Nightreign is home to eight different Nightlords that you and your fellow Nightfarer’s will be coming up against, and the first of them is Tricephalos. As a huge, three-headed dog that’s capable of splitting into three dogs and scattering fire across the arena, he’s quite the opponent. Honestly, however, he has nothing on some of Nightreign’s later bosses.
In this guide, we’ve walked you through everything you need to know about Tricephalos so that none of his moves catch you off guard and you know exactly how to manage him. So without further ado, here’s how to beat Tricephalos in Nightreign.
How to beat Tricephalos in Elden Ring Nightreign
First things first, there are some key things to keep in mind during your Expedition to beat Tricephalos in Nightreign. Bearing these in mind while exploring, and therefore finding gear or items catered to countering the Nightlord, will make your fight against them that little bit easier.
- Tricephalos is weak to Holy Damage
- Tricephalos deals Physical and Fire Damage, so look for Physical Damage Negation and Fire Damage Negation passive effects or dormant powers
The main attacks in the Tricephalos’ arsenal throughout the fight are as follows:
- Sword Swing – the beast will grab the sword on its back and swing it around at a large range using the chain it is attached to, and he typically does this two times in quick succession. You can see when he is gearing up for this as the sword will go up into the air. To counter it, you can run very far away or will need to time your dodge roll. You are not safe if you are behind the boss, either, as his sword swings in a very wide arc!
- Bite Attack – Tricephalos, when up close, will turn its head and bite you if you aren’t careful. You can dodge any direction to avoid these, but you should ultimately try attacking it from the side or behind to avoid its bite.
- Grab Attack – if you aren’t careful, the Tricephalos can grab you in its mouth and pin you to the ground, allowing the other heads to begin gnawing at you. Fortunately, you can tell when the beast is going in for a grab as they begin to glow purple. When this happens, you do not want to be anywhere near the beast’s jaws.
- Fire Breath – on occasion, Tricephalos will channel the power of Elden Ring’s dragons and begin breathing fire at you. You’ll want to run away from this until he’s done.
Once Tricephalos reaches approximately 75% HP remaining, his second phase begins. He’ll turn himself into three fiery balls and zoom around the arena before separating into three separate dogs, and he will now also be dealing Fire Damage regularly.
Bear in mind that only one of the dogs will possess the Tricephalos’ sword, meaning this specific pup will have some extra attacks to look out for as opposed to the two other swordless dogs. Attacking any of the three dogs will reduce Tricephalos’ HP bar, so as a team, you want to focus on one dog each.
After a period of time, Tricephalos will merge together again and the whole trio can focus on him, though he will still have some fiery attacks to look out for and can separate into three dogs again at any time. Watch out for him turning into a fiery ball, as this means he is separating and your team needs to prepare to aggro one dog each.
Watch out for the main dog (the dog with the sword on its back) roaring while in the unmerged state. This battle-cry causes all three dogs to aggro your team and their eyes will glow red; as long as their eyes are glowing, you have a higher chance of being able to stagger them (and as a result, dim their eyes and dull their aggression).
It’s also worth noting that any stance damage you do to Tricepheros while it is merged also applies when it is separated into three dogs and vice versa.
While in his second phase, there are some more attacks you’ll want to look out for:
- Explosive Plunge – Tricephalos jumps into the air before diving and plunging his sword into the ground, causing an explosive AoE blast. When you see him jumping, you and your team want to run behind the beast, away from the blast, or attempt to dodge through it.
- Wave of Fire – using his now-blazing sword, Tricephalos can unleash a large wave of fire. The best way to avoid this is by dodging forward, into it, in an attempt to miss the wave of fire completely.
For more on Elden Ring Nightreign, take a look at our Duchess build guide, our Ironeye build guide, and our tips and tricks for successful runs.