Top 10 Dark Souls bosses: Best (and worst) ranked
Source: Windows Cardinal
The Dark Souls serial is dear by millions of players for several reasons, with the biggest of them being the franchise'south dominate fights. Over the years, programmer FromSoftware has crafted countless memorable dominate encounters across the trilogy. Nigh of them take been excellent — peculiarly in Dark Souls 3 — but some bosses stand out for the wrong reasons, likewise. Hither'south a look at our top 10 best (and worst) Dark Souls bosses.
The trilogy that spawned a genre
Dark Souls Trilogy
Praise the lord's day!
Night Souls: Remastered, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls III are some of the best activeness RPGs ever made, filled with fascinating lore, tons of crawly gameplay builds to experiment with, and ballsy boss fights.
Superlative 10 best Dark Souls bosses
The best bosses in the Dark Souls series generally take readable animations, a moveset that can be learned, lilliputian to no random number generator (RNG) elements, a absurd blueprint, and excellent music. Pregnant ties to the story and the player'southward journey never injure either.
10. Velstadt, the Purple Aegis (Dark Souls II)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
While the base game of Dark Souls II has many underwhelming bosses, Velstadt is one I admittedly love to accept on. As Rex Vendrick's "right arm," this towering knight eternally guards his rex in the depths of Drangleic Castle — despite the fact that Vendrick became a vanquish of his former cocky and went hollow years ago.
The rectangular stone loonshit where you fight him isn't very notable, and the music that plays during the fight is forgettable, likewise. That existence said, Velstadt's massive bong-hammer is iconic, and his gilt set of armor is incredibly cool as well. The fight itself is as well a blast, as Velstadt's attacks hit hard with smooth animations, and tin can be consistently dodged with good timing. He can buff himself with dark magic during the fight, besides, which changes some of the timings on his attacks, raising the stakes.
9. Fume Knight (Night Souls II)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
Fume Knight is arguably the hardest boss in Dark Souls Ii, merely unlike about of the game's tough battles, it'southward for proficient reasons. Fume Knight hits like a truck and uses a sword that's nearly the size of one, merely similar Velstadt, y'all tin dodge everything he throws at you if you're patient and acquire the timings of his attacks. He likewise has a diverse moveset as well, which helps keep the fight against him interesting and enjoyable each time you challenge him.
Smoke Knight (too known as Raime) is also keen from a story and lore perspective, likewise. He was originally Rex Vendrick's "left arm," but after he was defeated by Velstadt post-obit unrest between the two, he retreated to Brume Belfry in search of a new purpose. By the fourth dimension players engage him, he has sworn fealty to Nadalia, the Bride of Ash.
viii. Burnt Ivory King (Dark Souls Two)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
The Burnt Ivory King is one of the most interesting boss fights in any Dark Souls game. It feels less like a duel and more than like an all-out war between the Burnt Ivory King and his Charred Loyce Knights and you, other players or NPCs yous summon, and the regular Loyce Knights that yous tin can find throughout the Crown of the Ivory King DLC. The spacious loonshit where you lot fight him looks sweet and gives players enough of room to work with, as well, which is ever great.
The Burnt Ivory King himself isn't that special, but his attacks are telegraphed well and varied in their timings. This makes dueling him afterwards all of his minions are slain an engaging and fun experience.
seven. Black Dragon Kalameet (Nighttime Souls: Remastered)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
I generally don't love most of the brute boss fights in Dark Souls due to wonky photographic camera angles and animations that often feel hard to read, but Blackness Dragon Kalameet is an instance where the developers managed to avoid issues with either while too making the dominate feel brutally challenging, yet completely learnable and off-white. With lots of patience and practise, players tin master Kalameet'southward mortiferous tail swipes, nosedives, and streams of mortiferous fire jiff.
Players with enough skill can also cut off Kalameet's tail to obtain the Obsidian Greatsword, which is i of the best weapons in the beginning Dark Souls. It can likewise be buffed with magic, which increases the damage further. Cutting off Kalameet's tail too prevents him from doing tail-related attacks, which rewards the player for their bravery.
half-dozen. Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough (Dark Souls: Remastered)
Source: Fextralife
Out of all the dissimilar bosses in the original Dark Souls, the most iconic of the bunch is arguably Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough. Taking them on at the height of Anor Londo is ane of the best climactic moments in whatsoever action RPG always, and the reason why is because of how well the fight is designed. To balance out the fact that you're outnumbered in this battle, Ornstein is fast and agile while Smough is slow and tanky. This speed deviation creates infinite between the two that you can use to your advantage. There are also several pillars in the dominate arena that you can move between to intermission the aggro of both foes, besides, which gives you the precious seconds you demand to heal or program your side by side move.
Once you have one of the two bosses downward, the other absorbs the power of their fallen comrade, becomes larger, and gets a new moveset. This makes the tour fifty-fifty more dynamic, as players volition have to call back carefully most which enemy in the duo they want to fight a superpowered version of. Even the atmosphere and context of this fight are awesome — the orchestral score that plays during the battle is thrilling, and the fact that the all-important Lordvessel is just past Ornstein and Smough helps encourage players to never give upwardly no matter how many times they fall.
5. Artorias the Abysswalker (Dark Souls: Remastered)
Source: Fextralife
Artorias the Abysswalker is oft considered to be the all-time boss in the first Dark Souls, and when you consider how perfectly his fight is designed, it's like shooting fish in a barrel to see why. Artorias is aggressive, but his attacks are also telegraphed well, so learning how to dodge his combos is not only achievable simply also very fun. On top of this, many of the combos have dissimilar variations. This keeps the player on their toes and ensures that each time you fight Artorias, the experience will exist a little unlike than your last playthrough. The arena is also nice, big, and empty. There are no ecology gimmicks here — information technology'southward just you against him in a deadly test of your skills, patience, and conclusion.
Artorias is also awesome from an atmosphere and lore perspective. The haunting, somber soundtrack drives home the tragedy of Artorias' defeat at the hands of Manus and his subsequent corruption past the Darkness, and the fact that y'all notice him battling Darkness creatures earlier your fight with him indicates that somewhere, deep down, a shred of who Artorias once was remains.
4. Soul of Cinder (Nighttime Souls Three)
Source: Fextralife
1 of the series' final bosses is also ane of its best. In that location are many reasons why the Soul of Cinder boss fight is and so memorable, just in a higher place all else, the fact that you're essentially fighting a combination of all previous Lords of Cinder is simply phenomenal. I'll never forget the chills I got when the plin plin plon of Gwyn's theme played at the start of the boss' second phase, and I'k willing to bet that other Night Souls veterans won't, either. Having to deal with sword slashes, spear thrusts, pyromancies, and sorcery too gives this fight a ridiculous amount of variables, too, which guarantees that players will never get besides comfortable during the battle. This seems like it would be overwhelming, but because the boss changes its weapon to reflect the type of attacks it's going to employ next, sharp-eyed players can make accurate predictions about what's coming their style.
The boss' arena is also easily one of the coolest in all of Dark Souls, with hundreds of strewn weapons and mounds upon mounds of ash telling the tale of a battleground decimated by the endless cycle of the First Flame. The Soul of Cinder itself is also a sight to behold, with its bizarre amalgamation of plate, chainmail, and fabric representing the endless Lords of Cinder that fabricated the pilgrimage to the Kiln of the Get-go Flame in years past.
3. Nameless King (Dark Souls III)
Source: Fextralife
Always since the first Dark Souls, players have been trying to figure out the identity of Gwyn'south Firstborn Son that was banished from Anor Londo. While it isn't explicitly confirmed, almost all signs point to the Nameless Male monarch belongings that identity — and that makes sense, as the fight with the Nameless King is almost as epic as you would wait an encounter with a god to exist. Past the time you see him in Dark Souls 3, the Nameless King has chosen to side with the dragons his father originally sought to destroy.
The first phase of the fight involves killing the massive storm drake that the Nameless King rides on, which is a little frustrating due to camera annoyances, but nevertheless a proficient time thanks to how satisfying it is to dodge the Nameless King's thunderbolts as well as attacks from his mount. The 2d phase is where the fun really begins, though, every bit the Nameless Rex puts his drake to rest and and then brings his iconic swordspear to bear on you with terrifying speed and accurateness. With a huge, diverse moveset, delayed melee attacks that forcefulness the histrion to switch up their usual dodge timings, and plenty of health to burn through, the second stage of the Nameless King fight tests your patience, endurance, and skill in all of the right ways.
2. Dancer of the Boreal Valley (Dark Souls Three)
Source: FromSoftware
There are so many things that the Dancer fight gets right, but I call up what stands out more than than anything else is the atmosphere of the run across. Between the ominous and haunting violin theme, the Dancer's slow, predator-like movements as she inches towards you, and the sound of her footsteps echoing throughout the cathedral yous fight her in, everything almost this fight is designed to brand you feel like you lot're trivial more than casualty. Add in the Dancer's fast (simply well-telegraphed) attacks and high damage output, and y'all'll rapidly realize you're right to feel intimidated.
The second phase is where things get fifty-fifty more than intense, as when she gets knocked downwards to half health, the Dancer will pull out a magic blade to use alongside her fire one and volition begin to periodically whirlwind towards y'all with an enchantingly cute — and incredibly deadly — spin attack. Dodging this move can be exceptionally difficult if you struggle with timings, but successfully pulling it off is, in my stance, the almost satisfying dodge to practice in all of Night Souls. Aside from this signature movement, the Dancer also uses other new moves during this phase besides that can catch players off guard if they're not prepared for the delayed nature of the strikes. Overall, the Dancer fight is as beautiful and enjoyable equally it is brutally challenging and unforgiving. Aside from my top selection, at that place's no dominate fight I enjoy replaying more than this one.
1. Slave Knight Gael (Nighttime Souls III)
Source: Fextralife
Slave Knight Gael is the epitome of what a Dark Souls-style dominate fight tin exist. The narrative stakes for this fight couldn't be higher — Gael consumed the dried blood of the Dark Soul from the ancient furtive pygmies to liquefy it over again, but as a consequence, the ability of the Dark Soul corrupted his listen. Therefore, it's upwards to you to defeat him so you can bring the claret to the Painting Lady, who possesses the skill to employ it to create a new Painted Globe that's free of the ruin caused by the countless cycle of the First Flame.
It's the perfect story vanquish to close out the series with. In many means, Gael is a more than ambitious and more challenging version of Artorias. His attacks are numerous, varied, and relentless, but at the end of the day, every single one of them tin be mastered by a skilled actor. The massive dunes of ashes that make up the area give the actor plenty of room to work with if they need to back off for a second to compose themselves or heal, though if yous're not careful, Gael may punish this with a long-range lunge.
Things get even crazier in the fight's second stage, which adds a trail of flame to Gael'due south attacks that force you to contrivance with precise timing, every bit well as projectiles similar flurries of crossbow bolts and night magic orbs to the mix. Paired with the boxing's swelling and fast-paced orchestral score, the mechanics of the boss fight feel like the ultimate test of your power to execute everything you've learned across the three Dark Souls games. I couldn't inquire for a improve serial finale.
Meridian 10 worst Dark Souls bosses
For a dominate fight to make it on this list, it needs to have unfair or unlearnable RNG-based mechanics, poor blitheness quality, a bland and uncreative design, and an underwhelming corporeality of significance to the story and the player's journey.
10. Elana, the Squalid Queen (Dark Souls Two)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
Most of Dark Souls II's DLC bosses are awesome, but one that I always hate to fight is Elana. The issue with this fight isn't necessarily Elana herself — in fact, her melee and magic attacks are very well-telegraphed and fair to the role player. The problem is the fact that she tin can summon minions to gank you while y'all're trying to focus on dodging her moves, which makes the boxing feel very unfair, specially if yous haven't summoned a player or NPC to help you. She'll either summon in 4 skeletons or a phantom of Velstadt, both of which volition often hitting and stagger you as y'all're trying to dodge Elana's moves. It'south merely non a good fourth dimension.
ix. Deacons of the Deep (Night Souls III)
Source: Fextralife
The Deacons of the Deep encounter is technically a dominate fight, just it doesn't really experience like one since all y'all have to do to vanquish them is kill regular enemies that accept a glowing crimson aura so wail on the Archdeacon when he spawns in about halfway through the fight. Ultimately, information technology'south a fight about killing hordes of enemies rather than a dominate, which feels disappointing because killing normal enemies is what you were already doing in the balance of the Cathedral of the Deep. It's non unfair or inexpensive, it's but a snoozefest.
8. Prowling Magus and Congregation (Dark Souls II)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
The Prowling Magus and Congregation battle is substantially the Deacons of the Deep, but worse. In that location are only a handful of regular enemies to fight in this fight rather than what feels like an army of them, and there's not any type of mechanic present either. All y'all have to practise is kill a room filled with basic enemies and y'all'll come up out victorious. At least the Deacons of the Deep fight felt somewhat intense since you had to carve your way through a sea of foes; this fight is and so easy and underwhelming that it ofttimes ends in seconds, which isn't what anybody wants out of a Nighttime Souls dominate encounter.
vii. Covetous Demon (Dark Souls 2)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
The Covetous Demon is easily the almost pathetic of Nighttime Souls II'due south true boss enemies, as its attacks are extremely slow and piece of cake to avoid (in many cases, y'all don't even have to contrivance). Even if yous do manage to get hitting, which usually happens considering of the dominate' wonky hitboxes, the attacks aren't even that damaging. The boss also tends to simply sit down still for several seconds betwixt attacks, which allows y'all to swallow through its wellness without having to put in much endeavor. Pair these pattern problems with the fact that the Covetous Demon has absolutely goose egg significant ties to the narrative, and you've got a boss that every Dark Souls II thespian wishes they didn't have to fight during their travels through the Harvest Valley.
6. Pinwheel (Night Souls: Remastered)
Source: Windows Central
The majority of the bosses in the second half of the original Dark Souls are disappointing, and the beginning of the bunch is none other than Pinwheel. This boss is even more than of a joke than the Covetous Demon is, as, despite the fact that Pinwheel is located in the late game Catacombs area, its health puddle is so depression that even players at Soul Level ane using an unupgraded weapon tin kill him effortlessly. This is fifty-fifty recommended by veterans, as doing so allows you to get the Rite of Kindling that allows you to get xx Estus Flasks right at the start of a playthrough. Pinwheel does have some interesting moves, such as the use of fire magic and the ability to clone itself, but most of these never even come out earlier players are able to deplete its health bar.
v. Ceaseless Discharge (Dark Souls: Remastered)
Source: Fextralife
Camera shenanigans, awful hitbox consistency, attacks that become through walls, and an absurdly high health puddle all make your fight with this giant lava monster a painful, rage-inducing job. His gross name and lame narrative significance aren't doing Ceaseless Discharge any favors, either. The fact that you basically have to cheese him by making him fall off of his standing area speaks volumes most how poorly the fight is designed. Information technology's possible to meet the rocky alleyway that's nowadays in the boss arena and try to go him to slam his hand down so you can hit information technology, but information technology takes forever to kill him this manner, and he may determine to roast you through the walls instead with his fire attacks instead.
four. Belfry Gargoyles (Nighttime Souls Ii)
Source: Fextralife
The Belfry Gargoyles are substantially a re-create-and-paste of the Bell Gargoyles from the first Dark Souls, except with none of the balancing that made it an enjoyable fight. In this battle, up to six gargoyles attack yous all at in one case, with individuals from the group joining the fray one-by-one the longer the fight goes on. This wouldn't necessarily be that bad if the gargoyles weren't tough to kill, only each of them boasts strong harm resistances and a sizable health pool. In addition, these gargoyles are much faster and hurt a lot more than than the original duo from Dark Souls, as well, which makes things even more difficult. Even if you're good at dodging, information technology'south hard non to get hit by 3 or more gargoyles once, and with how staggering works in the Nighttime Souls games, that might be all the gargoyles demand to gank you to expiry. Thank God this boss is optional.
3. Royal Rat Authority (Night Souls II)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
Oh, how I despise this fight. The Royal Rat Authorization himself isn't even the chief issue here; it'southward the team of five normal rats that inflict Toxic on you in as little as two or 3 hits, which drains your health in seconds. If you get Toxic, you're forced to endeavour and heal your way out of information technology, but the trouble hither is that doing so gives any surviving rat minions and the Royal Rat Authorisation himself free hits on you that volition either finish yous off outright or hasten your expiry by eating a chunk out of your HP and staggering y'all out of your healing animation.
If you manage to impale the rat minions before they Toxic you, the rest of the fight is a pathetic cakewalk. The Royal Rat Authority makes use of a cloned moveset from the Not bad Greyness Wolf Sif boss in the original Dark Souls (really, FromSoftware? You couldn't even requite him his own attacks?) but he does them more slowly, which makes him laughably easy to dodge. The only redeeming quality of this fight is the fact that information technology, like the Belfry Gargoyles fight, is optional.
ii. Aboriginal Dragon (Nighttime Souls II)
Source: Dark Souls Wiki
The Aboriginal Dragon boxing is the third optional Dark Souls II boss fight on the list, and it also happens to be the worst one too. The main reason why is because 90% of the time, the Ancient Dragon will fly into the air and cover nigh the entire dominate loonshit with fire that instakills y'all. Making matters worse is the fact that the camera doesn't permit yous to wait at the dragon when nether it, significant that it'due south hard to tell when the burn is actually coming. Therefore, the only "strategy" you lot can employ hither is to run away from the center of the arena equally fast every bit you can when the dragon flies up and pray that you won't get cooked alive.
Beyond this 1 infuriating set on, the Ancient Dragon also makes use of stomps that have inconsistent hitboxes and areas-of-effect. I've never yelled "What? I dodged that!" in a Dark Souls encounter more than I accept at this dominate.
ane. Bed of Chaos (Dark Souls: Remastered)
Source: Fextralife
A rage hotter than the lava lakes of Lost Izalith itself builds up in my centre whenever I think about the many hours I've spent trying to kill the tree-like Bed of Chaos beyond my Nighttime Souls playthroughs. The fight sounds relatively simple, dodging the arm sweeps and cut through the branches on the right, left, and center of the dominate to kill the bug within. The problem is that as y'all progress through each stage of the fight, the floor of the arena begins to crumble, threatening to send you to your expiry.
This is already difficult to deal with as information technology is since the player has no way of telling which function of the loonshit is going to collapse before it does, but making matters fifty-fifty worse is the fact that the Bed of Chaos' wide, sweeping attacks will ofttimes push y'all into the holes in the floor regardless of whether or not you're dodging at the right fourth dimension. This makes the fight feel entirely luck-based, which is atrocious. The only way I've been able to semi-reliably beat this boss is to adapt up with the heaviest armor I have and pray that information technology reduces the distance the arm sweeps button me enough to salvage my life.
Among the four bosses leading up to your final showdown with Gwyn at the end of the game, the Bed of Anarchy is the most disappointing past a broad margin, and to me, it'due south easily the worst boss in the Dark Souls serial. It'due south a real shame, too, because when you lot consider how significant the Flame of Anarchy is in the lore of Night Souls, this dominate fight could accept been grand.
Your thoughts
Practice you agree with my list of the top ten all-time (and worst) bosses in the Dark Souls series? Let me know. Also, for more Souls-related rankings, check out our ranking of FromSoftware Souls-likes from best to worst. If you're looking for other action RPGs to play, don't miss our best Xbox office-playing games roundup.
The trilogy that spawned a genre
Night Souls Trilogy
Praise the sun!
Nighttime Souls: Remastered, Nighttime Souls II, and Night Souls III are some of the best action RPGs e'er fabricated, filled with fascinating lore, tons of awesome gameplay builds to experiment with, and epic boss fights.
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The definitive FromSoftware Souls-like ability ranking (now with Elden Band)
FromSoftware has quickly established itself equally i of the world's premier action RPG developers with iconic releases like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro, only which of these honey games is the all-time of the best? Here'due south our definitive FromSoftware Souls-like ability ranking.
Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/top-10-best-and-worst-dark-souls-bosses
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