Big Pig and Thrust Master need to DIE ASAP

Edit; bacon is DELICIOUS, I killed the boss by tanking with the fingerprint shield and poisoning the piggy and his master, cheap? Absolutely, but very effective

I'm playing Shadow of the Erdtree for the first time, it hasn't been easy, but most fights have felt manageable, also I've been trying to use only "bad" weapons, as a way to challenge myself

(mostly the weathered straight sword because it's the closest thing in Elden Ring to a broken sword that can actually repost, unlike the torch) otherwise my character is mostly a str build

THEN COMMANDER GAIUS ROCKS UP ON HIS PIMP HOG AND FLATTENS MY DUMBASS FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY "huh?" Everyone online has been roasting this boss, and I can't blame them, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I even tried cheesing Gaius with Mohgs boss weapon, but it seems like they patched that without making the fight more fun

Posture breaking him seems to kind of work when I use the 'square off' ash of war or spamming guard counters, but my biggest problem is there never feels like a safe time to do ANYTHING, I can't even run away and heal or chase me and flatten me (I've also been toying with blocking him with a great shield, but he attacks so quickly that it keeps draining my stamina, and then he flattens me) if he can see me, he can hit me, but that same is not true for me (I've tried longer weapons with more reach, nada)

I don't want to be one of those people who just complains that "game too hard = bad game" but I'm pretty frustrated here and would appreciate any ideas