The Godskin Duo is a mandatory boss encounter in Elden Ring. In the fight, you will face off against a Godskin Apostle and a Godskin Noble but they will have a shared healthpool.
Even if you take both of the bosses down, the fight will not be over as long as there is some HP in the shared pool. So once both the Godskin are down, the RPG will spawn another one of them.
The fight will be over as long as you are able to deplete the main health bar to zero. It’s one of the harder encounters in the game as you will have to face both of them at the same time.
However, once you reduce the shared healthpool to zero, the Godskin Duo will drop 170,000 Runes, Smithing-Stone Miners Bell Bearing, and the Black Flame Tornado Ash of War.
Contents:
- Godskin Duo boss overview
- How to find Godskin Duo
- Godskin Duo moves and counters
- Godskin Duo resistance and weakness
- How to beat the Godskin Duo
Godskin Duo boss fight overview
Location:
- Crumbling Farum Azula (beside the Dragon Temple Transept Site of Grace)
Optional:
- No
Summons:
- Other Players
- Spirit Ashes
- Knight Bernahl (NPC)
Boss Drops:
- 170,000 Runes
- Smithing-Stone Miners Bell Bearing
- Black Flame Tornado Ash of War
Weakness:
- Slash
- Sleep
- Hemorrhage
Resistance:
- Magic
- Fire (High)
- Lightning
- Holy (High)
- Strike
- Madness (Immune)
The Godskin Duo is a mandatory fight in FromSoftware’s RPG. You will not be able to progress through the rest of the story in Elden Ring if you do not take them down in Crumbling Farum Azula.
What makes this boss incredibly challenging is how you will need to tackle them both at the same time. Going for a more traditional way of fighting them will make it significantly more difficult.
However, you will be able to make things more manageable by putting one of them to sleep. Both the Apostle and the Noble are weak to the Sleep status effect and you will be able to knock one of them out as soon as the encounter begins.
They have pretty good resistance values to all elements and status effects. But they are equally weak to Sleep and Hemorrhage. Hence, if you are going for a Bleed-based build, you will be able to proc it multiple times.
They are also weaker to the slash type of physical attacks. Hence, Dagger and Katana builds that make the most of Hemorrhage will have a much easier time in the fight.
Where to find the Godskin Duo in Elden Ring?
To find the Godskin Duo you will need to first make your way to Crumbling Farum Azula. You can do this by either committing “the cardinal sin” with Malina or by talking to the Three Fingers.
Once you are in Farum Azula you can make your way to the encounter from either the Dragon Temple Site of Grace or from the Dragon Temple Transept Site of Grace. We will recommend the latter as the first route will make you encounter two Banished Knights every time you die and want to go back to the boss room.
To find the Dragon Temple Transept Site of Grace you will need to jump off the ledge that is directly west of the Dragon Temple Site of Grace. Once you made your way down, turn back and head to another lower platform. Now make your way east and you will find the Grace.
The Godskin Duo encounter in Elden Ring is just right to the north of this Site of Grace.
Godskin Duo moves and counters in Elden Ring
As there are two bosses you fight at the same time, we will be listing out the movesets for both of them. Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble has the same abilities as the ones that you meet individually when exploring The Lands Between.
There are no phases to the fight, however, both Godskin will get some additional moves once their individual health reaches 60% or below. The encounter ends as soon as the shared HP reaches 0.
Godskin Apostle
Black Flame
- Move: Conjures a Black Flame on their left hand and then throws it at you. The projectile is fast and has a very long travel range.
- Counter: Either dodge to the side or dodge into it.
Stab and Pull
- Move: The Godski Apostle will stab you from the sickle end of the Twinblade and then pull you in. It will deal damage two times.
- Counter: Has a much smaller hitbox, and you will be able to dodge diagonally back. As the range is rather short, you can even choose to keep some distance.
Weapon Spin
- Move: The boss will spin his weapon infront of him while approaching you. This move hits like a truck and instantly one-shot if you are caught in it. It has good stagger.
- Counter: Either run away or dodge through and reach its back. It has a long channel period, so you will be able to easily punish it.
Stab and Slash
- Move: The Godskin Apostle will stab down with the blade end and then spin around to bring the sickle part of his twin blade down. Going from a stab to a slash.
- Counter: The best way to counter it will be to dodge backward. If the stab misses, the slash will too.
Jumping Overhead Slash
- Move: The Apostle will jump up in the air and then slash downwards in front of him. It’s a very fast attack and can be tricky to dodge.
- Counter: You will either need to dodge to the sides or dodge into the attack to get behind him. As it has a long recovery period you will be able to get a couple of hits in.
60% HP shockwave
- Move: Once the Apostle reaches 60% HP or below he will cross his arms and float in the air. After a brief channel, he will slam down and release a shockwave.
- Counter: Move out of the AoE as soon as you see him channeling the attack.
Spinning Weapon Flight
- Move: The Godskin Apostle’s torso elongates and flings outward. He will spin in place while his lower half stays stagnant.
- Counter: Dodge into the attack to i-frame it and punish this move. It has a long channel and you will get a lot of hits in.
Plunging Blade and Sweep
- Move: The Apostle will fling his torso again but this time the upper body will travel upwards before plunging the blade-end of the weapon down. He will then sweep in an AoE while pulling the torso back in place.
- Counter: The execution of the combo is delayed. You can easily dodge sideways to ignore the attack and you can close in on him to land some hits.
Black Flame Whirlwind
- Move: The Apostle douses his weapon in Black Flames. He will then start spinning it above him to create a whirlwind of flames. This whirlwind will extend outwards, till the Apostle plunges the blade into the ground making the wind explore at the edges.
- Counter: This move hits pretty hard and is impossible to dodge if you are in the AoE. The best way to avoid it will be to run away as soon as you see him channeling it.
Black Flame Sweeps
- Move: The Godskin Apostle will fling his torso again and swing his weapon to leave a trail of Black Flames behind.
- Counter: Just dodge into the move as it will give you a lot of time to get some hits in.
Godskin Noble
Black Flame
- Move: Conjures a Black Flame on their left hand and then throws it at you. The projectile is fast and has a very long travel range.
- Counter: Either dodge to the side or dodge into it.
Black Flame Ritual
- Move: The Godskin Noble will bring his left hand lower and to the side. It will charge up a pillar of Black Flames around him. If you stand on the flames you will continuously receive damage.
- Counter: Just dodge away and maintain your distance as long as the move is active.
Double Stomp
- Move: Stomps his right leg two times in front of him. The Noble will then deal damage in a small radius around where he is stomping.
- Counter: It has a pretty sizeable AoE, so if you are in melee range, just dodge back till the move is executed.
Belly Shove
- Move: The Godskin Noble will shove you with his bellow. It has a high stagger value but does not deal any damage.
- Counter: Just dodge back when you see its belly inflating.
Stab and Overhead Strike
- Move: The Noble will use his Rapier to jab at you and then follow it up with an overhead slash.
- Counter: Best way to dodge the two hits will be to dodge them both by rilling to the sides.
Stab and Slap
- Move: Will stab you and then slap you with the back of his left hand.
- Counter: If you dodge the first hit by rolling to his right, the slap will miss you automatically.
60% HP shockwave
- Move: Once the Apostle reaches 60% HP or below he will cross his arms and float in the air. After a brief channel, he will slam down and release a shockwave.
- Counter: Move out of the AoE as soon as you see him channeling the attack.
Godskin Wheel
- Move: The Noble hovers in the air for some time, he bloats in size, lands, and keeps rolling around the map. It has very high damage and stagger value, and you will not be able to stop it.
- Counter: Sprint aay as soon as you see him channeling it. Then hide behind a pillar so that he can’t reach you.
Godskin Crusher
- Move: The Noble takes to the air again, bloats, but this time slams down directly.
- Counter: Dodge into the attack as soon as you see him descending. You will get some time to get a lot of damage in.
Repeating Thrust
- Move: Thrusts at you repeatedly with the rapier. One of the fastest combos in his arsenal.
- Counter: Dodge to the side and then make your way to his back. You will get a good bit of time to get a lot of damage in.
Noble Presence
- Move: It’s a very fast belly-boop here he will thrust his stomach out dealing some damage and stunning you.
- Counter: You need some insane reaction speed to dodge this. It’s better to just take the hit and then dodge away. However, if you are planning to predict it and then dodge, make sure to roll to the sides.
Godskin Duo resistance and weakness in Elden Ring
Resistance
Both the Godskins have nice resistance values to all the elements including Magic, Fire, Holy, and Lightning. However, the damage negation is a bit more for Fire and Holy.
They also negate a portion of Strike damage, hence, blunt weapons will deal a little less DPS than normal.
Additionally, the resistance values to Scarlet Rot, Poison, and Frostbite are quite average, so you will be able to exploit them a few times during the fight.
Weakness
The Godskin Duo are very weak to Sleep and Hemorrhage in Elden Ring. You can put one of them to sleep and then focus on the other one, making the fight easier.
Bleed will chunk out their collective healthpool every time it procs, and as these are two different bosses, pricing Hemorrhage on one will not increase the resistance for the other.
They are weak to slash damage as well. So Katana, Sword, and Dagger builds that specialize in Bleed buildup will have a significantly easier time in the fight.
How to beat the Godskin Duo in Elden Ring
The Godskin Duo is a tough fight if you are going for more traditional means of beating them. However, there are a few cheese strats that you will be able to try which can trivialize the fight.
Below are a few tips and tricks that can help you make the boss fight manageable.
General tips for beating the Godskin Duo
- Sleepbone Arrows, Sleep Pots, Soporific Grease, or Sword of St. Trina can put one of the Godskin to sleep. This will make the fight easier as you will be facing them one at a time.
- You can also call in Knight Bernahl or another Spirit Summon to distract one of the bosses while you deal with the other Godskin. However, make sure to not use a summon if you are going for the sleep strategy. The NPC or the summon will automatically target both the Godskin even if they are asleep, and wake them up.
- Use the pillars to spam Ash of War or Dragon Communion Incantations. Stading behind the pillars will make it significantly harder for the Godskin to reach you. You can keep spamming Ash of War like Hoarfrost Stomp or any Dragon Communion spells to take them down.
Ranged build tips for the Godskin Duo
One ranged cheese strategy you can try as a mage or even as a bow-builder is to use Sleepbone Arrows to put the Godskins to sleep. Make sure that they are close together, and then spam Comet Azure on their locations.
It will trivialize the fight as you will be able to destroy their healthpool in just two spell rotations.
Apart from this, a more traditional approach to the fight as a mage will be to keep your distance, call out a summon, and spam lightning and Dragon Communion spells.
Bow-builds can easily exploit both the Hemorrhage and Sleep status effects. They have a much easier time in the encounter.
Melee build tips for the Godskin Duo
Traditional Melee builds will struggle quite a bit in the fight. So make it easier by using the pillars, calling a summon, and abusing the Hoarfrost Stomp strategy. A mimic can also make the fight easier if you both keep spamming the Ash of War.
Even if you are going for a pure Slash-Bleed build, you will need to look for your opportunities to go in. Getting greedy with your DPS will get you staggered and killed instantly.
Use the General Tips from above to take on the boss one Godskin at a time.
Once you reduce the shared HP pool to zero, the Godskin Duo will drop 170,000 Runes, Smithing-Stone Miners Bell Bearing, and the Black Flame Tornado Ash of War.
