | NG+7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 1,967 | 2,464 | 2,710 | 2,833 | 2,956 | 3,203 | 3,326 | 3,449 |
| Defense | 114 | 118 | 121 | 124 | 130 | 136 | 141 | 153 |
Elden Ring Commander Niall Boss Guide
Commander Niall Fight Strategy
The Best Tips for Commander Niall
- Niall will primarily focus on buffing his allies while they are still alive and will perform relatively simple attacks that are easily avoided.
- Focus on the dual greatsword Knight with at the beginning, as it is more aggressive than the shield Knight.
- Charming one of the Knights with Bewitching Branches can make the first phase quite simple.
- Use a tanky Spirit to distract the Banished Knights.
- Take advantage of when Niall tires himself out after his Charged Whirlwind dash move
- You can jump to avoid his shockwave foot stomp.
- Kill at least one Knight before summoning your spirit.
- Killing the last of his knights while he is in his buffing animation will lock him in his first phase until about half health
- Using kukris/throwing knives or ranged attacks triggers him to do his kick attack, if done correctly he can be put into a "positive feedback loop" in which he will jump attack you forever as long as you dodge into throwing knive him
- Backstabing one Knight at the start of the fight, preferably buffed by the Dagger Talisman, is an effective way of dealing with the Knights quickly.
General Fight Strategy
Commander Niall is accompanied by two Spectral Banished Knights, one equipped with dual greatswords and the other equipped with a sword and shield. Success in this battle hinges on your ability to manage the two very dangerous knights. Niall himself doesn't get too dangerous until the knights are defeated. He will lumber around the arena, making no real effort to close the distance so focus on the knights at the beginning. Of the two, the dual sword knight is the most aggressive and dangerous. It is highly recommended that you summon a tanky spirit to more easily manage both knights at once. They are also susceptible to Magic Damage so Sorcery mains should have a slight advantage damage-wise.
The easiest way to be rid of the Banished Knights is to, immediately, after traversing the fog, run into the right-hand corner of the arena and await the charge of the dual-wielding Knight, and using a Bewitching Branch on him, turning him into an ally (it might take a few tries to get the timing right, the animation is rather long). This will cause the sword-n-board Banished Knight to immediately aggro him, while your new ally attacks Niall himself, ripping away a huge chunk of his health. Bewitch the second Banished Knight, while avoiding Niall's windstorm attacks, back away and summon your spirit ashes and apply any buff you need. Niall should have taken out both knights by this point (he kills them extremely quickly), or they will have brought him below 50% health, at which point they will despawn, as Niall enters his second phase.
Once the knights are killed, Niall begins actively pursuing you and using his more dangerous moves. Niall commands the powers of Ice via a whirlwind he summons around him, as well as Lightning via infusions on his prosthetic leg. Niall's most dangerous moves always involve him summoning whirlwinds of frost around him. He can then follow up with a stomp of his peg leg, infusing it with lightning and then leaping towards you to perform a powerful leg smash that creates a lightning shockwave on impact. He can also follow-up with two versions of a dash attack. The first is a single whirl of his halberd followed by a quick dash into an uppercut with his halberd. The second version sees Niall charging up for a few seconds as he sucks in frosty winds towards him, he then whirls his halberd several times, creating an expanding whirlwind of frost. Finally, he dashes to the side and then runs toward you, culminating in an uppercut with his halberd. This move tires Niall out and he will be kneeling and vulnerable for several seconds. This is the biggest damage window throughout his fight so be sure to dodge the uppercut and get as many hits in as possible as he recovers.
Melee Users
Start with heavy R2 On right summon dual wielding knight, the attack should land at or just before he materializes. Then a second heavy R2, and he should stagger. If lucky, you can get a crit in which should kill him at appropriate level for this boss and you will be invulnerable. Roll away and or heal. Next bait out the 2nd summon and do a running R2, back up, rinse and repeat. If he teleports to you, roll behind him. Be selective. Running R2 should bait him into an attack and an auto stagger when he is walking with his shield up. You have plenty of time on the 2nd summon as the boss will be passive during this phase.
Next the Commander Niall will charge up frost and electric attacks after his summons have died. Roll at the last second for his attacks. When he charges his leg and flip kicks, roll to his right (your left) to get an opening for an attack. He does a delayed heavy swing after one consecutive attack he has where you should roll twice in a row to dodge it every time, and then punish him accordingly with a few swings. When he does a frost wind and then a charged electric attack, dodge roll into a single r1, watch for a quick poke and then a heavy telegraphed swing, again rolling to your left. Now the charged electric stomp AOE, difficult to manage and hard to avoid. With the swinging frost winds, he has multiple attacks that look similar to this. The one you're looking for is a melee attack ending that you can punish. The other frost AOE should be avoided. So just manage close range and then outside his AOE blasts. Managing your distance and opportunities is key. You should stay up close to him and back away when you see a frost swing coming. Upon one of his charged frost and electric attacks he will kneel and pause for a huge opportunity to hit him with heavy R2s, you should be able to stun him and deal a crit. Definitely dealing with the summons without getting hit was a big advantage to have as much flasks as possible to fight him, because his electric AOE stomp is near impossible to avoid when up close. After frost winds, be ready to charge in.
Magic and Ranged Users
For magic and ranged users, you would want to equip a heavy-hitting spell/incantation for this fight. As stated above, defeat the two knights first before engaging Commander Niall. For a bow and arrow user, try equipping arrows or bolts that has status effects on them like bleed or rot.
If you have the Comet Azur spell, cast a Terra Magica at the edge of the Mist gate (make sure the knight outside the arena is already killed), consume a Flask of Wondrous Physick with a Cerulean Hidden Tear to nullify FP consumption. Once you enter the boss arena, immediately lock on to Commander Niall then charge and release your Comet Azure. It is also recommended to add a Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear besides the Cerulean Hidden Tear for increased magic damage. This setup will most likely one-shot Commander Niall, even on higher NG+ playthroughs.
Commander Niall Attacks & Counters
| Attack | Description | Counter |
| Call Spirits - Banished Knights | At the beginning of the fight, he will wave his standard and summon two Banished Knights. While they are alive, he will continuously buff them until they die or he reaches half health. | Focus the dual-wielding knight, as it is the most aggressive. Use a Bewitching Branch on one if you have the materials. |
| Halberd Combo | A standard 3-hit combo beginning with a stab, a low sweep and ending with a slow overhead smash. | Get some distance away from him or dodge each attack. The final hit is charged exceedingly slow so beware of timing or simply run away. |
| Storm Kick | Niall stomps his prosthetic leg on the ground, creating a frost whirlwind around him and infusing the leg with lightning. He then leaps up towards you and after a short delay, crashes down, releasing a lightning shockwave a small radius from the point of impact. | Maintain distance during the whirlwind to prevent getting frosted. Once he leaps, wait for him to drop before dodging. |
| Storm Kick (Ground) | Niall raises his prosthetic leg up high in front of him, infusing it with lightning and then stomps down in front of him, releasing a lightning shockwave from the point of impact. | Time your dodge very well, especially if he raises his leg up high as the shockwave released has a massive radius. You can alternatively jump to avoid damage. |
| Whirlwind Dash | Niall twirls his halberd once, creating a whirlwind of frost around him. He then dashes straight towards you and performs an uppercut with the halberd. | The dash itself does no damage but serves to throw you off your dodge timing. Dodge the uppercut instead. |
| Whirlwind Dash (Charged) | Niall turns his back towards you and charges up, sucking in frosty winds towards him. He then twirls his halberd several times, releasing an expanding whirlwind of frost. Niall dashes to the side and then runs towards you, culminating in an uppercut with his halberd. Note that sometimes, he only performs the charging portion of this move, without the whirlwind release nor the dash. The frosty winds can still inflict Frostbite on you so maintain distance. | Maintain distance as he is charging and releasing the whirlwinds. Beware their expanding radius that covers most of the arena. When he dashes towards you, wait til the uppercut before dodging. Successfully dodging this attack tires Niall out, rendering him vulnerable for a very long time. This is your biggest damage window for him. |
Commander Niall Lore, Notes & Other Trivia
- His armour set can be purchased from Finger Reader Enia after killing him: the Veteran's Set
- The name "Niall" is a first name of Scottish-Gaelic or Irish-Gaelic origin with unclear meaning. Presumed meanings are "cloud", "chivalrous" or "victorious". All of these meanings make sense for the character being a military commander wielding weather-themed powers.
- Though their relationship is unconfirmed, Commander O'Neil, uses the same model as him, same voice actor, same armour and Commander's Standard and the same first phase moveset, down to summoning disgraced warriors (Exile Soldiers in O'Neil's case), with the lone exception that O'Neil whips up Scarlet Rot winds versus Niall's blizzards.
- "O'Neil" means "Son of Neil", with "Neil" being a variation of the name "Niall".
- Both have an implied connection to the twin demigods Miquella and Malenia; O'Neil carries the Unalloyed Gold Needle made by Miquella and the Commander's Standard references his former master being Malenia, while Niall protects the Haligtree Secret Medallion (left). The Veteran's Armor cape also features a red cloth similar to that of Malenia's Armor, down to Miquella's unalloyed gold wreath being embroided onto it.
- Niall's presence at Castle Sol also implies a connection to Godwyn the Golden and the eclipse worshipped there that will allegedly resurrect his soul. Niall wielding lightning powers and the dragon-themed decorations on the Veteran's Set may imply he was a Dragon Cult Knight in service to Godwyn before the latter's death.
Commander Niall Image Gallery
Anonymous
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- Anonymous
If you don't have Bewitching Branch you can use Stone of Gurranq on the two Banished Knight.
They're dead way before they reach you.
- Anonymous
Some adventurers stopped their adventures after taking an arrow to the knee, but this warrior lost a whole leg and he's still kicking.
- Anonymous
Boring boss that spams 2 attacks and one of them is unpunishable with slow weapon
Hermit Merchant to the west-southwest (Over the western bridge, pass stargazer's ruins, riding down along a ridge) that you can stock up on Lightning Greatbolts since you can carry only 20. They shoot straight unlike how gravity affects normal ballista bolts. Sniping spot on the mountain ridge east-southeast of Niall's location.
- Anonymous
First boss in the game I felt that was actually designed to have spirit ashes used around, because I realized it would be impossible. Also first boss I used physick for. Basically, I had never been pushed to the extreme of using my whole arsenal in the game until I met this guy. Honest respect for pushing the player so far and still killing me 35 times.
RL 92 (I think), 32 STR 30 DEX and 28 VIG. +7 Watchdog’s Staff, +8 Mimic Tear, Lightning Fortification, 10 Crimson Flasks and 3 Cerulean.
Strategy went physick, Fortification, enter, Mimic, heal, two AoW with the Watchdog’s Staff on the dual wielding knight, kill it with two-three hits on Staff. Then CA Niall until second phase. The Mimic was dead at that point. Just 1v1 the dude with melee until I killed him. Tldr, twas hard maybe refusing to overlevel gave me more pain than needed. Like the dude.
- Anonymous
I've used the Crystallian summon in this fight, and discovered that it can tank Commander Niall's frost and lightning attacks even at +8 upgrade level. It can reliably take aggro away from Niall and out survive you. After using bewitching branch on his two summons and finishing the fight, the Crystalian still have more than 75% of its health.
How I finally beat him (and it was very easy once I figured this out): I used a light build so I could roll out of the way quickly. I used the Bloodhound Claws + 20 with Bloodhound's Step ash of war, and Bloodflame Blade incantation. I used the claw in both hands and didn't equip a shield.
I used the bewitching branch on the two sword knight immediately and I used the Mimic Tear Ashes + 6 as my ally. The bewtiching branch, along with my Mimic, killed the two knights almost immediately. Then we went to work on Niall. The claws worked really well on him, and I could dodge out of his whirlwinds with the bloodhound step.
He was really easy to beat like this....
- Anonymous
After turning his knights against him with bewitching branches and skipping to phase 2, he is a cakewalk if you have any knowledge of parries due to him sharing the same telegraphed attacks as O'Neil.
Deleted him on my Blackflame build 2nd try, though a bit of luck is needed for the knight's to not interrupt the branch
- Anonymous
The behind-the-back pokes he does after his distance-closers made this boss a lot harder than others.
Every time I thought I had a large punish window, he’d poke and punish me.
- Anonymous
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I wanna see a cutscene of Niall and his army of Banished Knights in action
- Anonymous
Don't really understand the hate for this boss. If you're using light weapons/a status build I can see how the beginning would be annoying, and I agree that it's kinda cheap, but after that it's really not hard at all to dodge his attacks and get your own in. Only attack that's really difficult is the close-range lightning blast, but you should really be trying to bait out his distance-closers (jumping lightning attack, halberd charge) because they're both extremely easy to dodge and punish
- Anonymous
I've gotten frustrated with other bosses before, but this one and O'Neill are definitely my least favourite. I'll never understand why some games are intent to ruin fun fights by having the bosses summon more enemies.
I'm not gonna whine and say Fromsoft should make it easier for me, but I will say that even when I beat it, it's not gonna give me the classic Soulslike sense of victory, it's gonna just be one big sigh and a "thank god, it's over"
- Anonymous
Try to use whip on spirits it's easily stun lock 'em. Then kill the beastard!
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Probably my favorite fight in the game. Probably most fun with a strength build using endure. Fun to just trade with him and only roll out from his frost tornado
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Gank? Check
Abundance of AOE attacks? Double check
Delayed roll-catch attacks? Check
Stunlock combo attacks? Check
Ridiculous damage? Check
No stake of Marika? Check
One of the "endgame" bosses of all Elden Ring.
In all seriousness, he would've been a cool fight without summons and, maybe, more varied moveset. I can't really fight him while the knights are alive, which, in my eyes, is the same as having a longer run back. After knights are finally gone, it is like he is doing the same three moves on repeat with an occasional arena-wide attack. Less timings to remember, for sure, but I expected more from a boss so late in the game.
Personally, I found it much easier to beat him on strength builds with bigger unga-bunga weapons and quite miserable with lighter armaments (daggers, straight swords, rapiers etc.) on my recent ARC/DEX run. Gotta try parrying next time.
- Anonymous
The fact that bosses like Niall and Godfrey are HUMAN and don't rely on great rune/lifesteal, lifedrain abilities but conquer through Pure Strength and Skill earned by many years of Conquest on the Battlefield makes them infinitely cooler to me than Delusional Demigod Monstrosities that would perform at a much lesser capacity if their oh-so-special great rune souvenirs from the shattering they rely on so heavily were taken from them.
- Anonymous
I enjoy this fight. It's fair even with the knights, they don't take long to remove. The one on one part is fun when to know the rhythm of the fight.
- Anonymous
EASILY the coolest boss in the Game.
Coolest Moveset
Flexes his Commander status
Is an established Veteran of many battles
Poise on par with Godfrey
Higher poise than Elemer of the Briar and The Crucible Knights
Stronger than HALF the Demigods (Being on par with a Demigod is a feat within itself)
Could probably go toe to toe lore wise with ALL Demigods/High tier bosses since AI doesn't care much for dodging.
Everyone saying he's the worst = Skill Issue
GLORY, BRAVE, KNIGHTS
- Anonymous
The most DS3 boss in this game and I mean it in the best possible way. Just use those branches or a weak summon to distract the adds long enough that you can get rid of them asap and you get one of the most enjoyable fights in the game imho.
- Anonymous
Summoning your own spirits is just leveling the playing field for this guy.
- Anonymous
Wild strikes on a bleed weapon. it worked for me after two hours and 19 rune arcs :0)
- Anonymous
Yeah not a fan. I hate gank fights, especially when you're on claws, have no AoE and no range. 1v1's are awesome, and this fight might be great 1v1 too, but throwing in those asshat knights that ignore your summons and always beeline for you makes it one of the worst bosses for me. Just always feels lazy to me when they throw normal enemies into boss fights to make 'em harder. A good boss should be hard enough.
- Anonymous
Dark Moon Greatsword obliterates Niall and his two knights. You can keep a respectable distance and the ranged attack trigger Niall’s kick, making him extremely predictable.
- Anonymous
Niall is very easy to parry, his ranged dash attack being the easiest.
Get the timing down and it's an easy win.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Putrid Corpse ashes helped out a lot. All three enemies immediately aggro on them, which gives you a free backstab/bewitching branch on one knight.
- Anonymous
A tip for the commander if you’re struggling. If you kite him about he reliably attempts to close distance with one of his only two ranged attacks. He will either quickly lunge with his lightning leg peg or leap into the air for a slam with electric peg leg. With practice each slam can be rolled, as well as the follow halberd attack (which is designed to roll catch so do NOT panic roll). In between these ranged attacks use a short bow with either rot or blood arrows and needle him to death. It takes awhile, but once you’re into his rhythm it makes him pretty damn easy.
- Anonymous
The problem with this boss is that he can literally teleport behind you. A "I need to dodge 90% of the fight" boss.
- Anonymous
any of you have any high lightning resistance armor or know about any
So I just killed the commander Niall without entering the castle and I did it with a Ballista. I didn't use any exploits, I just did it. I can prove it too.
- Anonymous
eleanora pole blade plus god skin peeler and mimic tear totally wrecked this guy
- Anonymous
Rot breath with mimic tear was nice for this fight. Kill double blade first, proc rot on Niall, and then kill the other knight. Whe Niall gets aggressive, mimic will tank most of it, and you can run in to get a few hits or keep using breath
- Anonymous
Wait, you guys seriously don't like this fight? The two soldiers at the start can be annoying, yes, but they can be dispatched of pretty easily. Niall himself is super fun.
Status effects and Spirit Summons feel like they're essential for this fight. If you beat him without either of those, kudos to you. **** is rough.
- Anonymous
This fight sucks, but I found a strategy that does use (extreme) cheese and works pretty well. I had a +10 banished knight Engvall and a +22 staff of loss at 60 int. I summoned immediately and then he went to the boss to take his agro, so I could kill the knights individually, double swords first. Then, I just kept my distance and spammed night comet until my summon died. After that, I waited for him to do the ice storm into the jump, when I ran away and spammers night comet again, didn’t take too many tries before I got him
- Anonymous
Not a very fun boss, but a pretty easy way I found to beat him is use staff of loss and a tanky summon because your summon should get his aggro if you do it right away and you can first kill the dual sword knight, then the other, then spam night comet. You will need to dodge some attacks but you can usually run away from his combos and the the summon will take aggro
My mimic swings at air in this arena everytime. He never locks on to Niall. I beat him regardless. Great fight
- Anonymous
good lord the 2nd phase doesnt click for me at all, what a miserable experience
- Anonymous
Use poison arrows through the small window, when procs it shows a damage tick. This will confirm you are hitting him and doing damage, with regular arrows it's harder to tell. Plus poison and scarlet rot arrows will do the work for you, but will still need a lot of arrows. Craft like 100 each since you can only carry so many of one type.
- Anonymous
the summons are kinda crap, but god his second phase goes so hard
- Anonymous
Just fyi, as of 4-22-23, the window cheese still works lol. Load up on/make lots of poison arrows and scarlet rot arrows, use the serpent bow if possible, buy serpent arrows. You'll miss a lot at first because it's a tiny, tiny window so have more poison arrows than you need. Gotta kill a couple of tanky knights to get to the right spot, but it still works just fine. Good luck!
- Anonymous
ER has a lot of bad bosses (ulcerated tree spirit 1, ulcerated tree spirit 2, etc) but Niall is not one of them. This fight is excellent. Once you learn his attacks he is a very “souls” like boss. My strategy is to run in immediately and f*ck up the dual sword knight. Dodge his attacks by running away from him (the flying anime sword spam is ridiculous and stupid tbh). The shield knight is straightforward you can just bait his jumping attack and backstab him. I’d strongly suggest learning the parry windows on Niall, use the buckler. Parries feel the most consistent on him out of all bosses in the game once you learn. If not, just learn where his hitboxes are and stay right outside them and jump attack him when he’s spinning his halberd around. Honestly good fight I enjoyed fighting him at RL1
- Anonymous
For almost a whole year, I didn't know this guy had dialogue in the fight. I always played this fight without headphones for some reason. I think it was for focus. That's sick though.
- Anonymous
Nail the knights first then enjoy the “Gael we have at home” fight for what it is.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
He is missing a leg, if you look at Godrick he has taken the leg and grafted it onto himself
- Anonymous
He should be weak to lightning in phase 2 considering he gives himself dragonbolt blessing.
He gives me Storm Lord vibes, like the old ruler of Stormveil. It's not specified that he is, of course.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Another lategame gank fight with a bunch of miniboss "mooks" who are already tough, combo-loving enemies who can two shot you on their own, with Commander "AOE" Niall at the helm. Amazing.
- Anonymous
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I swear, this guy is not even the problem, it's the dual wielding Banished Knight that two shot me with his frostbite attack on NG+7. He was so aggressive and won't stop attacking me while the other one with the shield was pretty chill. Once the knight gone, it's smooth sailing.
- Anonymous
Commander NIall is now immune to poison as of 1.09. Bring plenty of normal/bone/fletched bone arrows/bolts if you're going to do the old bow cheese.
- Anonymous
A lot of idiots are saying the commanders served Radahn when we literally see them have Miquella's items right by them, lol.
- Anonymous
"He went on to lead these men as an army of no nation" So Niall is just the Elden Ring version of Big Boss?
- Anonymous
Basically Nameless king but with frost.
Very cool boss, enjoyed alot specially when using bewitching branches, they make the fight 2x easier.
- Anonymous
Niall and O'Neil likely fought for Radahn. But they definitely did not serve Malenia as this article and others claim.
Cleanrot Knight armor description: "Armor of the Cleanrot Knights, celebrated for their undefeated campaign in the Shattering." Cleanrot Knights are known as serving Malenia. If they were undefeated, Malenia was undefeated.
Halo Scythe description: "This was the weapon of commanders in Malenia's army, and the half-halo blade deals holy damage."
Niall and O'Neil are explicitly stated to be commanders, neither use the Halo Scythe. It is also stated that they were defeated. Explicitly for Niall and implicitly for O'Neil. Veteran's Armor states directly that "Nial was a lone survivor". Cleanrot Knight Finlay ashes state that she is "was one of the few survivors of the Battle of Aeonia". If Niall is a lone survivor, he did not fight for Malenia. Only other combatant was Radahn.
- Anonymous
I used a bewitching branch on a banished knight that was being targeted by dung eater and it completely broke his AI. Summoning the puppet AFTER you have already bewitched a banished knight seems fine though. Also, I don't know what the conditions are for this but sometimes niall's summon absolutely slaughters their master while you're busy killing off the other one- possibly if they're in a 2v1 with your summon and get him stunlocked ?
- Anonymous
For the love of God, fix the damn knights through the fog door. My mimic only fights them and ignores the boss!!
- Anonymous
It was so COOL when he said his catchphrase “IT’S CHILLIN’ TIIMEE!” And chilled all the tarnished with his mint and cold water breath combo
- Anonymous
I think it's pretty clear that both Niall and O'Neil served Radahn rather than Melania. Their armor is far more reminiscent of his rather than Malenia's.
They are both referenced as having been defeated and we know that Radahn was defeated by Malenia.
Niall is also described as turning over his prosthesis in exchange for the lives of his defeated knights. Which means that whoever wanted the prosthesis also likely held his men prisoner. That can only be Malenia or her men. Although Miquella is also a possibility.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
A couple notes for people having trouble:
You only need to take out one knight, and you should do it right away. With two knights alive, one will always be super aggressive; with just one remaining, you'll have enough room to get some hits on Niall. When he enters the second phase, any knights still alive are despawned anyway, and if you kill both knights, he enters the second phase immediately regardless of his current remaining life.
During the second phase, if you run away, Niall will constantly try to catch up, but he can only close the distance with long windup moves. Most of the time it's a huge vertical leap into a lightning slam after he stomps his prosthetic foot into the ground (try to dodge the slam a bit late since the thunder seems to have a lingering hitbox, and mind the delay on the first follow-up - if you roll twice in a row you'll get caught), but keep an eye out for the twirl and dash into a banner uppercut which comes out a bit faster (it can still be dodged on reaction even if you doze off and forget about it, tho, since the uppercut happens a moment after he dashes next to you, it's not a single fluid motion). He'll be stuck in a loop of trying to catch you with these two extremely telegraphed, highly punishable moves. You can even do the entire fight with a bow or crossbow after you take out the first knight, Niall is that slow and incapable of punishing a player that simply walks away from him.
- Anonymous
I have defeated every single boss in the entire game. This one is my least favorite boss in the entire game... and it's not even close. Some bosses have at least one bullshit moves, Commander Niall hardly has any non-bullshit moves. The AoE is way too large for the arena he's in and the halberd and the lightning leg have extremely inconsistent hitboxes.
The only good thing I can say about him is that I do actually like the summoned Banished Knights. I think they're a good addition for a boss who's supposed to be the commander of an army, and one of them remains passive so it doesn't become a gank encounter. By now you should have plenty of experience dispatching Banished Knights.
I only wish FromSoft put as much effort into fixing multiplayer phantom hits as they do into removing Niall skips.
- Anonymous
It’s worth noting that Shadow Bait works on both of the summoned knights. It immediately takes their aggro and holds it for a few moments.
- Anonymous
Dex build people sure like to complain. Just use the guardian swordspear infused with lightning. GG
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
idk if anyone else has said this but niall to me seems very much connected to the storm ashes of war. that windup into his second phase is similar to Stormcaller, and his jumping attack with his prosthetic leg is very similar to the storm assault ash of war. I think it's very likely Nialls learned this sort of "storm magic" at some point, and adapted to keep fighting without a foot and do whatever he's doing at castle sol.
- Anonymous
He's rather easy if you can bait his leaping thunder leg attack. Dodge forward as he lands, then perform a strong attack or an ash of war where you would step forward slightly (I used Moonveil's). His follow up thrust attack should miss you as it has a narrow hitbox. With 42 int and base str dex requirements, I was doing about 700 damage per hit. So, rinse and repeat.
what masochist in fromsoft's office though this boss was okay???!?!
- Anonymous
2 rot pots will inflict on him. Rot will take half his health. In a related note, if he reaches half health he will phase 2 like a normal boss, and in the process dispel any remaining knights, as well as healing all status effects.
- Anonymous
If you're running a dex build and is having trouble facing this guy, Bolt of Gransax is the answer... This weapon worked so well against Niall and mine wasn't even fully upgraded.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I think they might have nerfed his summons a bit, the bewitching branch trick seems less useful. Also, if he kills both knights, he might go full lightning early.
IMO, kill the dual-sword one then have your spirit ash distract the shield one while you get easy hits in early.
The second phase punishes panic rolls and overexploitation, but isn't terrible if you take your time and learn when the AoEs happen.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Like many others, I found this fight bullshit initially due to the gang squad and Niall's frostbite aoe staff floor bang.
However if you can use ashes to deal with the knights and then understand the key mechanic of the phase 2, it is a lot less frustrating.
Essentially, you need to realise that remaining close by and circling/fighting on the front foot isn't an option (for me at least). Instead, wait for Niall to attack, dodge, and then attack twice (light/medium weapons) and move away. Niall lovea doing the "frostbite staff ground bang aoe" attack, which he follows with preparing his prosthetic and jumping in the air - just wait for him to do this and wait until he starts to come down to dodge (he hangs in the air for longer than you would intuitively assume).
The other main attack he does is the twirling attack along the ground which again is fairly well telegraphed and can be dodged reliably once you have a feel for the timing (avoid dodging too early).
Once you have a feel for this, phase 2 is just a case of identifying which of these 2 attacks is coming, dodging, punishing with a specific conservative number of attacks depending on the weapon you are using, and then getting our of the range of the aoe frostbite. Be patient and don't try and rush or be greedy as you will get hit and potentially comboed to death!
Good luck!
- Anonymous
This playthrough I used the Commander's Standard and summoned two Godrick knights to give him a taste of his own medicine.
- Anonymous
giant hunt on a gs literally makes this fight plus the entire game easy
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Yeah, I use summons in the beginning. Seems fair. Makes it a fun fight, in my opinion.
- Anonymous
if need a good summon i used the crystalian as it draws agro very well and they will struggle to break its armor
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Who thought making giant aoe frost waves that do a lot of damage on nearly all his ****ing attacks was a good idea? And what it up with that on lighting kick? Why such a massive aoe?
- Anonymous
Using: Grafted Dragon+10, Hookclaws+20, Banished Knight Oleg+10 Boltdrake Talisman and Arsenal Charm equipped
Dex 28, Vigor 33, Endurance 25
Immediately dispatch the dual-wielding sword knight. I use Grafted Dragon with back critical hit, when he gets up, quickly jump heavy attack to break stance and follow up with a couple light attacks to kill.
Kite the shield and sword knight around the arena, when he uses the charge attack with his shield, roll out of the way and lock on to Niall, sprint towards him and wail away on him with Grafted Dragon a few times (I use a jump attack) and roll out of the way of his attack, mind the remaining knight summon. Repeat this tactic, landing hits on Niall while staying out of the way of the summoned knight until Niall goes to phase 2 (killing the remaining summon).
Summon Banished Knight Oleg to soak up aggro and damage, switch to Hookclaws. The bleed proc will shave off a huge chunk of health after several successive hits. Be wary of attacking Niall from behind while he is using lightning attacks as some of them will sweep in a wide arc. By the time Oleg is about dead he should be at 10% health. Attack with Hookclaws relentlessly and the bleed proc should finish him off.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
He only spamms the **** out off aeo and doesnt do anything else idk if my game is bugged or whatever but looks like i have to cheese to melenia
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Window cheese works. On a lower level twinblade dex build there was no way I was getting through this and still enjoying the game xD
As someone said, to the west of his arena there’s a tower you can snipe him from (out the front of the church and to the ladder on the right).
Hard part is budgeting your arrows and FP if you use special shots to help w damage, as well as lining up the shot again every time he staggers and you drink cerulean. Go for the small square holes, not the long ones, looking for the red. It’s a very sensitive shot that’ll take patience and tiny adjustments. I must have used about 130 arrows on my longbow+7. Hold all the arrows you have just in case! A lot get wasted on lining it up.
And when you finish and go through the arena, treat yourself to looking for the windows you shot through and appreciating that the cheese you just did was equally as ridiculous as the fight itself xD
- Anonymous
using a ranged weapon art to take out the summons in the begin makes the fight fun and enjoyable
- Anonymous
If you want an easy way to beat him without bewitching branches I just beat him at lvl 1 by using great shield bearer ashes which tanked him and she shield knight amazingly well, I just used the gargoyles black blade with golden vow and sacred scorpion charm and blasted him with the weapon art told done, he literally didn't aggro me once, if you want a solid way to beat this boss give this method a shot, time for consecrated snowfield as a lvl 1 wretch, this should be interesting...
tiny arena + annoying runback + stupid summons + bad attacks
classic elden ring boss formula
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