The World of Elden Ring is filled with various bosses and enemies having brutal difficulty, a hallmark of FromSoftware titles. This guide includes some of the hardest-ranked enemies, the toughest and final boss you will encounter during your venture in Elden Ring.
Every boss has unique attacks in their arsenal, and the strategies for taking them out differ. This guide categorizes the top 10 hardest bosses and enemies in the Elden Ring. It provides details on their locations, attack patterns, and strategies for exploiting their weaknesses. With this information, you’ll be prepared to conquer even the most formidable enemies and emerge victorious.
Some enemies and bosses may pose an initial obstacle, but true mastery lies in overcoming the most punishing encounters. With this guide, you can focus on the battles that will test your skills and determination to the limit.
10. Margit, The Fell Omen
How to Find the Boss: This boss is near the Castleward Tunnel Site of Grace in Stormvell Castle.
Margit is counted in the list of hard bosses because of his constantly changing attacks. This demigod is the first boss you encounter in the game, and considering low player stats, this can be a tough fight. This boss gets extremely aggressive in the next phase, retaining his speed and sweeping attacks from his earlier encounter, but Margit’s arsenal is substantially upgraded.
Rewards: You will earn 12,000 Runes and Talisman Pouch (NG only)
9. Crucible Knight
How to Find the Boss: Auriza Hero’s Grave
This is another duo boss fight where a lesser version of him accompanies Crucible Knight. The battle is aggressive, and they use their wings in the second phase. Though you will encounter many Crucible Knights, the ones with Ordovis are the toughest of minor dungeon bosses.
The toughest part comes when you try to heal; the bosses charge at you with attacks, and considering the small size of the arena, things get pretty frustrating. Once you eliminate one of them, the fight becomes pretty simple.
Rewards: You will earn 280,000 Runes, Ordovis’ Greatsword, Cruicible Axe Helm, Crucible Axe Armor, Cruible Gauntlets, and Cruible Greaves.
8. Godskin Duo
How to Find the Boss: From the Dragon’s Temple Site of Grace in Crumbling Farm Azula, head in the north direction, and it will take you to the Godskin Duo boss fight.
This is a dual-boss fight, as both bosses resurrect each other simultaneously. You need a strong summon, hoarfrost stomp skill, and some sleep arrows to overcome this boss. Take out the fat enemy first with sleep arrows, and use the hoarfrost stomp on his other companion.
Both enemies share the same health bar, so the key is to focus on attacking them simultaneously; if you focus on just one of the enemies, the other will resurrect the other. While fighting this duo, remember they are fast, and their speed increases more in the other phases.
This duo is weak regarding slash, sleep, and hemorrhage status effects. Both the enemies use projectile attacks, so the pillars in the arena are a good place to hide from damage.
Rewards: You will earn 170,000 Runes, Smithing-Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [4], and Ash of War: Black Flame Tornado (earned in NG only).
7. Godfrey, First Elden Lord
How to Find the Boss: To encounter Godfrey, you must get to the Queen’s Bedchamber Site of Grace in Leyndell.
Godfrey has two formidable forms, but staying close to him is the key to overcoming this boss. The first phase of this fight is much more difficult than the golden ghost form you fought previously, but this time, he is the real deal, and the damage he can inflict is no joke.
When you knock down half of his HP, he transforms into Hourah Loux and starts fighting like a wild warrior, more aggressive and brutal.
Rewards: You will earn 300,000 Runes and Remembrance of Hoarah Loux.
6. Dragonlord Placidusax
How to Find the Boss: Head to the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace in Crumbling Farm Azula to find this boss.
This two-headed dragon breathes fire, has one-kill AoE attacks, and even transports around the battlefield and reappears with an attack. The key to surviving his lightning attacks is to stay mobile all the time.
You can focus on his lower body, but the tail would be easier to target. Once his health drops half, he will fly, and this begins the next phase of the fight. You can use frostbite on him to track his movement; without doing this, the fight will become hard. Wait for him to land on the ground to take him down. The dragon is weak to pierce damage, so use excessive amounts of these. But as this boss is optional, you can skip the fight if you don’t cross paths with him.
Rewards: You will earn 280,000 Runes and Remembrance of the Dragonlord.
5. Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
How to Find the Boss: Move to the Grand Cloister Site of Grace in the Grand Cloister to encounter Astel.
Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, is another hard boss who uses magical attacks, launches meteorites, and has teleporting abilities. He is weak to slash, strike, or piercing damage. This boss fight is different from others as it manipulates the darkness with laser beam terrors.
You must keep the battle up close to fight this boss, but keep enough distance to ditch his shockwaves and slash attacks.
Rewards: You will earn 80,000 Runes and Remembrance of the Naturalborn.
4. Mohg, Lord of Blood
How to Find the Boss: Go to the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint Site of Grace in Mohgwyn Palace, climb up the stairs, and turn left into the elevator that will take you to Mohg.
Mohg is a Demigod Boss who specializes in blood magic. Though his attacks are powerful, they can be dodged. One good thing is that Mohg doesn’t have good resistance to standard, pierce, and fire attacks. You can use Mohg Shackle twice to bind the boss to the ground and land successful hits. However, watch out for the blade curse he gives you in phase 2, so equip the purifying red crystal.
His attacks in the first phase can be dodged easily, but watch out for his claw attacks. One thing you should know is that you can only use the shackle during the first of the fight. Mohg’s blood curse lasts a few seconds, so have your healing and protection potions stocked and attack him from behind rather than the front. Once his health falls below half, Mohg begins to fly, and his attacks get furious.
This can be one of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring, but as long as you stay mobile and attack at the right time, you can simplify this fight. Never attack in the middle of his combos because you can’t dodge incoming damage, and you will die.
Rewards: You will earn 420,000 Runes, Mohg’s Great Rune, and Remembrance of the Blood Lord.
3. Radagon of the Golden Order | Elden Beast
How to Find the Boss: This boss is in Elden Throne, Leyndell. Simply enter the large chamber in the Elden Throne, and you will find your boss there.
Near the endgame, the final boss fight is split between two bosses, Radagon of the Golden Order and then the Elden Beast. Radagon is Queen Marika’s second husband and one of the most powerful humanoid enemies who focuses on inflicting Holy damage to complicate things.
This boss fight will drain your health and stamina, so the best strategy is to dodge his explosive attacks. His frequent moveset blends mace swings with magic attacks, so you must prevent him from using his mace.
As challenging as it sounds, fighting Radagaon alone is relatively easy; however, the second phase is difficult when you’ve to take down the Elden beast. The Elden Beast wields a giant sword and powerful holy spells.
Apart from the physical and magical attacks, his black hole teleport is something you need to be aware of. The giant sword can inflict fire damage, swings, and stabs. It is a gargantuan otherworldly creature that attacks you with powerful golden-imbued attacks.
Rewards: You will earn 500,000 Runes and Elden Remembrance.
2. Maliketh, The Black Blade
How to Find the Boss: You will find him in Crumbling Farm Azula after finding the Besides the Great Bridge Site of Grace. Climb the stairs, go to the right side, run past the knight rider, and enter the chamber where you will encounter the boss.
After defeating the Beast Clergyman, the boss will transform into Maliketh. The Beast Clergyman has a repeated moveset, and you can easily defeat him. But when he transforms, he is not only fast but also has many one-hit kills which makes him the second hardest bosses in Elden Ring.
Maliketh is fast and uses combos that send projectile attacks your way while flying around the arena. It’s hard to track his movement, but you can ditch the attacks using different obstacles in the arena.
Wait for Maliketh to drop down to attack you; go behind and attack him. Stay mobile and try not to get attacked by his sword, as it gives poison damage. When you see Maliketh spin his sword around 360 degrees, that is going to be your cue to roll toward him.
Rewards: You will earn 220,000 Runes and Remembrance of the Black Blade.
1. Malenia, Blade of Miquella
How to Find the Boss: To find Malenia, you must head to Haligtree, the very end of the map, and make your way to the Haligtree Roots Site of Grace.
Among the many bosses, Malenia, Blade of Miquella, is by far the hardest in Elden Ring. She is the true definition of FromSoftware boss difficulty. Her quick, long combos and incredible speed make her formidable, to top off this with her rapid healing ability.
Fighting Malenia mostly turns into a very defensive battle, as any combo she uses will heal her, prolonging the fight. Even after taking her down for the first time, it brings her back as the Goddess of Rot. At this point, you will learn how she stood against Radahn, earning the title of the toughest boss.
Malenia, retaining her speed and agility, now deals with Scarlet Rot. Her massive AoE attacks rapidly inflict rot, and once you’re inflicted with rot damage, the effects may persist for some time.
Fortunately, she is vulnerable to all the ailments in the game and has low poise; any heavy weapon can stun-lock her; she is weak to fire, frostbite, and hemorrhage statuses.
Rewards: You will earn 480,000 Runes, Remembrance of Rot Goddess, and Malenia’s Great Rune.
