Community Ranks: Elden Ring Bosses from Worst to Best [#33-12]

[@theDeModcracy]

Part 2 coming Sunday! Download Monster Legends for free and claim your special starterpack including an epic free monster ➤ monsterlegends.onelink.me/X4Sc/June22

[@buggy5079]

where can we give our opinions on the bosses for the next video ? I want to support Elden Beast

[@diegonei]

You got some Automata in my Elden Ring... and I love it.

[@Marco1995Mega]

I want to preface the upcoming statement (wall of text) by saying I love your work, Demod, and I loved participating in this community ranking. It's my first time, as I was late for the Sekiro party and was ecstatic for this opportunity. However, I do have to state that I have issues with the ranking system itself. It stems from two problems: a) it's too binary, and b) it's too restrictive. It's too binary because everyone is essentially asked to give each boss either a score of 1 out of 10 or 10 out of 10. It takes away the nuance and the ability for each voter to more accurately express their feeling for a boss outside of comments. It may also lead to a chance of not picking all 10 options available, since the score they're being asked to give feels either like the lowest or highest extreme (I, for example, did not give even 5 picks for worst boss because I didn't feel there were even 5 bad bosses in ER). Which leads to the bigger issue, in that it's restrictive in being able to vote on a maximum of 20 bosses, with each vote being restrictive in their level of expression as was already mentioned (so I guess restrictiveness is the only issue I have with it?). I am more than sure that there must have been at least 5 or so bosses who got less than 3k votes, which then makes me question if the final score they got was actually reflective of the community's overall opinion. This system seems to favor the two more extreme ends of the whole list but seems to leave those in the middle woefully underrepresented and flimsy in accuracy. Which is where I'm making the rather bold and even rude assumption that the ranking system might have been based around your own personal opinion of the ER boss roster, unintentionally perhaps, and the opinion that the VAST majority of your fans shared that opinion; that it's a roster strong at both ends with a big 'meh' in the middle. It could be other reasons too, such as time constraints, and I'm more than willing to be proven wrong. I can only speak from personal experience and I don't share that opinion. We can also look to some fans and even other content creators, such as Asmongold, Nightwalk2, Magicat, and Penguinz0, who either stated or implied that they loved the bosses as a whole, so I know I'm not alone. Still happy I played a part in this, and I don't want to discourage experimentation, but I think the old system was more than good enough.

[@soulsmasterxw7373]

There's someone trying to scam people in your comments.

[@tomsmith2595]

You don’t need to beat the two gargoyles to get to fias champions you can take the flame of frenzy secret path and skip them if you wanted too 👍

[@乌乌乌]

Elden ring pauses the ost when some bosses are using their most powerful moves. It gives me chills every time.

[@Aerie1405]

It really reminded of alatreon in monster hunter world iceborne, I love when bosses do things like this

[@Cogexkintrue]

Who else does that besides dragonlord? He's the only one I noticed it with. It's such a cool effect though like the game itself can't believe the spectacle either

[@ShadianVise]

@@Cogexkintrue Radahn is the most popular example

[@manguything6301]

@@ShadianVise elden beast also kinda does it during his small bomb thing

[@mt2r-music]

The dragon lord, radahn, mogh, Elden Beast… is that it? Or did I miss someone? Btw it would be really nice if they did the same to malenia whenever she uses her waterfowl. But there is should be 1 to 2 seconds before she even jumps. So the player can prepare long enough without having to change the attack at all.

[@alexthebasilisk]

Patch 1.04 had a HUUUGE nerf to the aggressiveness of duo bosses to help compensate. Godskin Duo is much more reasonable now that that's been done. Likewise with the Crucy/Misbegotten duo you can often just kill Leonine before the Crucible Knight spawns if you are able to stagger Leonine effectively.

[@theDeModcracy]

Oh wow, I'm not sure how to feel about that. If it's balanced well then great. If they are just more passive altogether, it might go the other way? I should replay to see at some point

[@alexthebasilisk]

@@theDeModcracy it’s more like only one target in a multi-boss fight is super active. The other(s) now hang back a little bit more and they’ll swap aggro every once in a while. With that said, the Valiant Gargoyles (what’s Valiant about poison puke) still suck

[@Jeffmetal42]

@@alexthebasilisk Gargoyle Duo still absolutely suck. Easily the worst boss fight in the game imo.

[@baggedy6629]

I swear the only reason why I die to those stupid gargoyles is cause of their poise - on puke. (See what I did there).

[@BARDI77]

@@Jeffmetal42 its funny because the gargoyle are probably my favorite non boss enemy to fight

[@Pharis111]

We all know Burial watchdog with the 3 imps is the best boss fight in the game.

[@peterthepeopleeater5697]

4, actually.

[@ricardodarcangelo2437]

No, it's actually that blood priest, and his 4 bugged 1-shot Dogs. Pre 1.04 of course

[@DeCode343]

4 imps i think, but yes! This shit took me way too many attempts trying to kill him. So annoying for how early you find this boss. Took me longer than margit i think...

[@kode-man23]

Legit the only time that I used summons in the whole game lol

[@mirayoquese8608]

The first time I started to realize this game was as awful as it was amazing

[@Killer_Draco]

To be honest my favorite thing about this list is that Godrick isn't on it, which means he's either in the top 10 or just outside of it. Much like Rennala I feel like he's sometimes overlooked due to his relative ease, especially compared to Margit who you have to overcome to even reach Godrick. But while he's not the hardest boss, he has a well balanced challenge, a tremendous buildup that starts from the moment you enter the lands between, fantastic lore, and one of my favorite soundtracks in the game. Glad to know the community agreed! And yes, fuck Duo bosses.

[@candyman851]

Somewhat surprisingly, all 6 shardbearers are in the top 11.

[@Clarity_Control]

@@candyman851 Because most aren’t copied into other areas for no reason

[@melissazadrozny1279]

@@candyman851 But Rennala was 12

[@stanners1714]

@@melissazadrozny1279 don’t think she’s a shardbearer

[@bingobongo1615]

Godrick is imo the best boss. Sadly players are often overleveled when they face him due to Margit‘s and the dungeon‘s difficulty

[@raikkel9516]

Bro that fire giant ancient dragon comparison is such a true statement. I didn't relate till now, but holy shit. Fire giant is literally the same thing except it has better presentation, and the run up doesn't give me conniptions.

[@7RealmsProductions]

At least Ancient Dragon was optional.

[@lubue5795]

I agree though in my opinion Ancient Dragon was a lot worse. To me it felt like he had much more HP and would always oneshot you while Fire Giant could really only two shot you and once you got close to him, he took resonable damage as well. It also helped that he's really weak to Scarlet Rot.

[@raikkel9516]

@@lubue5795 I really think the only reason you feel this way is because elden ring is longer so stats are naturally inflated to where you're damage is higher (in the second phase you're basically doing chip damage anyway so I don't even necessarily agree that damage is fine), and elden ring stresses vigor a lot more than ds2, making it harder for fire giant to one-shot you.

[@lubue5795]

@@raikkel9516 Might be true. Also DS 2 was my first souls game and I was still a beginner when I reach the Ancient Dragon. But before Elden Ring I played over a 1000 hours DS3 so I've certainly improved a lot in knowledge and skill.

[@anonymousperson8903]

Come on. Fire Giant is leagues ahead of Ancient Dragon in literally all mechanical aspects. Way more diverse and intricate move-set, variability in the multiple phases, far more mechanically engaging...

[@anonymousnate678]

Fought the Mimic Tear with a battle mage the other day with all the endgame spells and Moonveil and we wasn't no joke anymore lol. You can certainly make that fight difficult if you try.

[@bingobongo1615]

He is still very weak to simple jump attacks

[@rustedaxe2018]

Second playthrough used radhans dual swords and played with it for a while. Then goofed a bit and got one shoted.

[@juice8426]

Also very fun with the dragon communion spells. Felt really badass while also being pretty challenging. Jump attack spam stops working when mimic can suddenly pull out a hyper armor Dragon claw

[@TheRaulSkull]

And that's the problem with Elden Ring overall. You have to try to make fights harder yourself because the bosses are horribly unbalanced in your favor

[@anonymousnate678]

@@TheRaulSkull Yeah I can agree with this to some extent. Was talking with a friend about the most difficult Fromsoft game and he said it perfectly when he said: "You can make Elden Ring as hard the Souls games but there's no way to make the other souls games as easy as Elden Ring can be".

[@AshenDust_]

The Godskin Duo are balanced now because of a patch, when I last fought them one of them usually stayed back and the other was aggressive, making it a much more fair fight, and very fun with no sleep/summons.

[@King-eg2zl]

Just soloed them today and it’s much better than last when I had to use my spirt

[@MrJtster]

The last time I was this early, DMod was still struggling to beat Asylum Demon

[@theDeModcracy]

I would never...

[@julienmccallin1848]

I can't believe the Ancestor Spirit got ranked lower than Godskin Apostle. The Ancestor Spirit is such a spectacle of a fight, the arena is beautiful and with the Regal version there are even plenty of spirit animals walking around the arena. It adds a sense of grandeur to the fight, and I find the Ancestor Spirit's lore quite neat, even letting us think it has ties to Torrent.

[@NikoJr.]

We stan Ancestor Spirit

[@josephcola9662]

6:00 Not to mention that if you bring a friend they can just run ahead of you and one-tap the Tear before it can even transform.

[@marcoleung7253]

I knew it's godskin duo followed by other duos lol. Elden ring has tons of great bosses but the duos are definitely the worst ever. Fromsoft still haven't learned that making duo bosses with normal bosses never works. Tbh the only way to make good duo bosses is to design the bosses as duos in the beginning (like O&S and demon princes)

[@ivanchaki372]

Ngl I hate valiant gargoyles way more than foreskin duo

[@cheezitza9639]

I really think they were just trying to recapture the Ornstien and Smough fight, without real understanding of what made it so great. I'm curious of what real involvement Miyizaki had with ER. It's certainly possible that this was the design he went with, but I feel like he is just being used as a marketing tool for From games now, and they just let their team do whatever they wanted. I don't feel like Elden Ring is a game Miyazaki wanted to work on. It seems like he wanted to move away from the Souls-esque formulaic game design.

[@FSVR54]

@@ivanchaki372 same. Godskin duo was one of the easiest bosses in the game. Never died to a single godskin enemy,

[@shadowyking123]

Honestly, they should’ve tried to improve on the Ruin Sentinels formula. Had some of the duo or trio bosses laid out more like a puzzle with multiple solutions depending on how you want to approach it.

[@lahunica2726]

@@cheezitza9639 You're extremely far from truth on this one. He directed the game and it shows (design of enemies, level design, lore, environnemental storytelling, etc), although the co director is the one from ds2.

[@Cptsuccess]

Honey, wake up. DeMod posted another ranking.

[@elzar5987]

Hope you never stop doing these community rankings. They're some of my favourite videos on yours and you're only getting better making them

[@HolySok]

Big Commander Niall proponent. Basically has the moveset and openings of a DS3 boss. Sure the gank at the start. But I'd put it in my favourites. Regal Ancestor Spirit is also highly underrated I think because most people are overleveled when they face it. As it has a fun 3 phase moveset that I don't think lost people seem to experience.

[@TheRaulSkull]

I agree with Ancestor Spirit. A shame that the Regal variant is bugged as hell and kills itself for many players under certain circumstances regarding teleporting. Idk if the latest patch solved this or not, but that happened to my brother and robbed him of a great boss rematch.

[@LASAGNA_LARRY]

If Fire Giant didn’t roll around so much in Phase 2, I wouldn’t hate him as much. But he does roll… a LOT. He has the most health in the game at 44k (Malenia has 33k and Radagon/Elden Beast have 35k in comparison), and he just constantly rolls away while spamming ultra high damage moves. I personally never feel accomplished after beating him and only feel like I endured pain whenever I had to go through him to get to Farum Azula.

[@benjamincooke1001]

Really surprised about the Niall placement. He’s probably somewhere around my top 10 favorites. He doesn’t even really attack you while his two Banished Knights are alive… and the arena is large enough to fend off the two knights. It’s also really close to the endgame at this point and it’s not that hard to kill the knights at this point. If they’re tricky for a player they can get plenty of practice learning them outside of the boss arena in the very area the boss arena is in (Castle Sol). After the knights are down, the fight with Niall is an epic balance of fairnesses and challenge.

[@SorowFame]

Can’t say I agree, dual swords knights are horrible and they’re rare enough you probably haven’t learnt how to fight them. Niall has a decent moveset though, maybe he’d be ok without the adds

[@uryenatienza4093]

Due to how unique each of top 11 are, I have absolutely no idea who's going to be number one in the next video. The variation on how each boss works is so different that it truly makes me wonder who the masses love the most. The next video will truly be a test on what boss is truly the most appealing to the most people. I've seen so much discussion when it comes down to the bosses in Elden Ring that I think there's a case for every boss in the next video to be top tier. And for some predictions: From what I've seen, Malekith, Malenia, Radahn, and Morgott, are going to top the charts. But I could still be extremely wrong.

[@kartikayysola]

I think Malenia is gonna be this ranking's Demon of Hatred, where she drops significantly compared to DeMod's own list (he has her at #3), but I could very well be wrong. As for who's taking top honors, I'm guessing either one of the Omen bros, Godfrey, or Radahn. Maliketh wouldn't surprise me either.

[@anotherguy3082]

@@kartikayysola I agree with your melania shout, her life steal and waterfowl are too polarising for her to get to the very top. My bet is top 3 of placidusax, radahn, and even though I personally can't stand him maliketh, In no particular order.

[@Exel3nce]

lets hope not cause none of the first 3 deserve it....morgott tho, he the best

[@uryenatienza4093]

@@Exel3nce well with the benefit of hindsight, I was definitely wrong with Malenia, but it seems I was right about everyone else. Especially Radahn.

[@AshenDust_]

I don’t understand why people hate running towards Elden Beast and dodging attacks for 5 seconds to get a opening when what they’d be doing otherwise is staying in place dodging attacks for 5 seconds to get an opening.

[@ericschuldt5553]

Elden Beast fight was beautiful, its a good thing he swims away because otherwise people would just stick close to him and trivialize the final boss of the game

[@denisd1248]

@@ericschuldt5553 exactly, finally someone said it

[@JonoBogano]

People just love to complain

[@ahamedthermadhi492]

I do not know how your experience with the Elden Beast went but for me, the magic spam and the melee air swipes killed the fight for me. It's not that you have to run to the Beast, you also have to run away from all the magic spam. I was left with no stamina at certain points and was forced to tank the remainder of the magic spam because getting hit once means stagger and then getting stunlocked to take everything. And it also doesn't help that the Beast can do what it wants while you're getting spammed with its magic which makes it near impossible to not get hit. Even Dragonlord teleports away but I enjoyed that fight more because he doesn't spam his entire arsenal at you while having you dodge his swipe spam.

[@scottbecker4367]

First, it's not 5 seconds. Second, the thing becomes much tankier in ng+ cycles. If you haven't done a ng+ run, you'll see why having it run away all the time becomes a problem.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

That bravely default music for fire giant was a mental flashbang for me cause I just started replaying bravely second. Nice vid Demod thanks for all the entertaining content.

[@abhishekjm8611]

I'm surprised to see malenia make it above average. Apart from the lore, I found the fight not designed well. When you compare the fight with other demigod fights, it falls incredibly short. All the others either have a unique puzzle either big or small to solve with a variety of solutions. Sometimes in the way of items. But there's no solution to malenia's 2 main problems. Health drain and waterfowl. Simply not getting hit is not a solution. And for being called the goddess of rot, it plays no part in the fight. If you died to the rot, you probably were going to die normally anyway. It was a very good opportunity to put the new additions to the game like jumping and horse riding to use to create a unique experience, but they just took the easy way out by cranking the difficulty bar, by making her hit harder, faster and heal more.

[@4K1R4-00]

Yeah, it's not a perfect fight but still her place is in top 10 (I just hope it's not in top 3 because there are many other bosses deserving a spot on a podium)

[@BronsonFan111]

I felt that way at first until I figured it out and it REALLY clicked with me. When I had her figured out, I managed to beat her first phase without getting hit and beat her second phase on the second try around. It felt amazing but I understand why most would not like her design.

[@HolySok]

I like Health Drain because it provided a unique challenge not found elsewhere. One that punishes you for non perfect play. Feels like an appropriate challenge for an ultra secret very difficult boss fight. As a shield player usually it also gets you out of the comfort zone. Waterfowl is nuts but Life Steal I like.

[@scottbecker4367]

It's not just that. She's the only boss who can cancel her own stun animations to attack instead. It breaks the rules established by every player and enemy in the game.

[@HolySok]

@@scottbecker4367 But it's such a non issue in practice. Like you fight her for 10 mins and go "oh see sometimes jumps away if I hit her too much" and then move on. Unless you got frustrated not being able to stunlock her with a greatsword like Sister Friede or something. I dunno. I feel like that one KZbin video has given people to latch onto something else apart from Waterfowl

[@funny1.510]

no way fortissax is at 13 that is an absolute robbery. Fortissax is the most visually spectacular bosses in the most creepy, weird area in elden ring. I love it

[@josephhanicak7922]

I hope Dragonlord Placidusax ranks high. He's literally a perfect dragon fight in my opinion. He actually lets you hit him, but punishes greed. He's the biggest spectacle in the game, but has plenty of substance. His lightning strikes are the best use of them by far, as they give you the option of getting hits in, but having to I-frame the attack, or running away, but not getting many hits. He also can't attack you while the lightning is active (cough cough Fortissax). I've fought him many times, and I haven't died to him in a single unfair way. He's fun, challenging, and fair in a way that reminds me of Artorias, or the Demon Princes. It seems like Elden Ring could only ever manage two of those at a time, but Dragonlord, Godfrey, and Maliketh are the exceptions.

[@LASAGNA_LARRY]

Yeah Placidusax is near perfect. I just think he’s a little too easy compared to Midir at least.

[@LiloDemon]

Even with the nerf that changed Duo Bosses' behavior. It does not change the awful game design by their creating in my opinion. I find few duo bosses work fine: Perfumer + Leonie Misbigotten, Duo Beastmen in Dragonbarrow cave. The Godskin Apostle is one of my favourite bosses, but I think the fact he is repetitive removes that feeling of spectacle he carries through moveset and sondtrack.

[@ricardodarcangelo2437]

I agree with that that on the apostle. The one in the tower was the first real "hard" boss I encountered in my 1st run, and it was my 1st REAL challenge on my RL 50 run. Nowhere near the 2000+ attempts Malenia took, but it was very challenging; and that was the fight where the combat really "clicked" for me. A memorable experience to be sure

[@bretth342]

One thing I wish there was a lot more of in elden ring were combos that were avoidable but couldn't be interrupted. You know that combo Gael has in phase 3 where he flips 3 times shooting crossbow bolts the 2nd time? It feels SO GOOD to dodge that combo and I wish there were more of those in Elden Ring. Placidusax is probably the closest in the game aside from Loretta who I find just a bit to easy.

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

I liked the Valiant Gargoyle duo fight - it was fairly clear that they designed them to have actual pace and tempo in combo, instead of just being two separate AIs firing off at once.

[@kermitlovers1039]

3:14 you actually dont have to beat the gargoyales to get to fias champions, you can take the telaporter from where ranni disapered and then take the coffin

[@mirayoquese8608]

Also by discovering the secret wall in the Frenzy Flame chamber, I did it that way just by pure luck.

[@ericschuldt5553]

Yeah I actually never found the gargoyales untill I beat the game because I got to deeproot through the Leyndell sewers

[@perrytran9504]

Thank you for saving my SL1 character his sanity... so he can promptly drain it somewhere else!

[@TF-Times]

Crucible knight and lion guy was actually a really fun fight as I did it with a buddy. Frustrating but we wound up picking our opponent and had to work together to keep them separated. Solo would have suuucked.

[@DOC_951]

If you take out duplicates, I feel like this game has maybe only 40 unique bosses, instead of the 170 or whatever it is. Red wolf, godskin, death birds, night’s calvary, erdtree avatar, burial watchdog, bell bearing hunter, tibia mariner, putrid avatar, magma wyrm, crucible knight, tree sentinels… all these bosses you fight 2, 3, 4, or even 5 times.

[@ChillHollow]

you actually fight Soldier of Godrick like hundreds of times🤔

[@SorowFame]

7:15 that’s a stupid ducking argument because Red Wolf of Radagon’s arena isn’t half the size of Limgrave and he doesn’t move twice as fast as Torrent at full sprint. The issue isn’t that Elden Beast runs away, it’s that it forces you to run a marathon to get a chance of hitting before it moves again.

[@zachsin2411]

I appreciate you using my comment I poured all my hatred into that godskin duo rant

[@TheGimbishGlob]

There’s a crucible knight reskin in deeproot depths that you forgot to include, it counts as a great enemy for some reason.

[@theDeModcracy]

Ah, I didn't know. I haven't fought any Crucible Knights in the Deeproot Depths. I was suprised when I never found one that was considered a great enemy felled. Good to know!

[@TheGimbishGlob]

@@theDeModcracy yeah a one of the spear variations, it’s located somewhat near the mausoleum in that area, it’s nothing special and died in a couple of seconds in both my playthroughs. Nowhere near the quality and difficulty as amazing bosses like the covetous demon.

[@FlashFirePrime]

@@theDeModcracy mhm! When you beat them it drops you a Great Spear

[@Cogexkintrue]

Yea in a recent playthrough I noticed that Ensha (the guard outside Gideon's room) counts as a great enemy when he invades you. I have no idea what they considered a great enemy vs a normal enemy lmao

[@TheGimbishGlob]

@@Cogexkintrue really, that’s odd he doesn’t even have a boss healthbar.

[@mihal1570]

I love the NierAutotomata ost in the Background btw!

[@diegonei]

This CAN continue.

[@mihal1570]

@@diegonei i sure hope it would, id even go as far as to say i am convinced that THIS. WILL. CONTINUE.

[@JerryMcB3rry]

Yeah I approve as well haha, probably my favorite video game ost

[@mihal1570]

@@JerryMcB3rry its mine as well. Only other contenders would be AC2, DS3 and ER but, Nier still the best

[@nabsthegodgamer5419]

1:42 HEY THATS ME This is probably their boss I hate the most, more than Godskin Duo, Lud and Zallen or even the Bed of Chaos. I wouldn’t say it’s THAT hard, but I was the one dude stupid enough to spend 8h fighting them in RL1 because I thought it would be the best way to get to Radahn. Turns out the Festival doesn’t even activate until you reach Altus Plateau 🤡 And I got lucky since I was only able to beat them because the Knight dude got stuck in a random table or some shit, I even uploaded the fight so I could show my friends LOL. The one saving grace is that Crucible Knight is probably my favorite enemy in the game. But even then, it’s not unique nor is the best version of their moveset anyway. A really sad fight indeed

[@eldenbladesofficialshop]

I literally watched the community ranking again today as it was on my recommended and thought to myself, I wonder when the community quality ranking would come out and now we have it nice.

[@draco2864]

I love how consistent you are with using Persona 5’s soundtrack in your videos!

[@GeremyG]

It’s a shame the quality of the encounters in the later areas drops so drastically from the earlier areas.

[@ivanchaki372]

ehhh depends. There aren't any new miniboss types so the luster wanes off and they become tedious to fight again. but main bosses like Mohg, Maliketh, Placidusax, Godfrey, Radagon and Malenia are absolutely goated imo.

[@tyhjyys]

to compensate they kinda pump up the hp pools and damage of the normal enemies too much. its really jarring especially because most people would be past 120. big no no

[@yab3146]

Mini bosses sure, main bosses are at their best near the end

[@jdwolf4703]

@@BBQcheese i think the late game bosses are good but they're not my favorite, I don't like how so many of them jump around a lot and I think they could've toned down the damage a bit but they're still good

[@aperson6562]

@@BBQcheese the major ones are, but the minor ones are clearly just spammed for the sake of it, which kinda ruins the novelty

[@stupidhead_2812]

Godskin Duo is my second favorite boss in the game and it's so funny how people hate it so much. It's absolutely because I adore the enemies, but I still love them

[@adamalibi1129]

YOURE just a maniac

[@alsoagalkbyr945]

Do you play the same game we play ?

[@stupidhead_2812]

@@alsoagalkbyr945 I do, and I love the Duo. Enjoyed all three times I fought them

[@sergioalvarez4473]

Don't have them in so high regard, but I agree they are great. All the people that hates them is cause they self-impose no spirit ashes, I have no proof but neither doubt

[@stupidhead_2812]

@@sergioalvarez4473 I don't use spirit ashes either and I still love that fight. I look forward to it every run

[@calebfouts7118]

All I'm hoping for is that Morgott is really high on the list. Like top 3 as he is my personal favorite boss in the game.

[@soulslayer434]

Def. Top 3. Maybe Top 1. (I love Godfrey as well)

[@a5hen]

I want Maliketh to be number 1

[@yab3146]

Buff his health please

[@mercylavigne]

Very good boss, but has too little health.

[@soulslayer434]

@@mercylavigne Yah I feel they scaled his health in a way where it would makes sense if u just did Godrick, Renalla then went straight to Leyndall w/o exploring as much. Otherwise yah its weird its so low compared to most other Shardbearers.

[@Itami._.]

Are we all going to forget the duo crucible knight fight? Cause I know damn well that fight is the definition of unfair

[@everydaysniper9390]

My favorite boss in the game has to be Dragonlord Placidusax. Its a fight that feels difficult but fair, pretty much every attack has a fair telegraph, not to slow but not too quick either. Plus the way you find him is a great spectacle, if a bit obscure. Honestly I kinda wish they had just made him the big boss of Farum Azula, because I did NOT like the Malekith fight.

[@DeCode343]

Easily one of the top 3 fights and I freaking loved his soundtrack.

[@mercylavigne]

Easily top 5 fights in the entire franchise. Maybe top 3.

[@randokalunn8647]

I absolutely love Maliketh and would personally put him in my top ten best bosses fromsoft has ever made. Though your opinion is different about Maliketh I can at least agree that they could've made Placidusax the main boss instead of optional.

[@ry4x223]

@@randokalunn8647 Maliketh could easily be top 5 for me if his second phase had a full hp bar. Such a cool fight only to die before you get to see his full move set.

[@themambawarrior2290]

10:36 While getting to the Lake of Rot is most easily and commonly done through Ranni's questline, you can actually reach Astel without ever meeting Ranni, as a coffin in Deeproot Depths transports you to the same location as the teleporter in Renna's Rise. I wouldn't personally count Astel as being associated with Ranni's questline primarily because you can get to him without that, even if it's not what most players will do.

[@Absorbant]

ultimately, you still need ranni's key to get through the gate

[@themambawarrior2290]

@@Absorbant Only the door after Astel. The Moonlight Altar is tied to Ranni's quest, but Astel himself can be fought without that.

[@Cthululululu]

The only thing that I *can* say to the Duo Bosses to defend them- "Their the only fights it feels fair, and in fact more fun than if you didn't, to summon in."

[@TheSolarium18]

That just show how casual most of the community plays and most of them probably don’t know the moveset of any boss because their spirits takes away all the aggro from them and they use bloodbuilds Here a list of bosses ranked in categories mainly based on their moveset, how fun they are to fight solo and how universal their moveset stands against various builds and are more based on your skill than cheesing them with certain attacks (also including lore and presentation a little bit but not too much) Bosses are not ranked within the categories Worst designed bosses: Astel (shitty hitboxes, unfair moveset, way too much health and resistances just not fun to fight) Malenia (You cant solo her without using very specific builds that’s not good bossdesign and not fun to fight) Crystalian bosses (not fun to fight and cheeseable) Elemer (not enough good attack windows melee) Meh: All bosses which reappear as normal enemies and i don’t mention separately Watchdogs (very boring and overused) Eldenbeast (maybe between this and the higher category because of his lore) Godskin Duo Leonine Misbegotten Radagons Wolf All single Gargoyle fights Commander O‘Neil Fallingstar beast Ok-ish Bosses: Erdtree spirits All normal named Dragonfights Lion Guardian Fire Giant Gargoyles Duo Rennala (would rank higher if there were more good bosses in the game in this case it would deliver a nice variety plus nice presentation) Radahn (shitty start and not top tier moveset) Ofnir Magma Wyrm Mimic Tear (Actually depending on your build may rank higher, basically fun to fight and i like the idea of fighting a copy of yourself) Dragonkin Soldier Good bosses: Morgott (would rank higher if his fight wouldn’t feel so disharmonic with the overuse of delayed attacks) Mohg (would rank higher without him covering the whole arena in fire) Placidusax Fortissax Niall (would rank higher without his minions and a little bit more health instead) Godrick Radagon without eldenbeast Rykard (best gimmick boss of all time) Very good bossdesigns: Loretta in Haligtree (very cool to fight solo) Godfrey (not including his Horah Loux phase) Malekith (best overall bossfight in this game)

[@idirbouchdoug1567]

i agree with most of your ranking but i dont think you need a specific build to solo her at all.

[@TheSolarium18]

@@idirbouchdoug1567 I consider myself a pretty good souls player and i already managed to defeat most eldenring bosses without taking a single hit (no cheese) but i still struggle to even defeat malenia without using certain ashes of war, incantations or spells which happen to have fitting tracking timing and posture break. I tryed nearly every spell, incantation, ashes of war and weapon against her (yes i farmed and leveled up every single weapon to +9 or +24) and i can tell blood and fast weapons with reach (katanas) give you an unreasonable advantage. She can dodge or punish and heal nearly every incantation or spell which makes 90% of them completely useless For example i discovered for some reason she can’t dodge frenzied burst. Her waterflow makes bloodhound step nearly necessary i know you can dodge it without it but tell me you manage to do that with 100% certainty every time or nearly close to that. You can’t tell me that it’s good balancing if every other boss seems in no comparison and only some items make it manageable I know some special beings online are able to solo her with any build without a problem but honestly bosses shouldn’t be designed to only being soloed and deliver a good fight for 5% of all people I don’t want that fromsofts standard becomes we design very shitty unfair bosses just to be called ultra difficult but everybody can play it because you can use spirits Where is the hard but fair philosophy of fromsoft gone? Unfortunately the „hype“ and wrong legend status stupid youtubers and reporters make up for malenia will lead to exactly that

[@TheLastGame666]

Honestly half the comments ranking the bosses are just malding, because some stuff they say isn't really depicting the quality of a boss, but rather a personal opinion. Also if you compare Fire Giant to Ancient dragon from DS2, your opinion is immediately invalid.

[@samuelriccio5337]

You literally spoke my mind. I've seen comments malding over bosses like Maliketh, Godfrey and Mohg when they are some of the most fair and spectacular fights in Fromsoft history. If you die to them over and over it doesn't necessarily mean they are bad, maybe you just didn't get good enough.

[@TheLastGame666]

@@samuelriccio5337 for real, some people will fairly die to a boss and say shit like "It's not hard, it's just tedious and unfair".

[@scottbecker4367]

@@TheLastGame666 Elden Ring is an easy game, but the bosses are tedious. They're not fun to fight, especially toward the end game.

[@TheLastGame666]

@@scottbecker4367 a portion of them are to a small degree, but that's still a can conclusion based on experience alone, because i definitely disagree with what most people see tedious.

[@30thCenturyFish]

i have always been irritated by people saying that Sir Gideon is a bad fight and stupidly easy. i struggled with him in both of my playthroughs, dying at least 7 times. i love his move set, he strings together spells in a way that is hard to counter and well made, he has a HUGE variety of attacks, and he uses them in a fun way. i love his design, and always find him fun to fight.

[@30thCenturyFish]

also, fun fact: you can parry loretta

[@Hidden_lvl]

He's annoying because he can throw out so many strong attacks b2b.

[@limb-o7180]

the valiant gargoyles was insanely fun to fight with a friend though

[@darkespl3732]

I cant belive malenia is not on this list. I fought her yesterday and it took me around 40 minutes of tries so i wasnt stuck at her. The thing is she is broken in her mechanics. Stagger animation cancelling is one thing. Her ability to cheat death during first phase when you perform critical atack to finish her off is another one. You need 1-2 atacks after critical to actually end the first phase. I didnt use shield but the fact that she can heal while 100% of the dmg was blocked is stupid. It is almost the same as if she could heal while hitting the air. The whole concept of life steal is that person regains health while dealing dmg so she shouldnt be able to heal. I think she is just unfair and deserve the spot in part 1 of this ranking

[@blazenfate]

She can be stun locked to death.....

[@darkespl3732]

@@blazenfate This is not a matter of difficulty. The healing thing is a minor thing but it just shouldnt work this way. Stagger animation cancelling is just unfair. Same with cheating death during phase 1. She isn't even the hardest Boss for me. She was on my first playthrough but now Maliketh took the crown for me

[@MorizonPlays]

Malenia may feel unfair the first time you fight her, but the more you fight her the more fair and skill-testing the fight becomes. Also there are many ways to approach the fight: status effects, stagger with heavy weapons and parrying all work. For me one of the best fights since its one of the most replayable ones.

[@Stef861]

​@@MorizonPlays hard disagree, malenia is probably the boss that takes the least skill out of any boss, you either cheese her ass with broken builds, try for hours with the shitty ones, or become a god and have god like rng and beat her, true skill bosses are bosses like isshin

[@paulclynes9865]

I personally don't like her simply for the HP regen mechanic, From are better than having to resort to cheap tropes like that to add difficulty to a boss.

[@kelwdavicuddui5677]

I like Regal Ancestor Spirit. It's a very well done Dark Souls boss that unfortunately was late to the party and ended up in Elden Ring.

[@josephsheehan6079]

I’ve never disagreed harder with a ranking than misbegotten crucible knight. They are one of the tightest designed encounters in my opinion because of what it is. It is a check point before Radahn one being a DPS check the other being a skill check. They’re so oppressive together and that means you got to clear that DPS check and Crucible Knight is such a tight encounter that you gotta be skillful even when it’s not the two of them. The only problem is that people are too stubborn to play even slightly differently than Dark Souls.

[@summerstrail7466]

Godskins should never stick together A beast and an armored knight randomly fighting together in a wasteland makes little sense These Gargoyles are not valiant Fia needs better champions or none at all Fromsoft really needs to revaluate on how to make better gank fights because I am getting Dark Souls 2 flashbacks.

[@GoldenSunAlex]

The Bravely Default soundtrack popping up throughout the video was really surprising.

[@aidanmillow566]

I've got to say: the one v one part of the Nial fight was probably the most fun I had with combat in this game (I also didn't find the initial gank bad enough to knock him much but that was with moonveil).

[@thomas-gabrielcharbonnel5457]

Hey Demod I hope you’re getting over Covid well ! Was it as tough a time as dealing with Malenia ?

[@Absorbant]

i would rather have covid for a month than have to re-experience my first few dozen attempts at melania again

[@JaggedBird]

The fact there's 165 officially but only 33 unique bosses tho-

[@sleepyghost4994]

in my opinion, malenia BLADE OF CUTTING YOU INTO RIBBONS is one of my favorite bosses ever! Yes she's absurdity difficult, but I always felt like that was kinda the point, she even warns you "I have never known defeat." isn't just a good line, it's a factual statement. she fights like what I'd imagine a undefeated master of the blade would, like the sword saint in sekiro. Malenia also has such a beautiful style/design and power yet soothing voice. when malenia bloomed and her second phase music kicked in, I never felt such a rush of emotion before, sadness, excitement, terror, even a strange sense of awe. she really did become a goddess and the appearance and fight really shows that.

[@sleepyghost4994]

I know I already, posted this comment before, but I just wanted for people to know how I feel during the quality ranking.

[@Exel3nce]

i can only shake my head to this. malenia, same with the terrible duos, is what elden ring/from is doing terrible compared to their refined designes in their older games

[@ironstar183]

Mimic tear was tough AF first time for me. It was almost one shotting me with unsheathe, using rot breathe, throwing albinauric pots, dropping warming stones (lol), throwing out bloodflies, throwing daggers. Fuuuuck.

[@Gat-Man55]

I think the only reason elden beast wasn’t in this video is because radagon carried the fight to the top 11. If the game gave a checkpoint after radagon I don’t think people would hate the fight as much. How did bed of chaos do that but there’s none of it in elden ring?

[@fallen9997]

I think Elden Beast is not that bad. Sure, Radagon is better, but it's just the atmosphere, arena and disign that is great.

[@Killer_Draco]

I'd agree. Elden Beast is a C-tier fight at best with being attached to an excellent bout with Radagon being the only thing that saves it from being an overall boring fight. While it has some good parts, spending far too long chasing it down and sometimes not having an attack opportunity for a full minute can really drag down the pace of the fight. ...And on the flipside, I'd say Radagon is dragged down by Elden Beast.

[@pyryhirvenlahti]

They could have just done what they did with Gehrman and Moon Presence in Bloodborne and it would've been fine.

[@mr.mastermind7478]

If you have the patience ( which a good chunk of people in the soulsborne community probably don't have honestly ) then the elden beast is not that bad because to me it's one of the most predictable bosses in the game.

[@summerstrail7466]

Elden beast is not terrible, but I can understand all the problems. And I still can't grasp why Torrent wasn't allowed. It worked for Radahn so why not here?

[@pyryhirvenlahti]

I can't disagree with any of the complaints made about the godskin duo but I still really like the fight for some reason.

[@derpynachoz6167]

I've beaten this game several times now, and rennala is still my favorite boss ever since I've fought her. very well said Demod!

[@eclipticonantiqua1157]

In don’t really agree with the trend of bosses being rated lower due to re-use. Like I feel like an excellent boss is still an excellent boss for the first time you fight it. Criticism of the game design for re-using them is valid but for me it doesn’t affect my opinion of the boss any more than me replaying the whole game would lower my opinion of a boss.

[@JonoBogano]

People criticize elden ring for re using bosses way more than other from games for some reason, to where it feels more like a nitpick

[@creativename61]

if your having trouble with valiant gargoyles here's a little tip. quite literally just make them jump off the cliff yeah I ain't kidding what I did in my playthrough if your sick if fighting them just have them jump off the cliff to the right of the fog door.

[@scottbecker4367]

Pretty sure they patched this.

[@chives8980]

I'm surprised Malenia wasn't in part 1. She has great lore, great arena, awesome soundtrack etc, but unfortunately waterfowl dance exists and it made her fight awful, people on Reddit seem to agree that she is a terrible boss fight as well. Her healing combined with her doing waterfowl dance on your summons would undo all the risks you took to damage her. Garbage fight IMO, 4/10. Edit: Worse than Godskin Duo IMO, at least that fight doesn't force you to respecc and use counterintuitive maneuvers to avoid any of their attacks and summons actually help and don't comeback and bite you.

[@ivanchaki372]

People on reddit are split. And in most polls she is consistently in top 3.

[@Stoneador]

Malenia is a trash boss that incentivizes cheesing. Everyone I personally know who fought her just used those blood katanas and mimic tear because that’s the fastest way to get the fight over with. I wasted my time learning her moveset when I would just die most of the time because I was too close to run away from her waterfowl dance. The waterfowl dance is unintuitive to dodge and resulted in probably 80% of my deaths to her. I wasn’t able to learn her 2nd phase attacks because so many of them were 1-2 hit deaths and the stupid waterfowl dance made it so I needed RNG to get to the 2nd phase anyways. People probably like her because she’s difficult, but she’s a terribly designed boss. It sucks because she’s so close to being a great boss too, but Fromsoft just went way too far with her difficulty.

[@chives8980]

@@Stoneador This right here is the reason why I despised her fight, I went through the same things as you, I had to respecc to a bleed buil to beat her.

[@Stoneador]

@@chives8980 i had never had to re-spec a character before, but I just got so sick of dying to her all the time that I did the exact same thing. I’m really curious what percentage of players did the exact same thing to beat her because it just stops being fun after awhile.

[@chives8980]

@@Stoneador I agree, I too am curious about the % of players that had to respecc to beat her. In Demod boss ranking video he said he had to respecc as well. I forgot the KZbinr who did this video, it's a great video, it talks about the mechanic that she can cancel her stagger animation and go into a hyper armor state similar to most Sekiro bosses, just look up Malenia stagger cancel, it should come up.

[@stevenpedersen1505]

How did the Trio of Scarlet Rot Crystallians not end up in the bottom three

[@Killer_Draco]

They're not Great Enemies. This is only "Great Enemy/Legend/God Felled" bosses.

[@stevenpedersen1505]

@@Killer_Draco ahh my b

[@hunteryahzog9552]

My personnal top twelve : 1- Rykard (original and great design, cool lore, Fun gameplay with a bit of challenge for his final attack, amazing OST and ambiance in général and godtier voice acting) 2-Mohg 3-Morgott 4- Godfrey 5-Radagon/Elden Beast 6- Radahn 7- Malenia 8- Godrick 9- Rennala 10- Maliketh (a bit overrated, insane design and lore but annoying 1st phase and inexistant ambiance) 11- Plassidusax 12- Margit

[@nickel_n_dime719]

When I fought Commander Nial, the ONLY moves he would do are the wind stomps and the leap attack. ONLY THOSE TWO MOVES. If he does have an interesting moveset, he never showed it to me

[@ogi155]

He only does those attacks if you are far away from him. Try sticking in melee range and he should use most of his move set

[@tylerschannel1560]

I have to say Commander Niall is underrated and probably the unfortunate best boss because he's actually balanced around the spirit ashes in a good way. If you choose not to use ashes, Niall will back off while you fight the two knights. If you do choose to use say the mimic ash, it can generally handle the two knights while you and Niall fight one v one. He's the only boss in the game that really stood out

[@evanbaxter7356]

A lot of these criticisms are valid points but the one person complaining about how they couldn't abuse broken status procs on one boss was really funny

[@smallss7197]

I'll never understand how the community picks bosses. I personally like a boss if it is cool, I really don't care about difficulty

[@ralcogaming7674]

Godskin duo has a seriously fatal flaw. Their AI they are programmed to throw fireballs every time you use a flask. If spacing is right you can chug, and then use carian retaliation catch the fireball and send that damage as return mail. Prenerf retaliation was peak for these fights because by the 3rd time I fought them either together or individually I just didn't want to anymore.

[@nickrice3701]

11:55 You can crouch under that attack. It’s way easier than the delayed role you otherwise have to do

[@sebastiangarda191]

I know this isn't about the side bosses but I just wanted to say that imo the way people hate on re-use of bosses in ER is misplaced. I see it more like these bosses are just enemies. Enemies are used over and over everywhere in the game. Idk if that makes sense but they do the same thing in Sekiro with fewer total bosses and it doesn't seem to be an issue there

[@Hidden_lvl]

Plenty of games get away with this, Elden Ring is just the game to target for it just because. People complained about Elden Ring dungeons while praising Bloodborne Chalice which does an even worse job at being repetitive and nerfing you.

[@ReleaseZeKrakken]

Weirdly the Gargoyle duo felt like one of the more fair ganks. No idea if it was luck or what but everytime I've fought them the AI seems to keep one at a distance, at least in my experiences with them.

[@Hanbro1o]

Love hearing SMT bangers in an Elden Ring video

[@a5hen]

Godskin Duo's no business being together makes no sense. They are literally of the same breed and it's correct lore wise XD

[@TheFireStarter1215]

I feel the Crucible Knight & Misbegotten being a dual fight made sense if you look at the arena. It was where great fighters meet to try to take on Radahn, two happen to show up late and you happened to have killed each of their kind/group by this point most likely. I got to summon a cool puppet & go ham with a katana, one of my favorite bosses fights in hindsight.

[@davidharman3665]

Unpopular opinion I much prefer Godskin duo to the Valiant Gargoyles. Godskin Duo feels like it’s a somewhat fair fight and I never feel overwhelmed. Valiant gargoyles is just the worst kind of gank fight

[@electronicmusicofjapan-emj9882]

Hey Demod, always love hearing the SMT soundtracks in your recent videos and wonder if you’d ever consider doing some SMT content like boss/game rankings?

[@Colt-yx2ow]

I will always love how he uses the music from persona 5

[@deathbringer5743]

Funny enough, you don't have to kill the Gargoyle duo to get to Fia's Champions, allowing you to dodge that bullshit fight to battle an easier one

[@russian_knight]

Honestly I think Gideon is super fun and cool, he's basically your mentor from start to finish, albeit a bit of an asshole, but still, I like him a lot

[@anotherguy3082]

Persobally I think that makes his fight feel all the worse. It gets built up from the beginning and should be a difficult and enjoyable fight to match. In reality its either easy as piss or infuriating with no in-between. The fact you can kill him before he even finishes his opening speech is ridiculous and it should 100% have been a cut scene.

[@anonymousperson8903]

'a bit of an asshole' is an understatement xD

[@HunterForHire422]

I will continue to be the single person who likes fighting godskin duo even before the patch.

[@theDeModcracy]

There are some fans in the comments from what I'm seeing. I'm glad someone is enjoying them lol

[@croscoloser]

same here. I guess im like the only one who actually enjoyed every single boss in the game

[@yesugeikhan6784]

Man this community really took a dive after elden ring huh?

[@theorangeman9147]

Should've stayed niche, now we're overrun by blind casuals who can't take the most basic of criticism about their truely perfect title with no flaws in its boss design.

[@FindAname_]

Best idea for godskin duo: make it, that the big guy is a tank, who is slow, does less damage, has all the hp of the boss and can rewive the skinny one (after ten seconds or so) . Then make the skinny one pretty fast, be able to attack on range and up close with big damage but have low hp. Then you have the choice to just go at the big guy and have to be carefull of the skinny one, or you can go at the skinny one, so that you have some time to go at the big one without being in to much danger for a short time. Would make the battle way better in my opinion and would be different to most of the other gang fights.

[@gravenr843]

That’s basically the ornstein and smough fight from Dark Souls 1

[@Mohgenstein]

Melania is going to be number 1 which is completely undeserved. People confuse a challenging fight with a good fight. Radahn, Godfrey, or Morgott deserve number 1.

[@TheStruggler-wb7mk]

Not necessarily. The comment DeMod highlighted teased Godfrey being higher than Malenia, and since the list is weighted based on people's picks for favorites and least favorites, Malenia will probably get dragged down slightly by people putting her on their Worst lists. Same with Radagon/Elden Beast. Top 6 will probably be something along the lines of Radahn, Godfrey, Maliketh, Dragonlord, and the Omen Bros, in whatever order.

[@SirAthiro]

Really? Malenia is going to be at the top? I blame rose tinted glasses for this. She's a broken boss, simple as that. And yes; I beat her without cheese, summons/support.

[@SolarNov.a]

Godskin duo is the only boss that fromsoft has made that has pissed me off just as much, if not more than bed of chaos

[@dariswaters1080]

I feel like Elemer is a bit underrated. Once I learned his moveset with all this bell bearings projections this fight became so fun!

[@LoranCleric]

absolutely. he's one of my favorite encounters in the game, even more so once i finally got confident enough in the fight to not feel the need to shield him anymore.

[@animefanatic777]

HERE WE GO BOIIIISSSS

[@AnriHarper]

I wish I could say more about Fortisaxx. But I honestly have nothing. I was high level and killed him within 30 seconds. I didn't even know he had a spin attack with the lightning.

[@slinkylemon8202]

9:00 lol I just kept hitting his feet behind him and killed him with bleed

[@RichardKushman]

Got to be honest I just fought fire giant co op with my friend so being on foot actually made him kind of interesting and mildly difficult for me, unfortunately my friend has less than 50 vig so not so fun for him lmao But it definitely was the only time I've had to be active enough in his fight since I've only ever been attached to torrent for it and I do definitely have to suggest it. Made the fight go from a boring 5/10 underwhelming fight to at least a 8 or 7.5 out of 10 personally

[@mayday2237]

As a dark souls 2 stan It's cathartic to see everyone learn what ACTUALLY bad gank fights are. While 2 overused it it had some of the best balanced gank fights in the series, Even the graverobbers have a really well designed arena. DS2 gargoyles is imo the ONLY one of the gargoyle fights in the series to fully land for me. Maneaters are broken, Ds1 is a joke, and double valiant are just tedious.

[@GardenFootCreature]

I thought malenia was voted worst for a second and I almost got very happy

[@p.istvan8744]

I'm honestly surprised Malenia wasn't here. Like, why do people even like her? Her mechanic is just there for unnecessary difficulty, like how for some reason the devs thought gang bosses make the game more fun and not just unnecessarily difficult. Of course there is a really good example for a boss with a bullshit mechanic but he is still one of the best, that being Mohg, because the game rewards you for exploring and so you have a way to completely ignore his NIHIL's. Or let's take the Fume Knight from Dark Souls 2, if you take your time to explore you can destroy the Nadalia statues, completely negating his heals. I just honestly can't grasp anyone wasting their time on Malenia more than a few deaths from that one hit bullshit. The heal honestly isn't even annoying, just don't be greedy and learn her moves. But if only there was an item that canceled water dogshit.

[@WisdomofTheStar]

My mimic tear at level 500 is a menace, one shooting demon

[@zacknstuff1611]

I like how you present solutions to how to make the bosses better

[@ObsessiveSting]

Glad to hear your doing better DeMod and thanks for the video. Just keep getting better alright!

[@miyazakisimping]

I love how you always use some of my favourite game soundtracks for your videos, like persona 5 or nier automata

[@rexmortuorum7026]

So I know I'm late to the party, and you probably heard this a million time, but you don't need to fight the duo gargoyle bosses to get to fia's champions boss fight, the area where you find the three fingers has a short cut