Four years on and I’m still thinking about some of these fights. I’ve finally sat down to play the entire base game of Elden Ring again from start to finish. And, to rank the most notable bosses in Elden Ring from worst to best — no open world fodder, no filler encounters, and no DLC. Just the major fights worth talking about.
Elden Ring Bosses Ranked Worst to Best
23. Godskin Duo
Rating – 2/10
Is there anything enjoyable about this fight? Honestly? I’m asking. Two Godskin enemies crammed into one arena, one of which has absolutely unhinged hit detection on that roll attack. This is the one fight in the entire game I would genuinely rather skip. Sure, they’re much more manageable, all of these years later, but they’re just not well-designed.
22. Sir Gideon Offnir, the All-Knowing
Rating – 3/10
What is that damage? Honestly. Why? Gideon should just be a climactic story beat — and narratively, he kind of is — but as a fight it falls completely flat. The damage output feels random and punishing in a way that isn’t fun. And then it’s over. Five deaths and I still don’t feel like I learned anything, other than run at him and hope for the best.
21. Dragonkin Soldier
Rating – 6/10
Cinematic as hell. Genuinely, the entry into this fight might be one of the coolest outside of the remembrance bosses in the game. But the hitboxes could definitely be better — and I mean on him, not on me. The gap you’re supposed to exploit being his stomach of all places just feels needlessly awkward. Feels like a bit of a waste. And, you fight so many of these in Nightreign that the novelty has worn off over the years.
20. Commander Nial
Rating – 7/10
I’ll be honest — I actually find this to be one of the most rewarding gank fights in Elden Ring. That’s a surprising thing to say, but I guess the competition is weak. But when the chaos of the gank is over, Commander Nial is also a great foe himself.
19. Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
Rating – 7/10
Meh attacks. 10/10 spectacle. The atmosphere and design of this fight are absolutely unmatched — one of the most visually arresting moments in the game. But the moveset never lives up to the visual promise. Still awesome to look at though!
18. Elemer of the Briar
Rating – 7/10
Really amazing mechanics. The telekinetic weapon attacks feel genuinely novel and the fight has a clean, satisfying rhythm once you get it. The issue is it’s a little too glass cannon to really settle in and enjoy a long fight. You barely have time to appreciate what it’s doing before it’s over. And the setting could be improved.
17. Regal Ancestor Spirit
Rating – 7/10
Beautiful. Genuinely beautiful. The kind of boss where you feel bad for even fighting it. The problem is it’s cheapened a little by the earlier appearance, and the fight itself is a bit too easy to really leave a mark. Worth it just for the atmosphere and OST alone though.
16. Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree
Rating – 7/10
It’s a real shame you fight the clone first. The boss is genuinely fun — fast, punishing, technically interesting. But the earlier encounter takes just a little bit of the weight out of it. Still a good, fun challenge.
15. Lichdragon Fortissax
Rating – 8/10
I love everything about this fight — the music, the visuals, the spectacle. But I’ve never once had a balanced fight against him. The flow feels off. The fight ends before the music does, which is so sad when the soundtrack is that good. Some of the dodges aren’t intuitive either. But it’s worth the price of admission for that lightning blade attack.
14. Fire Giant
Rating – 8/10
So amazing visually. The scale of this fight is ridiculous in the best way — one of the best “what the hell is going on” moments in the game. Phase 2 falls a bit short, and the transition doesn’t quite deliver on the promise of the first half. But as an overall package, this is a genuinely great fight. I know some people hate the mechanical experience, but after beating this on rune level 1, I have a newfound appreciation for it.
13. Margit, the Fell Omen
Rating – 9/10
Margit is an extraordinary opening statement — the magic weapon summons, the delayed attacks, the sheer aggression all communicate immediately that this game is not messing around. A near-perfect introduction to what’s ahead. And the voice actor eats up every moment of screentime he gets.
12. Godrick the Grafted
Rating – 9/10
Absolutely insane. A bit easy, but so, so good. Godrick is the rare boss that manages to be pathetic and genuinely cool at the same time. The second phase dragon graft is one of the great “wait, WHAT” moments in gaming. Zero deaths, and I still thought about him for days. And that 7/4 score always gets my heart pumping.
11. Renalla, Queen of the Full Moon
Rating – 9/10
One of the most magical bosses in the game. The atmosphere, the music, the second phase reveal — it’s all gorgeous. The best mage boss in any FromSoftware game? Quite possibly. Phase 1 is a light on real threat, but it serves the storytelling perfectly. When that second phase hits and the full moon rises, it’s a moment that I won’t forget.
10. Malenia, Goddess of Rot
Rating – 10/10
Fifty-five deaths. I need you to understand that. Fifty. Five.
Here’s my thing with Malenia: why is she so passive, but you can’t attack first? It kind of ruins the pacing of that first phase just slightly. The Waterfowl Dance is an iconic move and I respect it, but she should just do it once at half health. And yet, there’s a reason people talk about her the way they do. When you finally beat her, it feels like you’ve been through something traumatic and overcome it. The boss is genuinely special. It just comes with an asterisk about that first time learning.
9. Radagon of the Golden Order
Rating – 10/10
LET ME HEAL. Just — once. Please.
Radagon is relentless. The theme song hitting when the fight starts is one of the most genuinely hype moments in any FromSoftware game. The character design, the lore implications, all of it lands. The only windows for healing feel criminally tight, in the best way possible. There aren’t many fights that keep me so much on my toes, and I love it.
8. Dragonlord Placidusax
Rating – 10/10
I still can’t figure out the fight cadence on this one — even after multiple runs. But I keep coming back. The design is extraordinary. The setting is extraordinary. And the fight is just challenging enough that I never feel like I’ve fully figured it out. Which is not a flaw, in my mind. I love the off-kilter pacing as it doesn’t feel like a fight I can just muscle-memory through.
7. Elden Beast
Rating – 10/10
They discovered the astral being that governs our actual universe and put it in a video game. That’s the only explanation. It’s a genuinely cosmic fight, and the horse mechanic finally being added can give all the Elden Beast haters a reason to give it another chance. If I included Radagon with Elden Beast, this would be even higher, because it’s one of my favorite fights in gaming.
6. Starscourge Radahn
Rating – 10/10
Everything about this fight feels like endgame content. It’s not. It’s mid-game. That’s insane. The scale of the battle, the design, the monstrosity of what he’s become — it all feels like it should be the final act of the game. The runback is a bit awkward if you want to do this fight solo, but the versatility of approach and the raw spectacle more than make up for it.
5. Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
Rating – 10/10
Holy cow. There are a couple of moves I still can’t fully figure out, but I’m not sure I care. Rykard is one of the most insane boss fights in FromSoftware history. The gimmick weapon, cutscenes, the arena, the voice — it all comes together into something genuinely unlike anything else. And I love it for all of its chaos.
4. Morgott, the Omen King
Rating – 10/10
What a character. The moveset is complex, varied, perfectly animated, and full of surprising variations. The health bar is just too low for how rich the fight is. I wanted more of it, not less. But this is about as close to a perfect boss fight as the base game offers.
3. Maliketh, the Black Blade
Rating – 10/10
A bit too glass cannon — he melts faster than feels fair given how good the fight is. But every other element is flawless. The emphasis on positioning is something you don’t often see pushed this explicitly, and the second phase shift is one of the most dramatic, well-executed transitions in the game. Spectacular.
2. Hoarah Loux, Warrior
Rating – 10/10
The character might be a little goofy, but who doesn’t love a bit of cheese? That first phase is probably the most satisfying fight of the game. A perfect rhythm game of timing and execution. And phase 2 just goes absolutely bonkers with UFC moves. That move where he leaps through his own smoke cloud to grab you? I didn’t want it to end.
1. Mohg, Lord of Blood
Rating – 10/10
So challenging. So fair. More so than any other boss in the game, I think. Every death feels deserved and every victory feels earned. The ritual mechanic, the blood aesthetic, the sheer aggression — it all coalesces into something that pushes you without ever feeling cheap. The most balanced fight in the game, possibly. It took everything I had, and remains the best base game fight of Elden Ring.
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