How To Defeat Tricephalos in Elden Ring Nightreign (Gladius, Beast of Night)

Learn about Tricephalos (Gladius, Beast of Night) in Elden Ring Nightreign, including the boss’s elemental weaknesses, and how to defeat it.

Elden Ring Nightreign (Image via FromSoftware)

The Tricephalos, i.e., Gladius, Beast of Night, is easily one of the toughest early game bosses in Elden Ring Nightreign, and rightfully so, given its position as a Nightlord. Gladius is the first Nightlord you will face, and given the game’s non-linear progression system, it’s going to prove to be a major roadblock for a lot of newcomers. However, once you figure out how to counter most of Galdius’ attacks, it becomes a rather simple boss fight, one that you can overcome even when playing solo. However, learning Gladius and his movesets can be quite a challenge in itself. This is primarily due to the game’s rogue-like nature as well as limited progression systems.

To help with the boss fight, here’s a comprehensive guide on how to defeat Tricephalos in Elden Ring Nightreign. Do note that this guide works for all Nightfarers. However, we will mention a few recommended party compositions that have a better chance at defeating the boss without any major issues.

Overview of Tricephalos in Elden Ring Nightreign

Tricephalos in Elden Ring Nightreign (Image via FromSoftware)

Tricephalos is the first Nightlord you will face in Elden Ring Nightreign, and one that you need to overcome in order to progress through the game. While the boss isn’t particularly challenging on its own, its massive HP bar as well as aggression make it a force to be reckoned with. Much like other bosses and enemies in Nightreign, Tricephalos is optimized for co-op. In fact, it’s one of the few bosses that has the ability to split into multiple mini-bosses to track every player in the arena. However, due to its predictable attacks, it’s one of the easiest Nightlords in the game. Once you figure out the Tricephalos’ moveset, you can easily defeat it, even in the single-player mode.

However, the biggest hurdle most players will face against Tricephalos is not the boss itself, but the game’s progression system. Unlike in the original Elden Ring, Nightreign does not feature a character progression system. While you can use Relics to power up your Nightfarers, you will still need to start every new Expedition at Level 1. From there, you need to work your way to Level 12, or preferably Level 13, to even stand a chance at victory against Gladius. However, if you know the boss’s weaknesses, you can optimize your run for just that.

Weaknesses of Tricephalos (Gladius)

Gladius, Beast of Night, is weak to Holy, Magic, Scarlet Rot, Bleed, and Frost. However, if you want to be efficient, your best option is Holy. With Holy weapons, you can easily stance-break and stagger Gladius, and follow up with critical hits. Furthermore, using Holy also reduces the frequency of the boss splitting into multiple entities.

Apart from Holy, Bleed and Rot work incredibly well against the boss. You can also try Poison against Gladius. However, it’s not all that effective and doesn’t deal nearly enough damage compared to other affinities. Apart from that, the boss is also prone to stance-breaking from Colossal Weapons; as such, you will find classes like Raider quite effective.

Tips To Easily Defeat Tricephalos (Gladius)

Raider in Elden Ring Nightreign (Image via FromSoftware)

Here are some tips that should help you easily defeat Tricephalos (Galdius, Beast of Night):

Tricephalos always starts the boss fight with a three-hit combo that you can avoid by either rolling, sprinting away, or jumping. However, we recommend rolling towards the boss twice, as this not only allows you to avoid taking damage, but also lets you immediately retaliate with a character skill.
The ideal composition for Tricephalos is Radier, Guardian, and Ironeye. You can go with Duchess in the place of the Guardian. However, Duchess isn’t unlocked until you’ve defeated Tricephalos, and she’s also a very squishy character.
The safest way to defeat Tricephalos is to keep applying Holy damage to the boss using Ironeye, while the tanks (Raider and Guardian) keep the boss distracted. You can also use Executor for Bleed damage. However, Holy works better in this case.
Once the boss splits into three, instead of going for all of them, pick a single target and focus damage on that. Despite splitting into three entities, Tricephalos shares a single health bar. Ideally, you want to stick close to the boss with the chain-sword on its back.
Once you deal enough damage to the boss, it will converge into a single entity once again. At 30% HP, Gladius will enter enraged mode, which makes it harder to keep a lock on the boss. However, using Holy damage and Ultimate Arts can help you here.
Make sure not to exhaust your Ultimate Arts during the final stretch of the battle. Keep them reserved for the 30% HP phase, or to revive fallen allies.