20 Hardest Bosses In Elden Ring Ranked (& How To Beat Them)
The trademark of any FromSoftware game is that there are going to be plenty of difficult bosses that will require you to learn their moves while dying a few times in the process. Of course, this also allows you to improve your skills incrementally as you grow in experience. Elden Ring follows the same tradition by bringing the players some of the most fearsome and hardest bosses you could ever play in a video game. As such, we are here to rank some of the toughest bosses that Elden Ring has to offer.
20. Margit, The Fell Omen
About The Boss
If you are following the story progression of the game early on, Margit, the Fell Omen, is going to be your toughest challenge in Elden Ring during the first few hours of the game. That’s because this is the first true boss that Elden Ring puts in front of the player, and it is highly suggested that you have to go through Margit first before you go exploring so that you can gain access to the Roundtable Hold.
What makes Margit difficult is that beginners aren’t skilled and strong enough at this point of the game. Like any boss in Elden Ring, he hits like a truck and often attacks in combos. That’s why he could easily overwhelm new players. We probably can’t count how many players have rage-quitted because they can’t beat Margit.
How To Beat Them
Beating Margit, the Fell Omen, requires that you embrace the concept of hitting and running. Take a good look at his tendencies and habits and learn how to dodge them. When he stops attacking for a while after a huge strike or after completing a multi-hit combo, that’s when you might want to strike with your best attack. Of course, don’t get greedy when counterattacking Margit because he will eventually attack again after giving you a slight window to hit him.
19. Rykard, Lord Of Blasphemy
About The Boss
Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, is the demigod that the people in the Volcano Mansion worship and is one of the few demigods in Elden Ring. He is right up there when it comes to the largest bosses in the game because he takes the form of a gigantic serpent. The first phase of the fight involves you killing the God Devouring Serpent before Rykard takes over its body.
Honestly, due to the fact that you can’t really get close to Rykard without getting damaged, this should be one of the toughest fights in the game. However, because you are gifted the Serpent-Hunter just after you enter the boss room, this fight against him is going to be marginally easier. Nevertheless, he is still a force to be reckoned with even when you are using the Serpent-Hunter.
How To Beat Them
If you picked up the Serpent-Hunter after entering the boss room, equip it and then use it against Rykard. It has a very powerful charged special ability that will allow you to hit Rykard from afar without having to go near him. If you charged the ability up, it allows you to hit him twice while staggering him in the process. This makes the fight much easier as long as you stay on the offensive while avoiding any of his attacks.
It is still possible to defeat Rykard without using the Serpent-Hunter, but you may want to focus on ranged weapons because you are going to get damaged if you try to go near him. But using the Serpent-Hunter is the best way to slay this demigod as long as you don’t care about the bragging rights of killing him without using that weapon.
18. Draconic Tree Sentinel
About The Boss
Remember the Tree Sentinel that you can encounter in Limgrave in the first five minutes of the game? Imagine a beefed-up version of that boss that is capable of summoning a small lightning storm and can shoot fireballs from his horse. That’s what the Draconic Tree Sentinel is like, and this is a boss that you need to defeat so that you can enter Leyndell, Royal Capital.
In that regard, you could already imagine just how powerful this dude is because he has all of the capabilities of the regular Tree Sentinel and has more abilities that make him a lot more powerful. This is why plenty of players struggle to enter Leyndell, as they can’t even get through this terrifying beast.
How To Beat Them
To defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel, it might be best to use the same tactics you used to defeat the Tree Sentinel while making sure that you are aware of his lightning attacks and his fireball. Melee fighters that aren’t on horseback might want to stay close to his left side because he doesn’t have a lot of attacks that can reach you there.
However, when he reaches the second phase, he summons a violent thunderstorm that will hit anyone close to him. This is where it gets tricky as you need to be more judicious with your attacks because you might end up having to spend a long time dodging him throughout phase 2 of the boss fight.
17. Godrick The Grafted
About The Boss
Godrick the Grafted is the first demigod that you can fight in the storyline of Elden Ring, although it is possible to fight the other bosses first without going through him. He is the lord of Stormveil Castle and is a hard-hitting beast that uses his axe and his many weapons to his advantage. And a lot of players tend to struggle against him, especially when they try to rush into this boss fight without completely exploring Limgrave and beyond.
What makes Godrick difficult to defeat is that he has powerful close-range and medium-ranged attacks that can punish players. And his second phase is no slouch because he uses a dragon head hand that allows him to shoot streams of flames towards you.
How To Beat Them
The best way to approach Godrick is to level up first. We recommend that you explore the entirety of Limgrave and defeat all of the dungeon bosses in the area so that you can increase your level and be ready enough to take on this demigod. In fact, you can actually explore Caelid and Liurnia of the Lakes without having to go through Godrick, and that means that you can collect good weapons and skills before taking on this foe.
Defeating Godrick requires that you study his tendencies first because he tends to strike using multiple combos that hit hard and have a good range, thanks to the fact that he has a large weapon. That said, learning how to dodge his attacks and counterattacking is the key to this fight. You can actually jump whenever he uses his earthquake attack, and that allows you to counter with a devastating jump attack. You can also use his slow attacks to your advantage by rolling to his side and attacking him from there.
16. Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast
About The Boss
There are numerous Fallingstar Beasts in Elden Ring, but the Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast is probably at the apex when compared to the others. You will find this beast in Mt. Gelmir in a plateau-like arena just before the Volcano Manor. And be ready for a tough fight because this dude is literally a beast.
The Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast is a damage tank that won’t easily get staggered or halted even when you throw your strongest attacks. It is also a very relentless opponent that will not stop attacking. On top of that, it has control over gravity magic, and that means that this is one heck of a problem that doesn’t have a lot of areas of weakness.
How To Beat Them
The best way to approach the Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast is to use quick attacks that have a good range. That’s because there aren’t a lot of openings when dealing with this boss, considering that he is a relentless attacker.
So, if you have a special move that will allow you to easily release a quick and powerful attack without taking up too much time (such as the Moonveil’s Transient Moonlight), you can simply dodge and counterattack quickly the entire time. This also means that players with heavier and slower characters might end up struggling against this beast.
15. Black Blade Kindred
About The Boss
The thing about the Black Blade Kindred is that this is a boss that tends to cover all of the bases when it comes to creating a terrifying field boss. He is large, tanky, and has good range. And he isn’t even a required opponent to get from one place to another because you can just simply ride past him without even throwing an attack.
Then again, pride is on the line when it comes to this boss, and getting his weapons after beating him should also be a good enough reason to try to defeat this giant gargoyle monster. Nevertheless, he is a tanky beast that can absorb your attacks well and can reach you from a great distance using a variety of different moves. You can find him just outside the Bestial Sanctum, which you can access through a teleportation portal that D, the Undead Hunter, will mark on your map.
How To Beat Them
While it might be tempting to use a hit-and-run tactic on your horse when dealing with Black Blade Kindred, we recommend fighting him on foot and staying a bit close to him because he is much more dangerous with his attacks when you are far from him. Try to stay at his side and make sure you don’t distance yourself too much, especially when he is using his halberd.
Use a tanky Spirit Ash Summon that can distract him while you’re chipping away at its health. We recommend that you first get the Mimic Tear before going through this boss because you’re going to need a really good tank against him.
14. Morgott, The Omen King
About The Boss
Morgott, the Omen King is like the upgraded version of Margit but with more attacks that can easily kill any Tarnished in the game. He has all of Margit’s attacks but comes with attacks that can affect an entire area. Morgott even comes with a lightning attack that you wish will never hit you because of how painful it is.
In that regard, while Margit is supposed to be a boss that would test how well you understand the concept of boss fights in Elden Ring, Morgott is the main course. He forces you to use your best hit-and-run tactic while also making sure that you understand how to find windows of opening in every situation imaginable. Of course, considering that Leyndell is one of the toughest places in the game, it is only right that the boss is as tough as the entire area.
How To Beat Them
Defeating Morgott can be done by using the same tactics you used against Margit. But the difference here is that you are now marginally better than you were before and that you are now more powerful in terms of your equipment and stats. So, while it may be true that Morgott is stronger than Margit by a long shot, it is also true that you are now stronger than you ever were.
As an added bonus, you can also use Margit’s Shackles against Morgott to keep him shackled for a while so that you can steal a few hits on him. Of course, you also have a stronger NPC cooperator in the fight against Morgott. So, if you were able to defeat Margit, there’s no reason why you won’t be able to defeat Morgott.
13. Lichdragon Fortissax
About The Boss
In Elden Ring, dragons tend to hit harder than almost all of the different bosses, but they are quite easy to kill because of the fact that you can basically run circles around them on horseback while stealing a few hits on their wings and legs whenever you see an opening. But Lichdragon Fortissax is different because, while this creature may be smaller than the usual field boss dragon in the game, it is much more powerful and is quicker.
You can fight Lichdragon Fortissax as the final boss in the Fia storyline. This dude is a hard-hitting beast like any dragon in Elden Ring but has command over lightning and is capable of causing mini lightning storms that can kill you if you get too close. And another advantage it has over the regular dragon is that you won’t be able to auto-target its legs.
How To Beat Them
The best way to defeat Lichdragon Fortissax is to try to stay under its body while targeting its body instead of its head. This is probably the safest spot in a fight against this dragon because most of its attacks tend to target the area in front or around it. However, it can still hit you when you’re too close to it, and that means that you might want to distance yourself from the dragon when you see it doing attacks that can damage anything that’s within its vicinity.
Approaching this dragon as a melee fighter is probably the best way to go because range fighters will struggle against its host of powerful range attacks. And it might be best to go with a weapon that is long enough to be able to reach its body whenever you are staying under it.
12. Dragonlord Placidusax
About The Boss
Dragonlord Placidusax is a two-headed dragon that is more powerful than any of the other dragons you will encounter in Elden Ring but is not too different from Fortissax in terms of its move set. Nevertheless, this is a hidden boss that you’ll easily miss and is capable of hitting harder than any of the other dragons in the game.
The only way for you to fight Placidusax is by making your way to the lowest section of Crumbling Farum Azula, which is the area you can access after defeating the Fire Giant. And the reason why it is easy to miss is that you’ll only get yourself transported to the boss’s area if you lay down on a grave.
How To Beat Them
The best way to defeat Dragonlord Placidusax is to stay away from the area right in front of it or close to the front side of its wings. Stay close to its hindlegs just behind its wings or near its tail. That’s because, while it may still reach you with its lightning bolt attacks there, you won’t be susceptible to its other attacks. You can chip away at its health by striking any area that you can target.
However, you may still end up getting hit by its lightning bolt or its tail swipe. Just study its movements clearly so that you will understand the prompts of its attacks. While it is resistant to almost all of the status ailments (such as the trusty hemorrhage), it is weak to fire attacks, and that means that you might want to approach the Dragonlord using a fire-based attack that can help chip away at its health. Also, Placidusax leaves a good number of openings that you can take advantage of before it unleashes its quick but powerful attacks.
11. Godfrey, First Elden Lord
About The Boss
While Godfrey, First Elden Lord, is as tough as any tough boss in Elden Ring can be, the reason why he just misses out on the top 10 is that players are most likely already strong enough to take him on at the point where you have to fight him because he is the penultimate boss of the game. As such, you’d have to be pretty good to be able to reach him, and it only makes sense that he isn’t the most challenging boss.
Still, Godfrey isn’t something you can easily dismiss because of the fact that he is a powerful entity that can dish out attacks that can probably one-shot almost any kind of build. On top of that, he isn’t like any of the other large bosses that are easier to hit, as he is nimble enough when moving around the area. But what makes him really tough is his phase 2 form, which is going to be really tricky.
How To Beat Them
Godfrey should be approached in a manner that’s similar to how you would approach Godrick in the sense that you need to study his delayed and quick attacks so that you would know when to unleash your attacks on him. But you may want to change your approach when he gets to his second phase.
As Hoarah Loux, he is much more aggressive and will strike you with entirely new moves that don’t even use weapons. This means that he is faster in this form, even though his range might get affected by his lack of any weapons. Still, he uses stomp attacks that can hit a huge area, and that means that you may want to use jump attacks on him. Nevertheless, this is a fun fight that will allow you to use all that you learned from the game, and that’s why it isn’t necessarily the most difficult boss fight in the game, no matter how difficult it may be.
10. Radagon Of The Golden Order And The Elden Beast
About The Boss
Radagon is the final boss fight of Elden Ring and deserves to be in the top 10 of our list because he is that tough. He is a humanoid being that has moves that were beautifully crafted to the point that you would actually enjoy fighting him instead of getting frustrated. Of course, when he transforms into the Elden Beast, things will get even more exciting, even though this beast is going to be a tougher fight.
The difficult part about the Elden Beast is that it tends to hit hard with its AOE attacks, and that forces a lot of players to rage-quit in the game’s final battle. Nevertheless, if you were able to reach this point in the game, you have what it takes to defeat Radagon and the Elden Beast. That means that you probably have the right level, equipment, and skills to handle them.
How To Beat Them
Radagon is a pretty straightforward battle that will allow you to use your hit-and-run tactics. He is a hard hitter with AOE attacks that you need to avoid if you don’t want to end up dying before he even morphs into the game’s true final boss. However, players who know how to time their dodges and their counterattacks should be able to find themselves productive against Radagon.
The Elden Beast will be a lot trickier because you need to avoid all of its attacks well enough to the point that you will end up becoming a master of dodging in Elden Ring. However, the key here is to avoid that sword attack that it does because that is when you will have the best opening to strike back at it using your best flurries.
9. Fire Giant
About The Boss
The Fire Giant is probably the largest encounter in the entire game because he is quite literally a giant and is the last of his kind. This is not an optional fight because you need to get through him to get to the Forge of the Giants in the Mountaintops of the Giants. And you’re going to have a really difficult time getting through this beast.
What makes the Fire Giant so difficult is that he is capable of covering a wide area with every move that he makes. This is why staying far from him isn’t a good tactic because of the fact that he has attacks that can hit you. And when he hits you, you will realize that he hits hard, especially when he gets to his second phase.
How To Beat Them
The Fire Giant will only have one vulnerable spot during his first phase, and that’s his injured left leg. As such, you will have to focus your attacks on that spot while making sure that you don’t get hit by his attacks. It is best to stay close to him because his hardest-hitting moves are the ones that he launches whenever you’re far away. But the tricky part is that he tends to roll away to gain some distance from you, and that’s when he launches his hardest-hitting moves.
During his second phase, he will be a lot slower but will rely more on his fire attacks by unleashing waves of fireballs that will cover a wide area. This is when distancing yourself from him will be a good idea. However, the tricky part is that the only vulnerable part is his right hand, and that means that you need to get close enough to his ride side to hit him. The good news is that not a lot of his fire attacks cover his right side, and that means that you can unleash your attacks whenever his hand is on the ground.
8. Commander Niall
About The Boss
Commander Niall is an optional boss that you might want to defeat to get your hands on the second half of the Secret Haligtree Medallion to gain access to the Consecrated Snowfields. However, you’ll learn that he can be a tricky boss to fight, especially because he isn’t alone.
At the onset of the fight, Niall will summon two knight companions that may not be the tankiest opponents but are actually hard hitters. On top of that, while you are dealing with the two knights, Niall will also be attacking you, albeit at a slower rate. As such, dealing with three different opponents can be really tough, especially considering that his boss arena is actually quite small.
How To Beat Them
It is best to summon an Ash Spirit that can tank some attacks when you are dealing with Commander Niall and his summoned knights. That’s because you want your summoned spirit to attract the attention of one or two enemies while you focus on defeating the summoned knights one by one.
When the summoned knights are dead, Niall will be much more aggressive and will make use of wind attacks that can cover a wide range. He isn’t the fastest mover, but he will hit hard if he gets an opening. As such, it is best to use attacks that will quickly stagger him before he unleashes his hardest-hitting attacks on you.
7. Astel, Naturalborn Of The Void
About The Boss
Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, is literally and figuratively the stuff of nightmares that was probably drawn up by a video game designer who quickly sketched this beast after waking up from a bad dream. And you need to see this thing to understand why it is the most terrifying creature in the entire game.
Of course, Astel wasn’t randomly placed in the game because he is actually the final boss of the Ranni questline. That means that he is as tough as any boss can get, and what makes him tough is that his only vulnerable spot is his head. On top of that, he teleports quite frequently, and that can get pretty frustrating for players who thought that they found an opening.
How To Beat Them
The best way to approach Astel is to stay close to the side of his head because his head is the only vulnerable spot. For those that don’t have attacks that reach far enough, only jump attacks can hit Astel’s head. And the problem here is that he doesn’t always allow you to see an opening for a jump attack because he tends to teleport from time to time.
When he teleports, he usually does so to get away from you, and he becomes dangerous when he is far away because he can unleash laser attacks and gravity magic that will hurt. The lesser evil is to stay close to him because you can at least tank his close-ranged attacks. And always keep your eye open for any opening for an attack on his head.
6. Maliketh, The Black Blade
About The Boss
Maliketh, The Black Blade, is the holder of the Death Rune and is one of the required fights that you need to get through to finish the story of Elden Ring. And you can find him in the Crumbling Farum Azula as the boss of this area.
What makes Maliketh a tough boss fight is that he will require you to adjust to two different phases because both of his phases are very different from one another. The first involves a beast clergyman that uses a rapid-striking dagger. The second one is a greatsword user that’s going to hit harder yet slower. Builds that aren’t as versatile as others will struggle greatly against the two varying forms that Maliketh takes in this fight.
How To Beat Them
The best way to defeat Maliketh is for you to probably use a few deaths to read his movements. He tends to have moves that are quite readable when you have fought him a few times already, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t as tough as they go. He still is going to frustrate you with some of his moves, and that means that you need to be able to master the art of reading him.
It is quite possible to defeat Maliketh in your first few fights without necessarily mastering his moves and the timing of your dodges. However, you might only be able to do this once you’ve reached a point where you are ridiculously over-leveled already. As such, when approaching Maliketh, be ready for a tough fight that you may not be able to easily come out of unscathed.
5. Godskin Duo
About The Boss
At first, the Godskin Duo shouldn’t be a fight that you need to worry about because it involves a Godskin Apostle and a Godskin Noble, two opponents that you surely have defeated in the past. But once you understand more about the concept of this fight, it gets even tougher. And that’s because they both share the same health bar.
Yes, the Godskin Duo share the same health bar. You may be able to defeat one of them to leave the other one all by his lonesome. But he will summon another companion to make things even harder for you because, if you did use a Spirit Ash Summon to even the odds at the beginning of the fight, your companion would probably be dead by the time one of the duo summons his companion once more.
How To Beat Them
The trick in this fight is to use your Mimic Tear +10 and to make sure that you equip the best armor before summoning your Mimic Tear so that it will end up tankier than it already is. The job of the Mimic Tear is to attract the attention of one of the members of the Godskin Duo, and that’s when you can pick them off one by one.
We recommend starting with the Godskin Apostle because he tends to be easier to kill. Once he’s dead, you can now go for the Noble, who is tankier than the Apostle but moves slower. Killing the Noble won’t be too difficult as long as your Mimic Tear is alive at this stage of the fight because you can hit it from all angles while overwhelming it with quick and successive moves.
4. Crucible Knight Duo
About The Boss
Do you remember the Crucible Knight in the Stormhill Evergaol near the beginning of the game? Well, imagine two of them fighting you at the same time. One was already too tough for beginner players at the start, and fighting two of them in the Leyndell, but the other one is much stronger than the regular Crucible Knight. And that knight is Ordovis.
What makes a fight with a Crucible Knight so tough is that they are capable of tanking your attacks while dishing out moves that can be released in quick succession. They are relentless attackers that tend to read your moves as well so that they will only unleash attacks when they see you attacking. Fighting two of those dudes during the middle portion of the game can be tough work for any Elden Ring player.
How To Beat Them
The best way to defeat the Crucible Knight duo is to focus your attacks on Crucible Knight Ordovis first because he isn’t as defensive as the regular Crucible Knight. That means that you’ll be able to kill him faster, although he does hit harder. And when you’re fighting multiple enemies, it doesn’t hurt to have your trusty Spirit Ash Summon around to attract the attention of one of them.
Once you’ve picked your way through Ordovis, you should be able to handle the regular Crucible Knight already. While Crucible Knights are still as tough as they come, defeating this one at the middle portion of the game shouldn’t be too difficult for a seasoned Elden Ring player who has been through worse.
3. Starscourge Radahn
About The Boss
Starscourge Radahn, according to Elden Ring lore, is the strongest and most well-respected warrior in the Lands Between. He is a noble and honorable general that his men respect. However, an encounter with Malenia (more on her later) rendered him a mindless beast because she nuked the entire area of Caelid with Scarlet Rot just so she could win against what seemed to be a superior opponent. As such, Radahn’s men held a fighting festival in his honor so that they could give him an honorable death.
Given the fact that he is the strongest warrior lore-wise, it becomes understandable why he is in the top 3. He is as tough as they come, especially because he can do it all. Radahn can attack you from afar range, can move quickly around the map, and can hit you with magic. It becomes understandable why you may want to summon multiple NPCs in this fight against him.
How To Beat Them
The fight against Radahn allows you to summon multiple NPC cooperators that should serve as distractions so that you can methodically find openings against this mighty opponent. What you need to do is to summon the NPCs at the beginning and to make sure you hide behind the obstacles near the summoning signs so that you can stay clear from Radahn’s great arrows. When the NPCs get close enough to Radahn, that’s when he will switch to his swords.
It is best to attack Radahn on horseback because he is quite nimble and mobile. Keep a good distance from him while he is picking off your NPC cooperators one by one, and make sure to steal an attack or two when the opportunity opens up.
When his life reaches the halfway point, he will turn himself into a meteor that would crash onto you, and that’s when it is best to use the crystal tear that allows you to have some sort of invulnerability so that you can tank this meteor attack. He will be more aggressive in his second phase and will use his gravity magic more often. Just stay clear of his magic and use your hit-and-run tactic on horseback to steal a victory from this mighty foe.
2. Mohg, Lord Of Blood
About The Boss
Mohg, Lord of Blood, is one of the secret demigod bosses in Elden Ring and is probably second only to Malenia in terms of toughness if you look at how many runes you can win from him. That said, getting to him isn’t that difficult but fighting him is the difficult part because, as the name suggests, he is proficient at causing blood loss.
On top of that, Mohg’s will use an attack that will continuously drain your HP while healing his own life points when you reach the second phase of this boss fight. Unless you have a secret item with you, you’ll be forced to burn through three flasks to stay alive, all while Mohg regains a lot of his HP. This is why he is one of the toughest bosses in the game.
How To Beat Them
Beating Mohg requires that you find the Purifying Crystal Tear in the sewers of Leyndell to survive the Nihil attack (the draining attack we were talking about). You can add the Purifying Crystal Tear to your flask of wondrous physick so that the Nihil attack won’t affect you. This will allow you to attack Mohg while he is chanting his Nihil attack.
Then again, even if you do survive his Nihil attack, Mohg is still a dangerous opponent both in his first and second phases. We recommend that you stay close to him because he uses a spear that is more effective when you distance yourself a bit from him. Staying close to him while stealing a few attacks when he’s open is the best strategy that you can take in what is going to be a very tough boss fight.
1. Malenia, Blade Of Miquella/Goddess Of Rot
About The Boss
Finally, we have Malenia, Blade of Miquella, who is one of the secret demigod bosses in the game and is arguably the toughest fight in Elden Ring. And what makes the fight against Malenia tough is that she is the most relentless attacker in the game due to how aggressive and quick she is to the point that you are going to have to spend an entire fight dodging while looking for an opening.
On top of that, Malenia heals herself whenever she attacks you, and that means that getting hit should be a big concern on your part because she is basically getting back the life points you chipped away from her. And her second phase is even more dangerous because of the fact that she unleashes Scarlet Rot, the most annoying status ailment in Elden Ring.
How To Beat Them
To beat Malenia, it is best that you use a weapon that either strikes quick and in multiple succession or can hit hard really well. That’s because Malenia has low poise, and that means that you can bother her attacks when you dish out your own brand of punishment as well. It is best to be on the aggressive side against her, especially when you have a Mimic Tear around, because she’s going to have a difficult time finding an opening if there are two of you staying on the aggressive when attacking her.
When she enters phase 2 after defeating her first phase, she becomes a literal Goddess of Rot that will easily kill you with Scarlet Rot if you aren’t careful. Stay clear from the flower that she will summon because that thing can cause Scarlet Rot. All of her attacks in this form cause Scarlet Rot as well. Then again, she still has low poise in this form, and that means that finding an opening to unleash flurries of attack will allow you to stagger and eventually kill her as long as you keep up the pace.
