Yhorm the Giant is another one of the gimmick bosses in Dark Souls 3. He is a Lord of Cinder and can be quite hard or quite easy, depending on how you approach the fight. How to defeat the boss? What he is weak to? What strategies can you use to beat it? All will be answered in this ultimate guide to beating Yhorm the Giant in Dark Souls 3.
Yhorm the Giant’s arena houses the Storm Ruler greatsword, which is designed solely to take down this monstrosity. Even though this weapon exists, the boss itself has a lot of health and deals insane damage, which could turn the tables on you. Summoning Siegward during this fight will make this boss trivial.
We’ve gathered some of the best strategies to use against Yhorm the Giant in Dark Souls 3. Learn more about them through this guide.
Is Yhorm the Giant Optional?
Yhorm the Giant is not an optional boss. He is a Lord of Cinder and hence must be defeated for the game to progress.
Strategies for Defeating Yhorm the Giant
Here are some strategies for defeating Yhorm the Giant you can use depending on the build you opted for in Dark Souls 3:
Melee Strategy
This fight isn’t overly complicated but is harder to pull off than one would think. After entering the boss fog you will want to head to the item laying near the throne at the back of the room. It is the Storm Ruler greatsword and is all but required for this fight. You can kill him without it, but it would take you a relatively long time to do so.
It is rather difficult to pick up the item and equip it without getting killed, so we recommend using a Ring of Sacrifice on your first attempt if you have any amount of Souls on you worth saving.
Having equipped the sword you will need to hold L2 for 5 or so seconds to charge up its attack. Pressing R2 while still holding L2 will unleash a blast that severely damages Yhorm.
You can also charge the weapon for 5 seconds and then move normally, attack regularly and when you are ready to unleash another blast simply press and hold L2 and hit R1 to fire it off.
You will need to learn how to do this as you will not always have time to charge the attack and fire it off without getting hit. The challenge in the fight is dodging Yhorms attacks in between charges, creating enough distance between you, and getting enough time to fire off the weapon.
Since 1 hit from the boss will most likely kill you, you want to be sure you have enough time to fire. Roll through his attacks when he closes the distance and then roll away, charge up, and fire when you can.
Keep in mind that your stamina won’t start to recover for about 2 seconds after firing, so you can’t spam the weapon.
Magic Strategy
Magic builds will have a field day with this boss. You need to be aware of his movesets since he can easily one-shot you.
And his second phase distance covering attack is extremely dangerous. His normal attacks are far-reaching too, so look out for those as well. If you have these things covered you will be good to go.
The ideal build would be 60 Intelligence, a Great Heavy Soul Arrow spell, and an upgraded Logan’s Staff. Lock on to his head as it is his weakest point.
Dealing enough damage to his head will always bring him down to his knees giving you more time to pummel him with additional arrows.
With the setup discussed above, only two Soul Arrows will be sufficient to bring him down each time. The strategy is, to keep running to the opposite ends of the arena and firing the spell to bring him down, and then send more arrows to his helpless state.
Just watch out for the attacks he uses when he is about to reach you and move to the other end and repeat the process.
Do not get greedy, and the fight will be over in no time.
What is Yhorm the Giant Weak To?
Yhorm the Giant is weak to the following damage types:
- Lightning
- Dark
- Storm Ruler
What is Yhorm the Giant Resistant / Immune to?
Yhorm the Giant is resistant and immune to the following damage types:
Resistant to:
- Slash Damage
- Thrust Damage
Immune to:
- Poison
- Toxic
- Fire
- Bleed
- Frost
Can You Parry Yhorm the Giant?
Yhorm the Giant cannot be parried.
He can be staggered where he drops to his knees with enough damage to the head. You can use this opportunity to go for Riposte and deal substantial damage.
Can You Cheese Yhorm the Giant?
The fight against Yhorm the Giant can be cheesed if you have progressed Siegward’s questline. He will be available to fight this boss when you enter the arena, there is no need to summon him in this case.
What makes it cheesy is that he comes with his own Storm Ruler, and if you already have it then there he’ll go down in mere seconds.
If you don’t have the Storm Ruler, Siegward can easily solo the boss as well. All you have to do is act like bait and keep the boss’s attention on you. Be aware, Siegward can die very quickly from the boss’s attacks, and he doesn’t restore his health, so you will have to actively stop that from happening.
Hit Yhorm’s legs and move away from Siegward’s location and keep this loop. Your friend will constantly snipe him from a safe distance.
Only go for the Storm Ruler if you get an opening; otherwise, let Siegward do his thing while you provide meaningful distraction.
As you can see, the fight against Yhorm the Giant is gimmicky owing to the Storm Ruler, all the while being extremely difficult if you get caught by his attacks.
His attacks are easy to predict and dodge, so a few failed attempts will prepare you to take him down without sustaining any hits yourself.