Summary
Elden Ringhas a lot of bosses in it. Sure, there are a ton of repeat bosses or bosses rebuilt from old From Software bosses (looking at you, Erdtree Avatars) but the vast majority of boss fights in this game are stellar in both design and mechanics.
In the base game alone, there are almost too many encounters to count that really made us feel how unique and inventiveElden Ringis as a game, especially as a Souls game. With theShadow of the ErdtreeDLCpretty fully exploredat this point by the community, it felt like a good time to take a look back on all the bosses this game has to offer and talk about the ones who felt the most ‘epic’ to fight the first time around. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
10Midra Lord Of Frenzied Flame
Legendary Boss of Midra’s Manse & The Abyssal Woods
Let’s start things off with some of theShadow of the ErdtreeDLC bosses instead of the base game bosses, just to keep things exciting. In terms of epic boss fights in the DLC there are plenty to pick from, but Midra: Lord of Frenzied Flame might be one of the most epic simply because of how mysterious the Frenzied Flame is and the entire buildup to this bossfight through Midra’s Manse and the Abyssal Woods outside.
The Three Fingers, the Frenzied Flame, and everything it encompasses are one of the aspects ofElden Ringthat fans have grabbed onto the harder, so going up against someone who has fully embraced the madness is just such an interesting concept. Plus, the fight itself is incredibly unique. The timing of most of Midra’s attacks is all over the place, he has a lot of unpredictable moves, and the music throughout this battle is incredible. Overall, while Midra is one of the easier ‘big’ fights in Shadow of the Erdtree, his fight is one of the most memorable.
9Bayle The Dread
Legendary Boss of the Jagged Peak
Now, all throughoutElden Ring, the player hasgone up against a whole lot of dragons. There are dragons found in the overworld, dragons found as bosses of certain areas, and even some as Remembrance bosses. Players will be fighting tons of dragons in their time with Elden Ring, and that’s also true for its DLC. The Jagged Peak area, in its entirety, is basically only filled with fights against Drakes and Dragons. At the top of this mountain is the alpha Dragon, Bayle the Dread, who is known to have gone up against one of the previous Elden Lords,Dragonlord Placidusax.
Bayle’s fight is one of the most challenging in all of the DLC and is also one of the most visually bombastic. Almost all of Bayle’s attacks are visually over-the-top, and this is especially true for all of his attacks in his second phase. Then, add the Igon interactions on top of that, and it should be pretty easy to see why this boss is on here asone ofElden Ring’smost ‘epic’ battles.
8Messmer the Impaler & Base Serpent Messmer
Legendary Boss of the Shadow Keep
Despite being the focus of most of the advertising forElden Ring’sShadow of the ErdtreeDLC, Messmer isn’t the ‘penultimate’ boss of this expansion. Rather, he’s just a sad warmonger who was born cursed, chose to become a faithful dog to his mother’s commands, and was promptly left behind and forgotten after he served his purpose. Even in the context of the Tarnished’s journey through the Lands of Shadow, Messmer really only serves as mere kindling to get the Tarnished into Enir Illim.
All that said, the boss battle against Messmer is absolutely incredible. He’s one of the most nimble bosses in the game, has some of the most visually engaging attacks in the game, and his second phase is so visually interesting that it can be difficult to actually pay attention to the attacks. The giant snakes that Messmer summons throughout the fight (especially in phase 2) are absolutely incredible as far as attack flair is concerned, and that’s not even getting into Messmer’s own attack animations with his spear.
7Metyr, the Mother of Fingers
Legendary Boss of the Finger Ruins of Miyr
It’s finally time to talk aboutprobably the ‘weirdest’ bossinElden Ring’sDLC, Metyr. Metyr is the Mother of Fingers, and yes that includes all of the different Two Fingers that the Empyreans have. Metyr is, likeAstel, Naturalborn of the Void, a creature who came to the Lands Between on/as a meteorite, but Metyr came as the first proxy of the Greater Will. However, Metyr soon lost all contact with the Greater Will and has been basically working off an ‘un-updated script’ of sorts since then which means everything that the Finger Readers gleaned from the Two Fingers is very likely info not from the Greater Will but from a Metyr sunken in loneliness and madness.
As a boss fight, Metyr is incredible.There’s a whole questlinefrom Count Ymir leading up to this encounter, and this questline involves traversing the Finger Ruins strewn across the Lands of Shadow. After that’s all done, players will descend beneath the Cathedral of Manus Metyr and come face to, well, finger with Metyr herself. The arena for this boss fight is visually stunning, feeling very reminiscent of the Lake of Ash region of the first Dark Souls game. Meanwhile, the actual mechanics of the boss fight are entirely out of this world, especially when Metyr transitions into her second phase. All in all, easily one of the most memorable fights inShadow of the Erdtreeif notElden Ringas a whole.
6Promised Consort Radahn & Radahn, Consort of Miquella
The Legendary Boss of Enir Ilim
And finally (for the DLC bosses at least), there’s the actual penultimate boss fight of theShadow of the ErdtreeDLC, Promised Consort Radahn. This boss fight is probably one of the most visually over-the-top boss battles From Software has ever done, and that line works both as a compliment and an insult. There is just so much happening in this boss fight, especially in the second phase. It’s incredibly difficult, gruelingly so, and a lot of the attacks in the second phase can feel like they’re too much or are even ‘unfair’. However, in terms of an ‘epic’ boss fight, this probably tops even the fight against Radagon and theElden Beast, as the Tarnished is literally going up against a version of Radahn at his prime, and Miquella who has just recently ascended to godhood.
Overcoming this bossfight feels like nothing short of a miracle (for most of us), and when players finally do they get the Remembrance of a God and a Lord, which can be used to craft two different Greatsword sets or even Miquella’s very ownLight of Miquella Incantation.
5Starscourge Radahn
Legendary Fight of Redmane Castle
The fight against Starscourge Radahn is probably one ofElden Ring’sbest examples of an ‘epic’ confrontation for a variety of reasons. The buildup to this fight of boththe Festival leading up to the confrontationagainst Radahn and the player learning the background about Radahn holding back the stars even whilebeing ravaged by Scarlet Rotonly serves to make the battle more epic.
And, when players actually enter the arena and start the fight, it becomes immediately clear that this won’t be like the other boss battles as they can summon all sorts of other NPCs and must make the long trek up to Radahn first to even begin fighting him. And finally, there’s the comet move he does a little below half health which is a move that’s reused multiple times throughoutElden Ringand even its DLC because it’s so iconic.
4Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
Legendary Boss of Raya Lucaria Academy
Next up is Carian Queen Rennala of the Full Moon. Rennala’s boss battle, mechanically, is actually pretty boring if not a bit irritating. Dealing with all the chaotic elements of the first phase can be a pain, and nothing feels worse than just barely not having enough damage to finish off the phase and having to interrupt those singing kids three more times. However, the implications and lore of this first phase are interesting and it’s pretty atmospheric.
The second phase, however, is absolutely beautiful thanks to the arena itself. Additionally, this part of the boss battle is pretty challenging, especially ifthe Tarnished relies on magic damageat all (Rennala is basically entirely resistant to magic damage). Then, when players find out the actual lore of this second phase from Ranni, which is the fact that Rennala’s second phase was actually an automated illusion made by Ranni that triggered whenever someone tried to kill her mother, it only adds to the scale of the fight rather than take away from it.
3Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
Legendary Boss of the Grand Cloister
Even without knowing anything about Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, this fight is epic. This is partially due to where Astel is found as well as the cosmic appearance of the arena itself, but it’s mostly due to Astel’s actual design. Astel looks like something ripped right out of an eldritch story, and honestly, as a boss, its design is more in line with Bloodborne’s setting and bosses thanElden Ring’s.
However, once players read the right item descriptions and learn a little bit more about Astel, their species, where they came from, and what they destroyed on arrival, it only adds to the flair of their battle, even if only in retrospect. Plus, despite how annoying the move to deal with, the part of the boss battle where Astel opens these black holes and starts summoning meteors that fly at the Tarnished is one of the most visually over-the-top attacks in the game.
2The Beast Clergyman & Maliketh, The Black Blade
Legendary Boss of Crumbling Farum Azula
Fighting the holder of Destined Death himself was always going to be epic, that much is obvious. However, the twist that the Beast Clergyman that players were feeding all their Deathroot to is also Maliketh, the Black Blade, only made the confrontation that much better. It might seem like a common-sense connection on multiple replays ofElden Ringor for those who knew ofElden Ringbefore playing it, but on a first playthrough not many people made this connection before coming face to face with Maliketh in Crumbling Farum Azula.
And the fight itself, while it doesn’t have collapsing stars or some huge setpiece, is pretty epic. When Maliketh actually fully transforms for the second phase and starts using Death against the Tarnished, it’s pretty terrifying.
1Godfrey, First Elden Lord & Hoarah Loux, Warrior
Legendary Boss of Leyndell, the Ashen Capital
The fight againstGodfrey, First Elden Lord(as well as Hoarah Loux) is maybe one of the best fights in the game as far as a complete package is concerned. This fight really has everything, it has the story stakes, the flair,the lore implications, the second phase twist, and most importantly it has the mechanics of a great fight. Once players really learn the flow of Godfrey’s boss battle, the fight almost becomes a dance of sorts, thanks to Godfrey’s ‘stomps’ basically acting as beats in a pattern or a song.
And, the second part of the fighting kicking everything up a notch and elevating everything that was already great about this fight almost makes it more disappointing that the actual last fight against the Elden Beast is so lacking in mechanical enjoyment.
