Elden Ring is full of bosses to defeat; if you aren’t prepared, you might have trouble getting through the game. The thing about this game is that the bosses aren’t necessarily bad in any way, but their weapons and abilities can make all the difference. If an enemy just has a sword, it is not that hard, but what if it could heal the boss when it hits you?
This article is a list of 10 annoying bosses in Elden Ring. It is not that these bosses are easy; it is the total opposite. All these bosses are fought at entirely different times in your playthrough, and you might not even run into them because most are optional.
These bosses are either encountered towards the beginning of the game when you are the weakest, or they might show up near the end, so MAJOR SPOILER WARNING for anyone who doesn’t want to know any of the endgame bosses.
10. Dragonic Tree Sentinel
The Dragonic Tree Sentinel is probably the most annoying version of the Tree Sentinel because about halfway through the fight, he starts to pull out lightning. The fight isn’t hard, but when he uses that one move where he shoots lightning down from the sky, it will one-shot you if you aren’t careful.
It is annoying that the attack can’t be dodged on a horse. You are forced to fight it on foot or get one-shotted by the attack. You don’t know when he will use it because it looks exactly like his other lightning attack. Overall, it is a very annoying fight, but not as annoying as others on this list.
9. Godskin Duo
With this fight, it is like FromSoft decided to make a fight similar to Ornstein and Smough from Dark Souls 1, except a bit harder. Not only do you have to fight 2 Godskin Apostles, once you defeat one, but another also spawns until the entire health bar is gone. It is honestly a very weird fight and it will go down as one of the unique fights in the game.
If you can watch both of them, you shouldn’t have any trouble with these guys unless they start spamming that stupid magic attack. Try to focus one at a time and slowly drain the one singular health that all these guys have.
8. Valiant Gargoyle
The Valiant Gargoyles is another fight based on previous games by FromSoft. It is based on the Gargoyle fight from Dark Souls 1, and with this one, they made it more annoying than ever. The Gargoyles are like 5 times your size and hit like a truck. Halfway through, a second one spawns to make the fight even harder.
They also poison you if you aren’t careful so that is another annoying addition to the fight. It is an optional fight and, to be honest, most people will probably not even know it’s in the game. It is definitely a hard fight so you need to be ready and prepared to take them both on.
7. Dragonlord Placidusax
This fight is another fight that is also optional and if you don’t explore enough of the Crumbling Farum Azula, you might miss this boss entirely. To get to him you need to lie down in this very odd spot underneath the map and it will reverse time and send you to the boss.
The Dragonlord is hard because he uses a ton of lightning attacks that can one-shot you if you aren’t careful. He also teleports to random areas of the arena, which is massive and throws lightning at you. It is a fight for end-game builds.
6. Fallingstar Beast/Fully-Grown Fallingstar Beast
There are a couple of versions of this boss and each time you fight it, it just gets worse and worse. It is a giant rock beast that uses a ton of magic. It is similar to a bull and it is extremely fast. Think of the blazing bull from Sekiro on steroids, with extra magic attacks in between. The first version is the hardest version because of the extremely small arena it is in.
Remember that this boss is optional, and you don’t need to fight it to progress in the story. If you do fight it, good luck and I hope you have a ranged build because this boss is a beast, literally.
5. Fire Giant
The Fire Giant is one of those bosses that everyone hates fighting. He is large, has fire AoE attacks, and has extremely hard-hitting attacks. You won’t be fighting this guy until the end of the game, so don’t worry about preparing for this guy at the beginning of your playthrough.
This boss is not optional and must be defeated to progress, so make sure you are prepared because he is the only thing stopping you from completing your goal. Ranged attacks do very well against him, and it is your best option if you don’t want to get under his legs to attack.
4. Maliketh, the Black Blade
Maliketh is one of those bosses that seem like it’s one thing, but halfway through the fight, it becomes something else. Thankfully, you only have half a health bar left on the boss when he turns into Maliketh. He is extremely fast and homes in on you. He uses a flurry of bleed attacks that are not easy to recover from if you get hit.
He is also not an optional boss and is very important to the story. Make sure you get everything you need from the Leyndell Royal Capital because it will be changed once you beat this boss. We forgot to grab some stuff from it, and we missed out on some cool gear, not knowing it was going to change.
3. Mohg, Lord of Blood
These last three are all Shardbearers, and because of that, FromSoft decided to make them the hardest bosses in the game. Mohg is the Lord of Blood, so all his attacks cause bleeding. His first phase is not too bad, but once you reach that second phase, everything changes.
He does an attack that you can’t dodge, and the only thing you can do is heal. He also steals health from you with that move. He grows wings, and if you can get through that whole section without dying, then props to you.
2. Malenia, Blade of Miquiella
Malenia is one of the hardest bosses in the game, and it is not because of how fun the fight is. She can heal with every attack on you, even if you are blocking. She also has an attack that will one-shot you if you are unlucky enough to get it. We still haven’t been able to dodge all its attacks.
The second health bar, yes, health bar, is an even harder fight because she grows wings and throws Scarlet Rot everywhere. It was not a fun fight, and we even changed our builds multiple times just to find a good way to defeat her.
1. Starscourge Radahn
Most people think that Radahn is the hardest boss in the game. I think Malenia should take #1, but Radahn is annoying. The entire fight is RNG; getting to him in his arena can be a nightmare. There is the summons that makes it a little bit easier, but it makes it more chaotic.
You have to rely on NPC summons, so it is relying on the actions of NPCs to win the fight for you. If you fought him by yourself, you deserve a Gold Medal.