The Elden Ring Sir Gideon Ofnir boss fight against the All-Knowing leader of the Roundtable Hold is a surprising moment of betrayal! Arguably the closest thing you have to a mentor or working boss in Elden Ring has turned on you, as Gideon Ofnir's priorities have changed and now he has no intention of letting you take the throne as Elden Lord.
Still, that doesn't mean we have to listen to him, and this master mage, though comparatively manageable when held against the boss fights that have come before, can still be a threat if not taken seriously. Armed with a wide variety of some of the Elden Ring best spells, Ofnir is no slouch and can do a lot of damage with just a wave of his hand, so we'll show you how to beat the Elden Ring Sir Gideon Ofnir boss fight below, with tips, tricks, strategies, what rewards you'll get, and even some secret Gideon Ofnir cheese methods if you need them.
How to beat the Sir Gideon Ofnir boss fight in Elden Ring
To beat the Sir Gideon Ofnir boss fight in Elden Ring, you'll need to have a general understanding of how to deal with magic and spellcasting, as Ofnir is a glass-cannon mage who can summon a variety of spells - all spells the player's capable of finding, in fact! Those who're familiar with PVP might actually find him more manageable than most, as Ofnir has all the same rules and restrictions as any Tarnished mage build. However, Ofnir has a large library of spells, as befits somebody known as the All-Knowing, including both sorceries and incantations. We'll outline some basic tips for you below, or how you can cheese him beneath that if he's still giving you trouble.
Tips and tricks to prepare for the Sir Gideon Ofnir boss fight
Because of Ofnir's particularly odd approach to combat - aka, just slinging a ton of mismatched magic at the player - certain builds and approaches will do much better than others, and consequently have to be set up before you actually wander into Erdtree Sanctuary. We've outlined some important steps you can take to make yourself harder to kill before going up against him, as well as what you can bring in yourself to take him down.
- The recommended level for the Sir Gideon Ofnir boss fight is 115, with weapons of +20 or higher. If you're struggling to kill him and haven't reached this tier of power, maybe go and explore somewhere else first and train up.
- Ofnir's purely-magical approach means most shields won't be up to the challenge of protecting you, and certainly won't be as good as throwing yourself out of the way. Heavy builds will have trouble here, so go in light and agile, a medium-weight build at most.
- Speaking of which, Ofnir's attacks do a variety of damage types, depending on what he's casting: Magic, Holy, Fire, Bleed, Scarlet Rot, but almost never physical damage types. Consider your armor choices accordingly.
- Spirit Summons that act aggressively and don't let up will help a lot here. Ofnir' standard spellcasting means he can be knocked out of attack animations easily, so groups of angry minions or berserker warriors can help disorient him and stop him from casting those with bigger windups.
- Ofnir actually gains two additional spells if the player has beaten certain bosses, as befits his role as a researcher. If you've killed Mohg, Lord of Blood he'll know the Bloodboon bleed-inflicting attack, and if you've killed Malenia, Blade of Miquella he'll know her lethal Scarlet Aeonia lotus-bomb spell that inflicts Scarlet Rot. If you've yet to kill them, maybe wait until after you've dealt with Ofnir first…?
- Ofnir can heal! Being a fellow Tarnished, he has his own Flasks that he can swig in a moment of peril. He can only use one per encounter, but it restores about half his health - not ideal. The Albinuaric Pot or Winged Scythe (the centrepiece of one of our Elden Ring best builds) can deactivate a character's ability to heal for limited time and prevent him doing this. Bring the Pot at least, and you'll thank yourself for it.
Sir Gideon Ofnir strategies
Once you're inside, Ofnir will usually give the player a moment before attacking (your chance to summon or cast your own spells), but then he'll start his flurry of magic. Here's some basic strategies and techniques to consider when going up against him.
- Use the room's geometry! With ornate pillars everywhere and Ofnir almost solely using projectiles, you can use the stone as a barrier against many of his attacks.
- Ofnir's approach is a ranged one - he uses ranged spells, tries to keep his distance, doesn't have a huge health bar, rolls away when threatened, and even has a few protective spells like Law of Regression, which cancels any status effects on him.
- Play aggressively! Ofnir can be staggered easily with heavy attacks, his own spells can get cancelled out, and though he has the Law of Causality magic, which knocks back those nearby when the caster is hit too many times, you can see his torso begin to spark when it's about to "detonate", your cue to immediately roll away.
- Ofnir can be backstabbed! It's not easy to do, considering he tried to stay out of melee range, but if you can get behind him you can get the critical hit and cancel him out whatever he's doing.
- Most of his projectiles either have a homing ability, unconventional trajectory to them, or even return back to Ofnir after being fired. Be very careful about all these attacks, especially the holy boomerang discs he can shoot out, as just because something flies past you doesn't mean it's not going to try again.
- If you're also a spellcaster, you want to focus on using spells that can't easily be dodged, as Ofnir is just as agile as you are and can roll past any slow attacks. Beam attacks like the legendary Comet Azur (which he also knows) are solid choices, as are wide-reaching or fast-shooting spells that aren't so easily evaded.
Sir Gideon Ofnir cheese methods
If you're sick of being caught by blasts of magic, there's a few approaches that Gideon really can't seem to do much about at time of writing. These aren't technically exploits, only counter-strategies that can make him seem very unimpressive for a late-game boss.
- Eternal Darkness: This sorcery spell from Sellia creates a black hole that sucks in other, projectile-based magic, basically redirecting and negating most of Ofnir's spells and turning him into a sick joke. As long as you're not standing in the redirected path and make sure there's always Darkness active nearby, there's very little he can do beyond a few non-projectile magics.
- Ranni's Dark Moon/Rennala's Full Moon: More sorcery surreptitiousness, both variants of this spell fire slow-moving projectiles that cancel out and absorb any other spells that they hit along the way. Keep casting either one and using Cerulean Flasks to regain FP, and eventually your constant deluge of mystic moons will batter him to death.
- Black Blade Tiche: The best Spirit Summon is even better here, as Tiche's incredibly aggressive patterns can stop Ofnir from casting most spells. If you match Tiche's strategy and go in hard, knocking him around as much as possible, you can take down half his health before he even casts a spell.
Sir Gideon Ofnir boss fight rewards
After Sir Gideon, you'll need to know how to beat Godfrey in Elden Ring! The barbarian king is back, and more powerful than ever in this second confrontation.
Rather than get a Remembrance or a new kind of spell, Ofnir instead drops all his armor, the All-Knowing Set, as well as the Scepter of the All-Knowing, a unique hammer with Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence scaling that comes with the special "Knowledge Above All" skill. Triggering this effectively makes everybody, including the caster, slightly weaker to Magic and Holy damage. Probably decent for a certain kind of ranged build, but not great, frankly, when held up against other late-game options.
The armor's better, thankfully enough - it's pretty light for its defensive stats, and holds up well against magic attacks, appropriately enough. If you can get over the fact that the helmet has a beard made from human ears carved into it, then you might find some value in this unique set.
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