How to make Commander Gaius build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

For many, Commander Gaius is easily the most hated boss in the entirety of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, surpassing even the final boss. While Gaius' design is unique and dare I say "cool," his unpredictable moveset, coupled with some really obnoxious AOEs, make it one of the most frustrating bosses in the entire expansion.

However, if you can persevere through the battle against Commander Gaius, you will be rewarded with the most unique weapon in the game—the Sword Lance. It also happens to be one of the most powerful. Additionally, you get Gaius' armor set, which looks super cool and buffs your defenses significantly.

Given the amount of damage Gaius is capable of dealing with his Gravity Sorcery and Sword Spear, you might be curious as to how that translates into a build. The Gaius build is almost as powerful as the boss itself. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to make the Commander Gaius build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the author's opinions.

---

Breakdown of the Commander Gaius build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

The Commander Gaius build is essentially a Strength and Intelligence hybrid, akin to the Promised Consort Radahn build. However, the biggest distinction here is the use of Spells, which is something I didn't include in my Radahn build. Since Gaius makes use of Gravity Sorcery, it's quite easy to work into this build without having to waste any stat points.

The Sword Lance in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (Image via FromSoftware)

For the weapon, we're going with the Sword Lance with the Spinning Gravity Thrust Ash of War, albeit with Frost affinity. You can also go with Bleed if you prefer that. However, I found Frost to be more effective since the Sword Lance isn't particularly fast, and stacking Frostbite is more efficient than Bleed.

As for the Talismans, since the majority of the damage here is coming from the Spinning Gravity Thrust Ash of War, using the Shard of Alexander is a must. Apart from that, the Two-Handed Sword Talisman, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, and Erdtree's Favor +2 are what I went with for this build.

Here's a breakdown of the Commander Gaius build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree:

Weapon(s):

• Sword Lance +25
• Meteorite Staff

Talismans:

• Erdtree's Favor
• Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Shard of Alexander
• Two-Handed Sword Talisman

Sorcery:

• Blades of Stone
• Gravitational Missile

Armor:

• Commander Gaius's armor set

Here's the stat distribution for the build:

• Vigor: 60
• Mind: 30
• Endurance: 60
• Strength: 63
• Dexterity: 30
• Intelligence: 60
• Faith: 8
• Arcane: 8

Do note that I created the Commander Gaius build on an NG+ character at Level 240. However, you can create this build easily with any Level 180 character. And since we're not using duplicate weapons, it can be created in a base New Game playthrough as well, as long as you defeat Gaius in the DLC.

Since most of the Sorcery Spells used for this build are Gravity Spells, there's no better choice than the Meteoric Staff. Additionally, from my testing, I found the Blades of Stone and Gravitational Missile to be incredibly synergistic, especially against humanoid enemies as well as other players in PvP.

The Blades of Stone is an integral part of the Commander Gaius build (Image via FromSoftware)

Although the Commander Gaius build is quite powerful and can carry you quite far into the DLC and even the base game content, I think it's best used in Elden Ring's PvP. You can one-shot players if you land a perfect combo of attacks—Gravitational Missile, followed by Blades of Stone and finishing off with Spinning Gravity Thrust.