Champion Gundyr is essentially the true form of the first boss you’ll face in Dark Souls 3, although he will not transform into the sludge monstrosity like before this time. How to defeat the boss? What is he weak to? What strategies can you use to beat it? All will be answered in this ultimate guide to beating Champion Gundyr in Dark Souls 3.
Champion Gundyr employs a somewhat similar moveset as his tutorial boss counterpart. However, he is incredibly aggressive, giving you smaller windows to attack. You will be severely punished for getting greedy with your attacks, so do not overextend your openings. He becomes even harder after his second phase.
Let’s take a detailed look at some of the best combat strategies and tips for defeating Champion Gundyr in Dark Souls 3.
Is Champion Gundyr Optional?
Champion Gundyr is an optional boss. He must before defeated if you are going for “The End of Fire” ending.
Strategies for Defeating Champion Gundyr
Here are some strategies for defeating Champion Gundyr you can use depending on the build you opted for in Dark Souls 3:
Melee Strategy
In this fight, there are no holds barred as Champion Gundyr brings it fast and hard. As you approach him, he will come to life. Keep your shield up and circle to your right dodging and blocking if necessary. If you get greedy, he will punish you, so only attack once after a successful dodge or block unless you want to trade damage.
This boss is particularly susceptible to bleed, so that might be perfectly acceptable in this case, as you will need to hit him often and quickly to fill his bleed bar.
Be wary when behind him as he will try to kick you after one attack. It’s easy to dodge, and you can start to predict it by your positioning after a short while.
Keep moving to your right and keep dodging, only attacking once when you have an opening if you want to play it safe.
In phase 2, he will do an AoE knockback and then charge you with his halberd. Getting caught in this attack will all but kill you.
Back away and dodge to the right at the last second, or you can dodge straight forward into him, as this puts the spin of his halberd behind you, missing you entirely.
This phase is extremely difficult as he gives few openings, and if you lose patience and try to get greedy, you can get yourself killed. Don’t heal unless you are 110% certain you can pull it off, and dodge instead if you don’t think you can.
Dodging is the key to this fight. You will need to dodge far more than you attack in this phase. Don’t be upset if he still hits you now and again; it’s going to happen; you’re just trying to limit the number of times it happens.
Magic/Pyromancy Strategy
Magic and Pyromancy build will find this boss extremely perilous. His aggression will make it next to impossible for you to cast your spells from a distance.
Gundyr will relentlessly hunt you down where ever you run in the arena, and the second phase will only push things up a notch. You shouldn’t employ the regular staying at a distance and lobbing spells strategy used by mages.
Instead, opt for a more face-to-face approach. As discussed before, stay close to him and dodge his every move with precision. Roll behind him every chance you get, forcing him to stop his combo and try to face you. This will push him to use shorter moveset which you can easily identify.
Every now and then, he will perform moves that have longer recovery time, like his overhead attack and sideswipe. Use these openings to cast fast firing spells only. You won’t get time to use lengthier casting spells.
Talismans with Unfaltering Prayer skills will be quite beneficial as they will allow you to absorb some damage without breaking the casting. Lightning and Sunlight Spear spells will do more damage, while Great Soul Arrow and Great Farron Dart will be faster to shoot.
As for Pyromancers, the Chaos Bed Vestiges will be particularly useful as the boss’s hitbox is huge and will take the brunt of the spell.
What is Champion Gundyr Weak To?
Champion Gundyr is weak to the following damage types:
- Strike Damage
- Lightning
- Frost
- Bleed
What is Champion Gundyr Resistant / Immune to?
Champion Gundyr is resistant and immune to the following damage types:
Resistant to:
- Slash Damage
- Poison
- Toxic
Immune to:
- Nothing
Can You Parry Champion Gundyr?
Champion Gundyr can be parried. You can perform a riposte after the parry as well.
Can You Cheese Champion Gundyr?
In order to cheese Champion Gundyr, you must enter the arena and initiate the fight. As soon as the boss starts moving towards you, bait him back to the fog gate area with the stairs and the tombstone walls (as seen in the picture above).
Once he is in this area, run out to the arena, immediately turn right, and place yourself on the other side of the tombstone wall.
This way, the boss will start to attack you through the wall and will not circle around to you. Use this opportunity to use either Pestilent Mist, Pison Mist, or Storyteller’s Staff’s Weapon Art. The attack you choose will hit through the wall and slowly tick away his health.
Poison Mist or Storyteller’s Staff’s Weapon Art is preferred as the effect stays active for longer and can be reapplied from a greater distance. Pestilent Mist has to be fired from closer, and that can get you hit or trigger the boss to come out.
Try to stay in the corner edge (refer to the pic above) of this area as not only some of his attacks can hit you through the wall but there is a slight chance that he will come around the wall. The indicated edge will prevent that from happening altogether. If by chance he does break away from his “prison” simply bait him again to the area and repeat the process.
If you do things right, you won’t have to lift a finger from the occasional reapplying of the poison. Just witness as this hard-as-nail boss crumples.
You might feel a rush of confidence when facing Champion Gundyr since he was comparatively a pushover when the first time you faced him. Nevertheless, do not get fooled by this as this dude is not a slouch.