Giangurgolo is a frightening foe when you face him for the first time in Enotria: The Last Song, but even kings of the Coliseum can be usurped. And in his own words: “This day, a bloodline ends.” But it isn’t going to be yours, Maskless.
The Chimera beast is found to the right of the Coliseum knot in Falesia Magna, and he’s one you definitely won’t want to miss. Not only does he have one of the coolest monologues, he also offers a truly fun—albeit difficult—boss fight experience.
Here’s a few tips and tricks for besting Giangurgolo in Enotria: The Last Song.
Recommended items, weapons, and Mask Lines
You should equip a weapon that builds some sort of status effect. I used the Emerald Maiden saber, which builds Sick, and I upgraded that sucker four times before this fight. Inflicting Giangurgolo with Sick causes his health to slowly tick down, but you must first build up to that status by striking him several times. Which of Enotria’s many Masks you bring is entirely up to you, but I prefer the Guise of Zanni for its increased health charges. You’ll also want to pick the Hardened Stone, which negates the most physical melee damage of all the Parry Gems.
Like your Mask, Mask Perks will largely depend on your playstyle. My favorite build’s all about regaining and sustaining health, so I opted for perks like Stalwart Duelist from the Bruiser class, which heals you on any perfect parries, and Inner Abundance, which heals you when you use a Mask Line.
Ranged Mask Lines work well against Giangurgolo, since he’ll frequently leap away from you to regain control of a fight. I brought two ranged Lines to the fight: Impaling Arrow and Plagued Lights. For my other two Lines, I chose the Grand Celebration (if you have the Guise of Zanni equipped, why not?) and Furlana since it charges so quickly. Because Giangurgolo is quick in his movements and attacks, you may want to avoid any Lines that have a long casting time.
As soon as you start the fight, pop an item like an Ammonia Sap, which restores health whenever you attack. Warrior’s Brew’s also a solid choice here since it bolsters physical defense. And since Giangurgolo is mostly a melee attacker, you’ll benefit greatly from amping up your defense stat, even if it’s just for a short time. Just make sure to use these items after you’ve entered the arena; as soon as you step foot into a boss fight, the game’ll remove your buffs and most Mask Line charges.
I also brought throwables to this Enotria: The Last Song fight, like Astral Daggers and Malanno Vials, so I could chuck them at the Chimera whenever he wanted to create distance between us, which he does frequently throughout the fight.
Giangurgolo attack patterns, explained
First phase
Giangurgolo excels at two things: close-range attacks and closing gaps. The first attack he has, seen at 0:49 in the video above, is a leap attack, in which Giangurgolo crouches to the ground before catapulting himself in your direction. This is a tricky skill to dodge or parry, but you’ll want to parry as soon as he’s done crouching.
He typically follows this attack up with a few swipes from his paw (0:53). Giangurgolo will pull his paw back, giving you a fraction of a second to parry or dodge. These are fairly simple moves to counter, but it might take you a few tries before you get the hang of it. He’ll also intermittently rear up on his hind legs (0:57), before slamming his body back to the ground. Once you see him begin his descent, use your parry to block the incoming damage.
The last melee attack you need to keep an eye out for in the first phase of the boss fight is a second leap attack (1:26) that uses Malanno, one of the elemental forms of damage. Giangurgolo preps for this attack by crouching to the side, as shown in the image below. His tail will glow green before he leaps towards you, swinging his haunches in your direction. The key to parrying this attack is to wait until he’s close to you; there’s a fraction of a delay between his arrival and the whip of his tail—the latter is what you need to actually defend yourself from. If you’re hit by his tail, you’ll be inflicted with the Sick ailment and will take Malanno damage over time.
Occasionally, when you’ve landed enough hits, Giangurgolo will leap backwards away from you. He’ll slowly creep towards you, giving you enough time to pop a heal or an item. If you have any ranged Mask Lines charged up or throwable items, this is also an optimal time to use them.
Stack up his Unraveling gauge to land a finisher hit, which will do massive damage. Once you’ve gotten Giangurgolo down to around half health, he’ll enter his second phase.
Second phase
Giangurgolo will continue to use the attacks above, but he gains access to a charging attack, seen at (2:10), once he enters his second phase. His eyes will glow a bright white, and he’ll run from one side of the arena to the next. When he gets to the other side, he pauses briefly to spin around and face you once more. There’s not a ton of time to pull off a heal here, but if you time it correctly, you can restore some health right before he approaches you.
He will continue to charge back and forth from one side of the arena to the next until you parry him. Despite being a second-phase attack, this charge is actually fairly simple to parry; just hit the parry button right before Giangurgolo crashes into you. No, I’m not making it sound easier than it is—it’s actually fairly easy. When you parry him, he’ll recoil and give you a second or two to pull off a few free hits.
Repeat these parries while strategically weaving in a few hits here and there, and eventually the king will fall.
Giangurgolo rewards
After the boss’s second cutscene, you’ll get the following items from the Giangurgolo Role:
- Giangurgolo’s Mask
- Jaws of the Chimera (Mask Line)
- Aspect of Giangurgolo
Giangurgolo’s Mask massively increases your Status Power for a short time after dealing damage to a full-health enemy. It also clears any status effect you’re inflicted with when you become Awakened. His Aspect boosts your Bruiser, Trickster, and Elementalist stats, while also increasing physical defense by 10 percent and Status Power by 3.3 percent.
His Line, Jaws of the Chimera, is a powerful attack with the following effect: “Summon an Ardore projection of Giangurgolo’s indomitable spirit that viciously bites nearby targets.” With a Grave charging speed, however, it’s one of the slowest-charging Lines in the game. It’s a trade-off, but the damage it can deal makes it worthy of a Coliseum ruler like yourself.
