Ranking Shadow of the Erdtree Bosses Easiest to Hardest | Elden Ring

[@servillian2363]

Radahn is insanely hard. Then i realised you can use the 60% holy damage negation incantation. Makes the boss so much more reasonable.

[@servillian2363]

if anyones struggling with him, stack haligdrake talisman, lords divine fortification and opaline bubble tear. This way you only really need to worry about the physical attacks. I genuinely don’t know how it is possible to beat this guy without this.

[@thomas25]

Thank you boss

[@codman4372wx]

There's also a new talisman, golden braid, which increases holy damage negation to the utmost. Not sure exactly where it is but it's in scadurview Edit I found it

[@tranzitispog5954]

I realized this only after I beat him, and my god did I have a fit lmao

[@servillian2363]

@@codman4372wx yep you’re right, use golden braid i forgot about that. Also can use some tree sentinel armour bc they have the highest holy resist. Makes his massive nuke do 10 damage lol

[@tylerricker230]

I love that almost all the optional bosses have a main boss feel to them like the madness guy literally had a sick cutscene as if he’s a final boss it’s dope asf

[@racosen3204]

true every boss looks amazing

[@Lakanus]

I agree, my only nitpick is (ironically) the final boss, being a re-fight of Radahn. For all i like Radahn we'd already fought him and defeated him, i was looking forward to some new character or maybe even fighting Miquella directly. And then when it ends we cant interact with the gate and only watch a 10 second cutscene of 2 sentences, felt like an abrupt end.

[@tylerricker230]

@@Lakanus yeah i didn’t care for it much either I don’t really get the ending

[@wederator2152]

It does feel that the DLC has 3 final bosses: Midra, Bayle and Radahn.

[@thedarkvessel869]

In the miquella's followers fight if you do all their respective quests, it turns from a gank squad reprise into a fun team deathmatch

[@ivanthaboi]

Well i wish i knew that 3 days ago. I hated that fight so much that i summoned my friend so we could 1v1 the enemies separately

[@icetide9411]

Not just fun, it becomes so honor-filled and legendary with the way the NPCs talk to one another as they fight

[@realbasilakis3769]

I was getting 4 vs 1 d so I just summoned the mimic tear. At least 2v4 is better xD.

[@justhair17]

Yeah, and imo summonings is acceptable for it for lore reason

[@justhair17]

Also, its much easier with bleed/RoB. You end up killing them one by one, before the others even show up.

[@Valkyrie7894-o4v]

Somehow I beat Radahn. Doing this DLC on NG+7 above was absolute torture. You could be wearing a full set of demigod armour with the most turtle talismans in the game… and everything still kills you in 2 to even 1 hit. It’s borderline masochism trying to enjoy how breathtaking & beautful the DLC is, when you are constantly backtracking for the site of grace only to get sniped or wombo combed into oblivion just to start all over again. I didn’t beat this DLC, *I survived it*

[@ilyasdrayaf8053]

I feel you bro, i'm NG+ 2x ( i know it capped difficulty at 7 ), radhan was the most torture and i defeated him by luck and i admit, it was pure torture, the obly thing that kept me going is sheereeer-effin-will

[@Wilderidoku]

Im doing it on just ng+, I have a ng+6 file but I wanted to give my self a chance to win lol

[@B00bsbringlife89]

I was in ng+7 and one shotted almost every boss

[@Ultradahn]

I did the same thing as you on ng10. All I felt was pain after I beat Radahn after 5 straight hours of build switching, studying, and practice

[@AzrealJ]

@@B00bsbringlife89one shotted them with what

[@nathanputzeys1170]

If you don't summon Igon for the Bayle fight you are missing out on something. Not because he makes the fight easier but because his VA goes HARD ! I love this guy

[@JustaPand4]

Igon gives - "MY NAAAAAAAME IS GYOUBU MASATAKA ONIWA!!!!!" vibes

[@retroliar]

VIIIIILLLLEEEEEE BAAAAAAAAYLE

[@raghav1026]

CURSE YOU BAYLE! I Hereby vow, you will Rue this day! Behold, a true Drake Warrior and I, Igon! Your fears made flesh! Solid of scale you might be, Foul Dragon, But I will riddle with holes your rotten hide. WITH A HAIL OF HARPOONS! WITH EVERY LAST DROP OF MY BEING! - Igon, Drake Warrior

[@mocha5742]

@@raghav1026I never get tired of this dialogue, it’s both funny and badass. Great fight

[@justhair17]

Summing Igon, and the NPCs for the Leda fight are mandatory for lore reasons imo. And the dialogues are great

[@HeWhoJivesWithChives]

Radahn might as well just reach through the television and break my controller over my head at this rate. Edit: Finally beat him!! Re-Speced into Pure Strength/Vigor/Endurance, Cold Greatsword, and a dream.

[@divrsty]

Shield and poke is the easiest way. Beat him second try with it

[@WarshipMolester]

Literally wasted 10 great runes before I decided to shield poke

[@jenkips9026]

@@divrsty, same. Tried to beat him with my poor Godslayer's Greatsword build that successfully carried me through the whole DLC without summons with decent level of challenge. But after 6+ hours of tries I completly give up on this guy...

[@nicolascordier12]

Nothing that a good old Fingerprint Shield and Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear can't fix my friend.

[@samisimila3022]

@@jenkips9026 just beat mine with parries and a antspur rapier in ng 7, took me around 12 hours i think .,..

[@windows1543]

Honestly, Radahn (consort of miquella version) might be the hardest boss they've made thus far in thier games!!!

[@dylandooley8494]

Yeah I agree, isshin and kos come in a well deserving 2nd

[@birthd-y]

No, isshina is still #1 because it’s all skill, Kos is 2nd because he can be cheesed but he’s mostly always hard. Elden ring could never have a true hard boss because the game can be cheesed so badly

[@Logical1121]

​@birthd-y Isshin is easy. I no-hit inner isshin and base isshin multiple times.

[@dylandooley8494]

@@Logical1121 yeah I can no hit him too, I won’t ever forget my first playthrough tho, what ur saying is like calling a boss easy after u beat it 100 times, obviously it’s gonna be easy after 100 times, if u couldn’t replay the boss fight I guarantee your perspective would be different, being able to replay a fight and master it has nothing to do with how difficult it is

[@dylandooley8494]

@@birthd-y yeah but it’s called “cheese” for a reason, your not really intended to play the boss fight with things that good, if u play with a balanced build, it comes down to radahn isshin and kos imo, followed behind Malenia and demon if hatred

[@knuckleheadwestwind3585]

I think Leda was never meant to be played without summons, since it is meant to be a war between factions that were once united. The gravitas is lost without Ansbach and Thiollier I think

[@davidnewhart2533]

After reading all these comments, the DLC seems to be quite literally its own game. It has its own leveling system. Scadutree blessings seem to matter a lot.

[@enman009]

It does. While I also recommend leveling up since you'll still get some benefits like stamina and damage, scadutree fragments make a meaningful difference between being two shotted and tanking 3-4 hits from a main boss.

[@Nightwalk2]

They do, way more than you’d think.

[@lordad]

Around 5% more damage you deal and 5% more damage reduction for you per level....

[@earthnugget7881]

@@Nightwalk2 Doesn't it come out to like double stats by the time you have all 20 levels of it?

[@DemonEyeHelix]

Imo scadutree blessings are the worst mistake Fromsoft has made. They're a terrible solution for a nonexistent problem. The whole idea behind them was to limit your stats so you can't blow through the DLC by being overleveled/overpowered, thus requiring you to explore and get the blessings to become strong enough to fight the bosses. The main issue with this is that SOTE is a post-game DLC where your character should already be at the soft cap for their main stats + vigor and endurance(mind for mages). After that extra levels don't do anything. These blessings were completely unnecessary and caused terrible scaling problems. The entire dlc could've just been scaled around soft-capped stats like Godfrey, Radagon+EB, Mohg, Loretta, and Malenia. Instead they brought back the issue of being horribly underpowered if you find bosses early or being ridiculously overpowered if you miss an early boss and find it later.

[@5IvanDrago5]

As a 47 year old man this DLC gives me very mixed emotions. My first Fromsoft game was Bloodborne and I remember getting wrecked by Cleric Beast on that bridge. I platinumed that game and proceeded to plat DS3 and beat DS1, Ds2 and Demon Souls. I platinumed Elden Ring base game. Ive seen Fromsoft go from niche to mainstream and a industry titan. Im doing okay in the DLC, Ive beaten 3 bosses on this list and havent pulled my remaining hair yet. However, Ive seen whats in front of me and I know my abilities and this shit isnt happening. Ive beaten Kas, Gael and Malenia, but I dont see myself getting past some of this. The endless combos, area effects, and just raw damage are going to be to much. Like a ball busting coach Myazaki has dragged me kicking and screaming from getting wrecked by Cleric Beast to beating Gael. I think Shawdow of the Erdtree is wear my abilities get left behind. Im not mad and Im not posting salt. I feel blessed, as a former athlete to find something at this stage in life to test me and force me to improve beyond what I imagined at the start, this experience has been a blessing. For you pushing through, "Take heed, Struggler. Struggle, endure, contend. For that alone is the sword of one who defies death. Do not forget these words".

[@Think3rYT]

im gonna be real, the only reason why its so hard is because base game is easy to go through, he wanted to give everyone a challenge and a real one at that and I think he did perfectly on what his ideal plan was for this DLC, only thing i hate is that he brought back Radahn after we killed him in base yet this all takes place in the same time span

[@thesnatcher3616]

Radahn might get nerfed. Funny how he's always the subject of balance complaints whenever he's launched. But damn, looking at the footage, it just looks like one of those fanmade difficulty mods.

[@Rando1481]

Yeah I think I’m gonna force my mom playing dark souls or elden ring

[@pole8740]

@@thesnatcher3616 it would have been better if he doesn’t perma farm the fog gate and insta kill you before you even make it through

[@Yadnnday]

I believe in you sir

[@MrWhite-et1in]

After like 30 deaths, i just gave in and beat radahn like this: -60 Vig, 80 endurance, 80 strenght -fingerprint greatshild +25 -moghs spear +10 -bull goat armor I just made myself as tanky as possible and blocked everything with my shield, and it worked lol, beat him in 2 tries doing it this way

[@crezd5028]

So THE WALL, mobile edition?

[@hopper4ooo]

what talismans did you use?

[@Wilderidoku]

ah my favorite food.

[@gn_4k447]

did miquella not grab you? i’ve tried this multiple times and he grabs me twice and it says “heart stolen”

[@angusyukc37]

⁠@@gn_4k447there’s an item called Miquella’s great rune. If you use it after getting grabbed it cleanse you of its grab. But bewarned, using the rune takes some time so don’t do it immediately, wait for an opening before doing so.

[@mohammedbaig9569]

Divine beast is only number 11, you're telling me the boss that has me stuck and has been kicking my ass is that much easier than all the ones to come after 😭 EDIT: nvm just beat his ass, in hindsight really not that bad, just a skill issue on my end

[@Nightwalk2]

Have you searched around for all the available upgrades? It’ll make a huge difference I promise

[@mohammedbaig9569]

@Nightwalk2 yeah I got all the available scadu in gravesite plain, castle ensis and belurat, got me to lvl 3 i think. Could be bc I'm in like NG+2 or 3 and/or am using an under leveled milady and reverse grip and/or simple skill issue

[@im2shady4u13]

@@mohammedbaig9569 you can get enough in/around the first major area of the game to get to +5, that could help. but yea, i beat him in about, 4 or 5 tries? the next major boss u run into? took me 20+ and a build change

[@mohammedbaig9569]

@@im2shady4u13 yeah its def a skill issue from rust, but also an issue of my NG level being too high and my scadu and weapon levels too low

[@im2shady4u13]

@mohammedbaig9569 yea. When I said u can get to +5 in the opening area, I meant scadu level. And it's without fighting any bosses

[@bobthebuilder4240]

They just heard we hated that spinning radahn move and decided theyd give us all the more reason to

[@rohansensei5708]

Consort Radahn is a goddamn Bayonetta boss

[@codybarnes1531]

Please dont blaspheme. Yeah He tuff tho

[@servillian2363]

I agree so much with your ranking. i was so confused why you struggled with the leda fight lol, but wow you did it solo. If you complete an npcs quest you can summon them to help so it was a 3v3 in the end

[@Nightwalk2]

Yeah it’s not even worth the 1v3 I think…

[@REDB00TS]

It boosts his hp insanely high 😂

[@shishastuff]

wait which npcs? please help

[@servillian2363]

thollier and ansbach, it’s a pretty cool fight if you have them

[@leafar4964]

@@servillian2363 I really enjoyed the npcs talking to eachother in the middle of battle, was really cool!! then radhan crushed my hopes

[@ELDniel-DW5pg]

the fact that fromsoftware have dethroned their hardest boss malenia with the dlc bosses in just 2 years is insane

[@kingzandinie]

Isshin and Kos are harder than malenia

[@water-yj6zc]

@@kingzandinieIsshin isn’t even the hardest boss in Sekiro lmao what

[@Koknius]

@@kingzandinie comment from someone who didnt play fromsoftware games at all, lol. Isshin not even close to be hardest boos in Sekiro, which is literally easiest FS game, excluding demon souls. Malenia by far harder than Kos and Glock Saint

[@ultrablade0469]

@@kingzandinieI don’t think anyone would say Isshin is harder than Malenia, Isshin is just a skill check to see whether you’ve learned the mechanics of the game or not, Malenia is something else entirely

[@raresradoi39]

​@@ultrablade0469 The thing with Elden Ring is the boss fights are as much as a challenge as you, or rather your build, allows them to be. Beating Sekiro requires you to git gud, build optimization only goes so far. But in ER, you can get really OP. In my first run, Malenia was a pain, I mainly stuck to an oonga boonga STR build. In NG+, I wanted to see how much an OP build would trivialize the fight, so with BB, Mimic and Fire Incants, I beat her on my second try with basic buffs. Sekiro was way harder for me, but I do admit my potato PC lagged quite a bit.

[@MrSlima20]

I stumbled upon Bayle by accident whilst exploring and I immediately got messed up. After a while of struggling with Relanna I went back to bayle and didn’t leave until I beat him. He was my favourite dragon fight they’ve ever made and honestly one of the best fights in general, when I beat him I was so sad I couldn’t do it again immediately

[@SeanathanCreek]

That's like stumbling across the fires of Mount Doom by accident haha. Great fight tho!

[@TheArmyofHades]

Fr Bayle is awesome and if you have Igon too its doubly awesome.c

[@Al-ji4gd]

Another lame dragon boss, IMO.

[@starfuryduck3446]

That second phase radahn grab attack is brutal if it hits twice. If you know you know

[@krispt8835]

Got him to like a sliver of hp when I get charmed for the second time and I just stood there in shock 😢

[@Moabkiller38]

Wait what happens if he does it twice? I beat him a few hours ago and I never got grabbed twice

[@felipevacari9004]

​@@Moabkiller38Miquella steals your heart

[@smg0368]

You can, however, negate that charm by using Miquella’s great rune, collected from the Scadutree Avatar, you can use it during the fight to remove the spell he puts on you. Though admittedly finding the window of opportunity to use it is difficult.

[@Jagger_Man]

I hate him so much

[@jonathangriffin4594]

They took one of my favorite bosses, lothric and lorian, and then just went completely insane with the difficulty. Definitely going to mop up some of the side stuff i missed before i try that again.

[@ibadrizvi5740]

Are you talking about Radhan? He's definitely nothing like Lothric , that's an actual fun fight and this is flash grenades the boss

[@toboe156]

I’m on NG+4 with level 8 Scadutree. I still feel like I’m being used as a fleshlight in some of these fights.

[@ChristianHuye]

*boss violently using fleshlight pretending it’s you*

[@en20drayt87]

mate i do no damage to radahn on ng+7 with 15 scadu

[@aMoldy]

Lv 8 is low

[@actuallyalive.1737]

U gotta max the scadutree to fight him basically otherwise the fight is only gonna be pure aids.

[@en20drayt87]

@@actuallyalive.1737 15 is pretty good though and i’m getting buggered

[@Cresif]

I didn't summon at all for base game, but for Leda I had too, especially since I somehow managed to get a 4v1 with Moore too instead of the regular 3v1.

[@nateneill2271]

I played through the dlc blind and now I realize I missed almost half the bosses

[@rubenlara4029]

fr like why did i only get to the hardest ones first? its made the dlc feel awful in some ways, good to know theres only one boss left thats harder than byle and messmer

[@私はクソな中国人です]

Yeah this is why I don’t agree with people who say these games are best when u go in blind. You miss like half the game and the end point is often miserable because your character is underpowered from missing too many upgrades/levels.

[@ivanthaboi]

​@@私はクソな中国人です i only missed a few npc quests and a cool weapon (that i later googled) because i explored as much as i possibly could. Tbh the dlc is extremely layered and complicated so i wouldn't flame anyone for missing half of this hidden bs

[@warriorwatch2406]

@@私はクソな中国人です I disagree. I was able to find 9 out of the 10 remembrance bosses in the Realm of Shadow and explored almost the entire map. Only reason I couldn't find the last one was because my dumbass never thought to go double check one spot I didn't explore much.

[@NinjaPickle]

​@@私はクソな中国人ですThat's why you have to go into these games with a mindset of exploring. I got all the way up to Enir Ilim having gotten pretty much every major boss except for 4 (Scadutree Avatar, Commander Gaius, Bayle, and Radahn) and when I got there I decided to go look for some more fights. Found Scadutree Avatar, and when I couldn't find anything else I looked up where the rest of the fights were so I could go beat them. 8 of the 11 main bossfights in the DLC (9 because I couldn't miss Radahn) without looking things up, and the other two were because I didn't see the path leading to the bosses

[@Palaecro]

I for one am happy that Radahn ends up being the most challenging boss of the entire game. What a Chad

[@matteobonelli8442]

That's exactly what they wanted: pure fan service!

[@misterxxxxxxxxx1]

@@matteobonelli8442 final boss should have been just god miquella

[@gabbycal]

Radahn has no mind of his own, it is just Miquella controlling Radahn. So we are fighting Miquella.

[@misterxxxxxxxxx1]

@@gabbycal no its literally radahn we are fighting. In second phase god miguella boost's his power.

[@theg4062]

Ehh from what I've read Radahns new body was made with Mohgs remains, with Radahns soul placed inside it. Technically Radahn but not really, still being controlled by Miquella

[@thehilariousoriginalname4624]

Bayle gets a 10/10 from me with the same reason as you and shoulda been the end boss. But He gets a 25 / 10 for Igon going full Captain Ahab Mode when you summon him.

[@rangopistacho6928]

i fucking loved Igon, i love how the dlc had characters with the most personality, i have no issues with from software npcs, but they gave the dlc ones much more life in them, it reminds me of siegward and siegmyer

[@meitomiyazaki9848]

ive been running around the land of shadow for like possibly 20 hours or so and i have no clue what half the npcs are called

[@everythinghollow3870]

its awesome to others notice the moby dick reference, with igon

[@mihalykerekgyarto917]

Pest threads and pest spear rips Bayle apart. Plus he is really weak to scarlet rot.

[@rubenlara4029]

i wish i had summoned him but legit never found his sign and byle was already on my ass if i tried to summon some spirit ash lol

[@spongegobler3449]

Commander Gaius made my hair gray

[@jinjajit]

That un-dodgeable charfe attack made me want to pull my hairout

[@rngnakka9850]

​@@jinjajitI found that you can bloodhound step it but can't dodge by rolling lol

[@p.istvan8744]

@@rngnakka9850 You can dodge by rolling but half the time it still hits you.

[@Rat-ro2gf]

I was able to kill him with a mimic and a maliketh blade but damn😭 I got no skill but he’s dead at least

[@Yoshyguy21]

@@jinjajit It's dodgeable, but the timing is very specific

[@thijs6439]

I wanted to play the game without the earthtree blessings buff and let me tell you its so hard i spent like 8 hours on some bosses and im still not done

[@rayyancapk]

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF 😭😭 thats the equivalent of beating the game at level 1

[@truesworld588]

@@rayyancapkprobably even harder cuz at least at lvl 1 there are weapons that can actually do damage, but no blessings makes even the best weapons suck

[@thijs6439]

@@rayyancapk because i play all these games on soul level 1 i like the hard challenge but i think im going to use some of my blessings because they just have to much health

[@marcowong6265]

I had my ass handed to me by that one knight guy near the beginning and that humbled me real quick. Everything up until Radhan felt doable, so I resorted to co-op and I'm still unable to beat him.

[@ivanthaboi]

I got a shit ton of holy negation, bleed and a mimic tear and that worked pretty well

[@jaycielle]

I really dig how your character comes through in this video without interrupting the flow of the video itself, really great balance and it never feels forced - subscribed!

[@Nightwalk2]

Thanks so much! Glad to have you

[@iamscherzo]

These bosses are so hard it feels like Miyazaki wanted to punish us all

[@JohnSmith-tx1mz]

And you liked it

[@knuckleheadwestwind3585]

I think Bayle could’ve been my favorite boss if I could lock on to his torso, having to lock and unlock constantly makes the whole thing feel more awkward than it needed to be.

[@drewengel7073]

Radahn is the hardest boss in this series, by far. It took me 4 hours of attempts to win and I will say that phase 1 is so much harder than phase 2. Most of my deaths were in phase 1 or attempting to get back to phase 2. You need Malenia's great rune to have a chance in this fight, so kill Malenia, buy every rune arc imaginable, and just use the healing on hit. For the DLC, just use the spirit ashes at this point, when From introduces an entire leveling system for them, they are no longer cheese tactics, but necessary use tactics. My build recommendations for Radahn are his swords from his base game remembrance, Malenia's great rune, Opaline bubble tear, Ironjar aromatic, and Black Knife Tiche. That was the build I killed him on.

[@FSVR54]

It's fucked cause of the scadutree mechanic. the Lion Dancer was an all time hard boss for me because I did like no damage

[@buckiemohawk3643]

their leveling system in the dlc is a total scam

[@drewengel7073]

@@FSVR54 Lion Dancer is a piece of cake compared to Radahn. Every other boss felt tough but fair, phase 1 Radahn feels at points unfair, he is way too fast for the damage he deals. I think slowing down him or decreasing his damage in phase 1 would make the fight a lot more fair than he currently is.

[@DataDrain02]

Ironic that Malenia's Great Rune is actually the best for that fight.... I'll keep this in mind when I get to him. (And yes, I WILL use Tiche. She's the GOAT. I may also for my first run summon other players instead of Tiche. I mean, this fucker did start off as a raid boss.... Might as well end him with a raid party. =V)

[@drewengel7073]

@@DataDrain02 I tried with the NPC summons a few times, it makes an already tough boss into a nightmare as the health slowly ticks down, out of phase 1.

[@Ultradocker]

For final boss phase 2 start run directly behind him, not away from him. I got completely blasted by his range but once I started to go behind him he is forced to meele you from the beginning of phase 2. There's a new talisman for holy dmg negation in the hinterlands region, pretty sure that talisman was meant to be used in this fight.

[@MonsieurGaslight]

The leda fight is supposed to be fought alongside Ansbach, I believe. Leda has voice lines talking to him, and he spawns in once Dane does. It makes the insufferable ganking into a satisfying chance to turn the tables into a 2v2 or 2v1 in your favor.

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

I love to watch those kinds of video while I'm in a living nightmare in the DLC and learn all of the hardest stuff is still to come...

[@neilmenpara8287]

Try scarlet rot, that is the best counter to radahn... Remember Malenia beat Radahn using scarlet rot only

[@upsideproductions2]

Malenia didn’t really beat radahn. In the lore it was a tie. And even then Malenia basically resorted to using a cheat code from an outer god. Just to be knocked out and put in a Coma for god knows how long. And on top of that radahn was holding back the whole time

[@neilmenpara8287]

@@upsideproductions2 radahn also uses magic which is not inherent to the lands between and is channelled from cosmic objects like moon and azure comet. The fight was tie, no since both of them lost ability to fight and sanity. I think it was a duel to death for radahn since the new dlc suggests that radahn needed to die so his soul can be called to land of shadow

[@dood6647]

It was apart of miq's plan in the end. ​@upsideproductions2

[@henazz2561]

@@upsideproductions2it was not a cheat lol Malenia had to hold within the outer god of rot and bloomed as a last resort this like saying Maliketh using destined death is a cheat or the Fire giant using the flame of ruin is a cheat too

[@hugogustafsson4815]

@@upsideproductions2 she didnt use the rot cuz she wanted to, the needle broke

[@KingAlpha4108]

Pro tip for Dr spam at the end, took me about 30 tries, after a while I had enough and busted out the great shield and got him in 2 tries, first one almost had him but my heart was "stolen" (use miquealas great rune to get the thing off your head

[@knatspray]

Radahn- Intro: I just beat Radahn after around six hours of attempts. I used a build similar to yours, a heavy sword one-hit at a time kinda thing. I learned that holy negation counts, it removes a lot of the risk in second phase. Also if you’re gonna hit this guy, hit him hard. I stacked jump attack buffs with the Gravebird chest piece and the claw talisman, I hit exclusively jump attacks for this fight. Luck dictates whether you survive, and that’s a fact. There are a few moves I want to mention as I go. Combat in first phase: The first hit is free. Enter the fog wall and wait for him to do the gravity spin, learn the timing and it’s an instant hit for you. He has two attacks in first phase that are potentially unavoidable, the gravity rock sling and the double slice into scissor combo. Lucky placement is the only way to avoid them, period. The easiest attack to reliably dodge and then punish is the double right-side swing into sword earthquake combo. Bait that by staying kissing distance from him. These tips come from hours of trial and error, and they allow me to get him to second phase within twenty seconds on average (with a high scadutree blessing and three buffs, I did this on NG+3 and they are necessary). Phase two Combat: Phase two gives all of his attacks the Miquela poppers, obviously. Though, one or two combos only get them from the last swing (just as a fun fact). The holy negation I mentioned will help counteract a popper here and there. Now for the anime-clone-after-image attacks. A lot of them are dodgable, specifically the ones where he is on the ground and hacking away. There are also one or two where he charges in place before sending a burst of himself at you, just walk/dodge to the side a whole bunch and he’ll miss (unless you’re too slow, then you die immediately). A lot of the overhead after-image attacks will chip you at the least, but one takes the cake as the hardest move to survive in the entire game (Waterfowl Dance 2 if you will). It’s a modified version of one of his other really difficult to avoid attacks, the rock sling. He sends rocks at you, then if you survive those (or get half your health bar chunked) he sends a bunch of clones at you that cannot be outrun, dodged or avoided. They also stun you if they land, so try to dodge a couple and take one or two for the team. But that’s not the worst part, after the clones, he slams down and makes another earthquake. Once he pulls his swords up the ground shatters and explodes in an outward pattern with the Miquela poppers. Each of these things stack by the way. The swords coming up, the ground shattering, and the popper wave can all hit you individually require meticulous timing and placement that I couldn’t muster after six hours of trying. I used the crimson burst tear to save my ass during this one specific attack, and it only worked twice. Other than that it’s manageable for a seasoned player like you. The Miquela rapture explosion can be avoided with good timing by running out of the blast zone (marked by the ring of white around the edge). Also a good tactic I found is staggering him and critting just before the boom (this takes luck, you’ll need three consecutive and powerful attacks to knock him down). The Miquela brainwash grab is the most free damage in second phase, even if you mess up your timing you only die after the second time he grabs you. The meteor attack is tough to avoid but isn’t usually a one-shot risk. Just dodge the first set of clones and take the explosion like a champ. That’s all I’ve got, I’m sorry I don’t have more experience to tell you how to avoid his attacks better, but this is what got me by. You might’ve already beaten him, but maybe this will help another commenter :) Mohg Secret Boss Are you familiar with the Mohg dance? Well, streamer Jerma985 is the master. After beating the game and getting Miquelas crown, bring it to Mohg’s arena and put it on the cocoon. Mohg will then be resurrected and will challenge you to a dance-off. Refer to Jerma985’s “Mohg Dance” for tips on how to beat him.

[@komboguymagyar1640]

Bro, PARRY

[@yellowflash511]

WHAT? MOGH SECRET BOSS IS A THING?

[@jax345-]

I like how you call them "poppers" cuz that's literally what they are lol

[@tacgecko6]

As for the rock sling attack, it is actually quite easy to dodge consistently. Just run sideways and jump as the first one reaches you. No idea about the scissor one though, I've never dodged it without getting hit at least once.

[@knatspray]

@@tacgecko6 Yes, the rock sling may have a more consistent dodge method as I mentioned. But the sling isn’t even the issue, it’s the super slam follow-up. I’ve only seen it somewhat avoided a single time across three separate people’s playthroughs, and he had like half health by the end still.

[@GetenIce]

Messmer and Midra were my favorites I feel like Midra was supposed to have an infinite madness buildup after transforming and they scrapped it last minute

[@upsideproductions2]

I feel the same way. I think messmers phase transition surpasses godricks 😂

[@ll-ll5gt]

both are top 10 best fromsoft bosses in my opinion

[@WaterFlame3030]

I believe there's a talisman which makes Radahn phase 2 much easier. It's a holy resistance talisman found in... somewhere around Scaduview.

[@ibadrizvi5740]

The issue isn't the damage in the second phase, it's trying to make out what is happening behind the light show

[@warbandbutter]

Radahn's second phase AOE attack lowers my framerate to like 1 its impossible for me

[@darthschrag591]

Leda and her friends can be super shifted by some side quests. It’ll make it much more bearable.

[@kaigdoa893rhkpp]

If you bring a greatshield against Radahn it absolutely trivialises him to an insane degree

[@Renoistic]

The difference in difficulty with greatshield vs no greatshield is completely nuts lol.

[@anyray5653]

At first I was really frustrated yet after 20 hours I'm really enjoying this DLC.

[@p.istvan8744]

Midra is surprisingly challanging if you use a fire weapon. I mean, yeah, he is kind of strong against fire. Lord of Frenzied Flame for a reason. Also with Bayle there are a few windows where its more worth it to hit the left leg, as that takes the same damage as the head.

[@jrwwp]

Choosing to play it on ng7 was definitely what I needed. Love the challenge of almost needing powerups to deal okay damage and to survive more than 1 hit. Still have the hardest 3 to beat.

[@yifanzhang6556]

This dlc feels like fromsoft puts the hardest bosses they made in all souls games together and then makes them even harder😢

[@punklingyt]

My advice, since my main playthrough character is a strict soloer (I have her designed like a Skyrim Nord, so all of her fights are 'Nord Honor Duels'), I found out after about 10+ attempts on Leda and co. that they suck at figuring out what to do against Wild Strikes. Slap Wild Strikes on a Bleed Weapon, buff up with Holy Negate, then do the Bart Simpson "If you get hit, its your own fault"

[@cartersmith8904]

Radahn took me around 9 actual real life hours... A part of my soul is gone and I don't think I'll ever recover

[@benefitsben3240]

miquella and radahn tryna make us feel like mohg after fighting them, a soulless husk

[@dougdimmadome9841]

i’m at 9 hours and counting…don’t think i’ll ever beat him

[@cartersmith8904]

@@dougdimmadome9841 Do you have the golden braid talisman? That will help you a lot.

[@Mike-official]

7 hour of fighting him and I finally beat him. I hope we canonically snap miquellas neck like a twig

[@vitorhp4238]

He is recycling our flesh back to the soil.

[@siph8910]

I'm currently doing a strength build no summons or damage incantations, I've done everything up to the final boss, he has been whooping my ass so much, I've gotten pretty close a couple of times so I just gotta keep banging my head against the wall. Bayle was surprisingly very easy for me

[@golemofwill4728]

The big issue I have with this dlc was how much the blessings matter. The final boss was so insanely obnoxious that I grinded out my blessings from like 7 to 13 which made my damage not feel like hitting him with a wet newspaper.

[@theholypopechodeii4367]

I really liked the levelling system since it stopped me from steamrolling the DLC and made it feel like I was playing it for the first time again. I see your point though, and I don't think there was a way to satisfy both types of players. Not having this system would let us steamroll the dlc even though the bosses have hard a huge amount of attacks and such; if they had base game scaling they wouldn't be nearly as hard. Runes can't do that since past lvl 150, the equivalent of a few levels doesn't compare to even 1 scad buff. On the other hand, by having this system it sort of undoes the progress for players who don't care about fully exploring the DLC and just want to move from one major boss to the other, which is a completely understandable mindset and/or players who want to explore but don't care for the sense of growth. Add to that the final boss being too bullshit and cheap. They could have not had the system and left it like the previous FS DLC's but the sense of progression is important enough to Elden Ring's identity that I like it.

[@thesnatcher3616]

@@theholypopechodeii4367 Elden Ring was all about exploration(open world game after all), and people were complaining that the base game didn't provide enough incentive to explore as much as it should have. It really isn't unreasonable to expect players to either bite their tongue and duke out the challenge, or go and explore to get stronger. That's how a lot of fromsoft games always worked. It was how it worked in Demon's Souls(go to other archstones), Ds1(don't go to the catacombs early), and so forth. I really don't see how this is a point of contention. And this is coming from someone who skipped a lot of the minidungeons in the base game. Agree on the final boss though. I don't mind the lore, and the music is phenomenal. It just needs to be balanced better from the footage I've seen(the speed is downright comical). If they do, it seems like it'll be a great final boss.

[@rickharrison1737]

You only needed 13 blessings to beat him? I’m at 19 and it still feels near impossible.

[@shinyhydreigon7257]

@@theholypopechodeii4367 also going to be pretty annoying for replays. Need to figure out a route to pick up all or most blessings the fastest.

[@lorddimus]

The idea behind Leda fight is that the game gives you an ability to summon 2 allies. Chadsbach and thiolier. The fight is meant to be played that way, because it not only gives you a lesser challenge, but also there's a plot base for that. It's the same as Radahn fight in base game.

[@The_Grim_Reader2010]

Bayle the Dread is Bayle the Balrog

[@vinnie3142]

I just beat Radahn today after 60+ tries. Fight him and dont give up. I found the fight more and more enjoyable, like an ellegant dance the more i fought him. And the feeling once you overcome him is amazing. My heart was pumping after got him. Then i got the ending, turned off Elden Ring and dreaded the continuation of my holy damage only run, seeing these bosses.

[@thijs6439]

The first boss i fought was the death knight he was hard

[@burntivoryking]

Wait are there multiple death knights because the one I fought was after rellana

[@Handlehosyler]

@@burntivoryking2

[@thijs6439]

@@burntivoryking the first one i fought was behind rellana´s castle. when i started up the game i went straight to her caste but i thought maybe there will be a secret entrance in the back thats how i found that tomb

[@thijs6439]

@@Handlehosyler i didnt know where is the other one?

[@burntivoryking]

@@thijs6439 it’s in the area below the ancient ruins of Rauh in the top left of the map

[@redviper5s150]

I’m not ashamed to admit I died at least three times to Bayle just because I was in awe of a move he was doing at the time. Definitely going to watch his fight on KZbin

[@finduzzle2991]

Haha I had the same experience. I was like "Oh my god, I have no clue what will happen next but it looks so damn cinematic and cool!"

[@bigred8313]

Bayles 2nd phase was literally the coolest fight in the entire game

[@estebanr920]

i just beat Radahn today. After like, literally 50 tries. Rivers of a blood, Verdigris Greatshield, Dragonscale talisman +2, boiled prawns for that extra damage negation, Rams Horn talisman for THAT POISE, and Lord of blood Exultation. Along with tear of thorns and the tear for stamina regen (i forgot what it was called). Oh and obviously the mimic, but summon it in phase 2 to tank damage for ya. hopefully you get him soon, Good Luck Tarnished!

[@maxwagner6342]

The strategy for radahn is parrying, he’s fairly easy to parry. That was the only way I could beat him

[@Marionekx]

Parry is for clowns

[@2angry2die]

You can parry Radahn?????

[@Caelum_01]

​​parry is for smart players who would risk their health for making an opening rather than running around like a jester being chased, sit down lord of Clowns

[@seb3661]

@@Marionekx fingerpirnt shield> your mom

[@Eclipsed_Embers]

you can parry him? you can parry the giant demigod's duel colossal swords?

[@michaelbanning8249]

“Ping ponged around like a… like a ping pong!” - Nightwalk Just take my sub, okay?

[@gamer8622]

You actually have to summon for needle knight or you wont finish certain quests.

[@heromaxpower]

I found midra pretty late as well. He was challenging af tbh. But he was one of the better fights. Good windows of attack, get the flame +3 talisman and it’s pretty good. Eye attack needs a bigger wind up for something that can potentially one shot even at +15

[@fatalishuntinghorn]

13:09 you couldn't take the average invader Experience lmao

[@WTfire10]

true when I saw this I thought it can't be worse than three rivers of blood guys, that have played nothing else for 200h since release

[@shadowyking123]

Nawwh, invaders don't have 10k+ hp in one bar so you just need to combo and roll catch them and they'll drop.

[@louiemimis598]

For the Leda fights I summoned the 2 npcs that were available to me. 1 was literally useless but the fact that they appear slowly just like the ones on Leda's side made the fight so much more cinematic

[@cracky4122]

Oooo ur getting me hyped to play the DLC!

[@gluttonyfang6674]

NG+7 / Two Handed "Greatsword" / Braggart's Roar / And a dream Bayle is the best dragon fight in all of Fromsoft's Souls creation, I proudly say this as a long-time player of Monster Hunter. In all of my years of playing Fromsoft games, there has never been a dragon that gave me the same andrenaline as the ones in classic MonHun games. Bayle pulled off a dragon fight that is as high quality as what Capcom put out in MonHun, and I hope they would learn from this when they finally created a remake White Fatalis. Also the camera needs fixin lmao, other than that 12/10

[@PhuongHoang-cj9jz]

The great dragon katana is designed for Bayle (and basically any dragon). Using it make even Bayle feel like a gimmick fight (but great still, ofc)

[@Nightwalk2]

Really?? Where did you find it?

[@darkmatter9643]

@@Nightwalk2it drops from the ancient dragon man boss that you need to fight to reach bayle

[@thetyrantin]

Radhan no-hit challenge will be an interesting watch

[@mikie_ec]

Finally beat radahn after 6 hours

[@Oknahidwin]

Is he harder to beat than malenia solo? I found him a touch easier

[@benefitsben3240]

@@OknahidwinEH?!?!?!? i was struggling so much i decided to go fight malenia instead and first tried her after going through the dlc 😭😭😭 he’s miles miles harder, as malenias attacks don’t have the bs hit boxes phase two radahn has

[@joelabraham6834]

​@@OknahidwinMalena's movesets harder imo. But Radahn fight takes a lot longer, so you need to play perfectly for a longer time.

[@ROMKA187]

@@joelabraham6834the reason why Radahn is harder that you need to know every single angle you have to roll from each attack

[@Park-hr1wk]

i beat him after 8 hours.. haha.. beated you to it... but for real though.. Screw that boss

[@SynthCity_]

When it came to needle night and friends, this one stumped me the most compared to any other boss I fought so far. But I remembered a good way to easily dispose of NPC's. Fingerprint stone shield with Shield crash Ash of War /w blood infusion You spam it (holding skill button), it'll stun lock any NPC, along afflicting Madness and Bleed, I recommend it if people ever get stuck on NPC's in general as it just demolishes them

[@spiggly_digg]

I haven’t gotten too far and there were two boss spoilers in the thumbnail, maybe change it to some of the earlier bosses? I will definitely watch this once I complete the dlc tho

[@Nightwalk2]

Thanks for the feedback, I've updated it to only feature trailer bosses. Good luck on the DLC and enjoy!

[@cesaraugusto.9920]

Lmaaaaao

[@STOPSYPHER]

you can’t be complaining about spoilers AFTER release dawg 😂

[@darkstar19]

don't watch the videos until you're done then, no one owes it to you to wait for you.

[@spiggly_digg]

@@Nightwalk2great video, i agree with pretty much everything except for leda. If you do the npc side quests you can summon thollier and ansbach, who make it a 3v3. Also hippo’s too high. Everything else i agree with tho, loved the vid

[@GetenIce]

I feel your pain with Needle Knighy and co. Fia’s Champions kicked my ass way more than I would like to admit to and this fight is that on crack

[@lukesoutherton6953]

Bro I’ve died to Midra like 30 times

[@Nightwalk2]

Yeah I figured. I’m assuming you aren’t 14+ on your scadutree fragment boost though?

[@lukesoutherton6953]

@@Nightwalk2 no I’m on 11 I think, I may need to change my build around. Strength seems like a good way to go

[@racosen3204]

i already beat her but it took more deaths too TwT

[@ObiJohnKenobi67]

@@lukesoutherton6953 Try to learn the parry timing, a lot of his attacks are pretty easy to parry and he gives you a riposte after 3.

[@ashesonwool4011]

Was not expecting to see no.3 so high up. Then again, progressing the right npc questlines can make the fight super trivial as it goes from a 4v1 to a 3v3 (without mimic)

[@SaunaTino]

I love spoiling everything for myself before getting to actually play!

[@isaacverrall8782]

Doesnt matter bro at least you wont miss any bosses

[@doge_69]

@@isaacverrall8782 but the guy in the video did miss quite a few of them.

[@gingemaximus5301]

Not sure why people hate spirit ashes so much. I use them because I think Conjuring stuff is pretty cool.

[@imabigblackduck]

Doing this dlc on NG+11 is honestly really fun but extremely rough. I’m stuck on Radahn right now and looking forward to beating him after work.

[@Nightwalk2]

Holy Jesus, good luck NG+11 warrior

[@STOPSYPHER]

What level are you? I haven’t got the DLC yet but I’m around level 350 at ng9.

[@imabigblackduck]

Lvl 343. Radahn one-three taps me depending on attacks. And this with my fragment level at 14.

[@imabigblackduck]

@@Nightwalk2 finally did it last night. It took, EVERYTHING. I’m ashamed to say, I had to rely on jolly cooperation to take him down with full defense poke builds to take him down. It took a total of near 7 hours all together to take him down. 2 hours solo, 2 and half hours with npc/spirit summons, 1 hour of test runs, nearly 2 hours with players. I will return in my getting good play through.

[@thomasmccormick3978]

I love how each boss is so different with a play style. I was double spears and beat Leda first try without summons just poke and run

[@tublar_stanley]

leda being at #3 just because you were fighting them alone (which is not what your meant to do) is a fine example of the stupid mindset of "if you summon you didn't beat it"

[@konkeydongblaster]

While I don’t condone people shitting on others for using summons, everyone can play the game how they want, so I definitely don’t think that is a stupid mindset just cause they don’t like using summons and like the 1v1 matchup, it probably feels more fulfilling and satisfying for them to do so which I can understand.

[@w8909-j9y]

​@@konkeydongblasterits not even a 1v1 match its a 1v3 match this boss fight practically begs you to summon other npc for it to be a 3v3 instead

[@Mike-official]

@@Whitemale112 oh im sure he feels so bad for cheesing this terrible boss, how will he ever recover from this mortal wound.

[@sharkbiteshitposts5506]

@@Whitemale112it’s a video game that HE paid for, he can play how he wants 💀

[@Mike-official]

@@Whitemale112 I already beat the dlc. I have nothing to cope about. Maybe stop whining about how other people play and focus on your own fun. Midras and rellena were the only fight I liked, which is why I did them solo

[@cow12344]

you should rank EVERY dlc boss in your quality ranking, the interactive map can help you find them all

[@marcuscallahan4645]

Wtf would u have that as the thumbnail. Some people are taking their time with this. Just put the divine spirit

[@Nightwalk2]

Great point, that was a silly oversight by me. I've changed it to be only bosses shown in the trailer.

[@STOPSYPHER]

If you’re still trying to avoid spoilers after release, you shouldn’t be on the internet bro

[@marcgw496]

11:18 “a few tries later”… that’s a good way to put it 😂

[@_bhuc3802]

Did anyone felt that the final radahn boss is somewhat rushed ?

[@Nightwalk2]

What do you mean by rushed?

[@windows1543]

@@Nightwalk2 They're probably talking about the leaks maybe The leaks looked so damn rushed but the final end result was so wonderful and cinematic to me

[@Nightwalk2]

Ahh I see. I avoided all spoilers so I didn’t even know haha

[@moon-berserker8870]

​@windows1543 Yeah I think Radhan because of this is in my top 3 best bosses.

[@Renoistic]

I first thought having Radahn as the final boss was weird but it made sense when Miquela showed up in phase two. But I agree, I felt something was missing. It didn't feel epic enough I guess. Might be because in the end it's a DLC and not supposed to be the actual end of the game.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

So the Leda fight is actually made a lot easier if you do the questlines because then Angsbach and Thiolier will join the battle but they’ll be on your side. Plus it gives you more dialogue which is cool

[@kelefane6233]

I think starting over and playing the game the start again and entering the dlc naturally is the best way to go.

[@rplenkers9240]

Imo leda bossfight is the one bossfight where i think you really should use the npc summons availabe to you. This is the culmination of multiple npc questlines leading up to the final confrontation to miquella. Its supposed to feel like a brawl.

[@MrHam-db8dg]

Finally finished the dlc in its entirety, every boss without summons and wow it certainly was a ride. Specifically Giaus, Leda gank, and Radahn were incredibly hard and I'm honestly glad I've finished it, I'm definitely using summons on my next playthrough no chance I'm going through that pain again

[@EATZitUp]

Black Knife Tiche is doing what needs to be done be me 🤣🤷🏽‍♂️

[@tdpark]

For this list, except the scadtree avatar, I beat all the other bosses. For the arena fight, it's such a fun fight. If you do the quest, you can summon other npc. For number 1, promised consort is for sure top 1 hardest boss, because young Radahn got Miquella light spells + Mohg blood spell + Malenia attack speed. I had to change my build for this fight

[@icetide9411]

Radahn made me break out the forbidden greatshield build that I made in my first ever run. I had locked that build up because it was simply too powerful, it was the secret easy mode. But Radahn made me bring it back out, because by god I couldn't stand that second phase.

[@mehulajax21]

I beat Radahn after a little over 50 tries...My trick was: 1) Talismans: Dragoncrest, Golden braid, erdtree+2, Crimson Amber +2 2) Morgotts rune 3) Bullgoat legs and arms, empty head, Scaled Armour, raptor black feather armour 4) Boiled crabs, golden vow 5) Physick: Opaline hard tear, Thorny cracked Tear 6) +20 scadutree blessing and +10 spirit summon 7) 2 handing bloodhound fang+10 8) Mimic summon. Spammed ash of war and jump attacks to brute force. I was initially trying no summon with my dual cold bandit curved sword build. Always used to struggle in phase two. I used to die with unused flasks. Realized that main problem is that I dont have enougn HP to tank hits and exchange blows. Beefed up HP and took it to above 2700 with increased defence and won in 2nd try of the mentioned build. The first try was very close with him and me both on one hit. The camera caused by attack to whiff. I could have beat him in less than 3 tries if I respeced and went for this setup. I wanted to end the game with only cold bandit curved swords. Btw, shield and poke with fingerprint shield should work as well. This guy would be the hardest ever made till date for me.

[@dandan3045]

that's not a trick, it your build

[@slyonrse8803]

Killing needle night and friends without summons and spirits is my greatest life accomplishment. It was horrible

[@kevincox2369]

The fact that you made this list before TheDemocracy 👏

[@johnbeavers9977]

Im just glad to know I’m not the only one who absolutely struggled with this DLC. I also went with my original account (NG+8) I do not recommend until you’ve beat the DLC. 😅

[@knuckleheadwestwind3585]

I think what makes Radahn difficult is that your assumptions are often against you. So many moves have to be dodged by running: the rock hurl, the phase two gravity wave, the phase two standard air five-point slash, the massive nuke attack, etc. You often have to use running to get into position to actually dodge, and when you do dodge, you have to always dodge in, you can never run away. The fight just goes against your base instincts.

[@dustinschalk8825]

Man I would love to have a career based on playing these games …but at the same time I don’t know how you were able to push through this thing fast enough to get all this out 😂 I have played ALL weekend , but I just now beat the hippo. I just play super slow and I goof off and explore slowly blah blah. If I had any pressure to get this game beat and videos published , I wonder if it takes away from the experience ? Idk . But I’m glad you guys carry thsi burden for us !!!

[@zanido9073]

Does it take away from the experience? Yes, yes it does.

[@Soadsgotaload]

I’ve been on a trip ever since the DLC came out and keeping in the dark as much as possible until getting back but I’ll make sure to watch this video as soon as I’m done with the DLC

[@JoeFanik]

Against Radahn I kept changing my build style until one finally worked best. Use a regular Katana, preferably Nagakiba for its range, with chilling mist AoW because frostbite is the easiest to exploit, and a great shield (I recommend golden greatshield) to absorb a lot of his punishment if you’re not fast enough to dodge

[@vickywitvicky]

This is exactly how i rank it thanks for this. Radhan phase 2 is just insane i cant even tell how many builds i changed to beat that guy except for insanely dodging or use the finger print shield to cheese him.

[@distraughtmango8640]

Radahn took me hours but I finally solo'd him with the sunflower hammer and it was just the best feeling. What a crazy fight.

[@thesilliestgoose5990]

The Dancing Lion boss is one of the most unnerving looking ones in the dlc, though I’ll admit it’s because of a phobia of mascots 💀