Of all the many bosses found in Dark Souls 3, Champion Gundyr can pose one of the biggest challenges due to his relentless attacks that seem to be powered by a near-infinite amount of stamina. He is the exact combination of fast and strong that makes it difficult to land hits as well as block, parry, or dodge his assaults accordingly.
Even caster builds have a tough time against him because of how quickly he can close distance, giving the player very few opportunities to unleash their most powerful spells. However, there are windows that can be taken advantage of as well as other strategies that can help the Ashen One overcome this champion from the past. If one has the patience and reflexes to do so, that is.
5 Melee Strategy #1: Parry His Jabs
Gundyr’s moveset is erratic and some of his attacks are hard to see coming, which makes attempts to parry them very challenging if attempted on the fly. Instead, pick an attack to try and bait him into using so that one’s parry attempts can have a better chance of being successful. It is recommended to use a small shield for this, as they have wider parry windows.
One of the easiest of his attacks to do this with is his long-ranged jab. Players can trigger Champion Gundyr into using this thrusting maneuver by standing approximately the length of this halberd from him. Standing too close will let him initiate one of his combos and being too far will cause him to do his jumping attack or reckless charge.
The proper timing to repel his jab is to initiate a parry as he just begins to thrust. Since the lead-up to this attack is longer than most of his other strikes, it is a bit easier to see coming, despite the parry window still being relatively small. Just be sure to look at his body, particularly his weapon arm, as his halberd itself is harder to visually track due to its speed. After being parried, Gundyr stays staggered for quite a long time; long enough that the player can hit him with a regular attack, perform a riposte, and hit him once again before he gets up.
4 Melee Strategy #2: Irithyll Rapier
Utilizing fast attacks while maintaining a constant guard is another way to face Champion Gundyr head-on. The fast attacks allow one to deal damage to the boss and the constant guard prevents him from doing the same to the player. Equipping any medium shield with 100% physical damage reduction is crucial for this strategy, and although Spears allow one to do shield pokes, they are too slow and require too much stamina for this strategy to be truly effective, so one should use a Thrusting Sword instead.
One of the best weapons for this tactic is the Irithyll Rapier, which has the innate frost effect which can greatly hinder Gundyr’s massive stamina bar and make this fight easier. Despite being able to block all of the incoming damage with one’s medium shield of choice, one should not try to tank all of them. Instead, only raise the shield to guard while one plans on attacking, for this will save a great deal of stamina. Dodge Gundyr’s attacks to avoid damage and poke from behind a shield to attack with near impunity. Just watch out for his grab attack, which cannot be blocked.
3 Spell Strategy #1: Miracles
Champion Gundyr has a weakness to Lightning damage, though he will almost never give the player a chance to unleash the strongest miracles that unload powerful shocking bolts. It is instead recommended to use one of the fastest instead of the strongest ones, specifically Lightning Arrow. This miracle can be cast fairly quickly, though, the player should not try to shoot the boss from long-range, as Gundyr will simply leap or charge towards them before more than a single zap can be slung.
One way to get around this is to use the Unfaltering Prayer skill that is common on most Talismans over trying to get more power per cast from Sacred Chimes. This will let one poise through one or two of Gundyr’s lighter attacks to unleash a spell, though if this route is taken, it is recommended to have plenty of healing items and to use Lightning Spear over Lightning Arrow to get more damage per cast. If one is intent on hit and run tactics using Lightning Arrow, they should stay somewhat close to Gundyr, just outside the optimal parry range for his jab attacks, as this is the sweet spot where the delays between his attacks can be most abused for easier spellcasting.
2 Spell Strategy #2: Pyromancies
Much like with the miracle-casting strategy, ones using pyromancies should be implemented mid-range from Gundyr so that one does not accidentally trigger his leaping or charging attacks. Be sure to also wait for an opening, for getting greedy can lead to a swift death due to caster builds not being able to tank very many hits.
This boss is not particularly weak to Fire damage, however, he is not resistant to it either. A great spell to use against the Champion is Chaos Bed Vestiges, as its wider than average hitbox connects with the tall warrior’s enough to make it more useful than Great Chaos Fireball and its lava that Gundyr will almost never stay in.
1 Cheese Strategy
When all else fails, there is an almost guaranteed strategy to make one’s fight against Champion Gundyr trivial. After defeating the Sword Master who is located just outside Firelink Shrine, he will appear as a potential summon outside of Gundyr’s boss room next to the fog wall if one is embered.
Being a literal machine that specializes in parrying, the Sword Master will very easily be able to parry the Champion’s attacks and render him helpless against the player’s ripostes. Simply allow the summoned swordsman to take Gundyr’s aggro, wait for him to parry the boss, and then swoop in for free ripostes. Rinse and repeat until the Gundyr is dead.
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