Top 10 Hardest Bosses in Elden Ring

This is a top 10 ranking of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring, in reverse chronological order, starting from the easiest to the hardest. Keep in mind that this is an opinion piece based on the build we have used. We are aware that these rankings will definitely vary for different builds and playstyles.

RELATED: Top 10 Hardest Mini-Bosses in Elden Ring

Without further ado, here is number 10.

10. Margit, the Fell Omen

The first real roadblock to players on their journey to become Elden Lord, Margit the Fell Omen is a harsh reality check for players who thought that every other minor dungeon up to this point was a walk in the park.

Being the first major boss in the first Legacy Dungeon, Margit attacks with a barrage of offensive capabilities. Staying in melee range warrants a barrage of staff hits while staying at range makes Margit toss holy daggers and close the gap with a jump attack.

If all of this wasn’t tough enough, Margit employs a holy hammer in his second phase, adding an extension to his already dangerous combos with a hammer swing or smash, depending on the combo. Players can summon Sorcerer Rogier to make this fight easier and take the aggro away from themselves when they are in a pinch.

9. Lichdragon Fortissax

The final boss of Deeproot Depths, this Legendary Dragon can only be encountered as part of Fia, the Deathbed Companion’s questline. Upon reaching the end of Deeproot Depths, Fia will test the player by sending out her champions one after another. After defeating them, players can talk to her to exhaust her dialogue, putting her into a state of deep sleep while they enter her dream world to fight this dragon.

If you thought that sounded complex, this fight is no less complex either. Lichdragon Fortissax employs everything that players would have come to expect from a dragon fight. These attacks include heavy tail swipes, stomps, breath attacks, and flying dives. Add to that, Fortissax also adds red lightning as a part of his combos and once he reaches his second phase, almost every attack he launches is imbued with his red lightning, making for hard-to-read dodge timings and long sweeping arcs of lightning damage.

8. Starscourge Radahn

One of the deadliest and most glorious encounters in the game, General Radahn can be found as part of his annual festival of battle at Redmane Castle. Once the player registers for the festival with Jerren, they are allowed to take the lift down into the gigantic wasteland where Radahn can be found.

Upon entering the arena, players will notice that the expanse of wasteland seems quite endless. While checking out the scenery, Radahn will greet players with a barrage of arrows till they close the gap on him. Upon reaching closer, he will switch to melee attacks infused with gravity magic. His utterly relentless barrage of attacks makes it very difficult to find an opening. If players do manage to whittle his HP down to half somehow, he flies up into the air and comes crash landing back in the form of a meteor, signaling his second phase.

In this phase, Radahn utilizes way more gravity magic than before as part of his combos and as fresh new attacks. To make this fight easier, players are allowed to summon a bunch of heroes at once as part of the festival. From our playthrough, we noticed about 10-15 summon signs scattered all around the wasteland, if players can be bothered to find them. Despite the numerical advantage, however, Starscourge Radahn is still a massive challenge that is highly satisfying to master.

7. Dragonlord Placidusax

If players thought Fortissax was difficult, say hello to the king of the Dragons, Placidusax. As the Dragonlord, Placidusax employs a bunch of moves common to most dragons but his size makes him somewhat slower, although he makes up for it in raw power and a massive health pool.

Fought in Crumbling Farum Azula, Dragonlord Placidusax leads the current crop of dragons to battle, following the wake of his ancestor Gransax starting a war with Leyndell. Being the Dragonlord, Placidusax commands way more power than any of his Dragon brethren that players might have encountered before him. Once he reaches his second phase, that slow speed isn’t so slow anymore as he adds quick attacks to that already immense power of his.

The best way to tackle this beast would be to use any quick spirit ashes, like Black Knife Tiche, in order to divert his attention and deal consistent bleed damage, which is the best option against any massive health boss.

6. Morgott, the Omen King

The insane power that Margit displays at the start of the game begins to make sense now, as Morgott merely projected Margit as an apparition of his own self that was nowhere near as strong as his real power.

Morgott, the Omen King is the current king of the formerly glorious but now fallen kingdom of Leyndell. Guarding the Erdtree and projecting his apparition Margit to stop all worthy Tarnished who might come to destroy the Erdtree, Morgott employs every trick in the book that Margit does, except even better. Every one of Margit’s attacks is enhanced as his true form, Morgott just adds seemingly endless combos to his arsenal, from holy attacks to his own bloodflame blade effects in his second phase.

With a giant holy sword rain attack that can cover the entirety of the battlefield and unfettered aggression worthy of his ranking on this list, Morgott is definitely a skill check for even the more experienced players.

5. Mohg, Lord of Blood

The progenitor of the Mohgwyn Dynasty and current ruler of Mohgwyn Palace, Mohg the Omen, or as his true name goes, Mohg, Lord of Blood is the most powerful blood magic user in the entire game.

True to his Lord of Blood epithet, Mohg utilizes bloodflame attacks like no other, channeling them through his massive trident that can make short work of foes. He will curse the player and make his own attacks consistently proc the bleed buildup on every hit he lands. If that wasn’t enough, the major pain of this fight is when he enters his second stage. He will proc instantaneous blood loss thrice of the player in quick succession, needing quick reaction times to heal through it, while he absorbs the lost blood and converts it to his own HP, healing him.

In his second phase, he gets wings and almost every attack can coat the entire battlefield in lingering bloodflame aftereffects, which makes dodging quite a taxing process. Managing healing supplies, dodging, and finding attack windows to whittle him down is what gets him to the number 5 rank in this list.

4. Godskin Duo

FromSoftware latest entry to “how to screw players over” in their games, the Godskin Duo represents the apex gank battle in their entire series so far. The duo consists of the Godskin Apostle and the Godskin Noble, both of which are difficult enemies in their own right, even as solo bosses. As if that didn’t cause enough suffering to players, FromSoftware decided to give all their players flashbacks to Ornstein and Smough with this battle.

There is nothing much to say about these bosses that hasn’t already probably been experienced by players along their journey. Apostle has quick slash attacks with a stretching attack as part of his second phase while Noble is the fastest big enemy we have seen to date, with insane reaction timings and quick thrusts with his rapier. Both of them have ranged blackflame attacks as well as blackflame barriers if needed.

Killing them is taxing enough, but they tend to resurrect some time later if one goes down and the other is still alive, which just adds more to the challenge. They finally go down once their combined health pool drops and players can leave this battle behind them like a bad fever dream.

3. Maliketh, the Black Blade

Breaking into the top 3 most difficult battles in the game, the wielder of the rune of Death, the commander of Destined Death that resides in the heart of the Crumbling Farum Azula, Maliketh, the Black Blade is the pinnacle of every Black Blade enemy players have faced so far.

Starting off as the Beast Clergyman that we all know and love, this lovable Deathroot-eating creature disappears from the Bestial Sanctum after providing him the 9th Deathroot, never to be seen again…until the end of Crumbling Farum Azula. His attack patterns are erratic and hard to follow but in his Clergyman form, he should go down quick.

Once half is HP is taken down, he unsheathes the rune of Death on his left hand, shedding his Clergyman robes and revealing himself to be Maliketh, the Black Blade, the wielder of the rune of Death, now manifested in a massive Black Sword. His attacks become far more erratic in this phase, with added Black Blade aftereffects causing continuous HP burn like the other Black Blade enemies, taking it a step further even by shaving off a portion of the player’s max health altogether by reducing their HP bar itself!

Mastering these erratic combos with heavy damage and low chances of retaliation provides players with the rune of Death and the final step they have to take to become Elden Lord.

2. Radagon of the Golden Order & Elden Beast

Speaking of the final step to becoming Elden Lord, the final roadblock on that journey comes in the form of Radagon of the Golden Order, the demigod we have heard all about throughout our journey but never seen before. This red-haired demigod blacksmith fires all sorts of holy attacks with his hammer and flings lightning bolts at range to keep players away.

Being the culmination of many enemies that players have faced through their journey, Radagon will be a true test for the player to accomplish. Once they do this though, the finale involves taking down the Elden Beast itself in a titanic clash. Being the physical manifestation of the Elden Ring itself, the Elden Beast poses the biggest challenge the game has to offer thus far (except the first rank in these entries).

The Elden Beast attacks with all sorts of barrages of holy damage, with an immense amount of tracking projectiles to flying holy slashes, all to keep the player at bay. Once the gap is closed however, the slower swings can be taken advantage of. Learning this beast’s tells and taking it down makes for the most satisfying ending of any FromSoftware game so far, in my opinion.

1. Malenia, Blade of Miquella

Born as a twin to Miquella, Malenia is known as the most powerful of the Empyreans. Wielding a prosthetic arm and leg, courtesy of Radahn, Malenia is located in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. This boss is optional, as players do not need to defeat it in order to advance in Elden Ring. This is done intentionally with very good reason because Malenia is also widely considered by the Elden Ring fanbase to be the most devastatingly punishing boss in Elden Ring.

“…Heed my words. I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat.”

Starting off with these iconic words as Malenia, Blade of Miquella, she launches a barrage of slashes, grabs, and her signature Waterfowl Dance that is almost impossible to dodge. Oh and by the way, every attack heals her, so there’s that. Once the player struggles and finally defeats her, they’d think the nightmare is over, but oh no.

As is typical of most of FromSoftware’s toughest bosses, Malenia has a second phase wherein she blooms and is born anew as Malenia, Goddess of Rot. In this phase, not only does she retain her old moveset, but her ability to fly and bloom spreads the Scarlet Rot status with each attack. If players thought her Waterfowl Dance was bad before, being imbued with Scarlet Rot makes it infinitely more dangerous.

Do you agree with this list? Let us know!