In Elden Ring, Fire Giant stands not just tall, but also between you and the Forge of the Giants, where you’ll need to visit to get to the game’s later regions. Taking down the fiery fiend is no simple task–that is, unless you use one particular method that most Elden Ring players would aptly refer to as “cheese,” or exploiting holes in the game’s design in such a way that makes a battle tremendously easy. The Fire Giant cheese method comes to us via YouTuber TagBackTV. Still, some players refuse to cheese enemies in a Soulsborne game, so we’ve covered both methods here. Here’s what you need to do.
Elden Ring Fire Giant fight
You’ll encounter Fire Giant in the Mountaintop of the Giants region, wandering the frozen tundra. He is a mandatory boss, so there’s no getting around him. How you approach him across both phases will be based on whether you want to fight fair or cheese the encounter.
First phase
If you wish to make your Fire Giant filet without the cheese, here’s what you should do. If your Mimic Tear is well upgraded, spawn it to assist you right away–it’s still quite helpful even after being nerfed. An underdeveloped Mimic Tear will still help, but you may want to wait until phase two to spawn it.
Charge at the Fire Giant (yes, really), dodge his initial attack, and target his left ankle / Achilles’ heel. This is his weakest spot, and you should spend most of your time slashing away at it. Fire Giant is tall and scary, but you can dodge his moves with good timing–plus Mimic Tear should do a lot of tanking to assist. Keep targeting his braided ankle until he falls in agony and enters phase two.
First phase – cheese method
Hop on Torrent and charge straight for Fire Giant. Here he may do one of two moves, the same as if you weren’t cheesing: a vertical smash with his giant shield or a horizontal sweeping attack. In either case, you can roll out of harm’s way.
If you get your timing right, Fire Giant will then be behind you, right where you’ll want him. Your job will be to lure him like the Pied Piper to the cliffside shown in the image below–identified most easily by the square-ish rock. Wait for the big lug to close the distance between himself and you, and just as he goes to perform another attack, just off the cliff and to the landmass below and to the right of the square-ish rock.
From where you land, stay near the cliffside and wait for Fire Giant to climb the rock mass you were just next to. He will sort of glitch his way atop the rocks rather than truly climb it. He may try more attacks from this position, but they should not hit you. If they do, you may have been too close, so reset a bit farther back while still ensuring he gives chase until he’s atop that rock you just left behind.
Eventually Fire Giant will try another attack that will end with him briefly floating off of the rock. When his attack animation ends, he’ll fall and take enough damage to begin phase two.
Second phase
Fire Giant’s new look is somehow more intimidating than before. Now his hands will be engulfed in flames and his stomach, rather nauseatingly, turns into a mouth–enough is enough, Miyazaki! If you haven’t spawned your Mimic Tear yet, do so now. Fire Giant’s new move set will add fireballs that can come at you dangerously fast or strangely slow.
You’ll want to keep targeting the same ankle / heel as before, and so long as your Mimic Tear is eating damage on your behalf, this phase won’t pose much more of an issue than the previous one. Note that his attacks do have incredible range, so even if you’re going after him as a conjurer, Fire Giant can probably reach you. You may be better off staying in close and just let the Mimic Tear do its thing.
Second phase – cheese method
From here, you’ll want to repeat the process as you’ve done it before, but watch out for his new attacks which include fireballs both fast- and slow-moving. Lure Fire Giant back to the square-ish rock cliffside, leap down and to the right when he’s about to perform an attack, then give yourself some extra distance while you wait for the deliberate monster to catch up to you.
It will take longer than last time, and some of his fire attacks may even glitch through the rock formation he will eventually stand on again, so watch for those and dodge or block as needed–armor and shields good against fire damage are ideal here just in case you can’t dodge some of the glitchy attacks.
In time, Fire Giant will return to the top of the rock formation, perform an attack that pulls him off the side, hang there for one glitchy moment, then fall to his death permanently.
Fire Giant item drops
Fire Giant drops a bulky 180,000 Runes and the Remembrance of the Fire Giant consumable, which can be sold for another 30,000 Runes or traded at the Roundtable Hold for a new weapon (Giant’s Red Braid) and incantation (O, Flame!). For more on Elden Ring, refer to our complete Elden Ring guides hub.
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