Some Elden Ring bosses are downright devastating if you approach unprepared. With huge Area of Effects attacks and on-hit KO shots, you might reconsider tackling these creatures of the land in between, but with sheer focus and right gears, you can indeed vanquish them into oblivion.
Elden Ring Bosses in Order of Difficulty
Elden Ring consists of more than a hundred bosses scattered throughout the lands in between. I will be providing information on some of the most difficult bosses and bosses that are required for story progression. I will also provide you with tips and tricks to decrease the repetition of fighting bosses. Below is the list of Every Elden ring boss in order of difficulty.
Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-knowing
This main boss is required to complete the questline. A Tarnished Leader named Sir Gideon Ofnir might be called the all-knowing, but he may not know his deadly faith is bound to be doomed. He is one heck of a sorcerer who chants projectiles out of his wand. You can easily interrupt his magical incantation when you are in close combat by ramming your weapons. He has a series of long-range magical attacks, so it’s easy to play aggressively. Don’t let him use a healing potion, as it will heal half of his health. He is one of the easiest bosses for melee build players.
God-devouring Serpent / Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
He is an optional boss, and you can fight him at Volcano Manor in Mt.Gelmir. There are two phases in the fight with Rykard. You will acquire Rykard’s Great Rune and the Remembrance of the Blasphemous upon defeating Rykard. You need to use the Serpent Hunter Great Spear that you will acquire at the beginning of the boss chamber. Using weapon skill while consistently his attacks will take you to the second phase of the fight, where you can use weapon art to stagger him repeatedly. It takes a bit of timing on using weapon art skill to stagger him, or else he will attack regardless of weapon art. You can use Mimic Tear spirit, for it will reduce the difficulty remarkably.
Mimic Tear
This boss copies all your equipment and appears just like in the battle. However, Mimic Tear is an optional boss in Elden Ring but more unique than any other boss. There are mostly two locations to encounter Mimic Tear; One is behind the mist door in Nokron, Eternal City, and another is in the secret catacombs where you can find a hidden path to the haligtree. The mimic tear will mirror everything you have, including armor, weapons, spells, and consumables. One trick is to enter the fight with nothing on and quickly equip everything during the battle. You can also summon ashes as the mimic tear won’t be able to mirror this. After defeating Mimic Tear, you can use Mimic Tear Ashes to summon his spirit to help you in the battle.
Regal Ancestor Spirit
Regal Ancestor spirit is an optional boss found in Nokron, Eternal City. However, defeating the spirit will grant you 24000 runes and Remembrance of the Regal Ancestor. Regal Ancestor Spirit has 6,301 HP with 120 poise and deals standard and magical damage. He prevents himself from killing spirit creatures near him, and with each successful heal, the spirit will gain a new range of attacks that mostly contains charge and stomp attacks. The boss has a wide range of moves, but if you are able to read his moves, it becomes a less daunting task.
Fia’s Champions
Players don’t need to defeat Fia’s Champions as they are the optional boss in Elden Ring, but if you want forty thousand runes and Fia’s Mist, you can try your skill in combat. You can find them in Deeproot Depths. There are three waves of this fight. First comes a knight with a halberd and a turtle shield; extremely easy. The second one is Sorcerer Rogier. He uses a magical range attack, so play close and aggressive, and you will defeat him in no time. The third round is where the fight gets challenging. It’s a one vs. three fight, and your attack will get interrupted if you take all three at the same time. The trick is to bring down the samurai first as his health is lower than the remaining two and continue your battle afterward. Focusing on the aggressive one and defeating him first is a good start to defeating all the Fia’s Champions.
Elemer of the Briar
A great enemy boss and the knight of the Shaded Castle in Altus Plateau. He is as aggressive as he can get, but you can ignore him as he is an optional boss in Elden ring and don’t contribute much to the story except those twenty-four thousand runes, Marais Executioner’s Sword, and Briar Greatshield. He has a less close-range move set but hits hard so remember to dodge his dancing blade attack. By learning his attack pattern, you can bait him to use his shield slam which has a longer recovery time. You can land a couple of hits or recover at this moment. You can use Spirit Ash to distract him, and you can use mid-range attacks and spells, but don’t get too far as he will use his shield charge to close in.
Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
Players need to defeat two of the three Shardbearer in order to unlock Leyendell, and she is one of the three Shardbearer. Go to the Academy of Raya Lucarina located at the center of Liurnia. And you will find her along with her mini demons. The first phase is to kill and hit the scholar lying around with the golden aura. Don’t kill him. Just hit him once and run away. Renna will fall down, and you can land as many hits before she floats again. Phase one is pretty simple. Phase two makes the fight pretty tough as she will use projectile spells and beams to attack you. The trick here is to get really aggressive as she is prone to get staggered pretty quickly. You can use wolf ash summon to get her to stagger more often. Fighting Rennala with a magic build is really hard since she is magic resistant.
Lichdragon Fortissax
Fighting Lichdragon is an optional mission, but if you want to see the “Age of Duskborn” ending, you have to kill him during the playthrough of Fia’s questline. Lichdragon is located at the Deeproot Depth. Bring Lightiningproof Dried Livers that negotiate 15% of damage for a hundred and twenty seconds. His head takes double the damage, so if you can attack and dodge quickly, I recommend you aim for his head. Another trick is to run straight beneath him and keep attacking his ankles. Be aware, though. He will use lighting and a fire breath that will reach under. It’s safe to roll if you get the visual cues of the attack beforehand. Lich Dragon will drop ninety thousand runes and Remembrance of Lich Dragon when defeated.
Godrick the Grafted
Godrick the grafted is the first shardbearers you will fight in the Elden ring. He is the demigod boss that you will encounter in Stormville Castle. He wields a large golden axe and attacks players in his first phase. During his second phase, He grafts a dragon head that breathes fire and also grabs players to deal a lot of damage. Using flame resistance in his second phase might negotiate fire damage. He has variations of attacks that change quickly from leaps, swing, smash and lunge. His attack animations are balanced for players to respond accordingly. Godrick drops the Remembrance of the Grafted and Godrick’s Great Rune when defeated.
Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
This alien lifeform is part Scorpio, part dragonfly with limbs as hands and a cracked skull with a third eye. A true and bizarre boss design with cosmic powers. If you want to complete the “Ranni the Witch” quest line, then you must defeat this creature. He will welcome you with a purple beam upon entering the arena. Use torrent to reach him and hit him in the face to repay his gracious act of spitting beams out of his third eye. You can summon spirit ashes that have a long-range like Latenna’s. You, too, can use long-range spells and attack from a distance. Eventually, he will teleport and rush to grab you from any direction. It’s basically a one-hit attack, so be on the lookout and get ready to dodge it. Attacking him constantly while dodging his attacks is the best option for melee users. He has a lot of AOE damage but is low on close-range attacks except his pincer attack and swipe. Attacking close range is pretty easy but getting close is difficult as he will teleport to a distance for a purple meteor shower and laser beam.
Red Wolf of Radagon
A giant red wolf is found in Raya Lucaria within Liurnia of the Lakes. Red Wolf is not optional if you want to defeat Rennala. You will encounter Red Wolf in Raya Lucarina Academy. Timing is the key to defeating Radagon and also shield. Except for his jump and spinning sword, all of his attacks are two, or three-hit combos, so don’t be hasty and attack before his combos. He is fast and aggressive, so make sure to heal up if he is at a safe distance. He will mostly dodge your projectiles but won’t dodge all of them, so keep firing them to land hit. Radagon also has projectiles fired at you, but they can be easily dodged but make sure you are not healing in such a situation.
Commander Niall
He is a fat patriotic knight who uses his solder to do his dirty job. He is a bit challenging since you have to deal with his knight and Commander Niall at the same time. Using a charm spell or summoning ashes will ease up the fight if you want to defeat this optional boss located in Castle Sol in Mountaintops of the Giants. I highly suggest you use mimic tear ashes for this fight because you will be fighting his other two knights along with Commander Niall. He has a huge AOE with his wind-up moves. Reach to a safe distance if he charges up for a wind spin attack. Dodge anything related to the wind. After dealing enough damage, he will turn into a second phase that has lighting attacks. You will have very less time to heal in the second phase because he will shower a range of attacks aggressively. The best way to defeat this guy is to master the art of dodging and hitting. Don’t take a chance, as one or two hits will kill you. Be consistent and learn his attack pattern to counterattack. He will drop ninety thousand runes and Veterans Prosthesis after you kill him.
Starscourge Radahn
He is one hulking Demigod who is really pissed at you for some reason. He has suffered from the rot and now devours friends and foes in his madness. A raging war against the all-mighty Demigod is no walk in the park, but if you want to unlock the meteor shower cinematically, then after an epic battle, you can. You can summon any NPC as there will be summoned signs scattered around the dunes. It is best to ride torrent when you see him shooting a magical arrow at you. He has spinning slashes, a volley of arrows, gravitational pull attacks, slam attacks, and all his attacks deal tons of damage. Melee users can have a hard time riding torrents and attacking simultaneously. His second phase is him shooting up in the sky and crashing down like a meteor. He will also have magic boulders hovering around that can shoot at you anytime. Make sure to revive your NPC friend and dodge his attacks. All I can say is level up at least up to 90 to defeat him. After defeating him, a quick cutscene will follow, and you can pick up his drops, Remembrance of the Starscourge and Radahn’s Great Rune.
Radagon of the Golden Order / Elden Beast
He is the boss just before the Elden Beast, the Final boss of the Eldin Ring. You will have to Elden Beast as soon as you defeat Radagon. He is the God Boss in the Stone Platform. You will encounter Radagon of the golden order by entering the glowing wall after defeating Hoarah Luz, Warrior. Elden Beast is the true form of Radagon, and as soon as you defeat Radagon, a cut scene will appear, and you are faced with Elden Beast. The beast will start by breathing fire which you can avoid by running behind. Just like Radagon, Elden Beast can also be staggered, and you can perform a visceral attack on the crack of its belly. Elden Beast will drop five hundred thousand runes and Elden Remembrance upon defeat.
Fire Giant
It’s so huge that you won’t be able to see his head most of the time during battle. Players must defeat Fire Giant in order to advance to the Forge of the Giants. You will encounter him at the place peak located in the Mountaintops of the Giants. Use torrent to close in but dismount when you reach him because he will perform a different swipe attack and jump attack that requires dodge. Once you break the rope wrapped in his left leg, It will reveal the weak spot. He will then roll away and attack the slow-moving orb and fireball hurling towards you. Use torrent in phase two for dodging melee attacks and slow fire orbs. He will also launch volcanic rocks in the air and spot fire underneath him. Use torrent to attack in close range and flee when he gets aggressive. Make sure to look after the torrent’s health. Rinse and repeat the process, and the giant will be down after a dozen hits.
Beast Clergyman / Maliketh, the Black Blade
You can’t avoid all his attacks because he is required to move further into the main storyline. Beast Clergy is a fast and furious enemy with a dagger on his right and incantation magic on his left. But in comparison, Maliketh is more aggressive and erratic in nature than Beast Clergyman. He has throwing boulders that do tons of damage, a series of swipes combos, and a ground plunge that sends air blades on the surface and falling rocks. His attacks might kill you over time, but falling to the death pit circling around the arena will result in instant death. Look out of the death pit while backing away. You can use those broken pillars for hiding and healing, especially in the second phase, where he stabs his left hand and summons the Black Blade. Now he is more aggressive than ever, swiping his blade from ground to air. You want to lock onto Maliketh because not only does he hits like crazy, but every hit you receive will deplete your maximum health meter and do blood flame damage. So be careful and defeat him before he defeats you. Defeating him will drop Remembrance of Black Blade and a cutscene.
Mohg, Lord of Blood
Mohg welcomes you to his domain in a cutscene where he appears from the pool of blood. He is one really powerful Demigod who deals a huge amount of blood as he is the lord of blood. Before going to Mohgwyn Palace, located in Siofra River, you want to get the potion made with Purifying Crystal Tear located at Altus Plateau: Second Church of Marika. This will immensely help you during the battle as he chants Nihil three times, sucking your health out and filling Mohg health bar. You can use a healing potion, but Mohg will keep absorbing your health if you take time to defeat him. He has a really strong AOE attack that can quickly change the environment to your disadvantage. You can always use Mimic tears if you find him too challenging to handle.
Godfrey and Hoarah Loux
The second hardest boss in the entire game is the First Elden Lord and also the most exhilarating boss fight. You will encounter him in Leyndell, Capital of Ash. Just like other bosses, he has two phases, but both phases are totally different from one another. He will pound, shattering the ground beneath. He will use the Axe of Godfrey in the first phase. Once you bring down half of his health, a cutscene will appear where he abandons his axe and the tiger on his shoulder for hand-to-hand combat. He becomes aggressive with rage and snatches you mid-air, and piledrives you to the ground. I highly recommend mimic tear summon as he will get distracted by the summoning allowing you to land a couple of hits.
Malenia, Blade of Miquella / Goddess of Rot
The hardest boss battle in the Elden ring, and it’s not only because of her weapon art that has a continuous slashing pattern but her healing ability from the damage you take from her blade. You can stagger her and break her attack with just a couple of hits. Running and dodging will do nothing but cause you health damage. Mimic tears are extremely required as they will help her distract, and you can land some serious hits. Her second phase is the Goddess of Rot, where she will generate wings and has lots of additional attacks and also increased damage attacks. Don’t give her time to attack and go full-on aggressive in the second phase. Keep an eye on your health, too, and only use a potion when she is distracted. Upon her defeat, She will drop 480,000 runes, Melania’s Great Rune, and Remembrance of the Rot Goddess.
