Forge of the Giants is a significant story location that can be found in the final area of Elden Ring, which is called Mountaintops of the Giants and is found in the far north. The Mountaintops is an area that is relatively easy to navigate, consisting of a few dungeons and a major story boss that must be defeated in order to move the story forward. This page will contain walkthrough focused guide information on how to reach the Mountaintops of the Giants, how to navigate between the various Sites of Grace, and how to defeat the area boss at the very end of the area.
How to Get to Mountaintops of the Giants
After you have vanquished the boss of Leyndell, Royal Capital, the magical barrier that was blocking the bridge on the eastern edge of the city will vanish. This will allow you to cross the bridge and access the elevator on the other side of the area.
You will find yourself in the Forbidden Lands once you take the elevator down to that level. Activate and take a break at the Site of Grace just outside the elevator, and after that, hop on Torrent and begin riding down the foggy path that is in front of you.
The route here is remarkably simple and uncomplicated, as is evident from the map that has been presented previously. The only thing standing in your way are a number of members of the Vulgar Militia who are waiting to ambush you, in addition to a number of poison traps. Simply continue riding forward, ignoring the adversaries you encounter, and watch your step so you don’t fall off the ledge.
You should ride right past a Golden Seed tree just before you reach the end of the path, so make sure you keep an eye out for it and grab it along the way by the time you get there.
The Grand Lift of Rold can be found at the end of the path, and it is guarded by an additional gargoyle known as the Black Blade Kindred. This battle is extremely comparable to the one we had with the gargoyle on the ramparts of the capital. The moveset of the Gargoyle consists of a number of devastating long-range attacks, but, thankfully, they are relatively slow and easily identifiable as well. Keep your shield up, avoid attacks as best you can, and only punish significant, obvious attempts to finish off combos. This should be the general strategy for playing the game.
Because the Gargoyle’s combos can be a little deceptive and his range is much longer than you will expect, you should not assume that you can simply roll away and drink a flask between his attacks. Instead, you should prepare yourself for the possibility that you will have to dodge his attacks. Because of his lanky build, the Gargoyle can be difficult to hit at times; therefore, I would suggest using jumping heavy attacks rather than grounded attacks whenever it is possible to do so. These also deal a significant amount of topple damage, which can lead to a significant amount of punishment.
If you watch your step and remain calm, you will eventually be able to break him. If you are victorious, you will receive access to the Grand Lift of Rold in addition to the Gargoyle’s Black Blades and the Gargoyle’s Black Axe as your rewards. Carry the medallion with you as you make your way up to the lift, and then use it to activate the elevator that will take you to the Mountaintops of the Giants.
Mountaintops of the Giants Walkthrough
As soon as you step off the elevator and begin descending the mountain path in front of you, you will quickly come across a map of the surrounding region. Get a hold of it, and then continue moving forward until you reach the Zamor Ruins Site of Grace.
After having the map unfolded, you are now able to see that this is a relatively compact and uncomplicated region. We have to make our way to the Forge, which is located in the lower right hand corner of the map. We are going to proceed along the route that has been outlined in the image that is located above.
When you are close to the Site of Grace, you should begin climbing the hill that is to the left of the Zamor Ruins. You will find a long stone bridge that is guarded by some perfumers if you go around the edge of the clifftop.
Once you have traversed the bridge, proceed up the mountain in front of you and between the cliffsides to reach the frozen lake. As you make your way up the river, head in a northeasterly direction and keep an eye out for the Golden Seed tree that is located on the right.
You can find the First Church of Marika, which contains another Site of Grace, after crossing the frozen lake and grabbing the Site of Grace that is located on the edge of the lake that is frozen over.
You must continue to run along the edge of the cliff until you reach a chain bridge, which is located close to the Guardian’s Garrison castle. Get the Site of Grace at the Giant’s Gravepost, which is located on the opposite side of the chain bridge.
To get to the Foot of the Forge Site of Grace from here, you simply have to climb the hill and avoid some dangerous foes, including a giant hand.
After you have gone around the bend, you should see another chain bridge leading to the final mountaintop, where you will find…
Fire Giant Boss Fight
This colossal boss arena comes paired with an equally colossal adversary in the form of the terrifying Fire Giant. This fight isn’t particularly difficult or strategic, but the Giant’s powerful attacks can make it feel like more of a test than it actually is. You should be able to get through it more quickly with the help of our boss guide.
This fight is divided into two phases, and in both of them, you will need to concentrate on a vulnerable area on the Giant’s body. As soon as the battle begins, you are going to want to remain on foot while holding your shield in preparation for the Giant’s snow shovelling attack. After the snow has stopped falling, hop on Torrent and ride up to his feet until you reach him.
The first place that the Giant is susceptible to attack is his left ankle, which, as you may have noticed, is wrapped in some crude bandages. A few blows to the bandage should be enough to cause it to tear, which will temporarily stun the Giant and reveal the injury that lies beneath the dressing. Continue landing blows on the ankle while keeping a slight backward lean at all times to avoid the frontal slam attacks of the Giant. You will also need to be wary of his fire spells and the stomps that come from his feet. If he casts the slow-moving fire orb, you should move closer to it in order to cause it to explode, and then you should quickly evacuate the area before the explosion takes place. In the event that the ground starts to catch fire, you need to make sure that you are NOT standing on top of any of the burning spots, as they will soon explode and cause damage if you are in that position.
Stay out of range of all of these attacks and keep hitting the giant’s ankle until it reaches about half of its health. At that point, the next phase will begin. The Giant will rip off one of his feet, and the eye that’s been placed on his chest will open, exposing the second vulnerable spot on his body.
During this phase of the fight, you will want to keep your focus on Torrent the entire time. While doing so, you should constantly weave in and out of his melee range and strike him once or twice on each pass. The body slam he delivers is the attack we are looking for because it will momentarily cause him to lay on his side, giving you the opportunity to strike his eye directly.
While you wait for that attack, there are a number of other attacks that you need to protect yourself from, including the following:
If he were to lean back, it would mean that he is getting ready to hurl flaming rocks from his mouth onto his chest. These will be scattered all around him, but Torrent should be able to see them coming and avoid them without too much trouble. Your best bet is to sneak up behind him and kick him in the legs.
If you get too far away, he will start firing homing fireballs that deal significant damage. He will do this if you get too far away. Because of this, you should position yourself so that you are behind him and as close to him as you can get.
Never put yourself in a position where the giant can squash you with his body roll; he won’t hesitate to do so. This applies to being next to him as well as to being on his side. Keep as much of your body as you can behind his legs.
If he assumes a sort of plank position and leans forward, he will expel fire onto the ground. Just run as far away as you can as quickly as you can so that you don’t get caught in the area of effect.
In general, you should always maintain a position behind and relatively close to the Giant. Be careful not to overdo it with the hits, and watch out for opportunities to body slam him to deal the most possible damage to his eye. Just be careful not to get too close to the eye for an extended period of time; otherwise, you will give him the opportunity to launch his devastating fire breath attack on you. You will be able to bring the Fire Giant down and claim his reward, the Remembrance of the Fire Giant, if you keep up the hit and run strategy for a sufficient amount of time.
Forge of the Giants
After you have vanquished the Fire Giant, you can now climb to the top of Flame Peak and ride your mount along the massive chain that leads from the peak to the Forge of the Giants, which is located some distance away. You will need to ride around to the opposite side of the forge in order to activate the Forge of the Giants Site of Grace once you have reached the forge.
At this point, you have the opportunity to speak with Melina and, as she puts it, choose to “commit the cardinal sin.” It appears that the point of no return for some of the sidequests and content in the game is when you say yes to her, so make sure that you have completed everything you want to do before moving on to the next part of the game.