Elden Ring's Hardest Bosses: A Survival Guide (And What Bosses We Want in a Sequel)

Malenia killed me 64 times before I beat her. I counted. Every death felt personal.

Elden Ring's boss design is the gold standard for action RPGs. Even four years later, I haven't found another game where bosses feel this fair. Punishing, yes. But fair. Every death teaches you something. Every win feels earned. You know that feeling when your hands are shaking after beating a boss? That's what keeps me coming back.

Since there's no Elden Ring 2 boss to write about (yet, hopefully), let me walk through the hardest fights in the original game and Shadow of the Erdtree. If a sequel ever happens, you can bet the boss team will build on everything they learned here.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella

I don't think this is controversial anymore. Malenia has killed more players than any boss in FromSoftware history. She's fast, she heals on every hit (including blocked hits), and she has Waterfowl Dance. Probably the most infamous attack in gaming.

What makes her hard: Waterfowl Dance is a three-flurry combo that comes out with almost no windup and kills you from full HP at 60 Vigor if you eat the whole thing. Her second phase adds Scarlet Rot buildup and a new set of aerial attacks that are even harder to read. It's honestly brutal.

What finally worked for me: Light roll. I switched from medium to light equip load and suddenly I could dodge Waterfowl consistently. The extra distance on light rolls gives you just enough room to escape the first flurry, which is the one that catches everyone. Took me way too long to figure this out, honestly.

Specific strategy: Phase 1, stay at medium distance and bait her dash-thrust. It has the longest recovery window. Hit her once or twice, back off. Don't get greedy. When she jumps for Waterfowl, run away from the first flurry, roll into the second, roll into the third. Or throw a freezing pot. It cancels the animation entirely if you're fast enough. Kind of a game changer if you can pull it off.

Phase 2 starts with Scarlet Aeonia (the flower dive). Run toward her as she descends, not away. The bloom tracks forward, so getting underneath it puts you in the safe zone. Punish hard after she lands. The rest of phase 2 is the same moveset but with Scarlet Rot on everything, so the passive healing from the rot becomes the real threat.

Recommended level: 130+. You can do it lower, but why suffer? Get 60 Vigor, a +25 weapon, and the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman. Don't be a hero.

Maliketh, the Black Blade

Maliketh is what happens when FromSoftware decides a boss should kill you in three seconds or less. His first phase (Beast Clergyman) is manageable. His second phase is pure chaos. I hated this fight the first time. Now it's one of my favorites.

The trick: The Blasphemous Claw item. You get it from Recusant Bernahl at Crumbling Farum Azula. When Maliketh's sword glows gold (he does this specific overhead slam), use the Claw and you'll parry him, leaving him stunned for about five seconds. Most people don't know this item exists. It completely changes the fight. Genuinely.

Without the Claw: Stay under him. His horizontal sweeps whiff if you're directly beneath his chest. The destined death effect reduces your max HP, so healing proactively is critical. Don't wait until you're low. At 50% HP in phase 2, he starts a new aerial combo that's almost undodgeable at range. Close the gap immediately.

Build tip: Fast weapons shine here. Colossal weapons are too slow. You'll get one hit then eat a combo. Katanas, curved swords, straight swords all work well. Bloodhound's Step makes this fight dramatically easier if you're struggling with his aggression. Sort of a crutch, but hey, whatever works.

Promised Consort Radahn

Pre-nerf Consort Radahn was probably the hardest thing FromSoftware has ever made. Post-nerf (patch 1.14), he's still a monster but actually readable. Barely.

Phase 1: Standard Radahn moveset from the base game but faster and with holy damage beams on every swing. The key is positioning. Stay behind his left shoulder. Most of his combos track to his right side. His gravity pull into an AOE slam is the main threat. Roll late, not early. I died to that slam so many times because I panicked.

Phase 2: Miquella joins the fight. Radahn's moves get faster and holy beams come from all directions. The cross-slash combo (two horizontal beams followed by Radahn leaping at you) is the run-ender. Roll the first beam, roll the second, then roll into Radahn. Rolling away gets you clipped every time.

Summons: Use the NPC summons. This isn't a duel, it's a festival. Thiollier and Ansbach both help immensely. They draw aggro and do chip damage while you reposition. No shame in it.

Build advice: Holy resistance is everything. Haligdrake Talisman +2, Lord's Divine Fortification incantation, and the highest holy defense armor you can wear. The difference between 20% and 60% holy resistance is literally surviving two extra hits. That's the difference between winning and dying.

There are other brutally hard fights too, obviously. Mohg, Placidusax, Godfrey, the Elden Beast. I'm not going to list every single one here. But these three are the ones that taught me the most about how Elden Ring wants you to fight.

Bosses I'd Want in an Elden Ring 2

This is pure wishful thinking, but hear me out.

A proper dragon fight on the scale of Midir. Elden Ring's dragon fights are cinematic but mechanically shallow. Hit the legs, run from the fire, repeat. Give me something like Dark Souls 3's Darkeater Midir but bigger, faster, with the freedom of Elden Ring's open arena. I want a dragon that takes me 50 attempts.

A 1v1 humanoid boss with adaptive AI. What if a boss learned from your playstyle? If you spam projectiles, they start closing distance faster. If you fish for backstabs, they position more carefully. The technology exists. Fighting game AI has been doing this for years. FromSoftware could absolutely pull it off.

A duo boss that's actually good. Ornstein and Smough is still the best duo fight FromSoftware has made, and that was 2011. Elden Ring's duo fights (Godskin Duo, Valiant Gargoyles) are frustrating, not fun. The next game needs a duo where the bosses have complementary movesets that create interesting decisions, not two aggressive enemies crammed in a small room. You know the kind of fight I mean.

Something completely unexpected. The best FromSoftware bosses are the ones nobody saw coming. Guardian Ape in Sekiro. Astel in Elden Ring. I don't want to predict the next great boss. I want FromSoftware to surprise me like they always do. That's kind of their thing, isn't it?