Top 20 Elden Ring Hardest Bosses: Level & Strategies

In this article about Elden Ring Hardest Boss, as the name suggests we will be talking about the difficulty level of the first 20 bosses in Elden Ring. We will first start with the easiest bosses to defeat and then, later on, talk about the most challenging bosses. There are numerous guides on Elden Ring bosses and how to defeat them.

We hope that you will better understand how the bosses in Elden Ring operate, keeping in mind their attack patterns, weapons, and movement. But before we start, we want you, readers, to know that this article is informative and only compiled from our personal experience within the game. If you want to know the Best Elden Ring bosses, we have an entirely different article for that purpose.

Elden Ring Hardest Bosses

Astel

Do not be terrified by the enormous skeletal size of Astel. He can use long-range AOE attacks to deal massive damage if you get caught up in them. Again your preferred choice of weapon should be the Golden Halberd, or you could choose to equip a sword that is double in length, such as the Nagakiba Katana. The size of this katana alone will be enough to defeat Astel! Jokes aside, you need to be wary of his pincers as he will use them to hold you in one position and damage you. Furthermore, after getting his HP to 70%, his attack pattern will change towards melee and long-range attacks. Coincidentally, he will slam towards the ground and cause earthquakes that will go on two to three times at an AOE.

Other than that, Astel can blast gravity attacks through magic beams at you during long-range encounters. These will take time to charge, so you will have plenty of time to dodge the attack. One of his annoying moves that we found during the battle is his ability to teleport in the middle of the fight. You may never know in what direction he will attack you. However, patterns indicate that he will grab you with his pincers as soon as he teleports back from a different angle. When his health reaches around 40-50%, he will rain down meteors of mass destruction that will have an inconsistent pattern. So you will be able to dodge them easily.

Strategy

You can deal damage to Astel through most of his attacks as they give multiple windows of opportunities for a strike. Overall, his patterns are pretty predictable, and you can narrow down the gap between you and the boss. His huge body makes him an easier target; the best and fastest way to defeat Astel is through a mage build. You will only need to keep away from him, summon ashes and spirits, and throw powerful spells at him, such as Rennala’s Moon.

The boss may seem like a threat to you; his initial attacks, if dodged, can help you land a few blows at him. Surely you don’t think Astel is an Elden Ring Hardest Boss, do you?

Godskin Noble

Fighting this boss is not easy; you do not want to mistake his big size for sloppy movement. Surely the beast wouldn’t touch you with his weapons with that considerable size. Wrong; Godskin Noble is a freakishly fast-paced boss in the game. Even though he has a bulky appearance, his attacks are rapid and hard to evade. His fighting style is that of a lancer, and he can pinch you with his deadly sword. While you are fighting Noble, you will notice that his attack patterns will change abruptly, leaving you slim chances to get in and attack. His speed and size are not to be confused with, and his moves have a lot of variety. Some of the attacks you need to be aware of are his thrust attacks.

He will pounce at you three to four times with his sword, and you won’t have enough time to dodge all three of them. The best way is to step back and create a gap so that you are out of range when he triggers his thrusts. More importantly, Noble can engulf flames around himself that leave a lingering effect on the player. It can also trap you inside and cause massive damage. After depleting his HP to 20-40%, he will enter phase two and increase all the stats on his attacks and speed by a considerable amount.

Strategy

The thrust attacks and speed will become even more. Also, his phase two form will add additional spells and aggression to his arsenal. He can also cast fireballs and trigger belly attacks that push you back while dealing damage. Make sure you switch back to long-range after engaging in a melee-range fight because he will unleash a circle of fire around himself to trap you in it. You will be caught up in it and exposed if you are close to him during the fire attack.

Don’t forget to dodge his roll attacks! Those can be insanely deadly as it is hard to avoid, and the attack lasts for more than 15 seconds. You won’t be able to survive if you’re hit with the roll. However, the pillars in the arena will come in handy, as you can hide yourself to avoid his roll attack for as long as you want.
Even though the Noble is mentioned as the first boss, it does not mean that he will be easier for you to defeat. He isn’t an easier one if he is not a Toughest Elden Ring Boss!

Hoarah Loux, Warrior

Warrior is a purely muscle-built boss in the entire Elden Ring. The shifts and turns in his movement skills will leave you vulnerable to almost everything. His beastly appearance explains his abrupt moves and attacks that can shake the ground from underneath and inflict damage at every point of the arena. With that being said, his slams and punches deal devastating damage, one hit, and you’d be praying for another round. His attack pattern ranges from significant AOE ground shakes to kicks and slams to punches. Although the attacks are not connected more swiftly than some bosses, they can leave massive damage if connected.

Furthermore, Hoarah Loux can also cause damage through his insane roar that can deal more damage upon close range. You cannot maintain a reasonable distance and expect not to get hit by his attacks. You need to be fully aware of his phase two. He will unleash even more hell on you than he did before. The speed and damage of the attacks will blow you away for good (Our Elden Ring Op Builds Might be useful here). There isn’t a single thing that will save you from this mad titan. His hands are powerful enough to kill you in one blow. We believe that this boss will give you a tremendous challenge. As it is not an optional boss, you cannot skip him in any way; you have to defeat him to unlock the following path.

Strategy

With earthquakes, mighty jumps, four-hit combos, and slams, the Warrior is not going to skip a single heartbeat before smacking you off the arena. His magnificent power can rip the earth to shreds. These attacks will not leave any single window of opportunity for you to take advantage of during the fight. His difficulty is astonishing; however, there are still far more worthy adversaries than the Warrior. Still, through his solid attacks and insane combos, it is safe to say that he is on our Elden Ring Hardest Bosses list.

Related; If you still have not decided what type of weapon is effective for tough bosses like Warrior, you can look at our Best Elden Ring Weapons guide.

Margit the Fell

Margit is another boss in the game that is pretty fast on his legs. His speed is incredible, and he has two weapons he uses to punish his opponents. Margit can use the hammer he conjures to slam on the ground after closing the distance between you and him. That is followed by another swift attack made from his polearm. If you think you can dodge his polearm, you are mistaken, my friend. The range on that weapon alone will be enough to rip you to shreds.

Moreover, Margit combines his speed and his two weapons to perform four to five combos that can be deadly. His attack movements are pretty predictable; he’ll jump back and summon his mighty hammer and swiftly jump attack you. Moving forward, he can also connect a swing and a thrust to bait you to your death. You can use a poison build for a thrilling battle with this boss.

You can create small windows of opportunities when Margit steps back and then dashes forward to hit you with his conjured dagger. Aside from his movement speed, his attack power and pattern changes significantly. The increase in the damage output makes you want to avoid getting in contact with him at all costs. However, he can easily cancel out any windows of opportunity created in the arena. That alone will cost you another round of agonizing pain through his aggressive combos and deadly thrust attacks. The difficulty of being the Elden Ring Hardest Boss starts from here.

Commander Niall

Swift wind attacks, electrifying shocks, pulsating ground attacks, what more can this monster do? Fighting Commander Niall is challenging, he will keep on attacking you with three different move sets, although you will be able to memorize his attack patterns. There are a few things that you need to keep in mind when fighting Niall. It is difficult for you to engage him in both melee and long-range fights because as hard as it may sound, Niall can close the gap and attack you abruptly, and he can also hit you with devastating moves at close-range. The power in his attacks can drain your HP by a half meter. When you are at close-range, Niall will unleash a lightning attack from his right foot at an incredible speed.

The electrified leg has incredible range and you cannot dodge it by rolling around as soon as he hits you with his leg. Furthermore, he can switch his leg swing to a stomp, and honestly it hurts more than you can heal. To make things even difficult for you, Niall will summon two silver knights to fight his battles for him. While you are occupied with those knights, Niall will not waste the moment and attack you out of nowhere.

Strategy

One of the silver knights has a Greatshield equipped on him and the other one is a dual wielder. It will be hard to hit the one with the shield, and hard to dodge the attacks of the other. However, defeating them will be fast and somewhat easy. Next target on your back is the boss himself.

While you’re further away from him, the boss will use astonishing wind attacks and close the gaps at incredible speed. Furthermore, if you think you can create an opening by attacking him from the back, you are sadly mistaken. When you approach his back, Niall will poke you with his weapon and stagger you. Those few seconds will cost you dearly as he will prepare his electrifying stomp to kill you within seconds. The boss is fairly difficult but easy to memorize, and you can defeat him after a going a few rounds with him.

Related: If you are having trouble with what kind of build to use, you can look at our Elden Ring Best builds.

You will find out the Elden Ring Hardest Boss soon down below!

Godskin Apostle

The appearance of the Apostle can be quite daunting. He has a curved-shaped sickle that he uses to lunge forward and then pull you in towards himself. He can also move faster and hit you with massive combos. If you look closely, he resembles Ghostfreak from Ben 10; another cartoon has come to life. However, the Apostle cannot pass through walls, but he can turn his weapon into a shredding machine. Once he gains distance from you, he will turn his sickle into a whirlwind for four to five seconds. The damage they do is significantly greater. His movement speed is not all too great; still, you need to be sharp on your feet if you think you have a chance against him.

He can throw dark fireballs at you to continue inflicting damage at mid or long-range. You may not have a chance to breathe because the Apostle can use combo after combo to nullify your chances of attacking him. Also, due to the long-range spell, it will be hard for you to heal using flasks because upon impact, you are staggered and cannot move for a split second. The Apostle will use that opportunity to dash forward and hit you thrice with his weapon.

Strategy

Moreover, once you deplete his health bar by 60%, Apostle will float and create a blast of wind that will cover a wide area of effect and cause lingering damage. You need to be aware of all of his moves and prepare a counterattack the moment you get a chance. But that is not all; his spooky move is where he can stretch his body like rubber and smash into you. After that, he pulls his lower half towards himself, which hits you on impact. The damage is considerably massive and does not allow you to rest even for a split second.

It’s pretty tough, and our “Elden Ring Hardest Boss” article is only getting harder.

Rennala – Queen of the Full Moon

When you step into the arena and trigger the boss fight with Rennala, you will be shocked to see the mini-mobs you will have to defeat before facing the main boss. On the ground, they lay waste to your health. Those pesky little witches will throw books at a charging speed. You will take chunks of damage if they hit you because they are books; after all, they hurt! Out of the many witches lying on the ground, only one of them will be attacking you by throwing books at you. You can easily recognize the main bully by looking at the direction from where the books are coming from. Their health is minimal and can be killed with only one strike of your sword.

Once you kill the pesky witch, others will spew flames of fire at you. Dodging all of that should not be a problem for you. However, it would help if you avoided all of the attacks thrown at you by the mini-mobs because they deal a lot of damage and will waste your HP flasks. You will need these flasks to fight Rennala at phase two in one of the most unique and remarkable arenas in Elden Ring. Rennala will fall from her cocoon and lay on the ground for a while upon damaging the second witch. That will give you plenty of time to deal damage to her. However, if you become too greedy, you will be caught up in her blast of AOE spell that’ll blow you away.

Strategy

Once Rennala is weak, and her HP falls to zero, do not celebrate yet because this is just the beginning. You are not done with her yet; it is time for phase two. The mesmerizing arena is where you will fight to the death with the main boss. She has become a massive threat to you now—no more mini-mobs to attack and get numerous windows of opportunities.

Now you’re face-to-face with Rennala. Her attacks and patterns have all been changed. You will see her throwing homing arrows at you at full force. Those tiny arrows will do immense damage if they hit you. The damage of those arrows and stones will stack up and deplete your HP to the last drop. Using your flasks here will be difficult because those arrows lock on you, and if you roll or try to dodge them, they will come back for you to leave a mark.

Phase 2

Another one of her attacks is the moon; she can conjure a huge moon and throw it at you. However, the speed of the attack is significantly slower, and you can get away quite quickly. Once the moon reaches its target, there is a short opening that Rennala leaves. Don’t get too close to the moon, as it will burst and cause an AOE with enough range to hit you. The charge time between summoning the moon and launching it is enough for you to get close to her and deal damage.

Most importantly, she can use summons as well. From wolves to actual bosses such as Dragon Agheel, Rennala can use the summons to fight her battles for her. You will have a hard time fending off homing arrows, wolves, trolls, and even the fiery breath of Agheel. On top of all that, Rennala will be on the back, hitting you with everything she has. The difficulty level of Rennala is not to be underestimated; you can evade the ashes as they disappear quickly after their initial attacks. Still, she has a solidly difficult battle for an early game brawl as an Elden Ring Hardest Boss.

Related; Elden Ring Strength Weapons

Godrick the Grafted

Godrick looks like he has absorbed more than a hundred souls into his body. There are mini arms sprouting from his shoulders, and he has an ax chained to his arm. His attack patterns involve using long-range wind attacks that curve up as they come in contact with you. Godrick the Grafted has a wave of immense anger built inside of him, and he uses that aggression to hit you with massive blows. He will swing his heavy ax towards you with the full force of his enormous weight. If you try to dodge the first dash, you won’t be able to avoid the next one using your shield. The amount of stamina that goes away while dodging the first attack makes it hard to escape the next one.

His quick rolls are switched into three massive hits from both of his axes. It leads to a flurry of attacks that deal a lot of damage, along with his final smack on the ground. He won’t let you recover from the damage while he is unleashing his full-blown combo attacks that remind you of Jesus. However, it will be easier for you to memorize his attack pattern because everything becomes too familiar to you. During his attacks, he will offer you wide gaps you can use to get close to him and deal damage.

Phase 2

It will be a long and hard battle, but you will be able to defeat him. The aggression and anger behind Godrick’s attacks will increase significantly, giving you no space to breathe. Moreover, he will introduce massive stomps on the ground that will pulsate twice for a few seconds. However, you will be able to dodge the attack by covering distance. The attack leaves a vast area of effect, and after it finishes, you can lunge at Godrick because he is fully vulnerable. Do not waste any opportunity thrown at you because you won’t get another chance. His whirlwind attack and the ground shakeup are going to leave huge damage on your HP. You will need to use an HP flask before he makes his next move.

That’s not all; in his second phase, Godrick will use a dragon’s head and wear it on his arm. After that, he will use it to spew flames that will cover half of the battlefield. The only way to dodge one of his flame attacks is to move out of range. Another chance to hit him from his back is when he triggers his flaming breath of fire from the arm. During the attack, he will be too busy that you can easily hit him two to three times on his back. Do not get too close to him during phase two, as he will knock you to the ground and spew flames of fire directly at your face. The dude gets crazy with his dual weapons, launching attacks after attacks. His insane second phase transition might land him the Elden Ring Hardest Boss title!

Related: Elden Ring Strength Build

Red Wolf of Radagon

The beast uses his mouth to conjure a long-range sword and uses it to slash its opponents at least twice or thrice. His speed makes it difficult to time a dodge or counterattack. Similarly, the Red Wolf Radagon can use Soul Arrows to compensate for the huge distance. Once he summons the arrows, he quickly moves away and lunges forward to strike. It seems impossible to dodge both attacks simultaneously with both the arrows and the wolf directed at you. If you get hit by the Soul Arrows, the damage depletion will be half your health bar, which is insane. So, it would help if you avoided the arrows by rolling twice and then blocking his bites with the shield.

If you don’t have a shield, it’s best to roll around hoping that he doesn’t bite you. He isn’t that difficult, and his attacks don’t change. They are used more often than usual so that you can predict and act accordingly. His speed is outmatched, and he pounces at you with immense power, depleting your HP to almost zero. The time to use healing flasks is minimized as he does not allow you to relax for even a second. However, he still managed to take a spot in our “Elden Ring Hardest Bosses” article.

Also Read this: Elden Ring Raging Wolf Armor

Elemer of the Briar

Elemer is a great knight with armor, a shield, and a Greatsword. His attack patterns are shaky and sometimes unpredictable as well. His sword can inflict huge damage to the player if not dodged correctly. When you face him in the Shaded Castle, you will notice that he quickly switches from long-range to close-range attacks. For instance, after knocking you out with his sword and a few slashes, he will jump back and then lunge forward like a fully loaded spring. After getting hit by that attack, the damage you get is almost 60% of your health bar. Consequently, he has his shield hanging from his back, and he takes it out later in the fight. He can use the shield to smash the ground, causing an area-wide effect.

You can use a poison build to severely damage him from time to time. For instance, using the Scarlet Rot can cause damage per second to Elemer even after launching the attack. In addition to that, Elemer first slashes his sword at you and then suddenly thrusts it forward. You need to be aware of his attack pattern as it is difficult not to get hit by his attacks.

Phase 2

Another variant of Elemer of the Briar is Bell Bearing Hunter. His attack pattern is insanely unpredictable and ferocious. He can use gravity-based attacks to pull you towards himself and then launch you a few feet away. It almost resembles a scenario where someone is getting bullied by a huge person. The attacks range from long-range to close-range attacks. Most importantly, he can use his sword telekinetically without using his hands.

The swords can move around and slash you with a huge range. It can almost seem impossible to dodge. One of Elemer’s deadliest attacks is when he lifts you with his telekinesis and then slams a sword down your belly, making you crash land on the ground. Just looking at your character getting hit by that move brings goosebumps. In addition to his swords, he can slash them thrice and take away 70% of your health; the last shred of your HP is stripped away when he pulls his sword back, hitting you upon impact.

It is time to increase the difficulty of bosses in our Hardest Boss Elden Ring list.

Rykard – Lord of Blasphemy

The boss is insanely huge, unlike Astel; however, he is shaped like a serpent with an elongated body. Rykard is situated on top of molten lava, and the ground shoots hot flaming lava wherever his attacks hit. If you walk into the lava, you will take damage with lingering effects. Also, his move set is pretty easy, and he does not have a wide range of attacks. All he does is smash his head on you and bite. The range of his bites and the head is insane. He can reach you even if you’re standing 12 ft. away from him! Jokes aside, Rykard can also spit poison from his mouth, and the animation makes it seem disgusting. As if he was puking at the opponent. The poison can do immense damage if you get hit.

At his second face, Rykard will pull out a sword from his mouth and use it to attack you at devilishly long range. You can get hit by the sword at mid-range. The best way to defeat him is by using long-range attacks. Lucky are those with a mage build when they face off with Rykard. They can easily keep a distance to avoid his sword and head attacks and hit him back with their sorceries. One of the complex and long-lasting attacks of Rykard includes the fiery skulls that plummet into you from afar. The damage those skulls do is insane. One hit from them will deplete your HP by 50%. You need to be on high alert during his second phase as Rykard uses his big sword to charge up and slam it on the ground.

Fire Giant

When you approach the Fire Giant, he will strike you down with his huge bowl. The damage you take will be devastating as he smashes you with his shield. His move sets are pretty abnormal and he has a wide variety of movement skills. However, the Fire Giant seems to enjoy himself when he shoves some snow up your face. His attacks are psychotic, and the damage each of his hits can leave your bones crushed in seconds. More over, Fromsoft is literally obsessed with Giants as they cannot stop producing more of them. Every time you visit a boss fight, there is always a giant ready to topple you over with his insane height.

The Fire Giant’s attacks vary, you won’t benefit from memorizing his attack patterns. He can jump in the sky and slam towards the ground. By doing so, he lunges his shield onto the ground and aims it directly above your head, so when it hits, it turns out to be a headshot! And you know what a headshot does, kill you on the spot. Most importantly, the Fire Giant is huge, but you can’t get close to him because he will spoil all your strategy.

Other than that, he can also conjure fire spear and globes. The globes are released in various spots on the map, and they blow up manually when you’re close to them. The ferocity of the Giant is unparalleled! After he is finished with his stomp and slam attacks, you can close your distance and approach his legs. You can deal insane amount of damage to him by hitting his legs.

Phase 2

During his second phase, you will have depleted his health by a significant number. An animation will play where you will see the giant ripping off his leg from his body. The extent of his willingness to kill you is remarkable and it shows that the giant will go to extreme lengths to destroy you. His attacks become even swifter and the damage dealt is increased. He has learned new attacks such as rolling on you and dealing AOE damage. You can’t breathe or relax because the Fire Giant will make sure you are dead in your tracks. Chances of you drinking more than three flasks will be common while fighting with the giant as he will give you a hard challenge. That is why Fire Giant is in our Elden Ring Hardest Boss List.

Starscourge Radahn

The boss is a colossal beast that resembles The Hulk in Thor Ragnarok. The anger and speed in his movements are insane. He has two swords equipped in both hands, which means he is a dual-wielder. There are armor plates on his whole body, which protect him from heavy attacks. When the battle starts, you will be insanely out of range with Radahn. He will shoot soul arrows and magic beams at you from afar at such great speed. Now, it is easier to dodge magic beams coming in your direction from a long-distance fight. But take that same spell at close-range; it will obliterate you!

Starscourge Radahn is seen mounted to his horse before the scenes; later on, he unmounts from the horse and fights like a mad titan. His blows are equal to a death star, and his swords pack a lot of punch. There is a more straightforward method that you can use to dodge Radahn’s attacks from a long-range distance. You can mount to your horse and gain that additional speed to counter the attacks. The speed you gain from mounting will help you evade effectively.

Phase 2

One of his attacks includes firing a barrage of arrows up in the air at full force. Those arrows rain down on you in one horizontal line, and then you are trapped with more arrows thrown directly at you. The fight between you and the beast is going to take hours. You will need more healing flasks than you can equip. The amount of damage his attacks can inflict on you is insane.

During his second phase, his health will be depleted exponentially. He will be enraged and attack more ferociously. Radahn will slam you with his palms and a few meteorite balls once or twice. You will run into a problem while mounted to your horse. The boss will form a force field that will cause you to fall from your horse, and he will throw giant meteorites on you. You can roll under him and attack his torsos when he is charging his sword attack. The exchange of blows will be immense, with both parties healing on the go. You have the option to initiate the fight in an invasion as well, but that does not mean the battle becomes easier; Radahn is equally dangerous and on par with the Elden Ring Hardest Boss title.

Dragonlord Placidusax

A dragon that has two heads for one, Placidusaxx, can also use lightning attacks to shock you. His huge body favors him in throwing bolts of lightning at you and causing immense damage. He will roar and throw a lightning bolt in your direction if you are close to his rear side. He can enrage the ground and shoot lightning from the ground. It is similar to the Lightning Spear and does enormous damage. Moreover, he can use his tail to smash you around like a punching bag, and he can use his head to ram into you.

The skin on his body is hard and rigid, making attacks do minor damage to him. If you think of attacking him from the back of his tail or leg, Placidusaxx will shock you with a strike of lightning straight from the mighty Thor himself! The damage it does is insane. You need to use a healing flask immediately before he can unleash another one of his red lightning.

Strategy

More so, he can use fire breath and change the direction of the fire towards you. They engulf the arena in flames and cause AOE damage. Again, if you are attacking his frontal or rear legs, he will burn you to a crisp with his yellow flames. You can attack him three to four times if he is busy unleashing the full force of his flames. You can immediately roll towards his rear and dodge the attack while the animation is still running.

He can create a cloud of red lightning and teleport. Once he is back in the arena, he will dash in your direction at such a great speed that you won’t be able to roll or dodge. He uses his fingers to slash you while flashing at you at an incredible pace. He reappears and uses his tail of lightning to hit you. His heads can now throw beams of light in your direction and cause AOE damage. He can extend his claws to close the gap and attack from long and close range. As a dragon he can take the place of being an Elden Ring Hardest Boss.

Morgott, the Omen King

Morgott is an equally demanding boss in Elden Ring. He will push you to your limits while not even wasting any stamina. His speed isn’t relatively faster than the other bosses. Still, he can use his agility to smash and slap you back to reality. He can turn his staff into a blade and conjure lightning spears in your direction. You need to be aware of his daggers; he will throw them at you causing huge damage. The movement speed and skill set of Morgott are intense, and he can confuse you with his different combos and hit you with a variety of attacks you have never seen before.

You will be able to find a few windows of opportunities and strike the monster to inflict damage. However, his close-range attacks will do a number on you. Weapons like Antspur Rapier can inflict him with Scarlet Rot and poison him with lingering effects for a minute or two. Morgott seems not to care and attacks you relentlessly. His attack patterns grow even more complex, and damage output turns tenfold. He can slam his spear on the ground and cause 30% damage. You won’t be able to dodge his attacks at first, but you can adapt to them later in the battle.

Phase 2

He throws daggers in a pair of three and dashes to the side to throw three of them again. If you can’t dodge them, you’ll be stacked with damage. Moreover, the spear can be paired with another sword that he conjures using magic, and then he uses them both to strike you down in an endless combo of attacks. Not only can he summon a sword, but he can also use a hammer and strike you. You can use a sword and shield to attack and defend yourself from his attacks. While you block his attacks using your shield, you can damage him with your sword or spear.

The choice of weapons matters in your fight with Morgott; however, he can completely shatter your defense if you run out of stamina. If that happens, you will be staggered for a few seconds leaving yourself completely open to his barrage of attacks.

Mogh, Lord of Blood

Mogh uses a trident and conjures blood flames to damage you. When you’re fighting him at close-range, Mogh will summon blood flames that will pour down in your direction. The range on his trident is insane; he can swing and slash you with his weapon, leaving you no room to dodge. His health bar is enormous and will require you to hit him constantly. The boss’s attack pattern is predictable as he seems to use the same moves repeatedly. But that is only during his first phase. Rather than pouring blood flames on you, Mogh will squirt them in your direction, and they will cause hefty damage.

He can scratch the air and cause the area to explode, making you fall backward by the force of the explosion. You need to be aware of Mogh’s ability to use blood build-up. He can devilishly use tap his trident in the sky and cause tremendous damage to your player. Not only that, you get blood loss at the first hit. He will keep doing this for about two to three taps of his trident and lock on to you, so it doesn’t matter how far away you are from the boss.

Phase 2

Your option is to either keep using your flasks or die through blood loss. Mogh grows a pair of wings during his second phase, increasing everything exponentially. His attacks, trident, and spells do more damage. He can jump in the air and throw blood flames at you and fall back, followed by a sudden dash towards you. He does not use any particular combos at the start; however, in his second phase, you will notice that he adds blood flames with his spear and attacks consecutively. He can also fly in the air and thrust you with his trident at great speed. Moreover, his explosive slash can cause more damage now.

It may seem unfair, but with the immense blood loss and various attacks that explode in your face, you can still have a fair chance against Mogh and use the reaction time to your advantage. The level of difficulty this boss possesses earns him the right to be on our Elden Ring Hardest Boss list.

Maliketh, The Black Blade

Maliketh is a ferocious beast that can use the earth as sharp rocks and throw them at you. His claws are incredibly sharp and can cause massive HP drop. You will have to be light on your feet and dodge his swift attacks because his speed is the only thing that will cause you problems. Other than that, his move set is quite bland. He can use daggers and the earth to cause AOE, and it will be tough to gain distance. You won’t be able to get close to the beast and use your weapon. A great choice is to use a shield to dodge his earthly moves. He has enough power to turn the ground into sharp stones and throw them in your direction. You can roll sideways to deflect them, but it will be a tough challenge.

His horizontal attacks will give you plenty of chances to attack his rear side. The health bar of Maliketh is huge, and he will prolong the fight. Maliketh will now have the black blade at his disposal during his second phase. He will run around, climb pillars, fly around the arena, and use ranged attacks. The sword’s length is significantly enormous, and you will have to maintain enough distance to avoid its range. However, you can find a few gaps in his attacks and land some hits. Moreover, due to his sword, you will have to deflect his incoming combo attacks one after another.

Phase 2

His movement speed and attack problem will pose a significant threat. Overall, Maliketh will give you minimum windows of opportunities, which will cost you a lot of health. He can use whirlwind attacks from above the air and then slash you in the next moment. The amount of swings in his sword is quadrupled in his second phase, and each slash causes an explosion of fire followed by a slam on the ground. The only way to beat him is through is wide gaps he leaves during each combo. You can use long-range spells and melee range attacks to diminish his health bar. Do you think he might be the Elden Ring Hardest Boss?

Radagon & Elden Beast

Fromsoft has reminded us that there are certain stages where you will have to fight two bosses simultaneously. Radagon and the Elden Beast are a tough match to beat. Similarly, Radagon can use a lightning hammer to slash you. The variety of spells he has is immense, and he can float in the air while performing those magic spells. He will float in the air and use a Lightning Spear at long range in one instance. If you try to keep your distance from him, he will use long-range spells similar to the lightning spear. The damage is yet again enormous, and you will have to formulate strategies to beat him in close-range. He can slam into the ground and unleash a wave of lightning in an AOE. The damage of that attack will linger for a while until it disappears.

As you commence deep into battle, Radagon’s abilities will continue to shock you, literally. He can teleport into thin air and reappear with a flash of lightning. Another thing about him is that he will throw not one but two lightning spears without giving you room to breathe. Those lightning spears will hit the ground and explode, causing a huge radius of AOE. The attacks are similar to Rennala’s moon. Instead of the delayed charge time of the moon, his lightning spears will hit you at tremendous speed.

Phase 2

Radagon has the ability to grab you by the neck and smash you to the ground. After that, he will punish you with lightning and hammer you down with his mighty hammer, not once but twice! If you have 80% HP, forget about surviving the attack and pray to the Lord that he spares you. You can parry his attacks without having to use any spells or weapons. After parrying twice, he will be staggered, allowing you to hit hard. During his second phase, his attacks will do more damage, and he will charge his hammer and slam the ground three times, with each hit stronger than the previous.

The Elden Beast, on the other hand, is as large as Astel. The only favor in this fight against him will be your ranged attacks. You will be able to knock him down using spells, as he is focused on attacking you from a distance. He can breathe fire and use a long sword to attack you from a distance. Do not mistake his huge celestial body for lack of speed; he will use lightning arrows to target you. Be safe and dodge all of his attacks because it is easier to avoid when you’re at the range.

You will have to consume multiple flasks throughout the battle with these two beasts. Furthermore, you can use the distance to your advantage and close the gap between you and the Elden Beast. Together, these bosses are a menace and one of the most challenging Elden Ring bosses. It is safe to say that these two are a good combo and worth the title of Elden Ring Hardest Boss.

Godskin Duo

You have fought the Godskin Noble and Apostle individually before, and you know how tough they are when alone. But now, they are supposed to be fighting together in a deadly duo fight. You fight them in the same arena as before, only this time, they both will attack you as a pair. Whenever Fromsoft forms a duo of bosses, they always design the mechanism in a manner that makes one of them slower and the other faster. However, this is not the case; you have already seen the big fat blob of monster Godskin Noble; his speed is tremendously insane. Follow that up by Apostle, who can use his long-range spear sickle to take you out.

Moreover, it is challenging to fight both of them at the same time. You might lose a few rounds, but each of the lost battles will teach you a lesson or two. Godskin and Apostle can use long-range fireballs, and they throw them at you simultaneously. Thankfully, the arena is filled with long pillars to shield you from most of their attacks. Take note that when both of these monsters are enraged, their attack damage will multiply tenfold. At this stage, they will obliterate any form of object you can use to shield yourself from their deadly attacks.

Godskin will attack you from long range while the Apostle will hit you with his spear from close-range. Noble will use his huge body and bloated stomach to push you back a few feet away, causing massive damage. On the other hand, Apostle will slice and dice you like butter.

Phase 2

In the second phase, both monsters are going to attack you at tremendous speed and a combination of attacks. Remember that the pillars are now broken, and only their base is left. You cannot dodge any fireballs thrown at you by both the bosses. Hence, you will have to make do with rolls and dodges. On another note, you can dual-wield katana to inflict blood build on both the bosses. It will be an effective weapon of choice, seeing how tough they are. Apart from that, you cannot focus on one target and expect to kill them quickly.

You will be preoccupied with either one of them while the other will come to the rescue. Together their attacks are going to be phenomenal. Even if you kill one of them, they will respawn after fifteen seconds. You have to beat them at least three times so that they don’t respawn again. When both of them are enraged, it is difficult to attack them spontaneously. You need to have a plan of attack before striking any one of them. Together, Godskin Noble and The Apostle make a deadly duo and are considered as one Elden Ring Hardest Boss.

Melania, Goddess of Rot

She can heal a lot if you’re attacking and inflicting damage to her. Many players that face Melania have died countless times due to her ever-growing combination of attacks. When you first face her, she does a quote that says she has never known defeat. It would be best if you believed her when she said that. Her move set and attack patterns are gigantic. Melania can bring you to your knees from the whirlwind of slash attacks to thrusts and deadly combinations to scarlet rot. There is not a single moment where you can counterattack. We would suggest that you add Blood Hound’s Step to your slot so that you can easily evade her deadly attacks.

She can use her long sword to damage you at long distances, followed by slash attacks and a 360-degree attack pattern. When she uses her sword to attack you diagonally, she can cover an insane amount of range. If you are 20 feet away from her, she will quickly close the gap and attack you. One of her greatest and deadliest abilities is that she can regenerate her health bar after each hit. That means, whenever she hits you, she will heal. We have seen some players who parry her attacks and damage her little by little. It is a great strategy to switch between defense and offense.

Phase 2

You always have to be swift on your feet and increase your reaction time. When you think you have beaten her by depleting her HP to the last bar, she will enter her second phase, unleash the orange ball’s cocoon and attack you with scarlet rot. If you enter her circle of devastating power, you will be exposed to the poison, which will drain your HP every second. Her attack strength grows exponentially and varies from slashes to thrusts and stabs.

Her speed grows every second, and it gets more challenging for you to evade her attacks. Melania’s most prominent advantage is the long blade. The range on that thing is insane; it will slice through you even at mid-range. Moreover, dodge her attacks to stagger her and then go for that critical hit. Another thing you should be aware of is that Melania grows wings in her second phase, and now she can fly. She uses her sword to lash out at you three times in a row. Each time you try to evade her, she will relentlessly close the gap and attack you. You can’t keep up with her attacks because your stamina will deplete until you cannot block her sword.

Final Summary

In our Hardest Boss Elden Ring list, Melania is the toughest of them all. She can regenerate and attack at full speed without leaving any windows of opportunities to strike back.  Each boss is unique in its way. It has a variety of skills and move sets that you need to be wary of, plus it takes a lot of time and dedication to memorize its attack patterns. Doing so can take hours until you develop the best strategy to counter their strong attacks. It all comes down to how dedicated you are with Elden Ring. If you enjoyed our guide on the hardest bosses in Elden Ring, be sure to give us your feedback in the comments section.

If you need any help regarding what builds to choose, spells to take, weapons to use, or any assistance regarding the stats of the characters, you can check out our Elden Ring guides. Surely after reading one of our highly informative guides, you will be able to clear the stages, or maybe the whole game along the way!