As I stated in my review of Dark Souls, the boss fights was
the thing that I enjoyed the most about the game, and hence for that reason
I’ve decided to make a list of those I liked the best. Usually the more
difficult boss fights were the more outstanding ones, and most bosses to appear
on this list are among the meanest in the game, but difficulty is not the only
factor I’ve decided to go by. Everything else about the boss also counts,
whether it’s how they look, what they represent, the flow and execution of the
battle, and of course the background music that assists the fight. Basically
it’s my list of the most memorable boss fights in the game, even though nearly
every boss was amazing and memorable in some way.
I’ve also decided to include some tips and strategies on
beating these bosses. Admittedly I’m currently still on my second playthrough, and
hence I do not possess extensive knowledge of these bosses, but I thought I’d
mention what strategies worked for me.
10) Great Grey Wolf
Sif
Had a bit of a toss up between Sif and Sanctuary Guardian
for the 10th place on this list, but eventually decided to choose
Sif. He isn’t among the hardest bosses in the game, but he plays a part in the
backstory and hence is quite an important character in the game. Sif can be
found deep in the forest, guarding knight Artorias’ grave, and he certainly
lives up to his name. Now one of the things I liked about this boss is that
it’s not just you facing a huge, ferocious wolf, but it’s a huge, ferocious
wolf with a bit of a twist – he has a massive blade in his jaws, and he can
swing that blade pretty fast.
Another noticeable
feature about this boss is that once his health gets really low, he will start
tripping up, losing his balance, and falling down, which makes it slightly
easier to finish him off. Usually in games bosses get stronger as their health
gets lower, but in this case the challenge was sacrificed slightly to favour
realism and to even make the player feel sorry for Sif. The whole fight is
assisted with a brilliant music track, which greatly adds to the atmosphere and
the character of this boss.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
Since Sif’s attacks have a big range, it might help to
have a long-ranged weapon too.
-
It’s a good idea to learn his attack animations and to
try to attack when he has breaks in the combos or leaves himself open.
-
His most dangerous attack is the double spin with the
sword. The first hit would usually drain your stamina if blocked, whilst the
second one will deal damage.
-
He will often jump back and create some distance
between the two of you. These might be good opportunities to quickly heal up
should you need to.
9) Belfry Gargoyles
This is one of the earlier boss fights in the game, taking
place on the roof of a church, and can be hard if the player is unaware that
the second Gargoyle joins the fight as soon as the first one’s health falls
below half. This means that as soon as that happens, there is an instant
pressure to quickly finish off the first Gargoyle before the second one has the
chance of reaching the player’s position and engulfing him/her in flames. And
if the player misses this opportunity, it can be very difficult to keep an eye
on two enemies at once, especially that both of them now will have a
long-ranged fire attack. Each Gargoyle by itself is not too tricky and can be
defeated without much of a problem, the second one in particular, but the
midpoint of the fight where the presence of two Gargoyles overlap is the point
to watch out for.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
Most of their attacks can be blocked. Fire breath can
be dodged with a simple roll or two to the side
-
Once first Gargoyle’s health drops to below 50%, the
second one is going to join the battle very shortly, so try to finish off the
first one as fast as possible, but don’t get too caught up in it or you might
get attacked from behind by the second one. You can often tell the second one
has joined the fight once his health bar appears.
-
Use the slanted shape of the roof to your advantage.
For example, if a Gargoyle is standing on a high part and swinging
horizontally, you can stay unharmed if you’re on part of the roof somewhat below
him.
8) Gaping Dragon
All right, so compared to most other bosses on this list,
this boss is actually pretty easy. It will probably only kill you a couple or
so times, until you realise that it’s actually very predictable and doesn’t
seem to be able to see you properly. However, the reason I decided to include
this boss on this list is because of how weird and creepy it looks. The first time
you’ll see it, you’ll probably say “WTF is this thing?” out loud. It truly is a
twisted-looking creature, and merely because of that this boss managed to stand
out. This boss fight is more about intimidating the player. Sure, it’s probably
one of the weaker dragons in the game, but despite that, I bet all the other
dragons tell each other horror stories about it.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
I noticed that being speedy is better here than using
heavy armor.
-
It’s not safe to attack it whilst it’s upright and
never ever attack from the front or it will grab you. The safest time to attack
is right after the creature charged and missed you. It will have some recovery
time, allowing you to attack its side or back. Make sure to retreat in time or
else it will hit you with its tail. If you’re attacking its back, you can try
to cut off the tail. Attacking can be done in any way – melee, arrows/bolts, or
magic spells.
-
If you use the above technique, you won’t even need to
use your shield, so grab your weapon with both hands to deal more damage to the
creature.
-
If it uses its acidic vomit attack, run away from it as
far and as fast as you can or it may greatly damage your equipment.
7) Iron Golem
Well, this boss is exactly as it sounds. You’re facing an
enormous iron construct that is trying to use its sheer strength to crush you.
As you might expect, being so huge and strong, this boss is also quite slow.
However, don’t get too comfortable, because the battle arena is not overly big,
and even if the boss is slow, one lucky hit from him could in fact send you off
the edge and into your death. I remember of all the times I died on this fight,
most were by falling off.
What’s really great
about this boss fight is that it forces you to keep moving and stay on your toes
the entire fight. You need to be thinking quickly all the time, because dodging
in the wrong direction by accident could mean you’re putting yourself in a very
dangerous position, either right into the boss’ axe swings or closer to the
edge of the arena where you don’t want to be.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
As far as I recall, there weren’t really any attacks by
this boss which could be successfully blocked, so dodging by rolling is a lot
more recommended, and hence once again a speedy character might do better here
than a heavily-armoured one.
-
Because of that, it’s probably best to hold your weapon
with both hands so to deal more damage per hit.
-
Boss’ swings are usually quite wide and fairly low, so
rolling sideways doesn’t always work. The safest place to dodge his swings is
right between his legs. This quickly puts you behind him and lets you deliver a
handful of hits to his ankles.
-
Beware of his grab attack. He can grab you even if
you’re behind him, so make sure to back away as soon as you’ve dealt a couple
of hits.
-
Always keep a note of your position on the battlefield.
You don’t want to get cornered too close to the edge of the arena. Try to stay
as close to the centre as possible.
-
This is one of few boss fights where locking on to the
boss is not advised. This is because the boss is very huge and hence locking
onto him will cause the camera to look up as well, meaning you’ll be struggling
to see where in the arena you are.
6) The Four Kings
Another really tricky boss fight and is generally considered
as one of the hardest in the game by many players. It is quite unlike most
other boss fights, because the main goal in this fight is to deal as much damage
as possible within a certain period of time or risk getting disadvantaged. It
starts with just one of the kings attacking, and with time the others spawn one
by one, so if the first one hasn’t been defeated yet, then the player will be
facing two of them and then eventually up to four, which can be disastrous. The
kings keep respawning repeatedly until all the shared health they have has been
depleted. This means that even if the player defeated say two of them and then
stalled up on the 3rd one, then the 1st and the 2nd
will re-enter the fight and once again there will be all four of them ganging
up on the player.
The kings themselves can deal plenty of damage, both
physical and magical, and so part of the pressure is for the player to stay
alive too and not just to be able to dish out a lot of damage. In addition,
this fight happens in the total emptiness of the abyss with no objects or
structural designs to take advantage of. Just an upfront fight.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
The one foolproof method that completely turned this
fight around for me was to equip a really heavy armor (such as Havel’s) and to
just take the hits whilst attacking recklessly. With heavy armor their melee
attacks will deal very little damage which you can quickly heal up when you
need to. This made the fight from incredibly hard to surprisingly easy.
-
If it helps, then whilst utilising the above method,
you can also wield your weapon with both hands. This will deal even more damage
and will finish each king before the next one can spawn.
-
If you start to get swarmed, it might be a good idea to
try and separate the kings.
5) Black Dragon
Kalameet
This boss is from the DLC and is completely optional. It is
also in my opinion one of the hardest boss fights in the game. Shouldn’t be a
surprise really since he is a dragon. He’s got a big variety of different
moves, each of which can catch you out if you’re not careful. For example, he
doesn’t just breathe fire at you. He has multiple ways of utilising his fire
breath, whether it’s a straight-line blast of fire, a fire sweep, or even at
times he flies up into the air slightly and shoots fire at the ground,
affecting a fairly large area, which the player has to quickly get away from or
else risk of being set ablaze.
And he is not exactly
incompetent at close range either. He will headbutt, he will stomp, and he will
use his tail – basically he’ll use all his body parts to try and get you. Oh
and did I mention that he actually gets crippled before you can even get to
fight him, so essentially you aren’t even fighting him at his best. I remember
reading in a few places online of people comparing this boss fight to fighting
dragons in Skyrim, and I think just about everyone can agree that if Kalameet
was one of the dragons to invade Skyrim, then the entire Skyrim would be
ravaged and burned to a crisp in a matter of days, so all those Dragonborns out
there should really count their blessings.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
As with many bosses with a huge variety of attacks, it
is a good idea to learn his attack animations, so that you know to react
accordingly before the attack can land on you.
-
Best time I found to heal up is when he does his fire
sweep attack. As soon as you roll out of range, you have a good few seconds to
drink an Estus flask whilst he is breathing fire. Another good time is when he
does a straight line blast. After dodging that you have a couple of seconds to
drink a flask before he stops his fire breath and initiates a new attack.
-
I found it better to be a speedy character in this
fight than one with heavy armor. A lot of the time you need to move away from
the arc or area of his fire breath attacks really quickly
4) Chaos Witch
Quelaag
One of the surviving daughters of the Witch of Izalith. Top
half of her is a human female torso and bottom half is a body of a huge
lava-spitting spider. She has lots of attacks, most of which involve the spider
half of her spurting lava in various directions and covering much of the arena
in lava which the player has to avoid.
At times Quelaag would stop spewing lava and will approach
for an upfront melee fight, where she swings her flaming sword in diagonal
swings and also often produces very powerful stabs. In addition, if the player
manages to avoid these swings, she will respond by stomping with the spider
legs, and during other times she will charge up a very powerful area attack,
which can do a lot of damage and fling the player aside.
What I really liked about this boss fight is that a lot is
dependent on the player’s skill and quick wit. This boss fight happens around
1/3rd into the game, and every other boss prior to this one was
quite predictable and had an obvious attack pattern. With Quelaag, it’s a bit
more unpredictable and the player might not exactly know what to expect until
she starts to actually execute each attack. On top of that, the player also has
to be aware at all times of the surrounding area and to make sure they don’t
stumble into a part covered by lava.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
It’s dangerous to be fighting in the area covered by
lava, and hence it’s a good idea to try and lure her out to fight on clear
ground.
-
Being fast is an advantage in this fight, and it’s good
to always move and walk around her, attacking her sides and back. Most of her
melee attacks can be easily avoided by rolling.
-
Best time to attack is when she stops to spew a very
long spray of lava. It is also a good time to heal up or reapply enchantments,
if you need to.
-
Since pretty much every attack of hers can be avoided
by rolling, shield is not very necessary, and hence if one needs to do more
damage, holding the weapon with both hands can help.
-
Since she is a fire-based monster, it’s good to have
fire-resistant gear, and likewise it’s pointless to attack her with attacks of
fire element. She is, however, vulnerable to magical and lightning elements.
3) Knight Artorias
Another DLC boss.
Artorias is the legendary knight we’ve all heard about in the original game and
here we get to fight him as he’s been corrupted by the abyss. This is one of
those incredible fights where we face someone seemingly similar to us. He is
not some oversized monster, he doesn’t have any long-ranged attacks, he doesn’t
have any minions or tag-team allies, and there are no ring outs or structures
to make use of. This is a pure one-on-one fight in an average-sized, completely
enclosed arena.
Artorias uses a big blade and can swing it rather fast,
often attacking rather aggressively and overwhelming the player. He has a
variety of moves, some of which are swings and stabs, and others are lunges and
dives through the air. The player is expected to be both very defensive and
very offensive, knowing exactly when to be which. Just as when you start to get
used to fighting him, he jumps back and starts to buff up. If the player does
not interrupt this from happening, then Artorias becomes a lot stronger,
dealing a lot more damage with his attacks and can easily kill the player.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
I found it that this fight demands a good, healthy
combination of speed, good shield, and heavy armor. Most of his attacks can be
dodged, but at times you would need to block, and there would also be times
when you’d run out of stamina and a handful of his hits would get through your
defences.
-
It is highly recommended not to let him buff up,
because he becomes way too powerful if he does so. When he starts doing it,
quickly get in there and attack him as much as possible to interrupt his
buffing. If necessary, grab your weapon with both hands to do more damage.
-
In order to be able to do the above in good time, I
noticed I had to do something rather counter-intuitive, and that is to try and
stay close to the boss at all times. Doing so can make it harder to fight him
and to find good opportunities to drink an Estus flask, but some of his attacks
do have recovery times, which is when you can heal up and restore your stamina.
2) Manus, Father of
the Abyss
The final boss in the DLC and one of the hardest bosses in
the game. In my opinion, together with Kalameet, he’d be second hardest boss
overall. This is another example of a boss who looks so weird that the player is
likely to be surprised on this boss’ first entry. Manus resides in the depth of
the abyss. What? You thought the Four Kings were the worst abominations of the
abyss? This guy eats the Four Kings for breakfast and probably on a daily
basis.
His most basic form of attack is to use his stronger arm to
swipe at or smash the player. That arm seems to be extendable too so has quite
a range. And if the player gets too close, then he can unleash his killer 6-hit
combo that is likely to leave the player breathless on the ground afterwards.
That’s not all, however. Partway through the fight he starts to also use
sorcery attacks – there is one where he sprays the projectiles directly in
front of himself, there is one where he makes them rain from above, and there is
one where he creates them all around the arena, at which point they quickly
converge on the player and hit all at once.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
With this guy it really helps to learn all of his
attack animations, especially the key ones such as him roaring just as he is
about to perform a 6-hit combo, or lifting his sceptre up just as he is about
to cast a sorcery.
-
I noticed that one of the main tactics in this fight is
staying the right distance from him. Too far and he will keep spamming his long-ranged
arm swipe attack and not letting you get near to attack him. Too close and he
will pull out his 6-hit combo without you having enough time to get out of
range.
-
When he does his 6-hit combo, it is good to double roll
backwards quickly if you’re far enough. If not, you might still get caught and
hence blocking is better. You will be able to block first 2-3 hits most likely,
but the others will hit you. Therefore blocking and walking backwards is good
to do in this case. In many cases after you’ve blocked first 2-3 hits, you will
get out of range and the rest will miss you, but if you’re not lucky enough and
the remaining hits get you, at least it’s only half the combo that gets you.
-
If you don’t have the Silver Pendant, his sorcery
attacks can be avoided by other means. Firstly, stay back when you see him
starting to cast. That way if he sprays the projectiles forwards, you might be
able to roll backwards out of range, and if not, you can block out the worst of
it. This attack will still hurt you when blocking, but if you’re further away,
a lot less projectiles will hit you. When projectiles rain from above, simply
keep moving until they stop. And when he creates them in a circle all around
you, I’ve read it’s possible to roll-dodge it, but that requires precise
timing, so a safer option is to simply turn around and block (the worst of it
seems to come from behind you). With this you will still lose some health, but
it won’t be anywhere near as bad as the full power of the attack.
1) Ornstein and
Smough
I think it’s not much of a surprise for me to put this duo
at the top of the list. To me this was the hardest boss fight in the game, or
at the very least it’s one where most players are likely to be stuck on the
longest. It is also a really well-executed fight, managing to stand out from
the rest, and makes up for a fantastic mid-game climax point. Why is it the
hardest? Well, let’s take a closer look.
For one, we’re facing
two opponents instead of one. Each one is not so bad by himself, since we can easily
block or dodge most of their moves. However, together they pose an incredible
threat, simply because of how well they complement each other. Ornstein is very
fast, agile, and also has a ranged attack to shoot small lightning bolts out of
his spear. Smough is the exact opposite. He is a slow powerhouse wielding a
massive hammer. The tricky thing is having to always keep an eye on both of
them, even the one you’re not going for yet, and to never let them surround or
corner you.
It’s possible to go
for either one of them first – it is purely up to player’s preference. Now if
this was any other game, killing one of them would suddenly make things easier
as the second one would instantly be left all alone without a teammate and let
the player mercilessly finish them off. But not in Dark Souls. In here, as soon
as one of them dies, the other absorbs his friend’s soul, becomes a lot more
powerful, and regains all the health back, so the second stage of this boss
fight is having to face a single but more powerful opponent. And the worst
thing about all this, if you lose on the second part of the fight and then come
back, you have to face both of them once again from the beginning.
Basic tips and strategies:
-
It is important to be defensive in this fight and to
take your time. Most of all this fight is about your positioning on the
battlefield. Do not risk attacking if that can result in you being exposed,
surrounded, or cornered, because if you do, you might find yourself
experiencing a quick and painful death.
-
From my experience it seems better to be speedy and
agile in this fight than to have heavy armor and try to withstand all the
punishment.
-
Use pillars if you need to drink an Estus flask. Don’t
stand directly right up to it though as the duo can still hit you through the
pillar. Stand at least two steps away from it whilst making sure it is still
between you and them.
-
Try not to let either of them out of your sight for too
long. It is easy to lose track of the guy you’re not going for, only to have
them give you a cheap hit from the back.
-
They both are vulnerable to fire. Smough is also
vulnerable to lightning (not in super form though), but Ornstein is resistant
to it, so don’t go using that Lightning Spear on him.
-
With super versions of either one of them, learn their
attack animations and time your approach when you know they require some
recovery time after performing an attack, such as the lightning butt slam that
they both seem to love doing. Most of all, take your time and retreat behind a
pillar when you’re low on health or need to rethink on strategy.
Awesome list. I don't agree with Ornstein and Smough being number 1 though, I found them to be rather easy (I might of been a higher level than normal for the fight, I can't remember).
ReplyDeleteThe hardest boss I've fought was Manus. I fought him on my 5th or 6th playthrough, he could kill me in 2-3 hits and I only did like 300-400 damage each hit with a 2H sword.
Bed of Chaos is another boss I had troubles with in my later playthroughs, mainly because the entire battle is stupid and I'd either be knocked to my death or killed in 2 or 3 hits.
Hello and thank you for the comment. Yeah, it is up to a good debate which boss fight is truly the hardest. It would probably also depend on whether the character is a warrior, mage, or archer, but I tried to rank this list not only for difficulty but also how memorable the boss fights were in my opinion and whether I thought they were well-designed.
DeleteThe reason for Orn and Smo at the top is because I thought they complemented each other well and their AI was good, allowing them to use teamwork against the player. I agree that Bed of Chaos is a pretty hard fight for the reasons you mentioned, but most players can probably agree it's a very annoying and rather cheap boss fight, hence why I didn't put it on this list. :)