Gladius, Beast of Night is a Nightlord boss in Elden Ring Nightreign, and the only Nightlord available to face in the Network Test Beta. Gladius is encountered on Day 3 of the Tricephalos expedition. Gladius is a three-headed wolf bearing some resemblance to the Red Wolf of Radagon, though he uses a giant sword whip and breathes fire. He can also split himself in three, evening the odds against the Nightfarer party.

Learn more about Gladius, Beast of Night in our boss guide below:

Gladius, Beast of Night Location

Gladius is the Nightlord and final boss of the Tricephalos expedition, meaning you will only face him if you can reach Day 3. Upon defeating the Day 2 Night Boss, you will be teleported to the Spirit Shelter, a safe room where you can level up, upgrade weapons, and buy Elden Ring items.

Gladius, Beast of Night Boss Guide

Gladius will spawn somewhere in the middle of the boss arena shortly after you and your Nightfarer crew enter. He is large, fast-moving, and wields a sword whip that can hit from very far away. The best approach is to let Wylder or Guardian take aggro while the Duchess and Recluse hit from afar or from behind. Gladius jumps around unpredictably, making charge attacks hard to land. Instead, opt for jumping attacks or short-light attack combos. Never stick around for too long, hit and run is usually the safest bet.

The first thing to note is the various lunge and bite attacks Gladius has. There are quick multi-bite lunges, and slower bites which use all three heads. You can usually differentiate based on Gladius's stance, with the heavy attacks being slower and usually signaled by Gladius rearing back on his hind legs. If you have a shield these can mostly be blocked, though your stance might get broken. Otherwise, you will need to dodge into them as he approaches, which lets you get in one or two light attacks if you do it successfully. This also applies to the individual wolves once Gladius splits.

Gladius has two sword whip attacks to look out for. First, he will raise the sword straight up into the air, then slam it down on his target in a straight line. For this one, you just need to get out of the direct path by strafing left or right. If you are close to him when he is readying the attack, you can get some attacks into his side or back.

The other comes out much more quickly, Gladius gets onto his hind legs and raises the sword above his head before spinning in a circle, slashing a huge area around him. The sword swings around two times, so either put your shield up or dodge roll towards him twice as the sword approaches to avoid the hits. If you are close to Gladius, there is a chance the sword can just go right over your head (more likely if he is standing on higher ground than you).

From range, Gladius has a fire breath attack that hits a wire in front of him. This move is signaled by his mouth becoming full of fiery lava, which he then spews forth toward his target. You can avoid this by strafing left or right, out of the space directly ahead of him (Gladius can also use this move when split in three, though the area covered is smaller).

One of his more dangerous attacks is his bite, which is signaled by his mouth glowing purple. They light up one by one, which serves as sort of a countdown. When the third mouth lights up, he will bite down on his target. Thanks to the obvious signals, this one is easy to avoid by simply running directly away from Gladius.

Another powerful attack is his flaming sword strike. Gladius's middle mouth will fill up with fire, then he will spin around and raise his flaming sword into the air.

He then sticks the sword in the ground and sweeps it toward his current target, unleashing a massive trail of flames that deals huge damage. This is another one where you simply need to straighten out of the way. It takes a long time to charge up, so try and get to his side or behind him. If you are the target, try and draw the attack away from your squad as you avoid it.

When Gladius begins to glow red, he is about to split into three parts. He will turn into three fireballs and spread out across the arena. This is your best opening to heal, use Elden Ring items, or revive teammates as the three wolves will not start attacking you immediately upon spawning. If you have a Duchess Ultimate available, this is a perfect time to use it. Your attacks will not draw aggro until you reappear, letting you get a lot of free hits onto the three wolves.

While split in three, Gladius may be even more threatening. It is difficult to keep an eye on three enemies at once, as they will occasionally choose to double or even triple team one Nightfarer. They are quick-moving and hard to hit, I would recommend sticking to jump attack hits and runs for relatively safe damage.

The wolves will most often use one of two attacks: a double bite melee attack, or the ranged fire breath attack detailed above. Do not stay in front of your target wolf, instead be constantly strafing trying to strike the back or side.

Note that one of the wolves still has the sword whip, and will still use the long-range slash attacks that the main Gladius uses. Do your best to keep an eye on the sword wolf so as not to be caught off guard by the more dangerous sword strikes. If you can, just play defensively until Gladius recombines.

If you do decide to get aggressive, try and focus your efforts on one of the wolves. If you manage to get a stun, maybe with the Wylder or Guardian ultimate, you can get in a huge amount of damage while the wolf is downed.

The recombine is signaled by one of the wolves glowing red again, just like he did before the split. The animation is kind of long, so this is a great opening to prepare and land a big attack on the main Gladius once he fully appears.

This can be a long fight, especially if he keeps splitting, so play safely and take any small damage you can get. If you are the target, hide behind your shield or stay just outside his range while your teammates sneak up and hit his sides and back. If you are a damaged character, do not use a lot of slow attacks or charge attacks because Gladius will often jump or lunge unexpectedly. Jump attacks are best for building up stagger, and if you are Wylder consider using the uncharged version of your ultimate to ensure it hits. Goes without saying that a stagger on the main Gladius is rare, and you will get a ton of damage in if you manage it.