The bosses in Dark Souls 3 are the reason why most fans of these games call it the best game in the Dark Souls series. Pretty much all the bosses in the game are a near perfect balance of difficulty, spectacle and just overall well-designed fun that people just all seem to love them.
With difficulty being such a major aspect of these games, it is only natural for us to look at the challenge that these bosses give to the players. So, let’s take a look at these bosses ranked from easiest to hardest!
25. Ancient Wyvern
The entire point of the fight is to cover yourself from all of the wyverns' attacks and to slowly make your way up the ramparts to the left of the arena while avoiding or fighting all the snake men. Keep following the path that leads to a ledge overlooking the Wyvern's head. Then, jump off into a plunging attack right at his head and voila, you’ve just one shotted the boss.
24. Yhorm the Giant
Beating Yhorm just requires you to dodge his attacks and make it to the opposite end of the room where you can pick up the Stormruler. This weapon requires you to charge it up and whack Yhorm with it for insane damage. The only real difficulty here would be finding time to charge up the weapon as it is fairly easy otherwise.
23. Iudex Gundyr
For his placement in the game, Iudex Gundyr is a decent fight but is also one that only gets easier the more you play the game through again and again. I mean, Dark Souls 3 was my very first Dark Souls game and even then, I beat Iudex Gundyr on my very first try.
22. Vordt of the Boreal Valley
As for the fight itself, it’s just a waiting game that you need to play to tire the idiot out to get hits in. Most of these attacks are fairly easy to dodge and even predict so just strafe up behind him and whack for maximum damage.
21. Curse Rotted Greatwood
Just run around, hit it in the boils and don’t pay much mind to the endless hollows that are summoned, just keep an eye on them and dodge their attacks if they get too close. Keep repeating this until the second phase where the ground breaks and the arm comes out. This moron probably thinks it’s being really strong or clever but it just spawned another weak point for us to target.
20. Deacons of the Deep
The only way that there can be even a morsel of difficulty in this fight is that it can be really difficult to escape if you ever get swarmed. However, if you stay clear of that hazard and just go for the one main, glowy Deacon, then this fight is just a cake walk.
19. High Lord Wolnir
You can die pretty easily if you have poor spatial awareness or don’t pay attention to the area behind you. Other than that, you just have to run for his bling and break it, simple. If you start attacking the second he shows up and don’t stop, then he doesn’t really have a moment to answer. Stamina consumption can be tricky though, as you can often run out of it in the middle of attacking at this stage of the game.
18. Abyss Watchers
The fight itself is quite easy as the watchers take a lot of damage from regular hits. Sure, it can become a little difficult when 2 of them team up against you but this is negated by one of the coolest twists ever which is when a third watcher spawns and sides with you.
17. Crystal Sage
One useful tip for fighting him is that of all the clones in the area, watch out for the one that is shooting blue crystals instead of purple as that is the real one you need to watch out for.
16. Halflight, Spear of the Church
If you want to eliminate the risk, just do this fight offline. But if not, then be ready to either fight someone insanely weak or someone insanely strong.
15. Champion's Gravetender and Gravetender Greatwolf
The real problem comes from the second phase, when the massive great wolf descends upon you and they both team up to make you wish you never installed the DLC. The wolf is crazy fast and hits like a truck, plus it also has a charge attack that always takes a while to finish so you have to be very mindful of that.
14. Old Demon King
Despite his old age and fleeting power, however, he is still a force to be reckoned with as he summons remnants of the old Chaos Flame in order to bring you down with heavy hitting, wide-spreading attacks. This is one boss that isn’t really difficult but cannot be considered easy either as this old timer has quite a few tricks up his sleeve that he uses to bring you down.
13. Oceiros, the Consumed King
Oceiros is incredibly fast and extremely aggressive and some of his attacks can come out of seemingly nowhere. The key here is to always stay behind him and to always keep moving and to keep paying attention to the boss. His most annoying move is the charge which has no discernable tell so avoiding this attack is a real pain. Best way to deal with this is to keep a distance from him throughout so can see it coming from a distance.
12. Dragonslayer Armor
The fight itself is straightforward due to who you’re fighting, but the difficulty is added because the boss has delays on many of his attacks, as well as doing some of the highest damage numbers in the entire game. He also has a massive greatshield attached to his back which protects him from all damage so look out for that.
11. Aldrich, Devourer of Gods
The key to beating Aldrich is to hug his tail and keep attacking that while also keeping an eye out for his sweep attacks and dodging them correctly. The main problem with him comes from his arrow attack, which can actually be negated if you just sprint away the second he does it. Stamina consumption for this fight can be a problem so be sure it is at the appropriate level before you take him on.
10. Champion Gundyr
This fight is almost completely different from the first Gundyr fight and this time, he is absolutely relentless and barely gives any time for the player to breathe. The best strategy is to stick close and be patient against him. He can also be parried like the first Gundyr fight but his moves are more delayed.
9. Pontiff Sulyvahn
Pontiff has a very diverse and aggressive move set that the player needs to be on guard for constantly throughout the entire fight. His second phase sees him grow wings and summon a clone of himself, doubling the amount of things that you need to worry about. Just keep in mind that he can be parried so work on your timings.
8. Dancer of the Boreal Valley
There are also theories connecting her to the royal family of the game but that isn’t totally confirmed. Her attacks are all in a really weird rhythm and have weird delays, making it imperative for you to learn her moveset. I’m telling you now, this one may take you a while so really take your time and learn the dodge timings with her. Be patient, that’s the key to fighting the Dancer.
7. Twin Princes
The fight against Lorian is very challenging, with him being able to take you out in multiple ways. He has a nasty habit of teleporting to random places at any time which can really catch you off guard, so the best way of dealing with this is to just simply keep him locked on. Upon defeating Lorian, his brother will climb onto his back and now start peppering you with dangerous sorceries.
6. Soul of Cinder
His second phase gives him an entirely new health bar and new moves that he took from the OG Lord of the series, Gwyn himself. SOC channels the souls of the most powerful Lord of them all in order to put you down and continue the Age of Fire.
5. Demon Prince
Upon defeating them both, their souls reform into 1 and the Demon Prince comes out, effectively turning this fight into one with 3 bosses. Depending on which of the previous 2 demons you killed last, the Prince will have a different moveset and attacks so watch out!
4. Nameless King
Nameless King is the son of Gwyn, a god of war that led the armies of Gwyn against the dragons and was head and the greatest of the Dragonslayers. However, something changed in him and he found himself siding with the same dragon's his father set out to destroy, causing his name to be expunged from all of history.
3. Slave Knight Gael
Gael’s fight is a never ending barrage of hits from all angles that you can imagine and the amount of moves he can do feels almost infinite. He never stops attacking with his sword or his crossbow in all 3 of his phases so he requires impeccable timing and skill and truly feels like the perfect send off to the series.
2. Sister Friede
Friede’s a Bloodborne boss that they decided would work well in a Dark Souls game and while the entire fight is amazing, it is super difficult because of how fast she is. The painted world DLC doesn’t have many bosses so to compensate for this, they gave Friede 3 phases, each more challenging than the last.
1. Darkeater Midir
Midir has the girthiest health bar in the entire game and possibly the highest damage output of any boss as well. It is entirely possible that you whittle his health bar down to 99% and he just 1 shots you out of nowhere. Midir is ferocious, powerful and an absolute tank, qualities which are all dialed up to 11 to bring you the most difficult boss in the entire game.
