Ranking Bloodborne Bosses from Worst to Best.

The game that first introduced me to FromSoftware was Elden Ring.
Being extremely challenging, yet also extremely rewarding, it quickly became one of my favorite video games of all time.
So, when I finally got my hands on a PlayStation 5, one of the first games I tried was the Demon’s Souls remake.
Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts, I never connected with the game enough to get very far in it, and this put me off the rest of the FromSoftware lineup.
As the years passed, though, I kept hearing about the game many considered to be the best in the Soulsborne catalogue: Bloodborne.
It got to the point that one day, when I found a copy in a retro-gaming store, I decided to bite the bullet and try it.
And I am so glad I did.
For me, Bloodborne lived up to all of the hype, especially in regards to its incredible boss roster.
After I finished the game for the first time, I immediately decided to replay it and then rank the bosses from worst to best, excluding those from the Chalice Dungeons.
This ranking is based off those two playthroughs and takes gameplay, lore, challenge and fun all into account.
Despite the mostly high quality of the bosses overall, one of them had to end up at the bottom of the list, and that boss is…

22. Micolash, Host of the Nightmare.

I will give Micolash some credit, his voice acting and personality are entertaining.
There, credit given.
Now, for the bad.
Found in the Nightmare of Mensis, Micolash’s “fight” can hardly be called that, at first.
The moment the boss begins, Micolash runs away from the player, starting a chase which can either end quickly or drag on for minutes.
Once finally cornered, you have the choice of first taking out his two puppets or fighting all three at once.
I would suggest taking out the puppets before Micolash because that makes his Augur of Ebrietas attack much easier to dodge.
This single attack takes off a great deal of health, but it is the only attack Micolash has in this first phase.
Around half health, he vanishes and you have to chase him down again, although this time the chase if far more scripted.
Upon cornering him for a second time, he gains two more moves.
The first is a measly punch that does barely any damage.
The second attack, named A Call Beyond, does way too much damage.
If you die in this fight, it will most likely be because Micolash one-shot you with the attack.
Oh, and he can spam it multiple times, so dodging it the first time does not mean you will the second, third, or even fourth.
And, once you die, you have to go through the long process of chasing him just to get to this point all over again, so have fun with that.
I certainly did not.
Going through that arduous process just to get one-shot by A Call Beyond (or more embarrassingly, falling to my death at one point) over and over again was endlessly frustrating and boring.
The chase can go on for too long, Micolash’s move-set is way too limited, and his second phase is accompanied by an annoying one-shot attack that he can spam endlessly.
The only thing Micolash has going for is, again, his voice-acting and personality, which did admittedly get a few chuckles out of me.
Otherwise, there is absolutely nothing that works about this boss, making him easily Bloodborne’s worst, in my opinion.

21. Rom, the Vacuous Spider.

The runner-up for worst boss in Bloodborne goes to Rom, the Vacuous Spider.
Located at the end of the surprisingly short Byrgenwerth area, Rom is unfortunately nowhere near as short.
Like Micolash, you will probably die a few times fighting her, and these fights are quite frustrating.
On a positive note, I will say that Rom’s arena is excellent, and defeating her is significant because it unveils the cosmic horror at Bloodborne’s center.
Sadly, this is the only praise I can give Rom,
Again, like Micolash, her moveset is extremely limited.
She does not even attack in phase one, and her attacks are pretty basic in phases two and three.
That is not why she is ranked down at twenty-one, though.
No, it is her many, many, many spider children that bring her down this low.
The moment Rom is attacked, these spiders will fall from the sky and swarm the player.
This leads to endless frustration because these spiders hit way harder than they should, leading to many deaths when they strike you from behind while you’re trying to fight Rom.
Even taking the spiders out before dealing with Rom is a nuisance because of their armoured heads, which makes trying to kill them all extend the fight even longer.
Oh, and if you do decide to take the risk of leaving the spiders alive while fighting Rom, the arena will soon become so full of spiders that it tanks the frame rate a bit, making the boss more difficult.
Whenever I died to Rom, it never felt fair due to the other spiders’ involvement.
The story impact and beauty of the arena is the only thing saving Rom from the bottom of the list.

20. Witch of Hemwick.

Found at the end of Hemwick Charnel Lane, the Witch of Hemwick is one of Bloodborne’s blandest bosses.
Upon entering the arena, the witch will summon a Mad One, probably tricking the player into thinking that is the boss.
The real boss is invisible, so you need to track her down to attack, with the Witch teleporting around the arena after a few hits.
So begins a boring game of hide and seek, where you find and attack the Witch while avoiding the Mad Ones it spawns.
This would have been bad enough but then it turns out the name of the boss is inaccurate.
It is actually the Witches of Hemwick because another one spawns after you kill the first, which can also annoyingly be revived by the second.
The freezing spells they unleash can also extend the length of the fight if you get hit, so that is frustrating.
Luckily, the Witch of Hemwick is actually one of the easiest fights in the game, being one of only three bosses I have never died against in my two playthroughs.
Had she actually offered difficulty like Micolash and Rom then you can bet the Witch of Hemwick would have been in last place for my ranking.

19. Celestial Emissary.

As you progress through Bloodborne, you will encounter various enemies that suggest there is something more otherworldly going on than just the Beast plague.
The Celestial Minions are one such enemy and you can encounter them a few times before their boss at the orphanage.
This fight offers very little of interest, but it is the second Bloodborne boss I never died to, so it is at least not frustrating.
At first, the boss seems to be just a horde of standard minions, until you notice one standing back.
Unlike the others, this one does not attack you but hit him enough and he will transform into a larger version of himself, which unfortunately does not help his case.
The only reason there would be any challenge to the Celestial Emissary is if the player found some difficulty in navigating the spawning minions, much like Rom’s spiders.
Although, it is relieving to say that the minions are nowhere near as annoying as those spiders, considering that, again, this boss did not kill me in either of my playthroughs.
So, much like the Witch of Hemwick, it is a boring boss, but one that is saved from being lower by not being too much of an annoyance.
There is also the horrifying implication of finding this boss at the orphanage, suggesting than the Choir transformed children into the Celestial Minions, which is just another level of evil.

18. Living Failures.

Barely edging out their more successful counterparts, the Living Failures are the lowest ranked DLC boss on this list.
You will not see another boss from the Old Hunters until much further down, showing how high quality the rest of them are.
As for the Living Failures, not everything about them fails.
Their arena is well designed, and the attack where they call down meteors is fun to avoid.
Not to mention their soundtrack is excellent, arguably too great for such an average boss.
The Living Falures share a health bar, and their attacks range from launching magic at the player, to swinging their surprisingly hard-hitting fists.
You basically just have to target one away from the others, deal enough blows to kill it, move onto the next one, rinse and repeat.
I would like to say they were one of the bosses I never died to but, unfortunately, the strength of their blows caught me off guard on my first attempt and I died once.
It is a bit of a humbling experience to be killed by something known as a failure, especially with how basic their moveset is.
Still, their epic soundtrack and arena is enough to place them above the Celestial Emissary.

17. Amygdala.

r/bloodborne - does anyone know how tall the amygdala is?

Seen in Cathedral War and throughout Yahar’gul after killing Rom, the Amydala are a constant and threatening presence.
These eldritch abominations constantly watching your progress and occasionally attacking you does a good job of building up to the eventual boss fight.
Unfortunately, said fight arrives at the end of the Nightmare Frontier, my least favorite area in all of Bloodborne.
Thank the Great Ones there was a shortcut to the boss because if I had to avoid the poison swamp every attempt, Amygdala would have been a lot lower on this list.
As for the actual fight itself, it is sadly something of a disappointment.
The boss has its moments, like when the Great One fires lasers at you or when it rips off its own arms to attack you with.
Otherwise, the fight is a bit of a letdown for a boss hyped up since the defeat of Rom.
The Amygdala’s head takes the most damage but, much like the Ancient Dragons in Elden Ring, this weak point is constantly out of range, meaning the player has to target other parts like the arms and legs.
However, the arms are risky because they are being continuously swung at you, and it takes forever to kill the boss if you target the legs and tail.
So, you either risk getting killed a bunch by standard hand swings, or have a slow and drawn out fight that takes way too long.
Like I said, Amydala has its moments, but not enough to put it any higher on the list.

16. The One Reborn.

I was surprised to see a lot of people rank The One Reborn at the bottom of their lists.
This is not to say I think the fight is incredible; it comes in at number sixteen, after all.
But I still found enough value of here to call The One Reborn a solid boss.
For staters, the Great One is bar none the most disgusting enemy in the game, and that is saying something.
Formed from the rotting corpses of countless people sacrificed in the Mensis Ritual, the One Reborn is aided by six chime maidens who shoot fireballs and can heal the boss.
So, if you want an easier time, kill the maidens first.
That being said, on my first playthrough, I killed the boss without realizing I could take the maidens out, so your experience may vary.
The One Reborn’s moves consist of standard body slams and leg kicks.
It can also drop bodies from the freaking sky but if you have a high enough vitality level you can pretty easily tank these hits if they connect.
I only died once each playthrough to the One Reborn, but both these times I was killed by the boss’ most annoying move, which is covering the ground in a toxic sludge.
This is quite hard to notice if you are focused on hitting the boss, so the first time I died to the move I had no idea what had happened.
Other than this cheap move, which forces you to keep distance, I found The One Reborn to be a solid fight.
Not Bloodborne’s best but certainly not its worst which some players ranked it as.

15. Moon Presence.

Potentially the final boss of Bloodborne, in order to fight the Moon Prescence you have to consume three one thirds of an umbilical cord (yes, I said what I said).
Following a cinematic and threatening cutscene, the fight begins… and it is unfortunately a letdown.
Don’t get me wrong, the Moon Prescence is fine enough as a boss, but as the secret final fight of the game it left much to be desired.
Like Amygdala, it mostly uses physical attacks, which seems basic for an otherworldly being beyond our understanding.
The Moon Prescence’s most unique attack is when it brings your health down to one, but the boss’ recovery period following this move is so long you can completely regain your health by either downing blood vials, or by using the rally mechanic.
The boss arena is also excellent, but this is more Gehrman’s arena, since you fight him here beforehand.
Overall, the Moon Prescence is a fine enough boss.
If it had been a fight earlier in the game, it would have been higher.
As the final fight, it left me wanting more from it.

14. Cleric Beast.

We go from potentially the final boss of the game to potentially the first.
The Cleric Beast is located on a bridge in Old Yharnam and is well built up to, since the beast is heard screeching when you climb up the first ladder.
Get used to this screeching because the boss will make this noise constantly when it jumps down at you, taking wild swings.
Much like the Moon Presence, the Cleric’s Beasts attacks are physically orientated and basic, but this works for a first boss as opposed to a final one.
It also serves as a lesson for new players about what works best against Beast enemies.
Chucking the molotovs collected on the journey to reach the boss ends the fight much quicker.
The only issue I can think of is the boss’ constant screaming but a lot of bosses in Bloodborne do that so you will get used to it pretty quick.
The Cleric Beast is a solid tutorial boss for the game that teaches the player how to deal with Beasts.

13. Dark Beast Paarl

Located in Yahar’gul, Dark Beast Paarl is unique in that he is a late game boss who can be fought earlier in the playthrough.
All you need to do is be killed and captured by a Snatcher and you will be taken to be presumably used in the Mensis Ritual.
If you choose to progress through the area, you can find the Dark Beast guarding the back entrance to Old Yharnam.
The boss ambushes you, seemingly rising from the dead and imbuing itself with bolt damage, which you must stun it out of if you are to have a chance of winning.
The Dark Beast is a struggle this early in the game, but you can always leave and return after Rom’s defeat, when the fight will be easier.
This was what I did on my first playthrough, but on my second I attempted and succeeded in killing him in the early game.
The added factor of having the chance to fight Dark Beast Paarl in the early game makes him standout, especially from the bosses which are much lower on the list.

12. Shadows of Yharnam.

FromSoftware’s gank fights are very hit or miss.
I have not played Dark Souls yet, but I have heard endless praise for its Ornstein and Smough fight.
That being said, gank fights like the Godskin Duo and Valiant Gargoyles from Elden Ring are among the worst in the game.
Upon completing Bloodborne twice, I can safely say I feel much more positively about the Shadows of Yharnam.
Acting as the guards for Byrgenwerth, the three Shadows have a great mix of combat styles.
One uses aggressive sword swipes, one stays back launching fire projectiles, and the final Shadow uses a mix of both.
This allows the player to mostly focus on the three one at a time, but the Shadows have a final trick up their sleeve.
Do enough damage and they will reveal the serpents inside them and launch snake attacks at you, which felt like an early stage of the Messmer fight from the Shadows of the Erdtree DLC.
If you read my Elden Ring boss ranking, you would know that Messmer is my favorite fight in the game, so being reminded of him when fighting the Shadows of Yharnam was a big point in their favor.
Sure, their impact is slightly lessened when they appear as standard enemies in the Nightmare of Mensis, but these enemies do not have the snake attacks, so they feel separate from the boss.
The Shadows of Yharnam is a gank fight done right.

11. Blood-starved Beast

Found at the end of Old Yharnam (a fantastic area in its own right) the Blood-starved Beast is something of a controversial boss.
Some enjoy it while others really don’t.
Personally, I had a lot of fun fighting it.
Its first phase is pretty easy, considering you just have to dodge left into the attack to avoid most of his strikes.
It can be made even easier by throwing pungent blood cocktails to lure the Beast away, giving you the chance to get a few strikes in.
The second phase gets a bit harder by making the attacks poison, so be sure to bring some antidote to the boss.
For the third phase, however, do not even bother with the antidote unless you are near death.
You will be poisoned simply by being around the Blood-starved Beast, meaning every antidote usage will just give the Beast more chances to hit you.
Focus on getting damage and avoiding his attacks and you will come through victorious.
The Blood-starved Beast starts off easy but gets progressively harder due to the poison, but in a way that feels fair, which puts it higher up on the list, just outside the top ten.

10. Laurence, the First Vicar.

After eight placements, we finally get another DLC boss.
Laurence, the First Vicar takes tenth place and that may be a bit of a surprise, considering how controversial he is.
I have seen a lot of people hate on Laurence and I get why.
He is the most out of way boss to find in the DLC, he does extreme damage, and his first phase is just a Cleric Beast only with fire effects added.
Personally, though, I actually like that Laurence is a Cleric Beast because it works for the lore.
It makes sense that the person arguably most responsible for the horrifying events of the game is twisted into a stronger version of the first boss you fight.
Even then, there is more to the fight than that because, once he reaches half health, Laurence’s legs disintergrate and he somehow becomes more difficult.
His swipes seem to hit harder, he shoots lava from his mouth and even emits it from his body, and his ground slams seem to go on endlessly.
For this phase, I would suggest getting in close to Laurence’s sides.
Attempting to maintain distance only ends badly.
On my first playthrough, I found Laurence to be the second hardest boss of the game but, funnily enough, on my second playthrough it only took me two attempts to beat him.
Maybe I just got lucky on that second playthrough, but going from endlessly losing against him to beating him pretty easily was a worthwhile experience that just pushed Laurence into the top ten.

9. Mergo’s Wet Nurse.

In ninth place, we have the final boss I never died to in either of my playthroughs.
I was surprised by this, given how late her fight is in the game.
Despite its ease, I still had a lot of fun fighting Mergo’s Wet Nurse.
For starters, her design is excellent, and the cutscene introducing her does an excellent job of making her appear as the threatening defender of a baby Great One.
Then there is her soundtrack, which is the most unique in Bloodborne, being a lullaby first heard in Central Yharnam.
Most of her attacks are sword slices that are shockingly easy to avoid.
Just stick to her backside and you will be out of range for most of her slashes.
The difficulty only arrives when the Wet Nurse clones herself.
It can be hard to stay focused on attacking her, when you have to worry about her twin striking you from off-screen.
While this did come close to killing me once, I was still able to pull through and get the win.
Lore-wise the fight is also memorable for the second encounter it provides with Queen Yharnam.
Upon defeating the Wet Nurse and putting Mergo to rest, the Queen fades away, seemingly at peace.
For the lore and fun nature of the fight, Mergo’s Wet Nurse takes ninth place, but it could have gone further if the boss had been a little more challenging.

8. Vicar Amelia.

Vicar Amelia served as my first roadblock in Bloodborne.
Yes, I had died fighting the Cleric Beast and Father Gascoigne, but that was only a few times.
In comparison, it took me close to ten attempts to beat Vicar Amelia on my first playthrough.
The cutscene introducing her is one of the most brutal in the game, with her transforming into a giant Wendigo-like Beast, despite her prayers.
From the beginning of the fight, Amelia hits hard for the early game, striking at the player while constantly shrieking.
Aiming for her legs is your best bet but, should you get her to phase two, be sure to keep close because, otherwise, Amelia may heal herself, making the fight last longer.
Once beaten, the player can then access a Cleric Beast skull to witness Laurence and Willem’s falling out, learning the iconic adage, “Fear the Old Blood.”
If only Laurence and Amelia had taken this quote to heart, then they may not have become so beastly by the end.
A challenging fight, which serves as the key to an important piece of Bloodborne lore, Vicar Amelia is certainly a memorable fight.
My only issue is that her boss theme is just a repeat of the Cleric Beast.

7. Gehrman, the First Hunter.

I have seen Gehrman ranked pretty highly among Bloodborne’s bosses, so it may be a surprise that he is only number seven on this list.
The guardian of the Hunter’s Dream, Gehrman has pretty tragic lore.
Forced to guide Hunters like yourself, the First Hunter attempts to free you from the dream at the end of the game.
Accept, and you will be free while Gehrman remains trapped.
Refuse, and Gehrman will fight you, with both Hunters aiming to free the other from this nightmare.
The tragedy of the fight is sold by the stunning arena of white flowers, and emotional score, which is one of the best in the game.
As for Gehrman’s moveset, he switches weapons across the fight, occasionally being powered up by the Moon Presence.
His sythe is the most difficult of his attacks to dodge but, even then, I did not find him to be that much of a challenge, only dying a few times.
This was most likely due to me beating the DLC before his fight both times, but that was pretty much a requirement, considering beating the final boss automatically sends you to a new game.
As a result, I found that I did not have his moveset down 100%, despite defeating him in only a couple attempts.
Also, even though the lore of Gehrman is tragic, I found the reveal of him being one of the final bosses a little bit lacking.
Outside of the opening, you rarely interact with Gehrman in the Hunter’s Dream, since the Doll is the main NPC there.
Still, Gehrman’s fight is fun from what I saw of it, and the soundtrack, arena and lore are all great, which is why he finds himself in seventh place.

6. Father Gascoigne.

While the Cleric Beast serves as a great tutorial for Beast bosses, preparing players for fights like the Blood-starved Beast and Vicar Amelia, Fahter Gascoigne acts as a tutorial for Hunter bosses such as Gehrman and Lady Maria.
Gascoigne is also the center of one of the first quests you can find in the game.
Encountering his daughter at a window, she will ask you to find her parents.
This is a FromSoft game, however, so of course it has to end with everybody dying.
By the time you find Gascoigne, he has become so blood crazed that he has killed his wife.
Declaring that we will also be a Beast soon, Gascoigne attacks us with his axe trick weapon.
The graves surrounding the arena make for great barriers to create distance with Gascoigne, before closing in to attack.
He is also the first boss that allows you to parry, which can often be key to help defeating Hunter bosses.
Gascoigne does not stay a Hunter forever, though, because in his final phase he transforms into a Beast, increasing his aggression and damage output.
It is quite easy to die to this final phase, and on my second playthrough I did die when I was one hit away from defeating him, which was frustrating, but the fun kind.
To make the fight easier, you can also use the music box given to you by the little girl to make her father remember, temporarily stunning him.
Speaking of the little girl, her story also sends in tragedy, being killed by a massive pig in the sewers.
There are no happy endings in Bloodborne, and the best we can do for Gascoigne is to send him to be with the rest of his family.

5. Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos.

Ebrietas | Neutral Characters Wiki | Fandom

Ebrietas is perhaps one of the most important bosses to Bloodborne’s lore.
It is her blood which may ultimately have been used to create the Healing Church, thus leading to the eventual Beast plague.
For such an important boss, you sure have to go out of your way to find her.
Seriously, I am not sure how anyone could realise you needed to break through a window in the Celestial Emissary’s arena without reading some kind of guide.
Once you reach the Alter of Despair where Ebrietas resides, the sight is a sad one.
Resting in front of a fallen Great One (which looks a lot like Rom) Ebrietas will not attack the Hunter until you strike first.
From here, the fight begins like many Great One battles, since most of Ebrietas’ attacks are physical.
That being said, they feel a lot fairer than say Amygdala’s since it is relatively easy to bait Ebrietas into attempting to strike you with her massive head, which you can then attack to get the most damage.
Ebrietas’ attacks do not stay physical forever, though.
She will eventually begin spitting frenzy inducing blood at you, so it is best to keep sedatives on hand.
In her second phase, Ebrietas summons otherworldly powers, like a life drain which gradually takes away your health when you get close to her.
The boss’ most dangerous attack, however, is A Call Beyond.
Unlike with Micolash, this attack feels fair, giving the Hunter plenty of time to dodge it, and Ebrietas does not spam it.
The only attack that does not feel fair is her charge attack, which has only a brief signal and an annoying hitbox.
Aside from this, Ebrieras is a challenging, yet fun fight, and the best Great One boss in the base game.
And, after you beat her, you can use the Alter of Despair to revive Queen Annalise, if you have reached that point in the Vileblood questline.
Speaking of…

4. Martyr Logarius.

In my opinion, the title of best boss in the base game goes to Martyr Logarius.
Found at Castle Cainhurst, Logarius has one of my favorite boss cutscenes in the entire game.
Watching his skeletal form unfreeze itself and rise from his makeshift throne felt intimidating, and the way the sound design plays, with the music cutting out right before Logarius rises, plays into that excellently.
His fight is also unique compared to Bloodborne’s human bosses because he is a spellcaster.
He will spend the majority of his first phase casting magical skulls at the player, while occasionally taking a few swipes with his sword.
I suggest getting in close for this phase because standing back while Logarius flings spells at you is a surefire way to get a YOU DIED screen.
His physical attacks can be paried, though, so that makes the fight a little easier.
What will make it harder is backing him into a corner or fighting him near the edge of the building, where you can easily get knocked off, which happened to me a couple times.
The power-up for his second phase does give you enough time to get a visceral attack in.
Once he recovers, or fully powers up to his second phase, Logarius becomes much more aggressive, now relying mostly on sword strikes, and often charging the player from the sky.
His most important spell in this phase is his sword strike, which generates multiple blades to fly at the player.
Dealing both with this and Logarius’ attacks makes the fight more difficult, but you can thankfully destroy the sword with a gunshot to stop the spell from continuing.
Once defeated, Logarius will also drop the Clown of Illusions, allowing you to meet the Vileblood Queen and finish Alfred’s questline.
Do you allow the fanatical order Logarius led to win by causing the Queen’s death, or do you foil them by reviving her using the Alter of Despair?
The choice is yours.
Martyr Logarius is a great fight, with an intimidating cutscene, and fun spells to avoid.
The only reason he is not in the top three is because his runback is the worst in the game, even with the shortcut.

3. Orphan of Kos.

FromSoftware usually saves their best bosses for the DLC.
They did this for Shadow of the Erdtree, with bosses like Messmer, Midra and Bayle and they did this years earlier with Bloodborne’s The Old Hunters DLC.
The fact that the top three bosses on this list are from the DLC should confirm to you how much I loved playing this expansion.
Of the three, I would say Orphan of Kos is the weakest but still an incredible fight.
Before Malenia and Radahn, the Orphan stood at the pinnacle of gaming difficulty.
Some say Laurence is harder but, after playing through the DLC twice, I definitely disagree.
The buildup to the boss is excellent, as you struggle through the scourged remains of the Fishing Hamlet, until you reach Kos’ corpse.
The cutscene that follows is quite disgusting, as the Orphan crawls from its mother’s body, before weeping.
This inspires sympathy that quickly turns to terror upon the Orphan attacking you with its own placenta, dealing heavy damage.
You can stun the Orphan and even visceral it, but this is little comfort when the boss enters its second phase, spawning a pair of wings and somehow becoming even more aggressive.
I found that dodging to the right of the Orphan’s attacks was the best strategy during this phase, but I still died plenty of times to his ground strikes and AOE attacks.
His most iconic attack arrives when he gives a signature cry and lightning strikes his mother’s corpse, spreading out to do shocking damage to the player if it connects.
Whether this is the Orphan using its mother’s body, or Kos responding to her son from beyond the grave no one knows.
What is known by almost every Bloodborne player is that finally beating the Orphan of Kos is an immensely euphoric experience.
My first time defeating him, I collapsed backwards onto my bed in utter exhaustion.
Despite the trial that was his fight, I still found it worth my time.
Even victorious, I felt like I had only won by the skin of my teeth on both playthroughs.
If I had to name a criticism, it would be that the Orphan has the weakest soundtrack of the DLC’s five bosses (I cannot believe I am saying Living Failures have a better OST but there it is).
Even then, the score is still great.
Orphan of Kos is without a doubt Bloodborne’s hardest boss, but it is also one of its best.

2. Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade.

Going into Ludwig’s fight, I knew he was a boss many considered to be the best of Bloodborne.
While there is one boss who I would rank higher, Ludwig certainly lives up to expectations.
Located in a literal corpse pit, the once proud Hunter is now a hideous monstrousity.
As opposed to other Beasts, Ludwig takes the form of a horse rather than a wolf.
Some even theorize that he merged with his horse upon transformation.
Radahn would approve.
The first phase of his fight is extremely chaotic, in the best of ways.
Ludwig will strike at you, spew at you, jump down from the cieling, and unleash one of the hardest hitting charge attacks in the game.
Do not get behind Ludwig to strike him, though, because he will just horse kick you.
It is best to strike him from the sides but you always have to be on alert for his next attack.
Get him to half health and he will transition to phase two with a cutscene.
Nowadays, a mid-fight cutscene is nothing new in a FromSoftware game but, back when Bloodborne released, this was truly unique.
The incredible quality of the cutscene only adds to the historical value.
Ludwig sees the Moonlight Greatsword, one of FromSoft’s most iconic weapons, and this is enough to temporarily restore his humanity.
Ludwig the Accursed then becomes Ludwig the Holy Blade, fighting the Hunter upright with the legendary sword to the best soundtrack of the game.
Hell, I would argue this is not only Bloodborne’s best OST, but the best one in FromSoft history.
The way it blends from the cutscene to the second phase is excellent and, if I were not fighting for my life, I would be content just sitting back and listening to the operatic chants.
After finally defeating Ludwig, you can even talk with him, answering a question if you are wearing the correct clothing.
Ludwig dies either believing he was honourable, or realizing the horrifying truth of his fall from grace.
He is a fantastic boss that tells the story of a man who lost his humanity regaining it for one last battle.
But there is one boss in Bloodborne that I consider to be even better.

1. Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower : r/bloodborne

If I had to name who the most tragic character in Bloodborne is, I would say Lady Maria.
Her lore is not the only reason she is my favorite boss in the game, but it is important to understanding how great I find her fight to be.
Being born from, yet hating the Vileblood family, Maria was one of the first Hunters, becoming Gehrman’s disciple.
Everything changed for her when she was sent to the Fishing Hamlet and took part in the massacre, which included desecrating the corpse of Kos, cursing Maria and all those involved.
Traumatised by what she had done, Maria perhaps tried to find some redemption by helping the ailing patients of the Research Hall.
When this did not sooth her conscience, Maria took her own life, but was doomed to the Hunter’s Nightmare.
Just as Gehrman is forced to guide Hunters, Maria is forced to protect the sight of the massacre she helped unleash.
The buildup to her fight is excellent, as we wander the Research Hall, hearing its suffering patients call out to Lady Maria for help.
Upon reaching her body at the top of the Astral Clocktower, Maria awakens and tells us, “a corpse should be left well alone.”
There can be multiple interpretations to what she means by this.
Is she referring to her own dead body, the body of Kos who she helped desecrate, or perhaps the Orphan that was ripped from Kos’ womb?
To hide the secret of the Fishing Hamlet, Maria then fights us to the death, and it is a glorious battle.
Her first phase acts as a tutorial, familiarising the player with her moveset before she upgrades it in phases two and three.
Upon entering Phase Two, Maria stabs herself, unleashing her Vileblood abilities.
It is stated in Maria’s lore that she hated her heritage, and yet she is so desperate to stop us from uncovering her shame that she resorts to using the powers of the lineage she hates.
It is a tragic decision, which adds blood to her attacks, the hardest of which to deal with is the one where she delays her strike before shooting blood at the Hunter.
It took me a while to get the hang of dodging that attack.
Eventually, Maria will enter he third phase, adding flame damage to her skillset.
I got her all the way to this phase on my first attempt, only to die a few hits before I would have killed her.
Predictably, it took me many, many more attempts to even get close to that point again, let alone kill her.
Sure, I could have parried her to death, but I wanted an honourable duel, for all the suffering it brought me.
Upon defeating Maria, however, I felt sad to move on from such a fantastic boss.
Not only is her moveset and lore amazing, but her soundtrack is as well, being my second favorite in Bloodborne.
Her impact on the story does not fade with her death either because we can later find her Rakuyo, which she tossed in a well after the Fishing Hamlet.
That being said, I have never retrieved it because of the two goddamn shark men guarding it.
I did not have the patience to deal with that.
On a greater story level, Maria is actually the inspiration for the Doll.
Gehrman was so obsessed with his former pupil that he designed the Doll to look like Maria after her death (pretty creepy Gehrman, not gonna lie).
This creates a connection between the two, so the Doll feels Maria’s passing from the Hunter’s Nightmare.
The Doll describes Maria passing on as “a liberation from heavy shackles.”
So, hopefully defeating Maria brought the Old Hunter some peace in the end.
All of this is why Lady Maria is my favorite boss in Bloodborne.
Her lore is the most tragic in the game and it ties into her already fantastic boss fight, as a woman trying to hide her crime, either out of shame or obligation, resorting to the technique she so hates to achieve her goal.
In my opinion, of all twenty-two bosses in Bloodborne, Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower stands tall as the best of them.

Phew, this was a lot to sit down and write.
Pretty sure this is my longest post since I started my blog almost a decade ago.
If you read through the whole ranking to get to this point, thank you.
You just made the many deaths I suffered in Bloodborne worth it.
Hopefully someday Sony will remaster the game, or FromSoft will make a sequel.
Until then, at least we have the animated adaptation by Jacksepticeye to look forward to.
Before ending this post, however, I want to leave you with one, last important adage… Fear the Old Blood…

Top 15 Elden Ring Bosses – Including Shadow of the Erdtree.

Elden Ring is one of my favorite video games of all time.
Created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R Martin, the game is notoriously punishing yet is somehow also one of the most rewarding games I have ever had the pleasure of playing.
FromSoftware is a studio that is notorious for making games with extremely difficult but also incredible bosses, and Elden Ring is no different.
With nearly 300 hours spent playing this masterpiece, consisting of three playthroughs of the original game and two of the recently released Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, I decided to rank my favorite of the bosses.
This was no easy task, since the bosses of Elden Ring are so amazing that I had to increase this list from a Top 10 to a Top 15 just to talk about every boss I wanted to.
After much debate with myself, and an unhealthy amount of screaming as I died in-game over and over, I finally managed to settle on my Top 15 bosses in Elden Ring.
I will be ranking these bosses based off lore, soundtrack, challenge, fairness and, of course, fun.
So, without further ado, let’s start this list with number 15, which is…

15. Radahn, Consort of Miquella.

The most difficult boss in all of Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree’s final boss is also its most controversial.
Many were unhappy with Radahn coming back, saying it came out of nowhere, but I disagree with this.
If you followed Ansbach and Freyja’s questlines, the story perfectly built-up Miquella reviving his brother using Mohg’s corpse so he could marry him… yep, this was definitely something George R.R Martin came up with.
I do have an issue with the lore surrounding Radahn’s return but I will save that for when I talk about another boss further down the list.
As for the fight itself, Radahn’s first phase is brutal, yet mostly fair.
The arena of the Divine Gate is excellent and makes for the perfect place to fight him.
Radahn will usually start the battle by launching himself at you with gravity magic, which is easy to dodge and punish.
He follows this up with various sword slashes and gravity attacks, almost all of which have a way to dodge, and it is fun to establish a rhythm when doing so.
Notice I said, “almost all.”
There is one cross-slash Radahn does that is almost impossible to dodge.
I have managed to dodge it a few times, but I cannot tell you how I did it, other than blind luck.
Besides this attack, Radahn’s first phase is a lot of fun, even though it is brutal.
Then Miquella gets involved in the second phase, and the fight devolves into complete insanity.
Radahn maintains many of his attacks from the first phase, but now they come with Holy AOE attacks which often blind the player.
This, and the fact that Miquella’s absurdly long hair covers up a lot of Radahn’s massive body, makes telling what is going on in this fight an extreme challenge.
It felt like half of my many deaths in the second phase were because I could not see what was happening, rather than through any fault of my own.
Still, there are some good new moves in the second phase, like Miquella charming the player, and Radahn using a new version of his iconic meteor strike.
However, the unfairness of the second phase is still difficult to get past.
The only way I could even beat Radahn in my two playthroughs of the DLC was to use a shield to block most of his attacks, and to also throw two Hefty Rot Pots at him as soon as the second phase started.
That whittled down his health enough for me to kill him.
Sure, I could have summoned Ansbach and Thiollier, but their presence only makes the fight harder through boosting Radahn’s health and making his movements more sporadic.
At least the soundtrack for his fight is one of the best in the DLC.
In the end, I would say that Radahn is a good boss fight.
He ended up on the list, after all.
But he could have been a lot higher were it not for the unfairness of his second phase.

14. Godrick the Grafted.

We go from the hardest boss in all of Elden Ring, to the easiest demigod of them all.
Godrick the Grafted is a complete pushover compared to the rest of the game’s main bosses, but I would have it no other way.
Even in the lore he is a joke because he needs Margit to protect him so Tarnished will not kill him for his Great Rune.
We encounter Godrick at the end of Stormveil Castle, one of the greatest areas in both the original game and the DLC.
He makes for a disturbing sight, having grafted multiple body parts onto himself in an effort to make himself stronger.
Using his numerous limbs, Godrick strikes at the player with his axes, and ground slams.
My first death to him was from a ground slam but a lot of his other attacks are especially easy to dodge.
Easiest of all is the one where he launches himself up in the air.
All you need to do to dodge that is simply walk behind him when he jumps up.
I have never once been hit by that attack.
The fight does get a bit harder when he reaches second phase, as he amputates his own arm and then stuffs a decapitated dragon head onto it.
“Forefathers, one and all,” he cries, throwing his new dragon head-hand up in the air to spew fire, “Bare witness!”
It is one of the most iconic cutscenes in the whole game, and the dragon does add a slight challenge increase, especially with his grab attack, which killed me twice.
That brought my death count against Godrick to three before I killed him on my first playthrough, a miniscule amount compared to other bosses.
You can also summon Nepheli Loux to join the fight, making him even easier.
Godrick is Elden Ring’s easiest main boss by a large margin, but this adds to his charm, along with his excellent phase two cutscene, fun move set, and chaotic soundtrack.

13. Rellana, Twin Moon Knight.

Excluding Radahn, Rellana was without question the hardest boss for me in Shadow of the Erdtree.
Even now, I still have not mastered her move set 100%.
Found in Castle Ensis, Rellana was Carian Royalty until she abandoned her nobility to side with Messmer in his crusade against the Hornsent.
Known as the Sword of Messmer, this title is definitely earned as her fight was brutally challenging for me.
Honestly, Malenia’s movements were easier to predict than Rellana’s.
That’s right, I said it.
Her combos seem never ending and with inconsistent endings.
I am not saying this as a complaint, however, because, unlike Radahn, I do not think this fight is unfair.
No, I just suck at it.
Her magic sword swipes and slashes are easy enough for me to dodge most of the time but, when it comes to her combos, I am getting hit at least once nine times out of ten.
This skill issue forced me to use summons to beat her in my first playthrough but, even then, it was not easy, especially when she reaches her second phase.
It is then that Rellana illuminates her swords with magic and fire, like Pontiff Sulyvahn from Dark Souls 3.
Her strikes are crushing, with one combo being capable of killing the player in just two hits.
And then there is her moon strike, where she slams the ground three times, forcing the player to jump over the blasts.
If the player gets hit by the first blast, it is basically game over, since you will be hit by the other two.
Despite all of this difficulty, though, I still find Rellana to be an incredibly fun fight.
The only thing holding her back is her lack of a cutscene.
Shadow of the Erdtree as a whole could have used more cutscenes and Rellana is the prime example of this.
She felt like she had so little fanfare for such a fun fight.
This holds her back from a higher spot on the list.

12. Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy.

Rykard is one of the bosses I feel pretty guilty about not putting in my top ten.
You can encounter him in one of two ways: Either complete the Volcano Manor questline, or traverse the Manor itself, which is also one of the best dungeons in Elden Ring.
Once you reach the boss, his fight is horrifying.
The arena is covered in corpses, and the bit of fire surrounding the God Devouring Serpent means you cannot attack it with your regular weapons.
Thus, the game forces you to use the Serpent Hunter sword to fight.
Again, this is not a criticism, because the sword’s effects make for quite the spectacle.
The first phase of the boss is simple enough, with the serpent’s attacks being easy to dodge once you understand its patterns.
The exception to this is when it slams its head into the ground to launch a ground explosion at you.
This move is even more unfair than Radahn’s cross slash, as I have never been able to dodge it.
Aside from this, the first phase is enjoyable, but it is the second phase that steals the show.
Once the serpent is defeated, Rykard reveals himself in one of the most memorable cutscenes in the game.
Seeing his monstrous face emerge from the back of the serpent, only to pull a sword made from corpses out of its mouth, is absolutely gruesome.
His goofy exclamation, “Together we will devour the very gods!” somehow only adds to the appeal.
From here, the second phase begins, with Rykard using various sword swipes and stabs.
His ultimate move is sending a bunch of flaming skulls after the player, forcing them to run away, which can be a bit frustrating.
Almost as frustrating is when the serpent temporarily revives itself to attack.
I swear I died more times to that than the constant flaming skulls.
While frustrating, all of this adds to Rykard’s demonic villainy, with his operatic score being perfect for one of Elden Ring’s most evil characters.
Rykard is a horrifying boss, who does not make the top ten through no fault of his own.
I just like the other bosses more.

11. Radagon of the Golden Order/ Elden Beast.

The final boss of the original game, Radagon and Elden Beast are the other fight I felt guilty for not putting in the top ten.
On my first playthrough, I loved this fight, especially Radagon’s phase.
His introduction is fantastic, with the twist reveal that he and Marika share a body, along with the main theme of Elden Ring kicking in.
Radagon excels in delayed attacks, and these are extremely difficult to get a handle of, at first.
Whether it be his hammer strikes or holy attacks, Radagon is only beaten out by Mohg in how difficult his delayed moves are to dodge.
Still, once you begin to understand the pattern, you begin to feel like a god dodging him… only for him to suddenly teleport to the middle of the arena and wreck you with three ground slams.
The second part of his fight is much harder, as he often teleports right in front of you, forcing you to dodge holy attacks.
Worse, if you are two slow to kill him, he will pull out the ground slam move again.
Radagon is definitely a top ten fight.
The only reason he is not that high is because of phase two with the Elden Beast.
Like I said, I enjoyed fighting the Elden Beast on my first playthrough.
However, I think this was because I got lucky.
It only took me three attempts to kill the Elden Beast, as opposed to the somewhere around 50 attempts I had with Radagon, so I had a lot more favorable view of the fight.
This view diminished somewhat in my second playthrough where I began to feel more frustrated with the Elden Beast, due to it constantly moving around, and the obnoxious move that is Elden Stars.
The developers listened to player feedback, however, for they added Torrent for the player to ride into the fight.
This was the entire reason I began my third playthrough: To see if this made the fight with Elden Beast any better.
Having fought using Torrent to close distance with the Beast, I can say it certainly does improve the experience.
Dodging Elden Stars has never been easier.
That being said, if the Elden Beast starts flinging holy attacks at you, for the love of God, get off Torrent.
You will die if you try to jump over those attacks.
Rolling through them is the way to do it.
So, adding Torrent to the fight did improve my experience with Elden Beast, but I would still say he drags Radagon down a bit to keep them just out of the top ten.
But with a cool first phase, great music, and an amazing arena for Elden Beast, this was certainly a worthy way to end the base game of Elden Ring.

10. Starscourge Radahn.

Of the two Radahn boss fights in Elden Ring, the first is definitely the best.
In my first playthrough, I ended up getting transported to Caelid by a chest and dying repeatedly.
Wanting to return when I was stronger, I did not go back until I had completed Leyndell and Volcano Manor.
So, when I finally got around to fighting Starscourge Radahn, I was over leveled and it only took me a few attempts.
Even so, I found him to be one of the best bosses in the base game.
His buildup is masterful, whether you stumble across Redmane Castle or find it through Ranni’s questline.
Jerren hypes up the epic fight to follow with his speech, as do the other NPCs talking about Radahn.
Upon entering the arena, Radahn will start shooting arrows at you using gravity magic.
While dodging, you have the option to summon the NPCs to aid you in the battle.
It is incredibly cinematic to charge up to Radahn with other warriors like Blaidd, Alexander and Patches (okay, maybe not Patches).
Once you reach Radahn, he will take out his blades and strike at you while constantly moving around on his emaciated horse, Leonard.
It makes for quite the visual, and the fight only gets more intense with his second phase.
He shoots up into the air, the music fades, and the player is left wondering if Radahn ran away, only for him to crash down upon them like a meteor.
This will kill you if you are not prepared, and it was this attack that resulted in one of my few deaths fighting him on my first playthrough.
From here, Radahn has a slew of gravity magic attacks, the most difficult to dodge being these meteors he spawns beside him to throw at you.
Killing him is both satisfying but also reflective, as you are giving this warrior cursed with Scarlet Rot an honorable death.
This lore is one of the issues I had with Radahn’s fight in Shadow of the Erdtree.
As I said, the whole point of this fight is giving Radahn an honorable death but the impact of that is taken away slightly when he returns as the final boss of the DLC.
Another issue I have is that, when I fought Radahn at a weaker level on my second playthrough, I realized it can be kind of tedious to run around the arena summoning all of your allies every time you die.
These problems took Radahn from a top five placement to the number ten spot.
Still, easily the best of the two Radahn fights.

9. Dragonlord Placidusax.

Placidusax is a boss who, while already being a great fight, was improved by the context given in Shadow of the Erdtree.
In the DLC, we learn that, as the Elden Lord of the dragons, Placidusax was betrayed by Bayle the Dread.
The dragons wounded each other grievously, before they both retreated, with Placidusax freezing himself in time at Farum Azula.
This explains why Placidusax is missing two heads when we find him… or, at least, when we find him thanks to online guides telling us where to go.
Placidusax is probably the most difficult boss to find in the original game, being quite off the beaten path, but he is more than worth it when you find him.
His arena is also one of the best in the entire game, with the player having to pass through the pillars at the center before he awakens.
From there, Placidusax attacks with lightening, claw strikes, and fire breath but stays mostly stationary.
This changes in the second phase, when he floats up into the air, before disappearing.
Much like Radahn, the player is left to wonder where he went, until they see a storm cloud forming in the sky, which Placidusax flies down from in a ferocious lightning strike that is always fun to dodge.
Placidusax then begins teleporting in between claw strikes, which would be disorientating if the player could not stay locked on but, thankfully, we can.
The fight is significantly more difficult in the second phase, but it gets even harder when Placidusax starts firing off lasers that will kill you on quite a few attempts if you do not pay close attention or start panic rolling.
My only criticisms of Placidusax are that I think the runback can be a bit annoying, and I think that his nuke blast should be a one-shot if it hits you.
I know it is probably weird that I am complaining about a boss not being harder but, to be fair, this attack gives you plenty of warning to avoid it, so I think it could stand to be more punishing.
Overall, Placidusax is an already excellent boss who is improved even further by the lore of the DLC.

8. Morgott, the Omen King.

One of Elden Ring’s biggest problem is its repeat of bosses.
Amazing fights like Mohg and Godfrey suffer somewhat when you have already fought weaker versions of them.
The one repeat boss where I would say fighting him again is not an issue is Morgott.
First encountered as Margit at Stormveil Castle, he serves as an excellent roadblock to teach the player that exploring before they return stronger is the best strategy.
The player can then encounter Margit again on the way to Leyndell, where he will ambush the Tarnished while disguised as a basic enemy.
His third encounter in Leyndell is definitely the best, though, as he reveals himself to be the King Morgott.
Born an Omen, Morgott was thrown away a baby to live in the sewers by his mother, Marika.
He has every reason to hate the Golden Order for how it has treated him, and yet he still valiantly defends it in this final epic fight with him.
Morgott’s first phase is similar to his time as Margit, only he is much more aggressive, with quite a few new attacks like dropping a rain of holy swords and shooting a javelin at you.
Once you take him down to half health, he staggers, and this can trick the player into running in to get some hits.
It is actually a trick, as Morgott enters second phase, unleashing the true power of his curse.
As the arena fills with what can only be described as some form of vomit, Morgott admits his shame and self-hatred for unleashing his curse, all the while he launches old and new attacks at you.
He even has a few new blood attacks, including a grab one with his sword which is awesome.
In the end, though, I would not say that Morgott is a difficult fight, if you explored a lot before you fight him that is.
On my first playthrough, it only took me a couple of attempts.
You can also summon Melina to fight with you which, not only makes the fight even easier, but also enhances the experience to fight alongside someone who has been with you across your entire journey.
I would say that Morgott’s potential ease is warranted, as it can serve as a rewarding experience, showing the player just how far they have come since fighting Margit.
Morgott’s lore is also some of Elden Ring’s saddest.
He dies defending an order which despised him, which gets even more tragic when you play Shadow of the Erdtree and learn his mother hated Omen because of what the Hornsent did to her people.
Morgott is one of Elden Ring’s most tragic characters and his final fight is great.

7. Malenia, Blade of Miquella.

“I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella.”
That is a saying I am sure we all got tired of hearing after dying for the thousandth time to the Waterfowl Dance.
Before we got Radahn in Shadow of the Erdtree, Malenia was the hardest boss FromSoftware had ever created.
Tucked away in the hidden area of Miquella’s Haligtree, Malenia awaits her brother’s return, only to be confronted by the Tarnished, drawing her sword and kindly informing us that she has never known defeat.
Any feeling of confidence the player may have had about this fight are then instantly humbled as Malenia leaps forward and most likely kills them in two hits.
Returning for another attempt, the player quickly discovers a little trick Malenia has up her sleeve: She heals every time she hits the player.
This is not too big of an issue considering that a lot of her moves are easy to read.
The issue comes, of course, with the Waterfowl Dance.
The most infamous move in all of Elden Ring, the Dance feels nigh undodgeable.
On my first playthrough, I certainly thought so.
The fact that every time I got hit by Waterfowl caused her to heal more proved to be an especially frustrating lesson.
Eventually, I got tired of constantly dying to that move so I left and came back with a fully leveled up Mimic Tear, which managed to power me through not just the first phase but the second, after a few attempts.
On my second playthrough, however, I vowed that I would defeat her without the Mimic Tear.
It was a grueling experience, but I did it.
The only way I could find to dodge Waterfowl which worked for me was to equip the Bloodhound Step Ash of War.
When Malenia leaps into the air, run or Bloodhound Step away from her to avoid the first strike, Bloodhound Step through the second strike, and then simply walk under the third strike.
This strategy should get you through to second phase, which is a whole different beast.
Malenia always begins this second phase with a Scarlet Rot slam attack, which is easy enough to dodge, but she is much more aggressive and a lot of her attacks inflict Rot, including Waterfowl.
Her most difficult move in this phase, however, is her clone attack, which killed me nearly as much as Waterfowl did.
The best advice I can give to avoiding this attack is to either be far enough back that you can run away from it or dodge it and hope to God your timing and placement is right.
Beating Malenia without a summon provided me with one of the biggest rushes of the game.
If you want Malenia to be easier, though, I suggest fighting her after playing through Shadow of the Erdtree.
This is what I did in my third playthrough of the original game and, with the experience I gained from the DLC, she was significantly weaker.
I did not even have to Bloodhound Step though Waterfowl, as I could simply dodge through the strikes, taking some hits, and then deal so much damage that I negated whatever health she had stolen back.
The one thing that holds Malenia back from being higher on this list is the unfairness of the Waterfowl Dance.
While I have learned how to dodge it, that only really came about because I looked up how to.
Had I not, I probably never would have beaten her alone, much less got her to second phase.
Still, Malenia is a great boss, and certainly the hardest boss of the original game.

6. Bayle the Dread.

CURSE YOU, BAYLE!!!

Enough said… Okay, in all seriousness, Bayle is definitely the best dragon fight in Elden Ring.
I remember thinking how awesome he looked when I first saw him in the Shadow of the Erdtree launch trailer.
Then I fought him in the DLC, and he did not leave me disappointed.
Located on the Jagged Peak, Bayle’s buildup is so great that he did not even need a cutscene.
You first hear of him from Igon, who vows vengeance against him, despite being cripped.
The second time the player hears about him is from the dragon priestess, who informs us that Bayle was the one who betrayed and wounded Placidusax, not only hyping up Bayle’s eventual fight but also improving Placidusax’s.
Scaling the Jagged Peak, you fight numerous dragons (who are among the weakest fights in the DLC, unfortunately), and pass many dragon corpses, all building up to the arena where Bayle crashes into the ground to face the Tarnished.
Sporting ruined wings, a missing leg, and having two of Placidusax’s decapitated heads biting into his body, Bayle is still no pushover.
He has a mixture of fire and lightening attacks, combined with swipes from the serrated bones sticking out of his mutilated wings, tail swipes, a ground slam, and a grab attack, all of which are extremely punishing.
Your best bet is to keep hitting either his head or the stump where his leg once was.
When he enters second phase, however, Bayle gets an awe-inspiring transition, as he forms a set of magical wings in a fiery explosion.
Taking off into the air, multiple fireballs shoot at the Tarnished in his wake, leading to Bayle doing another ground slam, followed by an AOE.
Many of his attacks now have follow-up AOEs but they do not make the fight difficult to follow, like with Radahn.
His most cinematic attack, though, is easily the one where he forms his wings again and flies up into the air, before blasting the arena with two lines of fire.
Bayle is just an awesome boss fight, made only more awesome by his summon.
Bringing Igon into the fight is a must during one of your playthroughs, as Richard Lintern gives his all to the performance, providing the perfect hype man and the best summon in all of Elden Ring.
For my first playthrough of Shadow of the Erdtree, I fought Bayle with Igon and for my second I fought him without.
Sure, it was sad not to hear Igon hyping up my fighting skills, but it made the fight against Bayle much more challenging, in a good way.
The only minor issues I have with Bayle, which keeps him from being higher, is that sometimes the camera can work against you in the fight.
You can also get stuck inside Bayle, often leading to death.
Otherwise, Bayle is a glorious boss, who serves as not only Elden Ring’s best dragon, but also provides the best summon through Igon.
In the end, the only thing that can be said about this fight is, say it with me…

CURSE YOU, BAYLE!!!

5. Maliketh, the Black Blade.

On my first playthrough, Maliketh was my favorite boss.
While he has been overtaken by other bosses now, he is still an excellent fight, especially his second phase.
As for his first, players who followed D’s questline will automatically recognize him as Gurranq, the Beast Clergymen in Caelid who we fed Deathroot to.
During this questline, Gurranq will lose his mind and attack the player.
This assault is very similar to the first phase of the Maliketh fight.
Found at the end of Farum Azula, the Beast Clergyman will rush the player, attacking with various swipes, which you always have to be careful of at close range.
At long range, the Clergyman will often resort to throwing rocks at you, which are usually easy to dodge.
Less easy is the attack where he slams the ground and then sends waves of slashes at you.
Once he hits 50% health, he will enter second phase.
“Oh, death,’ he says in one of the most metal cutscenes in the game. “Become my blade once more.”
Stabbing the Rune of Death on his hand, Gurranq pulls forth his Black Blade while his cloak disintegrates, revealing himself to be Maliketh, Marika’s shadow who Ranni stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from.
This cutscene is followed by one of the most difficult fights in Elden Ring’s base game.
Maliketh is incredibly mobile, often jumping onto pillars around the arena and using them as vantage points to attack the player.
However, these pillars can also be used to the player’s advantage, creating distance between them and Maliketh.
What makes things more difficult, though, is that many of Maliketh’s attacks are powered by the Rune of Death so come with a status effect that not only continues to drain health after attacks, but also temporarily cuts a chunk off the Tarnished’s vigor.
Still, all of these attacks can be dodged, and it is a rush to avoid his four hit combo where he flings slashes at you and then rushes in for a final strike.
You can actually parry this final part of the move if you have the Blasphemous Claw, making it even more fun.
The only move of his I am not sure how to dodge is his slam which creates status effect causing slashes.
That move just seems to hit me every time.
The rest of his moves are completely fair, if challenging, and what makes Maliketh even more interesting is that you can experience different dialogue from him, depending on if you fed him all of the Deathroot.
If you did so, Maliketh will recognize the player upon entering the arena and call out to Marika with his final words.
Maliketh is one of the base game’s best bosses, with his fun but incredibly challenging second phase.

4. Mohg, Lord of Blood.

Mohg is a boss who has slowly climbed higher on my ranking with each playthrough.
Discovered either through completing Varre’s questline or by exploring the Consecrated Snowfield, his location at Mohgwyn Palace is fun to traverse and perfectly paints the picture of the madman running it.
Mohg has probably the creepiest cutscene in Elden Ring, emerging from a pool of blood, seemingly dismayed that his kidnapped brother still does not want to be his consort… once again, I have to say George R.R Martin definitely wrote that part.
Upon noticing you, Mohg welcomes you to the birthplace of his dynasty.
This welcome includes bloodflame attacks which build bleed, and the most delayed attacks in all of Elden Ring.
Mohg may call himself the Lord of Blood but I would say the Lord of Delayed Attacks is much more fitting.
You will die many times in his first phase trying to figure out the timing of his strikes but, once you do, you can establish a satisfying rhythm with his combos.
Throughout this first phase, Mohg will begin to count down for his Nihil attack in second phase, where he quickly drains the player’s health to reform his own.
Not only does this drain at least three flasks from your inventory, it also gives Mohg wings and makes every attack come with bloodflame.
Now, you not only have to watch out for Mohg, but the bloodflame as well, which will slowly build bleed and can kill you quickly if you are not careful.
This makes Mohg’s second phase chaotic and honestly the hardest fight in Elden Ring’s base game, excluding Malenia.
There are ways to get around Mohg’s lethality, though.
For example, you can use Mohg’s Shackle to hold him in place for a bit to get a few hits in.
You can also drink a Wonderous Physick to completely negate his Nihil attack.
Most ironic of all, the Lord of Blood is especially weak to bleed damage, so applying it to whatever weapon you have can help end the fight quicker.
There are just so many ways you can defeat Mohg and that makes him such a great fight.
Much like Placidusax, the DLC also improves him through his lore.
In the original game, Mohg seemed liked a creepy psychopath, kidnapping his young-looking brother in the hopes of making him his consort.
In Shadow of the Erdtree, however, we learn that Miquella charmed Mohg into doing this, so he could eventually use his corpse to revive Radahn.
This raises the question if Mohg really was always as evil as he seemed?
A lot of especially gruesome stuff he does was to revive Miquella, who charmed him, and there had to be some good aspects of Mohg’s character to get a legend like Ansbach’s loyalty.
On the other hand, Mohg did also attract the loyalty of freaks like Varre so there is that counterpoint.
Mohg is just a really ambiguous character, which I like a lot.
The only downside to his boss fight, is that you can fight a weaker version of him in the Subterranean Shunning Ground, which kind of takes away a bit from this fight if you battle that weaker version of him first.
Otherwise, Mohg is an excellent boss with a lot of fun ways to combat him.

3. Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame.

When I watched the first trailer for Shadow of the Erdtree, one of the bosses I was the most interested in was Midra.
I had so many questions about the guy pulling a sword out of his head, and the answers did not disappoint.
Midra was one of the last bosses I fought in the DLC because of how out of the way the path to finding him is.
The build up for him on this path is excellent, however, as the player arrives at the Abyssal Woods, one of the creepiest areas in all of Elden Ring.
Exploring the woods, leads you to Midra’s Manse, where you are welcomed outside by a line of decapitated corpses with swords sticking out of their necks, preparing you for the horror to come.
Searching the manse eventually leads you to Midra who, at first, appears surprisingly pathetic.
He is a weak enemy, with his only skill coming in applying madness.
Then, upon defeating him, we get the most gruesome cutscene in the game.
Midra declares he has had enough before he pulls the sword out of his head, decapitating himself.
His headless body then turns around to face us, and the Frenzied Flame appears above his head.
The operatic score that follows is both absolutely haunting and the best theme of the entire game, in my opinion.
The fact that I was about to fight a Lord of Frenzied Flame made me tense up for what would certainly be one of the hardest fights in the game.
Surprisingly, Midra is actually on the easier end of bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree.
Don’t get me wrong, it still took me an hour or so to kill him, but I do wish he posed more of a challenge.
That being said, that hour I spent fighting him was one of the best in the entire game.
For being possessed by a god which embodies chaos, Midra is surprisingly refined and graceful in his fighting style, with his elegant sword swipes being easy to dodge once you get the timing down.
It is the madness attacks you have to watch out the most for, though, as they can easily cause a death if you allow the status effect to build up, like with Mohg.
Once Mirda hits second phase, he will cause an explosion which I am sure the only way to dodge is to run like hell.
From there, the fight escalates, as even Midra’s once simple sword strikes carry frenzy.
He can cause madness explosions, and has a grab sword strike, which lures the player into a false sense of security before spikes emerge from the ground to hit them.
All of this is happening while the (as already stated) incredible operatic score is playing in the background.
Beating Midra was an exhilarating experience that literally made me cheer once I had done it.
Another thing I like about Midra is that he is definitely the most lenient boss when it comes to recollecting your runes.
Instead of the fight beginning during his Lord of Frenzied Flame phase when you die, it begins in his weaker form, allowing the player plenty of time to pick their runes up.
Midra’s lore is also quite tragic, as everyone in his manse was massacred by the Hornsent for being affected by the Frenzied Flame.
As for Midra he was left to live on in agonizing pain, with the only reason he did not allow the Frenzied Flame to take hold being because Nanaya asked him to endure.
There is a lot of mystery around Nanaya, causing many to believe she was a maiden of the Frenzied Flame, hoping to corrupt Midra.
If true, this makes his story even more tragic because Nanaya was clearly very important to him.
Midra is a fantastic boss with tragic and horrifying lore, whose fight is both elegant and chaotic, and, in my opinion, has the best score in the entire game.
I just wish the fight was a little harder.

2. Godfrey, First Elden Lord.

In my opinion the best boss in Elden Ring’s base game, Godfrey, First Elden Lord is the penultimate fight before the final battle with Radagon and the Elden Beast.
The father of Morgott, the Tarnished encounters him upon returning to the Erdtree after burning it, where they see Godfrey cradling his fallen son, a spectral lion named Serosh on his back.
The lion roars as Morgott fades away, showing Godfrey’s inner rage over his son’s death.
What makes Godfrey unique compared to other bosses is that he is a Tarnished, like us.
This is apparent through his own grace of gold pointing us.
Throughout the game, this grace led us to important bosses and now this grace points Godfrey to us, his own boss.
It certainly does not feel that way though because Godfrey hits like a truck with his great axe, the most difficult attack to dodge being one where he uses it to cause an eruption of rock from the ground.
Otherwise, this first part of the fight is easy to get a handle on, until you reach the second part of his first phase, where he will constantly rush you and slam the ground, creating an arena-wide AOE.
While this makes Godfrey more challenging, once you get the hang of it, the fight quickly establishes one of the best rhythm fights in the game.
Then you get to the second phase and, predictably, all semblance of confidence goes out the window.
Serosh begins to materialize into exitance, making the player think they are going to have to fight them, only for Godfrey to murder the lion, which is revealed to have been holding back his barbarian side.
Now shirtless and covered in blood, Godfrey roars in rage before revealing himself to be Horah Loux, the barbarian warrior from the intro.
The fight then changes from an honorable duel with the first Elden Lord to a WWE match.
Horah Loux is one of the most aggressive bosses in the game, constantly rushing the player and launching them up into the air to body slam them into the ground.
This attack knocks off a great deal of health and you will likely die to it a lot.
Horah Loux’s ground slams are more brutal, his firsts and kicks are somehow more brutal than his great axe.
If I could use one word to describe this part of the fight it would be, you guessed it, brutal.
The fight somehow gets even more challenging when Horah Loux brings back the area wide AOE attacks.
Despite his brutality, Horah Loux clearly has a lot of respect for the Tarnished, as he declares that our strength befits a crown upon defeat.
Thus, I always return the respect by using the bow emote when I finally fell him.
Along with being one of the best bosses, the reason Godfrey is so high is because he also has the story of my funniest Elden Ring defeat.
On my first playthrough, both Horah Loux and I were one hit away from death.
I had no flasks left, so I decided to risk everything on one last Ash of War strike.
I ran in, used the Ash of War, and watched his health deplete to what looked like zero.
I set my controller down, satisfied to have finally defeated such a hard boss, only for horror to fill me as I realized that Horah Loux was somehow not dead.
I desperately grabbed for my controller, but it was too late because Horah Loux had hit and killed me.
All I could do was laugh at how my overconfidence got me killed and it took me another ten attempts to finally beat him.
The only reason Godfrey is not number one is because there is a mandatory fight with a spectral version of his first phase earlier is the game, which dilutes the true fight somewhat.
Otherwise, Godfrey is a fantastic boss, who changes from an honorable duel to a chaotic struggle.
I have fond memories of him punishing my overconfidence.

1. Messmer the Impaler.

Right from my first attempt, I knew I was going to love Messmer the Impaler.
Out of all the bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware highlighted him the most in their trailers and, after fighting him, it was immediately apparent why.
From the moment you enter the DLC, Messmer’s presence is apparent, from the ghosts speaking of his atrocities, to the cities he burned.
This all builds to our fight with him at the Shadow Keep, Shadow of the Erdtree’s best legacy dungeon.
Messmer is surprised to see the Tarnished, wondering if his mother Marika would truly sanction our lordship, yet he brushes this concern aside, stating his purpose.
“Those stripped of the grace of gold shall all meet death, in the embrace of Messmer’s flame.”
This is a line which, much like “I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella,” you will become very familiar with, as Messmer kills you over and over.
However, unlike Malenia, Messmer sounds tired when he says this, as if he has had to repeat the mantra Marika gave him over and over.
The reason for this becomes clear once you know his lore.
Before that, though, I will get into his challenging but incredibly fun fight.
Just like Radahn, Messmer will almost always launch himself at the player at the beginning of the fight.
This first attack is extremely easy to dodge once you know how it works and provides a good opportunity to get a strike in once he finishes it.
From there, you have the fun job of trying to figure out Messmer’s move set.
I am not being sarcastic there, either, as I had more fun learning how to dodge Messmer’s attacks than any other boss.
Messmer is fast but every move he makes is avoidable, from his spear launch, to his flame strikes, to his delayed grab which is a death sentence if he grabs you on lower vigor levels.
By far my favorite attack was his combo ending with the flaming spears shooting up from the ground to hit the player.
The first time I completely avoided that combo without getting hit was an exhilarating experience.
With a lot of trial and error, you will figure out Messmer’s move set enough to get him to second phase.
In the gruesome cutscene that follows, Messmer, like many Elden Ring bosses, is forced to reveal the inner strength he despises.
Messmer removes his eye, which is revealed to be a seal Marika used to trap the abyssal serpent her son was cursed with at birth.
With this power now revealed, Messmer attacks the player with a variety of snake attacks which, surprisingly, make the fight easier.
You will almost certainly be killed by the snakes on your first few attempts of the second phase, but you will also quickly realize that the end of these attacks leave Messmer wide open for punishment.
Get the timing right on dodging the snake strikes and you will pretty much have him beat.
When you land the final blow, Messmer delivers his last words, “Mother… Marika… a curse upon thee.”
Messmer did everything for his mother.
At her direction he committed genocide against the Horsent for what they did to her people, he had a medical ward established to treat those who were jarred by the Hornsent, and he even made sure his mother’s own deserted village was protected.
Despite Messmer’s devotion to her, Marika still abandoned him in the Land of Shadow, leaving him only with the mantra he has repeated ad nauseum to the point of being tired of it.
“Those stripped of the grace of gold shall all meet death, in the embrace of Messmer’s flame.”
In the end, Messmer is able to realize how he was treated by his mother and uses his final breath to curse her.
It is honestly tragic because Messmer could have been so much better as a demigod.
He had many loyal followers like Relanna and Gaius, and he clearly cared somewhat for the suffering of others, as shown by the medical ward he established.
But Marika asked him to commit an evil deed and then repaid this by abandoning him when he did so.
Messmer not only has some of Elden Ring’s most tragic lore, but he is also the most fun boss fight.
No death is unfair and his move set is a joy to learn with its fast-paced action.
FromSoftware was definitely right to put him at the forefront of the DLC’s marketing.
In my opinion, Messmer the Impaler is not only the best boss of Shadow of the Erdtree, but also the best boss in all of Elden Ring.