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Iudex Gundyr is a boss in Dark Souls III.

Description[]

Gundyr towers above a normal man. He wears intricate cast-iron armor and wields a halberd. On his back, oily black tendrils indicate that he is infested with the Pus of Man.

Location[]

Found in the Cemetery of Ash, near the entrance to Firelink Shrine. He is first found kneeling down and is immune to damage. Once the sword in his chest has been removed, he will rise and the battle will begin.

Lore[]

Main article: Champion Gundyr

Fight overview[]

Strategy[]

Gundyr cannot be damaged until the Coiled Sword has been removed from his chest. Once done, he will begin to rise and is vulnerable to damage, even though his health bar won't appear until he has taken up his weapon. This allows the player to deal substantial damage at the beginning of the fight without Gundyr retaliating.

While his attacks seem menacing and aggressive, most of them have poor tracking, are very slow, and are also amply telegraphed. Retaining a medium distance from him will help to avoid his attacks accordingly. Rolling either behind him, through his attacks or both will allow the player to punish Gundyr with several hits at a time.

When about half of his health has been depleted, a gigantic Pus of Man will emerge from within his body and change the mechanics of the battle considerably. While impressive at first, this incarnation also suffers severely from poor tracking, although it does have a higher damage output.

Remaining behind Gundyr and rolling according to the attack he uses is an effective method for avoiding damage in this second half of the fight. Most of his attacks make him pause to recover, which allows the player to land successive attacks.

In keeping a long distance from Gundyr, he will become more aggressive. As such, backing too far away can result in Gundyr dealing great amounts of damage to an unprepared player.

Drops[]

Item Coiled Sword
Coiled Sword
Drop Rate Guaranteed

Notes[]

  • Gundyr can be parried and riposted during both phases of the fight.
  • Gundyr can be staggered. Staggers cannot be followed by a riposte, but Instability damage will be inflicted for the duration of the animation.
  • Despite appearing similar to the Pus of Man enemies, neither Phase 1 nor Phase 2 are weak to fire.
  • In shooting Gundyr in the head with a bow during the brief period between him standing and his health bar appearing, Gundyr will be permanently frozen in place and unable to fight back. As such, he can be killed without any real fight.

Trivia[]

  • Iudex is Latin for "judge" and Gund is the old Germanic word for battle. This is an apt name for this boss as it guards the Coiled Sword and judges who is worthy to proceed to Firelink Shrine and bring the Lords of Cinder to their thrones.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Music[]

Tsukasa_Saitoh_-_Iudex_Gundyr_(Extended)_(Dark_Souls_III_Extended_Original_Soundtrack)

Tsukasa Saitoh - Iudex Gundyr (Extended) (Dark Souls III Extended Original Soundtrack)

See also[]

References[]

Bosses
Iudex GundyrVordt of the Boreal ValleyCurse-rotted GreatwoodCrystal Sage
Deacons of the DeepAbyss WatchersHigh Lord WolnirOld Demon King
Pontiff SulyvahnAldrich, Devourer of GodsYhorm the Giant
Dancer of the Boreal ValleyOceiros, the Consumed KingChampion Gundyr
Dragonslayer ArmourLorian, Elder Prince and Lothric, Younger Prince
Ancient WyvernThe Nameless KingSoul of Cinder
Ashes of Ariandel
Champion's Gravetender and Gravetender GreatwolfSister FriedeFather Ariandel
The Ringed City
Demon PrinceHalflight, Spear of the ChurchDarkeater MidirSlave Knight Gael
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