The Banished Ring: A Family Curse or a Blessing in Disguise?

A banished ring or ghost amulet is an object often associated with supernatural beliefs and paranormal activities. These items are believed to possess certain powers that can protect the wearer from evil spirits or negative energies. The banished ring is typically made of a specific type of metal or precious stone, while the ghost amulet is usually a small pendant worn around the neck. In many cultures, it is thought that spirits or ghosts can potentially harm or possess humans, especially when they are vulnerable or in a weakened state. To counteract these potential dangers, people turn to banished rings or ghost amulets as a form of protection. These objects are believed to create a barrier between the wearer and any harmful spirits, preventing them from causing harm or entering the person's body.

Spirits are different from other Elden Ring abilities in that they’re entirely PVE oriented. You cannot use Spirit Ashes in multiplayer — not even co-op. Not even if you simply use the Furlcalling Finger Remedy, which is necessary to invite other players into your game. Doing so simply turns off spirits altogether.

We pointed out that mathematical details obviously have some impact, but different players weigh different elements such as animation time, super armor, damage, range, status effects, etc. However, these spirits attack almost exclusively from behind their shields, using the unique trait that spears possess in Elden Ring to continue blocking at the same time.

These objects are believed to create a barrier between the wearer and any harmful spirits, preventing them from causing harm or entering the person's body. The banished ring may be worn on any finger, but it is commonly worn on the finger that is believed to have a special connection to the spiritual realm. Some believe that the ring acts as a conduit for positive energies, casting away any negative or malevolent forces that may come into contact with the wearer.

Commander Niall | Elden Ring Wiki

Commander Niall is a Great Enemy Boss in Elden Ring. Commander Niall is found in Castle Sol in Mountaintops of the Giants. This is an optional boss, as players don't need to defeat it in order to advance in Elden Ring. However, he must be defeated before entering Consecrated Snowfield.

Commander O'Neil is another variant of this boss.

Commander Niall, veteran of Castle Sol, offered his prosthesis in exchange for the lives of defeated knights held prisoner. He went on to lead these men as an army of no nation.

Elden Ring Commander Niall Boss

• This is an optional boss. However, he must be defeated before entering Consecrated Snowfield.
• At the beginning of the fight, Niall summons two Banished Knight spirits that vanish once he enters Phase 2. If both spirits are killed, he will immediately enter Phase 2 regardless of his health.
• Closest Site of Grace: Church of the Eclipse
• Multiplayer is allowed for this boss
• You can summon Spirit Ashes for this boss

Elden Ring Commander Niall Location

From the Church of the Eclipse Site of Grace in the southeast section of Castle Sol, take the church's eastern exit towards another building. Go through this building and you'll arrive at the upper level of the eastern section. In this upper level you'll see Commander Niall's fog gate as well as a lift you can send down as a shortcut for future boss runs. [Map Link]

Commander Niall Combat information

• Health: 15,541 HP
• Defense: 117
• Stance: 90
• Parryable: Yes
• Is vulnerable to a critical hit after being stance broken or parried
• Damage: Standard, Strike, Pierce (Phase 1), Standard, Slash, Strike, Pierce, Lightning (Phase 2)
• Inflicts: Frostbite
• Drops 90,000, Veteran's Prosthesis

Negations (or Absorptions)

The negation numbers are the % of your damage that gets blocked. For example, if a negation is 60, 40% of that damage by that type will go through and 60% will be negated. Bigger number = less damage. A negation of 100 means no damage goes through, and a negation of -100 mean the enemy takes 2x damage from that source. 0 means damage goes pretty much as is.

Resistances

The resistance numbers are the buildup amount to trigger it. For example, if a resistance is 100 you must deal 100 points of the given buildup to trigger it. Note that these go down over time, and increase each time the effect procs. The values after the "/"s indicate the increased resistances after each successive proc.

Banished Knight Spirit Combat information

• Health: 1,967 HP
• Defense: 114
• Stance: 65
• Parryable: Yes
• Is vulnerable to a critical hit after being stance broken or parried
• Damage: Standard, Strike, Pierce

Negations (or Absorptions)

The negation numbers are the % of your damage that gets blocked. For example, if a negation is 60, 40% of that damage by that type will go through and 60% will be negated. Bigger number = less damage. A negation of 100 means no damage goes through, and a negation of -100 mean the enemy takes 2x damage from that source. 0 means damage goes pretty much as is.

Resistances

The resistance numbers are the buildup amount to trigger it. For example, if a resistance is 100 you must deal 100 points of the given buildup to trigger it. Note that these go down over time, and increase each time the effect procs.

Elden Ring Commander Niall Boss Guide

Commander Niall Fight Strategy

The Best Tips for Commander Niall

• Niall will primarily focus on buffing his allies while they are still alive and will perform relatively simple attacks that are easily avoided.
• Focus on the dual greatsword Knight with at the beginning, as it is more aggressive than the shield Knight.
• Charming one of the Knights with Bewitching Branches can make the first phase quite simple.
• Use a tanky Spirit to distract the Banished Knights.
• Take advantage of when Niall tires himself out after his Charged Whirlwind dash move
• You can jump to avoid his shockwave foot stomp.
• Kill at least one Knight before summoning your spirit.
• Killing the last of his knights while he is in his buffing animation will lock him in his first phase until about half health
• Using kukris/throwing knives or ranged attacks triggers him to do his kick attack, if done correctly he can be put into a "positive feedback loop" in which he will jump attack you forever as long as you dodge into throwing knive him
• Backstabing one Knight at the start of the fight, preferably buffed by the Dagger Talisman, is an effective way of dealing with the Knights quickly.

General Fight Strategy

Commander Niall is accompanied by two Spectral Banished Knights, one equipped with dual greatswords and the other equipped with a sword and shield. Success in this battle hinges on your ability to manage the two very dangerous knights. Niall himself doesn't get too dangerous until the knights are defeated. He will lumber around the arena, making no real effort to close the distance so focus on the knights at the beginning. Of the two, the dual sword knight is the most aggressive and dangerous. It is highly recommended that you summon a tanky spirit to more easily manage both knights at once. They are also susceptible to Magic Damage so Sorcery mains should have a slight advantage damage-wise.

The easiest way to be rid of the Banished Knights is to, immediately, after traversing the fog, run into the right-hand corner of the arena and await the charge of the dual-wielding Knight, and using a Bewitching Branch on him, turning him into an ally (it might take a few tries to get the timing right, the animation is rather long). This will cause the sword-n-board Banished Knight to immediately aggro him, while your new ally attacks Niall himself, ripping away a huge chunk of his health. Bewitch the second Banished Knight, while avoiding Niall's windstorm attacks, back away and summon your spirit ashes and apply any buff you need. Niall should have taken out both knights by this point (he kills them extremely quickly), or they will have brought him below 50% health, at which point they will despawn, as Niall enters his second phase.

Once the knights are killed, Niall begins actively pursuing you and using his more dangerous moves. Niall commands the powers of Ice via a whirlwind he summons around him, as well as Lightning via infusions on his prosthetic leg. Niall's most dangerous moves always involve him summoning whirlwinds of frost around him. He can then follow up with a stomp of his peg leg, infusing it with lightning and then leaping towards you to perform a powerful leg smash that creates a lightning shockwave on impact. He can also follow-up with two versions of a dash attack. The first is a single whirl of his halberd followed by a quick dash into an uppercut with his halberd. The second version sees Niall charging up for a few seconds as he sucks in frosty winds towards him, he then whirls his halberd several times, creating an expanding whirlwind of frost. Finally, he dashes to the side and then runs toward you, culminating in an uppercut with his halberd. This move tires Niall out and he will be kneeling and vulnerable for several seconds. This is the biggest damage window throughout his fight so be sure to dodge the uppercut and get as many hits in as possible as he recovers.

Melee Users

Start with heavy R2 On right summon dual wielding knight, the attack should land at or just before he materializes. Then a second heavy R2, and he should stagger. If lucky, you can get a crit in which should kill him at appropriate level for this boss and you will be invulnerable. Roll away and or heal. Next bait out the 2nd summon and do a running R2, back up, rinse and repeat. If he teleports to you, roll behind him. Be selective. Running R2 should bait him into an attack and an auto stagger when he is walking with his shield up. You have plenty of time on the 2nd summon as the boss will be passive during this phase.

Next the Commander Niall will charge up frost and electric attacks after his summons have died. Roll at the last second for his attacks. When he charges his leg and flip kicks, roll to his right (your left) to get an opening for an attack. He does a delayed heavy swing after one consecutive attack he has where you should roll twice in a row to dodge it every time, and then punish him accordingly with a few swings. When he does a frost wind and then a charged electric attack, dodge roll into a single r1, watch for a quick poke and then a heavy telegraphed swing, again rolling to your left. Now the charged electric stomp AOE, difficult to manage and hard to avoid. With the swinging frost winds, he has multiple attacks that look similar to this. The one you're looking for is a melee attack ending that you can punish. The other frost AOE should be avoided. So just manage close range and then outside his AOE blasts. Managing your distance and opportunities is key. You should stay up close to him and back away when you see a frost swing coming. Upon one of his charged frost and electric attacks he will kneel and pause for a huge opportunity to hit him with heavy R2s, you should be able to stun him and deal a crit. Definitely dealing with the summons without getting hit was a big advantage to have as much flasks as possible to fight him, because his electric AOE stomp is near impossible to avoid when up close. After frost winds, be ready to charge in.

Magic and Ranged Users

For magic and ranged users, you would want to equip a heavy-hitting spell/incantation for this fight. As stated above, defeat the two knights first before engaging Commander Niall. For a bow and arrow user, try equipping arrows or bolts that has status effects on them like bleed or rot.

If you have the Comet Azur spell, cast a Terra Magica at the edge of the Mist gate (make sure the knight outside the arena is already killed), consume a Flask of Wondrous Physick with a Cerulean Hidden Tear to nullify FP consumption. Once you enter the boss arena, immediately lock on to Commander Niall then charge and release your Comet Azure. It is also recommended to add a Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear besides the Cerulean Hidden Tear for increased magic damage. This setup will most likely one-shot Commander Niall, even on higher NG+ playthroughs.

Commander Niall Attacks & Counters

Commander Niall Lore, Notes & Other Trivia

• His armour set can be purchased from Finger Reader Enia after killing him: the Veteran's Set
• The name "Niall" is a first name of Scottish-Gaelic or Irish-Gaelic origin with unclear meaning. Presumed meanings are "cloud", "chivalrous" or "victorious". All of these meanings make sense for the character being a military commander wielding weather-themed powers.
• Though their relationship is unconfirmed, Commander O'Neil, uses the same model as him, same voice actor, same armour and Commander's Standard and the same first phase moveset, down to summoning disgraced warriors (Exile Soldiers in O'Neil's case), with the lone exception that O'Neil whips up Scarlet Rot winds versus Niall's blizzards.
  • "O'Neil" means "Son of Neil", with "Neil" being a variation of the name "Niall".
  • Both have an implied connection to the twin demigods Miquella and Malenia; O'Neil carries the Unalloyed Gold Needle made by Miquella and the Commander's Standard references his former master being Malenia, while Niall protects the Haligtree Secret Medallion (left). The Veteran's Armor cape also features a red cloth similar to that of Malenia's Armor, down to Miquella's unalloyed gold wreath being embroided onto it.

  Conversely, a few spirits in the center don’t offer much of the basics but have some singular quirk that makes them useful in the right circumstance. The Warhawk is a good example. It’s not the healthiest or most powerful spirit in the game. On the other hand, it’s one of only a few flying types. And anyone who’s fought flying enemies in Elden Ring knows how difficult they can be to hit. This makes them a useful distraction against certain enemies and immune to low or ground-based attacks altogether.

  

  The choice of metal or stone used in the ring is often influenced by cultural or religious traditions, as different materials are believed to have varying levels of protective power. Ghost amulets, on the other hand, are typically in the form of small pendants that can be worn around the neck. These amulets are often crafted in intricate designs and may contain symbols or images that are believed to possess protective properties. Some amulets are said to have been blessed by religious or spiritual figures, further enhancing their protective abilities. While the concept of banished rings and ghost amulets may be rooted in folklore and superstition, they continue to hold significance for many individuals who believe in their protective powers. These objects serve as a source of comfort and assurance, providing a sense of security against potential supernatural threats. Whether it is through faith or belief in the power of these objects, people have turned to banished rings and ghost amulets throughout history as a way of safeguarding themselves from the unknown..

  Reviews for "The Ghost Amulet: From Ancient Sorrow to Modern Mystery"

  1. Sarah - 2/5 stars - I was really disappointed with Banished Ring or Ghost Amulet. The plot was all over the place and jumped between different time periods without any clear explanation. I found it very confusing to keep track of what was happening and who the characters were. Additionally, the writing style was dry and lacked the ability to engage me as a reader. Overall, I would not recommend this book if you're looking for a well-developed and captivating story.

  2. John - 1/5 stars - Banished Ring or Ghost Amulet was a complete waste of time for me. The characters were cliché and lacked depth, making it impossible for me to connect with any of them. The dialogue felt forced and unrealistic, and the pacing was incredibly slow. I kept waiting for something exciting or interesting to happen, but it never did. I struggled to finish this book and felt like I wasted my time. I would advise others to steer clear of this one.

  3. Emily - 2/5 stars - This book had potential, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. The world-building was weak, with little to no description of the setting or atmosphere. It was hard for me to envision the scenes or connect with the story because of this lack of detail. The writing itself was also mediocre, with numerous grammar and editing errors that made it difficult to follow along smoothly. Overall, I was left underwhelmed and wouldn't recommend Banished Ring or Ghost Amulet to others.

  Summoning the Spirits: Exploring the Ghost Amulet's Magickal Properties