Ranking the Bosses of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree from WORST TO BEST!

[@BillySYT]

Yes, I am aware I mispronounced Igon's name. I realized in post, and it was too late to re-record that segment. It's (Eee-gone), not (Eye-gone). Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this ranking - It's based on my purely subjective experience, so don't worry - I'm not going to convert you into liking a boss you didn't enjoy, just sit back, relax, have a drink and enjoy!

[@pressy-fb1hs]

Igon is best npc with lines such as "CURSE YOU BAYLE" I love that npc

[@ELDniel-DW5pg]

igon saved my ass during the bayle fight but now i have all the fragments to beat radahn

[@bedheadtv9594]

@@ELDniel-DW5pgmake sure you take Miquella rune it counters his whisper

[@ELDniel-DW5pg]

i just beat the final boss. it came down to no flasks, my mimic tear's heart was stolen, i was close to death but radahn was one hit away so i used my black knife skill one last time when radahn was about to use his holy explosion and when the god and lord finally fell, i let out a large scream of joy. sorry billy that your mimic tear took your win away

[@zaboono]

CURSE YOU BAYLE! I hereby vow! You will rue this day! Behold, a true drake warrior! And I, Igon! Your fear 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!

[@dbishim6409]

Preach

[@weirdybeardystuff9261]

"AND I, IGON" just hits all the feels. The man knows he's not good enough but has such belief in the player that it's hard not to feel ready for battle.

[@Actual_Bizon]

Peak souls npc, with Ansbach my favourite of the dlc

[@kirbyis4ever]

​@@weirdybeardystuff9261Homie got his legs chopped off, climbed up a mountain, watched some random guy interrupt a dragon battle, kill BOTH of them and decided "Yeah, that's my champion." Then he proceeds to chop his finger off so that you can bring him into the final battle. Hands down my favorite character because his strength of will and conquering his fears.

[@devilkingaming4619]

Igon makes the bayle fight perfect

[@moricree5154]

Midra was by far my favourite fight in the dlc, maybe even my favourite in the whole game. The buildup with the mansion and the ghosts, the lore surrounding him and the start of the fight which makes you feel like the bad guy attacking this poor guy existing in suffering, trying his best not to let the madness out just for you to break him. The fight itself has really strong orphan of kos vibes for me and is just spectecacular over all. Especually when you stay close to him he really brings out the hunter inside of me, punishing a lack of aggression, giving no room to breath. I'm tramatised by his double stab attack tho for somw reason I just never got the timing right.

[@AsheLevi]

Me when I got to the Abyssal Woods: "Oh, I see. This is where Bloodborne 2 was hiding."

[@woozyluci]

Everything you mentioned as well as the distorted version of the frenzied merchant song (my favorite ost in elden ring) that plays towards the end of Midra’s ost make him my favorite as well

[@BNB-fk8jr]

Midra was amazing but not the best. Maybe in top 3 in dlc imo.

[@darkmatter9643]

I didn’t really like him personally

[@mt2r-music]

I loved that fight but I was really disappointed he doesn’t have a phase 3 with some more cinematic attacks or another arena change. He goes into phase 2 at 66% HP so the game set up my expectations for another phase for no reason. At least some kind of cinematic explosion at the end would’ve been appreciated. Something that really conveys the chaos and destruction this being has to offer. For me that would’ve put him at number 1 in the DLC.

[@DAsrada]

Also, I love how Romina's Scarlet Rot contrasts Malenia's. Malenia's is drab, brown, decayed and pulsating. Romina's is thrumming, 1980s, neon pink and loud.

[@BillySYT]

Malenia's rot is depressing and drab, while Romina was like "Instagram filter, saturation 100+"

[@knuckleheadwestwind3585]

Igon’s dialogue now rivals Rykard as the go-to comment fodder.

[@Woedenaz]

Don't forget... MY NAME IS GYOUBU MASATAKA ONIWA!!!!!!!!!! AS I BREATHE YOU WILL NOT PASS THE CASTLE GATE!!

[@Based1889]

​@@WoedenazIt honestly doesn't even compare to igon's and rykard's..

[@karu7982]

the npc gank and Dancing Lion over Midra is crazy ngl (in hindsight i can respect the Dancing Lion placement, all the remembrance fights were great so the rankings are interchangeable imo)

[@BNB-fk8jr]

YEAH MAN dancing loin suck imo

[@Lerbon_Janes]

The npc gank is in my top 20 souls fights, hot take

[@linkfiedproductions2246]

Midra was like my favorite boss bro 💀

[@beef_baby]

NPC gank was really fun as somebody who cares about the story

[@animeproblem1070]

​@@BNB-fk8jr the dancing lion is legitimately awesome to fight I think it's the perfection of the fromsoft spectacle fight

[@debater452]

When Radahn pulls you in run away and jump that's how you dodge it

[@lDoxology]

You don't have to jump, you can time it and dodge through it.

[@aaronhedick4355]

I am a fairly casual Elden Ring player I beat Radahn in about 30-40 tries using the Falx. Over 100 attempts is incomprehensible to me. How could you fight one thing that many tries and still never manage to understand how to dodge one of its attacks?

[@nayyarrashid4661]

​@@lDoxologyRunning away and jumping works as well.

[@lDoxology]

@@nayyarrashid4661 whatever works for you, but dodging is easier.

[@Dementia-pt5uz]

This is going to be a long one so bear with me here. The DLC’s final boss might be the biggest disappointment I’ve had with a boss fight in FromSoft history since Dragon God in Demon’s Souls. For those who love Radahn, mad respect to you, there is plenty to love here, but I will not sit here and lie to any of you about my fundamental disliking of this boss. I’m going to break down most of Radahn’s attacks and explain why I find the boss to be poorly designed and an unsatisfying challenge. Let me start with Radahn’s first phase which I consider to be mostly great. There are however three attacks I take issue with in this phase. 1. His three hit combo. Not only is it neigh impossible to consistently dodge all the attacks (either get hit by first then dodge two and three or dodge one, hit two, dodge three) he can also cancel certain attacks into this combo. An example is during his flame cut attack. By itself the attack is fair but a little tricky. However if you roll behind Radahn, once he concludes this attack he can pull and instant 180 into the three hit combo. So not only can this attack come out almost instantly, he now starts the animation with his back to you so you cannot even see the animation properly until you’ve taken a hit. 2. His meteor attack. By no means unfair but the amount of times the boss can spam this attack slows the pace of the fight as there is no counter/punish for this attack because he remains out of harms way. 3. Gravity pull attack. Again an attack that’s not too unfair but you get no reward for successfully dodging and if he’s close he can combo into the slam which is only avoided via running away, so you’re now spending more time disengaging with the boss. My major issue with this boss is the second phase where he goes from a solid, almost great fight, to a poorly designed mess. 1. At least two or three times during the fight Radahn will float in the air and force you to run for a lengthy period of time. By the time he finishes this attack GRRM would have written Winds of Winter twice. And again he doesn’t do this attack once, no upwards of three times you are forced to run away from the boss and NOT engage in the fight. 2. The grab attack. Easy to dodge however the punishment for being grabbed is not high damage or an instant kill (unless you’re grabbed twice) but the animation takes so god damn long in a fight that already drags. Look I fucked up dodging the grab, punish me with damage, not wasting my time getting Miqlested. 3. The never ending combos. Although he retains some of the same punishable attacks as phase, now he gains more powerful attacks that go on for a disgustingly irritating amount of time. Again in a boss that wastes you time, having less time to actually engage with the boss only serves to hinder the experience. 4. Last and most importantly the never ending beams of light that follow every attack. It’s not the damage that bothers me, no it’s pretty fair, however the artificial challenge of blinding the player during almost every attack does. With a boss that already has endless combos, aoe attacks, ranged attacks, fuck-you I’m unhittable attacks, and a grab, affecting the player’s ability to properly see the boss’ next attack is not fun or fair challenge, it is blatantly artificial and ruins any chance of enjoyment I SHOULD receive from fighting this boss. Many will disagree with my takes and that’s OKAY. I love all you fellow masochists, and this DLC has some PEAK bosses that offer amazing challenge and threaten the safety of my controller, but Radahn is not, and will not be one of them in my eyes.

[@thowan9428]

Agree with you for second Phase. I finished him with After 12 hours and it was a pleassure to learn the attacks but i have to say this boss have bs attacks and the aoe blind holy attacks After each attack is hard to dodge. The 3 slash comb is bs. And you cant see the attacks is sometimes very annoying. I had to learn him so hard i memorized all of his attacks and then it was hella fun and rewarding. But yeah this boss isnt for everyone. It is my number 4. For the dlc and my Top 15 overall

[@nayyarrashid4661]

His first phase is totally fair and all attacks are dodgeable. You just have to 1) time it properly and 2) dodge in the right direction The second phase is bs for me personally but same thing applies but more stringently this time. You dodge direction and timing has to be even more precise.

[@Laffawoof]

There are effective counters for all three in the first phase. The three hit combo is parry-able, and possible with very good dodgetiming. And on the flame attack you can dodge away from him, where you are perfectly safe for the followup. The meteor-attack usually results in a charge or a jump-attack, both resulting in a decent punish - and on the offchance its a graviitypull you can still dodge and get away with a heal. The second phase take i mostly agree on, even though its mostly the same as phase one if you're keeping close to Radahn.

[@cameronmcginley]

Honestly this boss was just so frustrating at phase 2. Phase 1 is a great fight except for that BS 2 slashes into a scissor slash combo. I kid you not I had the golden braid talisman, maxed out scadutree, 60 vigor and medium armor everywhere except my head for fashion souls and got ONE SHOT by his attack where he pulls his swords out of the ground and releases a barrage of holy projectiles. The worst part is I couldn't even see what he was doing because of the BS light beams that are not only a constant flashbang but will almost always catch you at the end of your roll because most of the beams hit you from a horizontal angle even though your meant to dodge into his swords coming from the left and right which is conveniently the direction most of the light beams hit you from and conceal most of his next attacks. Phase 2 Radahn is the worst example of artificial difficulty i've ever experienced and after being one-shot despite having 70 holy defense, 60 vigor and max blessings I just said f*ck it and used Moore's Greatshield to win. I honestly felt more relieved than happy but at least it was somewhat rewarding to outsmart the boss. Still, Radahn is gameplay-wise such a letdown considering how unenjoyable and overtuned his second phase. It's also a letdown lore-wise because of how out of the blue it is for Radahn to be the final boss when they could have had us fight Godwyn and Miquella instead, since resurrecting Godwyn with the use of the eclipse was such an unanswered plot point in the base game and seemed like before the DLC released why we would be required to kill Radahn to access the DLC.

[@Amascut]

First phase is nasty but fair and hard. Phase two is embarrassingly awful and felt like the designers desperately throwing bullshit at the wall to make it hard enough for the crazy good players and forgot that regular people play their game. Beat it in a handful of hours and it made me want to never play the DLC again in full.

[@Fulcrum_7567]

Daaaaang, Midra at 9? Didn’t expect that… Here’s my ranking: 1. Midra (I went for the Frenzied Flame on this playthrough so the story implications were magnificent) 2. CUUUUUURSEEE YOU BAYLEEEEEEE 3. Messmer 4. Rellana 5. Divine Beast 6. Romina 7. Radahn 8. Metyr 9. Hippo 10. Putrescent 11. ADM 12. Ymir 13. Inquisitor (The only two I disliked) 14. Gaius 15. Scadutree Avatars This is after only one playthrough, might change lol

[@BNB-fk8jr]

Imo Messmer is the best boss in dlc and one of the best in elden ring. Midra is amazing tho but he can be stuggered so easily so you can beat him without seeing his second phase. I did it on my second pöaythrgpuht of the dlc with bloodfiends arm with 12 scadutree fragments. Bayle is amazing . I think if Radahn’s second phase was fair rsdahn will be top 3

[@BNB-fk8jr]

Divine beast sucks

[@thepikminbrawler1746]

What is ADM? Is that the finger monster? Because that one is missing Edit: no it’s not I can’t keep these M names straight

[@Fulcrum_7567]

@@thepikminbrawler1746 Ancient Dragon Man, put him on there bc he’s required to get to the Jagged Peak

[@bruhmoment2052]

@@BNB-fk8jrI agree. Divine beast is awful but Messmer is one of the best probably across the franchise. Amazing lore and long but fair combos that make you feel rewarded for learning them. Biggest head scratcher for me in this DLC is the consistency. We’ll get a boss like divine beast with constant AOE spam after every move shoving the camera into your face, and then get a masterpiece like messmer.

[@ELDniel-DW5pg]

yeah, consort radahn made demon of hatred and malenia look like true king allant in comparison. also i think scadutree avatar is probably the most underrated fight in elden ring. great video billy and bayle despite recency bias deserves to be #2 or #1 dragon fight next to midir

[@lewdwig]

It’s interesting seeing the unexpectedly large amount of disdain or outright hatred from the community at the final boss and ending. Can’t help but feel Fromsoft kinda screwed up.

[@BillySYT]

I don't really have an issue with the ending. Radahn returning finishes up his storyline between him, Miquella & Malenia. I was just hoping we'd get something to do with Godwyn, given he has random catacomb corpses with the Death Knights.

[@ArgerichStan]

I loved Midra, probably second favorite of the DLC after Messmer (who is now my favorite Fromsoftware boss ever). Midra I enjoy for both the spectacle but also a very DS3-esque moveset - he has a few minor combo finisher variants but mostly once you recognize the beginning of a combo he sticks with it which makes the fight feel incredibly smooth and never verging on panicking. It brings back that DS3 feeling of difficulty where it always required focus but never felt like completely chaotic in the way that some Elden Ring bosses end up feeling with their insanely changeable movesets

[@MrFreitag]

I felt this way about Romina

[@jask2676]

Killed Radahn yesterday with no mimic, no great shield and no battle magic, that was tough but I felt extreme pleasure at the end

[@greydakin3146]

Midra is by far my favorite. The whole experience of finding the abyssal woods at the bottom of some catacombs and then finding and making my way through the mansion and then that reveal and the music and cutscene were just all so perfect and his fight was so fun. I may also be obsessed with frenzy flame and have been playing a frenzy flame character lmao

[@BillySYT]

From a sheer horror perspective, Midra is absolutely insane. My survival horror instincts were kicking in full force the whole time - I just wish I'd given him more of a chance to show his moveset before cheesing him so I could finish the DLC without getting spoiled ^^

[@ObiJohnKenobi67]

Anyone else think the Putrescent Knight arena looked incredibly similar to Midir’s?

[@BNB-fk8jr]

It is

[@Hevvvyyy]

Definitely, just more sludge lol

[@magganboi1350]

CURSE YOU BAYLE!!!

[@amanwithnoplan7648]

I HERBY VOW YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY

[@ghostytoasty6976]

BEHOLD, A TRUE DRAKE WARRIOR!

[@amanwithnoplan7648]

@@ghostytoasty6976 AND I, IGON

[@gianmarcotuzzolino7128]

YOUR FEAR MADE FLESH

[@Pecky3207]

SOLID OF SCALE YOU MIGHT BE, FOUL DRAGON

[@geraltofrivia7448]

Messmer, Bayle and Midra are top tier!

[@BNB-fk8jr]

Rellana?

[@connorsmith377]

Great ranking! And to answer your question, it’s not just your PS4, my frames tanked quite a bit here and there on the Dancing Lion fight on PS5 as well, I’m sure that’s just a simple performance issue they’ll end up patching out soon

[@BillySYT]

I hope so. I love these fights, but in a game that's so fast and fluid as Elden Ring, framedips feel a lot of more dangerous than say in Bloodborne ^^

[@Levinswords]

bro i may be alone in this but even though Bayle was super cool, fighting my 4th dragon in a row right before him did not make me excited for a 5th, even beefier one

[@1035-r1u]

I struggled more with the Ancient Dragon before him, god the lock on on those is horrible.

[@Wilhelmthewide]

I wasn't happy that I had to max out by scadutree blessing for me to beat radahn with mimic tear. But hearing about people needing to use a great shield made me realize that I didn't have that bad of a time against radahn. Edit: I completely agree with Scadutree Avatar's placement, though I would have had it at number 1.

[@aidansilli4257]

I'd go 1. Rellana 2. Messmer 3. Midra 4. Radahn 5. Romina 6. Divine Beast Dancing Lion 7. Bayle 8. Scadutree Avatar 9. Putrescent Knight 10. Mother of Fingers 11. Golden Hippo 12. Gaius I fought Rellana at +4 Scadutree, which was a bit low. However, it made the fight absolutely incredible, as I had to perfect her moveset. Definitely the 2nd hardest boss in the DLC for me.

[@zacharyperlee4179]

I hard agree with the placement of Gaius, because of that dman rush attack being BS and the occasional ranged AOE attacks he can pull out are devastating and one comes out particularly quickly, at least the lore is great for the Commander!

[@BNB-fk8jr]

Messmer the best imo

[@alexterieur8813]

Rellana is the queen

[@AnsbachthePureblood]

I wouldn't put rellena at first but I can agree that gaius should be at last.

[@Nico-yk5sm]

bayle at 7 is criminal

[@darkmatter9643]

Tip for the gravity pull attack, if he pulls you, you can run and jump away from the boss and he won’t catch you with the follow-up.

[@lDoxology]

The abyssal woods have grown on me, probably my favorite area by far. You just get that feeling that you are not welcomed there and you should leave. I absolutely love it.

[@BillySYT]

Oh, I adored the area. It's a bit empty, wish there was a tad more to find there. Like, one hidden field boss, a Frenzy Dragon or something. But the atmosphere and the ambience are unmatched. Those dev notes when you first enter had me paranoid af.

[@lDoxology]

@BillySYT yea it is a bit empty. A frenzy dragon would go so hard lol. They definitely captured that ambiance. When I saw I couldn't summon torrent I wanted to leave haha

[@michalwinger5479]

great video messmer is my personal favorite (2 phase is excellent). You are my favorite souls content creator. Keep it up❤

[@BillySYT]

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated ^^

[@conceptjt]

Midra 1v1 is a delight. Definitely feel like it'll be as you suspect and it'll rocket up the ranks over time.

[@arara7713]

Scadutree Avatar was my FAVOURITE boss in the dlc, such a refreshing fight. The design is by far my favourite, it looks completly out of this game's world, the animations are so different from every other boss and the arena is just gorgeous

[@peytonmiller6067]

You can turn into a dragon man actually!! After defeating Bayle and going to where the dragon priestess was picking up the item left there and using it allows you to turn into a dragon man until next death

[@hypername1]

Also one of the new painting rewards can turn you into one

[@tytar1037]

@@hypername1There’s actually two different dragon forms.

[@BillySYT]

I think because I did the alternate variant of her questline, I didn't get access to it :

[@trevorjamieson8892]

​@@BillySYT the priestess one boosts dragon cult incants, so you didn't miss out with your Dex/Arc build. The one provided by the painting is the one that boosts dragon communion spells, which is much more likely to be used for your build.

[@dylanc5773]

Bayle is such a spectacle, but gameplay wise I just really don't like dragon fights or any large boss tbh. The camera is always the hardest part of the fight and they tend to move unnaturally fast. I would have prefered another humanoid boss for sure.

[@Icekreamsandvich]

14:57 the depths of your FOOLISHNESS

[@PrincipalSkinner3190]

That was a sad kill of Radahn, but I understand why you felt pressured to do it. I'm glad I beat him my way without that greatshield build or summons.

[@firstorderblade4432]

1. Messmer 2. Midra 3. Bayle 4. Radahn 5. Rellana 6. putrescent 7. Lion 8. Romina 9. Scadutree 10. Metyr 11. Gaius

[@dbishim6409]

Perfect list Edit: gaius can burn in mt gelmir

[@fazelegobrix8270]

This may be the perfect list

[@Cakravartin1818]

I think this is what makes you a great reviewer (writing this as you're speaking of the end boss), that you're consistent in your reviews and we get to know what you personally think and how you personally would review a boss, and it being thought out still. A lot of reviewers disregard popular opinion due to their own often quirky opinion, while others disregard their own opinion due to a popular opinion. I just think you're in the sweet spot. Anyway, keep up the good work. PS I like Radahn and despise Malenia.That said, had to use summons on both not to hate my life.

[@hi00118]

I highly agree with you on Midra by the way. I forced myself to brute force him. No mimic, no summons, no cheese. Just learning to dodge and punish. And when I finally beat him it was EXTREMELY satisfying

[@BillySYT]

Glad you got that experience with Midra. I really want to go at him again without relying on weapon skills to get me through - Really learn that moveset. If only FromSoft would add a boss rush mode.

[@tehCostHD]

I’m playing on PS5 and never had any major frame drops during any boss, even dancing lion and consort.

[@sirbrando2792]

thank you for another amazing boss ranking video, i've always enjoyed your ranking videos, this is one of the first time ours have had such different differences, but i love the way you explain your thoughts on the fight itself, the music, the atmosphere, you always leave me thinking more on a fight and trying to understand it better, and i thank you for that

[@nayyarrashid4661]

The build up Lore and the preceding area to Midra easily makes him the most stand out for me. And his fight is not half bad. Mechanically it is a very fair and balanced fight. The Frenzy does surprise you a couple of times but incredibly easy to learn and feels very rewarding once you do. And I for pnce was praying that From Soft touches upon the Frenzied Flame Lore even more and I got exactly what I had wished for. I also think that fans got vindicated for the Kale's cut content story from the base game. Bayle comes in a close second in terms of Lore and build up and an epic boss fight at the end.

[@adekaiwamisou]

Hot Take: Messmer should have had 2 health bars like Malenia. He should have had a third cutscene where he goes full snake or gets some sort of big thing, even if his second health bar would be very short.

[@BillySYT]

Honestly, I think they should have given his second phase a full healthbar instead of just half. It would have hit that perfect balance for me.

[@adekaiwamisou]

@@BillySYT I can see that working too. Only reason why I suggested a third phase is because I was expecting something bigger from him, like what sister Friede gave us so a third phase after a cutscene would have been more shocking. I know we got the Scabutree Avatar for this but still.

[@paulsh2071]

Your list was very great and interesting I havent thought of my full scale list but my top 3 are midra bayle and messmer Also i really appreciate the placement for dancing lion and scadutree avatar both are very underrated and imo scadutree avatar has the best boss theme in the dlc

[@BillySYT]

I'm surprised people aren't high on Dancing Lion? I figured he'd be a shoe-in for Top 5 for a lot of people.

[@paulsh2071]

@@BillySYT yes i actually was shocked too see his high placement he is my top 6 placement but many seem to hate this boss

[@Al-ji4gd]

Midra and Messmer are my two faves, by far. Another BS dragon fight getting top spot lol, something I'll never understand...

[@WrenchMonkey91]

i loved messmer's fight and all, but kinda bummed the arena doesn't catch on fire like Midra's or Rykard's in phase 2.

[@BillySYT]

Either that, or just having more of his impaler spears around the arena. It felt a tad empty, needed a bit more to it.

[@user-ul7ht5zb7q]

No way this came out right as I checked the channel

[@fastenough3287]

For the Putrescent Knight I has such a hard time with the timing, but I learned the timing with a "not hit" run where I only dodge and never attack to see how long I can survive. Helped me realize the angle you dodge is super important since my normal dodge angle left me too far away to hit, so I had to dodge towards where he was going

[@waywardphoenix3188]

I love the Rellana Twin Swords. So much fun.

[@BNB-fk8jr]

Messmer more fun

[@winterwatch8500]

“I used a shield and summons and levels and equipment and oh I feel so dirty” 🙄

[@crazymonkey8056]

Hey ps5 player here, answering if there’s a difference in performance in the ps5 and the short answer is no, long answer there was a few times I can tell the frames drop one is with commander Gaius fight if you and the boss have a magic projectile attack getting ready, for some reason the frames will drop but with the divine beast I didn’t see any frames dropping same with radahn. I do hope they fix the performance issue that’s honestly my biggest complain for the dlc.

[@MrFeeney1991]

Don’t let Radahn get you down, you did nothing wrong, wins a win

[@BillySYT]

I know, but I think this'll be one of those "I'm haunted until I eventually go back and beat him the way I wanted to" moments lol

[@Drewstanton480]

@@BillySYTthat’s how I felt when I initially played through Elden ring with summons. Got to Malenia and pulled out mimic. Beat her by essentially having her stunlocked the entire time and felt no type of accomplishment from said victory. Played through the entire base game and dlc no summons this summer since I had the time and man, that grind was EPIC and so worth it

[@parkerbreit9116]

@@Drewstanton480it was the same for me. ER was my first soulsborn game so I was pretty shaky. I played the first time with summons until I got to malenia, and I drew a line in the sand for myself to beat her no summons. The thrill I got from finally doing it on my own after 100 ish tries made me want to replay the whole game without the help. 4(?) playthroughs later, here I am at the end of the dlc, ever grateful that I decided to see what I could do on my own

[@MrFeeney1991]

@@BillySYTI beat Radahn this morning with a summon. I get how you feel now, I feel so empty and hollow. Like I did it, but did I? Do I deserve the win or is there an asterisk next to this one? Very bittersweet

[@mike20pr]

Midra being so low is criminal. Easily in the top 3 IMO

[@welfh3854]

just beat radahn summonless with malady man what a fight he really is the hardest boss Fromsoft has ever done i loved

[@thijs6439]

i found midra before rellana so fun how we all have our own way of playing these games

[@andrewsebree4333]

I had to look up how to get to all those areas🤣 I fought Gaius. Finger mom and Midra all after defeating Radahn

[@BigGuy-dh5lb]

Subscribed 👍🙏 hope you get the 35k love the videos man!

[@michelecais4111]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's struggling with Metyr; your strategy seems pretty good, can you please give me some more advice?

[@AccursedPaladin]

The dancing lion heal only occurs if you use the flask: using healing incantations, Erdtree blessings, or warming stones does not proc it

[@davids.7885]

Miquella: I promise thee a thousand year journey of compassion. Hahaha, chicken leg go BRRRRRR

[@Hazy_Fforest]

Midra's madness build up only got me the first time. I'd really recommend using the Clarifying Horn Charm talisman like I did. It gives a significant amount of focus, which is tied to madness resist

[@HaronYoungerBro]

Quick note about Radahn's grav well: you _can_ avoid the followup with medium equip load, if you get pulled you need to *run* away immediately and jump - this way you will outpace the AoE. Rolling won't help

[@makkrohero59]

I literally just beat Radahn (Level 193, Scadulevel 18). After 3 days of pure agony, he finally fell. I used the Moonveil Katana. I was just way too stubborn to change my build to a tank/shield build, haha. I wanted to beat him with my Moonveil build without any shields. I did use mimic tear tho, but it was still hard af. This is the type of boss fight I don't want to be near again for quite some time. I hated that second phase with a passion. But now it's done. Praise the victory!

[@BillySYT]

Yeah - Radahn & Malenia both fall under that category of bosses I know I'll enjoy after having a nice long break from my previous attempts.

[@FatherToxic]

Little helpful tip, If you get pulled in by the starcaller cry in Radahns fight, you can dodge it by running straight backwards and jumping! Hope this can help some people.

[@BillySYT]

I've also seen that when you shield during the initial pull, you won't get pulled quite as far in. So it's something for me to work on next time I face this boss ^^

[@anonymous01201]

with putrescent knight and gaius, and rider fights in general, you can do directional dodges to punish some attacks you wouldn't be able to otherwise, like I know dodging backwards on one of the putrescent knight attacks will let you punish the attack where he would usually ride away for a few seconds. also, putrescent knight's combos are consistent, they're just positioning based, I think the only random one he does is whether he does a from-neutral throw into swipe and ride away after the other variant of the throw that isn't from neutral which seemed to happen like half the time. oh and you can also jump some of his attacks to get those hits in too.

[@kinggamereon653]

11:04 really interesting how different experiences people have with these bosses. For me a friend told me that I should use a low level weapon for the knight since he's pretty squishy and I obliged beating him with +6 rellana's swords. Didn't really have any issues getting into range but I also feel like a lot of the best punishes were in the middle of comboes making for a very entertaining fight. I'd say he's one of my favourites for the dlc although poorly balanced for endgame. 26:38 yeah, ended up fighting this guy at scadutree blessing lvl 1. I was surprisingly fine ngl, 13 attempts and my trusty rusted anchor felled the beast. Only Bayle at scadublessing 4 was something where I felt I was really outmatched due to lack of exploration.

[@keskorian5820]

exactly

[@itsame7491]

If anyone wondering, when radhan pulls you in sprint back and jump twice, youll dodge the Shockwave, second phase do the same jump two more times when he comes down from above. Don't roll, ever you'll get hit, just believe and jump

[@Dullsonic3]

I can respect Bayle for how it can fight with only 1 leg and can still be on of the hardest bosses in the DLC!

[@alexterieur8813]

this dlc had amazing incredible never seen before mesmerizing showstopping enemy and boss design goddamn !!!!

[@Arfadoz]

NPC gank above Midra LOL.

[@debater452]

I beat the final boss with a Claymore no summons and no status. It took days, but I did it

[@falafelbil455]

You can actually get out of radahns gravity well fairly easily, As soon as you’re caught, run back and jump when his attack lands, this works no matter the weight load

[@DAsrada]

Just imagine if From shoved two Dancing Lions in one room, had them fight, and put you right in the middle of their brawl.

[@BillySYT]

I would simply cry.

[@imanawesomealien5126]

I had a much more difficult time with messmer’s phase 2, but was so satisfied at the end of the fight when I finally won. He’s my favorite fight in the game

[@thijs6439]

RANT OF A LEVEL 1 RUNNER: hey everybody here is the thought´s of someone who put over 120 hours into a souls level 1 elden ring DLC. its impossible there are bosses in the dlc that have attack´s that come out so fast and are so unfair that its not possible to beat it at level one. and yes there will be people like maybe 40 on the planet who can do it but for most people its impossible. for a example mertyr has a attack in his second fase where she floats in to the air and from the moment she is rising if your close to her you will take damage and at level 1 you will be dead before you can react it´s bullshit. elden ring dlc might be to hard for souls level one but what is possible and verry fun to try is beating it without scadutree fragments because you can take the bullshit attacks and still have a rough challenge because mesmer or redanh will still kill you in two hits or one combo. also for the people who want to know this is the list of bosses i coudnt beat on level one all the bosses that are not on this list i did beat on level 1. Redanh, mertyr and commander gaius. p.s for the people that say Bayle is hard you´ll are tripping bayle is easy just fight him like you would fight midir ATTACK HIS HEAD yes he is tanky but his moves are verry fair and every single one is punishable prob one of if not the best fight fromsoft has ever made, he is up their with Geal.

[@shades4385]

Theres only a few attacks that are bs to dodge but the rest are fine. Radahn's double slash into cross slash is what makes RL1 so bullshit, the rest is super well designed but man that one attack is a pain

[@jvfe287]

​@@shades4385Just use the deflect tear on Radhan. Idk if it was because I used it, but Radhan was my favorite boss of the DLC

[@bigsmall2842]

@@shades4385more than the double slash. The phase 2 gravity pull attack is pretty bs as well. And the meteors are very unintuitive to dodge on a medium load character(strafe jumping to the right). And the boss doesn’t really have any positional combo variation, just the same long combo strings with the same tight attack windows. Even when you learn the fight it’s kinda boring.

[@jonmann4980]

@@bigsmall2842I could only consistently dodge the meteor attack with medium equip load but unlocking and running to the right and jumping from the sound cue of when the meteors were going to hit me

[@user-pn4px5lr8w]

​@@jvfe287 the crucible talisman that gives you s on backsteps also works

[@BLP04]

35:15 lmao you have no idea. I used to jokingly call Rennala “Relanna” sometimes as a joke. The look on my face when Rellana turned out to be an actual character in the DLC was priceless

[@Bliss467]

My biggest issue with divine beast is that they move toward you during the spinning breath. If you’re melee it just shoves your camera into the model and makes it impossible to tell when the breath is coming around and you need to avoid it. They could have just put a minimum distance on it or something.

[@why8642]

Good tip for Consorts gravity well. You can run and jump before he does the follow up which dodges all the rocks, leaving you good time to either heal or cast spells, ashes of war or throwables. Just beat him yesterday with the Watchdogs Greatsword +25 (my weapon for all of the DLC), Scadu 18, 12 Crimson flasks +8. Loved learning him, but I think he suffers from the Waterfowl effect in the second phase even with 60Vigor and optimal talismans, where if you don’t know how to dodge a lot of his “flashy” attacks that kill you near instantaneously. You’ll have to grind through the first phase before you even have a chance of learning them again. That being said Consort is currently tied with Bayle for my second favorite DLC boss, behind Messmer.

[@lawmanlawman2210]

As someone who beat him in 72 tries and considers Radahn by 3rd favorite dlc fight, I have 3 tipes that will save your life. 1: Lord's Divine Fortification. Stack that with the Golden Braid Tailsman, and his phase 2 attacks deal like 75% less damage. 2: Raptor of the Mists. Use it to dodge the Lion's Claw, Ground Upheaval, and Orbital Strike, takes a lot of stress off your shoulders. 3: Rapiers. I kid you now, rapiers are the most fun weapon to use against this guy. There are certain attack strings that have delays that allow you to get one rapier hit in between hits. If you learn these openings, you literally don't have to learn the dodge timings for the delayed follow-up; just hit once with a rapier and immediately dodge, and you will likely avoid the attack. Hope this helps

[@ultimatecoasterremakes5500]

I somehow managed to beat Radahn 4 times in less than a few weeks without summons. I found parrying was the best bet because he’s so aggressive to the point where he does most of the same attacks that can be parried (even after a parry). Tbh, he’s within my top 5 favorite bosses of the dlc overall. He’s just so cool and flashy with all of his attacks, especially the holy attacks Miquella follows up with. It can be annoying because it feels like a flashbang goes off every time he does said holy attacks. He’s just an insane final boss that really caps off SOTE difficulty so perfectly. It’s a battle of attrition where there’s little room for mistakes.

[@Dagoth_Ur_Fr]

I love how everyone has different outcomes for the npc fights. I completely finished Thiolliers questline to the point where he invades you so i didn’t get to summon him. I also helped Leda kill Ansbach so I didn’t get to summon him. Same with Hornsent so I didn’t have to face him. Instead I got to summon some other knight of Mohg. I faced Redmane, Moore and Dane. The replayability of this DLC is insane

[@BillySYT]

Speedrunners trying to figure out the best Leda fight variant to win as quickly as possible.

[@trobitman]

31:58 I put him as number 1 myself.

[@Ryan-Petre]

You can avoid Metyr's dual spinning laser attack by un-targeting Metyr, facing the beams as they approach and then running around them.

[@memelord6671]

Still don’t know why they gave a goddamn sunflower a remembrance. Like, you got this fire-using warlord, an undead knight, the lord of chaos himself, and oh, also a f*king flower. And for some reason, I love that flower.

[@cardmossdn8058]

I mean it was a fully fleshed out, super well made fight. It was more than just an Erdtree avatar

[@itachileesan]

was way more fun and fair that effing hippo or gaius

[@memelord6671]

@@itachileesan god I hated Gaius. That mf made me break my chair in rage.

[@BillySYT]

The sunflower is an icon, a legend, and truly the moment. Fight me irl.

[@itachileesan]

@@memelord6671 yeah he just charges you right away making it impossible to summon, and the charge is broken af

[@wilbert3842]

Dancing lion might be my new all time favorite fromsoft boss. Amazing visuals, fun fight, and good lore just an all around fun early game boss

[@parkerbreit9116]

For midra, madness will almost never proc of you swap out one of your talismans for the madness resistance, helped make the fight a lot more fun for me

[@xian1978]

Rhadan is probably the most unbalanced and unfair boss From has ever made . I hope they can patch the fight into something more rewarding and fun. Hard bosses should make you want to go back one more try. You get an inch closer to beat them , you even lose with just a sliver of their health and you don't get mad. You go on until you bea them. With Radhan I'm at a point of total frustration. I mean. I cant even summon the mimick without losing half my health at the beginning. And second phase is madness. I can't believe they didn't realize what they did.

[@BillySYT]

I think as the months go by, counters will be put in place by the community to make his fight easier, and I do see a nerf in his future. But when nobody knows how to beat him in those first weeks, it doesn't shock me he feels too hard to defeat.

[@xian1978]

@@BillySYT Yeah, I finally beat him without summons, but with the mimick with the help of a video that showed me all the ways you can counter damage in the game that I wasn't aware (some consumables and such) and using those I could finally survive phase 2 enough to see what to do. The mimick was more of a distraction in phase 1 because he obliterated him and was never around in phase 2... so all in all after the initial frustration I got a victory I was actually proud of. I celebrated with a "YEAH!" when I did it. I was afraid it was going to be a bitter victory. I still think he need serious nerfs, specially in phase 2, but I am pretty happy nonetheless.

[@xian1978]

I must add that summoning, at least for me, was impossible for this boss. It seems everyone was summoning, for obvious reasons, so I could only summon once during my frustrating tries. The rest of the time I was getting "unable to summon" over and over.

[@dil6969]

The Radahn fight is something I'd like to revisit with a different approach. Ideally I'd like it to be challenging like a dodge-rolling run, but not braindead easy like the fingerprint shield + poke combo I ultimately beat him with on the 2nd go. Even without summons, it still felt like an unearned victory. It's just so irritating to get into a good dodge flow with 2nd phase Radahn. ONGBAL has shown us it's possible to not get hit once, but I'm a mere mortal and do not have the patience for that kind of run. For these reasons, my three favorites are Midra, Rellana and Messmer. These three are exactly what I want out of a soulslike boss fight. All three fights are incredibly cinematic and are challenging without resorting to cheap tricks.

[@assassinjamie1680]

I must say, i beat radahn using a greatsword build, no guardshield or anything and it felt SO good to beat him, a new game experience will change your mind on him

[@nefarious8278]

I disagree, I had no enjoyment in the 100ish attempts it took me even after I best it and it was not helped by how anticlimactic the dlc ending cutscene is

[@thetk7508]

Igon spamming Greyoll’s Roar at the end of the Bayle fight set his spot as best npc by far

[@williuscaesar1654]

I know people complained about the final boss and the end especially but I kinda liked how after you kill a god all that you get after that final short scene is utter silence. You faced a god who wanted to change the world for what they thought was the better and in the process you became the only survivor of all your compatriots and comrades you set out with to begin with

[@Metal_Maoist]

Btw for anyone struggling with Gaius' charge attack, you have to dodge directly forward, not to the side

[@grubby51]

I beat Radahn summonless and shieldless however I did use the new deflect hardtear which allowed me to survive slightly longer. I used the starscourge greatswords and felt so happy withmyself after I beat him. Definitely reccomend just pushing yourself for longer until you can beat that fight because the feeling I got after beating it was unmatched

[@BillySYT]

Definitely want to mess around with thr deflecting hardtear - the item's phrasing left me confused when I found it in game, so I'm waiting for some tutorials on YT that can give me a better ide

[@grubby51]

@BillySYT the best way I'd describe it is pseudo-sekiro blocks for 5 minutes. So a perfect block with any weapon will negate all damage (and allows for guard counters). The interesting thing though is you can also block magic based attacks too so if you can block just as the light beams hit you in radahns second phase you can save yourself a lot of damage. I found it really fun and rewarding to use, it doesn't make the game into easy mode as you still need the timings down and you need to learn each boss fight with it similar to sekiro. Only thing I wish was different about it was that it was a great rune instead of a physick tear, just makes more sense

[@yo_mama_gaming4517]

As I have defeated Gaius while almost only on horseback I'd say its definitely intended to use it as his charge attack for example is unable to catch you while sprinting on torrent

[@BillySYT]

I think in my next playthrough, I'm going to self-impose a challenge to beat Gaius solely with Torrent. I want to see how it works.

[@yo_mama_gaming4517]

@@BillySYT I found it quite easy to evade many of his attacks on horseback except some attacks for that its definitely better to get off if you're close to gaius so you can dodge roll like that gravity move where he flies up, those could be hard if you intend to never get off even for just a moment

[@stakesishigh516]

I took Bayle out first try with the Dragon Katana +10. That thing does absolute work on him. The Igon dialogue was so incredible. Definitely one of the best Dragon’s in all of Soulsborne. I also felt the same way about Messmer. I actually really like him and thought he had such a strong presence for the small amount he was actually in the game. Complete glass cannon, just like Maliketh.

[@gabrielscoccola5960]

19:39 If you get pulled in, you can still completely avoid the follow up if you sprint away for a second before rolling or jumping away. Panic rolling ain't it.

[@butterschunkmcdonalds5333]

Crazy how different people's rankings are, Midra & Radahn were the best fights in the game for me, Radahn was the most exhilarating fight in the game, I know people act like he's broken & That he's legitimately "Too hard" In an unfair way, But honestly other than the visual clutter occasionally being a little distracting in phase 2, His moveset is actually entirely fair, Every attack is dodgable, You just have to play near perfect, Which i believe is how it should be for the final boss of the first and only DLC of Elden Ring, It's the ultimate skikk check, And its very fitting for the lore, You really do have to play like a god to defeat a literal god. I love it. And Midra IMO is as close to perfect as an Elden Ring boss gets. The build up, The atmosphere, The design, The Cutscene, The OST and the fight itself all knocked it out of the park. Midra isn't THAT hard but he's def no pushover either, His moveset is fun to learn and he leaves tons of openings for punish windows, He reminds me of a combination between a Bloodborne and DS3 boss fight, And i mean that as a massive compliment, He never felt unfair or like he was attacking for too long like many Elden Ring bosses, He os challenging in the most fair, Entertaining type of way, I love his phase 2 transition as well, The Frenzy Flame attacks are so damn cool. Top 5 bosses in the DLC for me IMO: 1. Midra 2. Radahn 3. Messmer 4. Bayle 5. Dancing Lion.

[@BillySYT]

Midra & Radahn are the two bosses I wish I'd fought differently during my playthrough, so their rankings are a bit more temporary than the rest of the roster for me. Glad so many people seem to be enjoying Midra, especially.

[@blueditto4447]

Bayle is definitely my favorite boss in the dlc, and is possibly one of my favorite souls fights of all time along with Ludwig and Gael. It’s also one of the only souls fights where it feels downright epic to use the npc summon. and, in my opinion, it arguably feels even better than fighting him alone.

[@daemonhess5237]

Putrescent knight is probably the most underrated fight of the dlc imo

[@034E]

I found midra right after I defeated the golden hippo, and for me he took the place of mesmer because I found him so late into the DLC. My fight with him was fantastic and I dont have anything but praise for him.

[@xCobaltRainx]

I feel like you would have had a better experience in a lot of those more theatric fights if you’d been playing on something other than a toaster lol, I hope the support from this channel gives you the ability to upgrade :)

[@goodcat2347]

Finally coming back to this video I didn’t want be spoiled I enjoy this ranking a few things I would have changed but overall good video my only other thought is for the final boss it took me well over 200 attempts but I did beat it without cheese no summon probably my proudest fromsoftware moment of all time man I love these games

[@felltactician]

So Radahn. It took me a good fair few attempts using my preferred style. I play Light Rolls with a "light" bow and go for status buildup, namely bleed as they are the easiest arrows to mass produce since you can buy their components rather than run around and find them like frost and rot. From what ive seen or talked to my friends about with Radahn he seems to force you into one of two directions. Either you're busting out the tank style with greatshields or a big weapon that has a good guard because of how tough his windows are, or youre busting out the light rolls and low defense style and working on that premise. Luckily, my favorite way to play, "light bow" (black bow and now Ansbach's Longbow) and Light armor for light rolls made his fight very, very doable without build swaps, albeit difficult. Though I think any summons outside the boss fog are kind of a trap with how much they boost the boss's HP vs. How little damage they provide. I lost countless times with Ansbach and my Mimic Tear, but the 2nd time I tried the boss without Ansbach I ended up coming out with a very comfortable win (14 Estus went in, 6 went out) --For Reference-- I took this fight NG+3 Shadow Blessing: 20 Revered Spirit Ash: 10 Level: 200 Vigor: 60 Mind: 20 Endurance: 30 Strength: 54 Dexterity: 80 Intelligence: 9 Faith: 8 Arcane: 8 Ansbach's Longbow+10 Black Hood - Leather Armor - Shadow Militia Gauntless - Preceptor's trousers Bloodbone arrow + bloodbone arrow (fletched) Dragoncrest Greatshield - Two-Headed Turtle - Soaring Arrow's Sting - Golden Braid

[@felltactician]

Oh also Romina: REALLY TERRIBLE for anyone who liked ranged builds, particularly bows and id imagine crossbows. Her lockon is on her mid-drift with no shifting. She is highly mobile and acrobatic. About 45% of my arrows would sail past her. I wish i could aim for the bug parts of her body but this fight more than any other made me have to swap constantly between lock on for re-orientation and Aim Down Sights so i wasnt just flinging arrows to the wind.

[@JimMcC36912]

I never noticed the lion heals when you do after a grab that’s crazy

[@Bob-jh6xt]

My problem with Midra was how weak he was to the deflecting hardtear. My black steel greathammer build could stance break him in 2 guard counters, and the basic sword combos were pretty basic and easy to deflect. For someone who didn't use or find it though, I could see it being higher Also you can dodge Gaius' charge in light load. Also also, Scadutree Avatar take was based

[@BillySYT]

Midra definitely feels like a glass cannon type fight. But it makes sense - You see how withered that man is?

[@arceuse1999]

I'd put the hippo at the bottom, I hate that fight with a passion, it's so obvious they just scaled up the model of the normal hippos but in a sloppy way because locking on makes the camera go into its head more often than not. Also the arena is very small for the fight.

[@negansmith5637]

Radahn is my favorite Fromsoftware boss by now. It took a while to comprehend the fight solo, own build, no shield, no summons but after a few hours i mastered it. This fight is an audiovisual masterpiece and the difficulty is perfect. The AoEs are hard to learn but once you do it is the most rewarding feeling. I love this fight. Masterpiece.

[@BillySYT]

Definitely think when I get around to refighting him on my terms, I'll come away with a far more positive outlook.