Due to its open-world and progressive level-up system, one could argue that every boss you meet in Elden Ring is able to give you a run for your money, depending on the time and the manner in which you encounter them.
This isn’t the first rodeo for Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team, though, so they must have recognized this problem early on. This is why there are some boss encounters in Elden Ring — sometimes optional and sometimes obligatory to the main storyline — that can give you a butt-kicking the likes of which even Dark Souls couldn’t mimic on its worst day.
You see, it’s not simply about going through the motions and learning from your mistakes. Some Elden Ring bosses are designed in a specific way to give you a hard time, regardless of your level and equipment. From a certain point onwards, almost every main boss can one-hit you to the bottomless pit of despair that is the “You Died” screen, and their unrelenting combos don’t make matters any simpler, either.
Besides, if you’re one of those people with the “git gud” mentality of grinding your way through every boss by abusing the buttons on your controller, and more importantly wouldn’t stoop so low as to spam Moonveil from a five-feet distance or use Rivers of Blood to stack up hemorrhage, you realize that it takes more than just an effort of will to spend hours upon hours fighting a boss like Malenia, Blade of Miquella. And don’t get me started on those overpowered magic builds. Standing a safe expanse away and holding down Comet Azur doesn’t require much effort, let alone skill.
Taking all of that into account, here’s a list of some of the hardest bosses you’ll come across in your Elden Ring playthrough.
15. Fire Giant
If there ever was a tiresome boss fight in all of FromSoftware games, it would be the Fire Giant, whose sweeping blows and ginormous body make it a real challenge to face him head-on. What you want to do instead is circle around on Torrent and try to dodge out of the AoE attacks. Then hit the Fire Giant in his legs and bring him tumbling down.
Be forewarned, though; even with this advice, this is going to be a very tough fight. While we would hesitate to call the Fire Giant fight satisfying, he’s not half as bad, nor as difficult, as some of the other bosses you’ll encounter in the Lands Between.
14. Borealis the Freezing Fog
If I could avoid the area where Borealis roams, I would’ve done it without a second’s hesitation. But once you engage the ice dragon and get soundly defeated by his agile body, you’ll be burdened by the same curse that compels you to submit yourself to the torture of Soulsborne bosses over and over again; that of besting them and proving to yourself that you’ve still got it.
While Dragonlord Placidusax (whom we’ll get to further down on the list) is the definitive firedrake to be vanquished in Elden Ring, Borealis isn’t far behind in terms of sheer difficulty.
13. Tree Sentinel
Almost every FromSoftware game begins with a difficult boss fight that serves to give players a reality check in terms of how they should approach it. Sure, you can avoid Tree Sentinel and come back at a later time to “cheese” him at a higher level with better gear, but for those who want to grind their way past him, this can be an incredibly tough fight. The Tree Sentinel is fast, relentless, and unpredictable, so do yourself a favor and at least get Torrent before engaging him in the very first area of Limgrave.
12. Margit the Fell Omen
I thought hard about adding Margit to this list, mostly due to the fact that people are split over his difficulty level. On one side, we have players with no prior experience of Soulsborne games beating him on their first or second try, and on the other, there are Dark Souls veterans who grapple with their sanity as they’re repeatedly reminded to put their foolish ambitions to rest. And so, depending on how you approach Margit, and what your combat mentality is, he can either be an extremely difficult boss fight or among the easier prey you come across in Elden Ring. There rarely is a middle ground.
11. Praetor Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
Don’t let the Lord of Blasphemy’s huge body fool you into thinking that he can’t be super fast in his onslaught. Rykard has a number of HP-trimming abilities at his disposal, so keep your distance and try to fight him with a ranged weapon. What’s more, you have to be careful about his grip, which could kill you if your health bar falls below a certain level.
10. Godskin Duo
The Godskin in the north of the Altus Plateau is a nuisance. Confronting the one in the church of Volcano Manor can be a bit challenging. But now, imagine fighting a buffed version of both of them at the same time. Because that’s exactly what Elden Ring expects you to do on your way to Maliketh the Black Blade in Crumbling Farum Azula.
The main problem is the Duo’s exceptionally lengthy health bar. The two Godskins have an amalgamated HP of 26,350, which is more than twice as much as Starscourge Radahn needs to take to die. That makes the fight essentially a battle of attrition, with you chipping away at their health bar with every rare window of opportunity until they finally stop respawning.
9. Crucible Knight Ordovis
There are several boss duos in Elden Ring, but perhaps none of them are as mind-numbingly difficult as fighting two Crucible Knights at the same time. Do you know how bosses in this game tend to go on endless combos or spam spells to the point of ludicrousness?
That’s basically what it feels like to fight the Crucible Knights, only with Ordovis, you have two of them to contend with. When one finishes his combo, the other picks it up almost immediately and seamlessly, making the player wonder if they’ll ever be able to land a hit.
The key is to dodge and roll like your life depends on it and exercise patience. In time, you’ll be able to wear them down and eventually take one out, leaving the other lonely and easier to manage.
8. Dragonlord Placidusax
Before there was any Erdtree — even before there was a Lands Between — dragons ruled the world. All that now remains of their glory is a scattered group of survivors keeping a low profile and generally slaughtering everyone who stands in their way or transgresses into their domain.
In the age of the dragons, if it was indeed called that, Dragonlord Placidusax ruled over the lands as Elden Lord, serving an unknown deity that perhaps created the dragonkind in the first place. After their god mysteriously flees, Placidusax retreats to the timeless Crumbling Farum Azula, awaiting the return of his deity to bring about another glorious dragon age.
But not if the Tarnished has anything to say about it. Dragonlord Placidusax is an optional boss that many players have probably missed during their first playthrough because the arena where he’s hiding is difficult to find. If you do find him, however, you’ll be in for one of your most intense challenges in the world of Elden Ring.
7. Godfrey, First Elden Lord
When you reach Godfrey himself, you have already fought his spirit once. But don’t let that timid spar trick you into thinking you can’t make easy work of the legend himself. Godfrey has a range of attacks that come at you out of nowhere. His abilities also continuously inflict stutter on players, which makes the fight even more of a nuisance.
But if you manage to chip away at his health bar and bring him to heel, Godfrey will launch into his second phase, where, in a twist that perhaps no one saw coming, he becomes Hoarah Loux, a former Tarnished. Loux is a savage creature, constantly chasing you across the square and picking you up to deal a devastating blow.
The thing that makes Godfrey such a difficult boss to fight isn’t actually his diverse attacks. In fact, you could probably learn every malicious hit he can land on you within a few tries. The problem is that Godfrey can essentially kill most players with two or three hits. In his Hoarah Loux form, he can toss you around, taking away most of your health, and leaving you vulnerable to instant death.
6. Mohg, Lord of Blood
Mohg is another optional boss fight that can make your time playing Elden Ring a living hell, which is apt, since he himself resides over a palace that eerily encompasses every description of hell we’ve ever heard.
The Omen has an HP of around 18,000, making him one of the toughest bosses players can come across. Not that it’s easy to cross paths with him, mind you, but since Mohg also drops 420,000 runes, many might feel tempted to try their hand at defeating him, only to find that the Lord of Blood is not an adversary that is easily brought to heels.
Mohg is the Lord of Blood, and he’s going to… spray you with it. A lot. So, if you’re indeed feeling masochistic enough to face him, just make sure that you time your rolls in a way that avoids the AOE damage.
5. Commander Niall
Commander O’Neil and Command Niall are pretty similar except for the fact that you can cheese the former with the help of your trusty steed Torrent, whereas Niall must be confronted in a closed-off space where the spirit horse dares not venture. Not only that, but Niall will give players a taste of their own medicine through his two-knight summons, and by the Two Fingers, is it bitter.
Your only chance of defeating Niall and his knights is to summon the help of your own, preferably something that can be withheld for a few minutes until you dispatch the two knights. Then, and only then, will you be able to get to Niall himself, who ceaselessly comes at you with his lightning foot (literally) and his ability to call up an enveloping snow hurricane.
4. Radagon of the Golden Order / Elden Beast
Coming up against Radagon is perhaps the single greatest moment in all of Elden Ring. You’ve gone through a long journey. You’ve defeated legendary adversaries. Now, you find yourself climbing that final step. You enter the field of gold. An epic version of the main theme starts blasting at a deafening volume, heralding the true end of the journey. And there you’ll find Radagon of the Golden Order, ready to beat the crap out of you with his hammer.
Radagon himself has an amazing design as a boss fight. He is nimble and unpredictable, with a varied range of attacks that will have you spend the first hour learning his move set. The only catch is that immediately following Radagon, you’re going to have to face the game’s final boss, the Elden Beast. Your flask supply isn’t going to be replenished, so you’re going to have to deal with both bosses in a single run.
Defeating Radagon and dying at the hands of Elden Beast is also going to reset the whole thing, which is why the two ultimately make it to this list, even if they’re not that hard to beat one at a time.
3. Starscourge Radahn
Next to Malenia, General Radahn is usually considered the most difficult boss fight in Elden Ring. So much so, in fact, that FromSoftware had to nerf him at one of their consequent patches, only to receive the ire of the hardcore Soulsborne fandom and reverse it immediately.
Now that he’s back to full strength, Radahn has once again become terrifyingly difficult to beat, even with all the summons. Riding his small horse, the disowned commander roams the rot-infested plain seeking out a challenge, hacking away with his two swords, and summoning meteorites to smash his enemies down. When you take enough of his health bar, Radahn literally flies off and transforms into a meteorite, coming at the players with such ferocity that it completely takes them by surprise.
Not only is Radahn one of the best bosses in Elden Ring, but he’s also one of the toughest, so choose the time and the manner in which you take him on carefully.
2. Maliketh, the Black Blade
Some bosses in Elden Ring have great designs. Some are extremely difficult. Some are overbearing and maintain an unfair advantage over players. In the case of Maliketh, none of these statements could be any farther from the truth.
If there’s one way we can describe Maliketh, it’s that he has the coolest backstory in all of Elden Ring, and is one of the few in this grimdark world actually to be a tragic hero.
Queen Marika desired a world without Destined Death, so she took the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and gave it to Maliketh, his half-brother, to protect. Since then, the guardian has remained ever vigilant of the terror he might unleash upon the Lands Between, guarding Destined Death against all who’d bargain with its wicked fate.
Maliketh can be overcome with enough trial and error, but the fight itself is the most chaotic you’ll ever encounter in all of Elden Ring. The Black Blade is constantly jumping around like a jaguar, using his enflamed sword to send projectiles your way or cut your health bar in half. That’s right, every hit you take from Maliketh literally reduces your health bar, so be careful not to touch the cursed breath of the queen’s ever-watchful and loyal brother.
1. Malenia, Blade of Miquella
Malenia is the sister of Miquella, and the legendary fighter who humbled General Radahn in the war for the shattered pieces of the Elden Ring. She is also the only champion in the game “who’s never known defeat,” and she’s going to teach you the ultimate meaning of pain and horror.
The Goddess of Rot is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the hardest boss in Elden Ring. She has also given rise to community legends like “Let Me Solo Her,” so you can only imagine how many players continue to helplessly batter their controllers in the vain hope of defeating the greatest swordswoman the Lands Between has ever seen.
But no adversary is unbeatable, and no odds really overwhelming, so she too will ultimately suffer defeat at the hands of players who are consistent enough with their efforts. It might ultimately cost you your sanity, but we’ll be damned if the glorious dance isn’t worth it.