Gelum is the boss waiting at the end of the VV Ultimatum tutorial, and it is the toughest fight a new player will hit in those first hours. The encounter is built around deflect timing rather than raw damage, so spamming attacks gets you guard broken and comboed. Beating it cleanly comes down to two habits, reading the red square markers and trading parries on his slow swings.
Quick answer: Stay close to Gelum, dash out of every red square AoE, parry his predictable M1 attacks, and press F to counter his long-windup heavy attacks. When he is stunned, land a Critical Hit and chain M1s, then back off before he retaliates.
Should you beat Gelum, and what it rewards
Defeating Gelum is not required to progress. You can lose the fight, finish the tutorial, and still move on to faction selection and Soul Society. But beating him is worth the effort because the win opens four chests and grants a high chance at a Hogyoku Fragment very early in the game, plus the exclusive Committed Warrior title.
The chest drops vary per player, so you will not get the same items every run. Common drops pulled from the four chests include the following.
| Common Gelum chest drops |
|---|
| Sun Guard |
| Leather Strap |
| Doughy Scarf |
| Black Visor |
| Fortified Fighter |
| Garu Rondo |
| Centipede Medal |
| Perfect Flash |
| Flashmaster |
| Standard Hilt / Standard Hilt Alt |
| Prey Tunnel |
| Silent Fighter |
| Round Glasses |
| Soul Essence |
| Black Goggles |
| Right Arm Ribbon |
Controls you need for the Gelum fight
The combat is deflect-heavy and reminiscent of Sekiro, so the timing buttons matter more than movement spam. These are the inputs that decide the fight.
| Action | Input |
|---|---|
| Light Attack (M1) | Left Mouse Button |
| Heavy Attack | Middle Mouse Button (scroll wheel click) |
| Deflect | Right Mouse Button |
| Block | Right Mouse Button (hold) |
| Counter | F |
| Dash | Spacebar |
| Skills | M |
Note: Deflects come in two grades. A green deflect is a perfect deflect and opens the biggest counter window, while an orange deflect only negates the hit with a smaller follow-up. Special attacks flash with a red icon and can still be deflected, but the timing is far tighter.
How to beat the Gelum boss
F. Many of Gelum’s abilities count as heavy attacks with long windup animations, which makes them easy to read. When you see one charging, press the counter button to interrupt it directly.
Respect hyper armor and phase 2
Gelum gains attacks that ignore your interrupt attempts, so a punish that looks safe can be answered by a hyper-armored swing. Confirm the animation before committing rather than mashing M1 the instant he flinches.
Around half health he becomes far more aggressive. The second phase adds faster combos, frequent teleporting, and repositioning behind you, which is where most attempts fall apart. When he teleports, reset your camera, stay mobile, and wait for the next attack before looking for a punish. Forcing damage during the teleport pressure is the fastest way to get trapped.
How you know the fight is won
The fight ends when Gelum’s health is depleted and the four reward chests appear for you to open. If the win counted, you will see the Committed Warrior title unlocked and any rolled drops, including a possible Hogyoku Fragment, added to your inventory. From there the tutorial completes and you move into character creation to pick your faction.
If you keep losing, the usual cause is standing inside the red square too long or forcing risky parries before your timing is reliable. When you are not confident on the deflect window, dodge away and wait for the next clean opening instead of trading. After the win, head to the Soul Society Outskirts and practice deflects on weaker NPCs before taking on the harder progression quests.
