Ranking the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Bosses from Easiest to Hardest

[@mike20pr]

Nerfed, resurrected, and nerfed again Absolute Chad

[@anonisnoone6125]

Truly the Mightiest of the demigods.

[@JoeyCentral]

Stsrscourge wasn’t really nerfed. His hit boxes were just slightly adjusted and his arrows don’t track as strong. Damage is stil the same. I’d say the prime consort Radahn is nerfed more but for good reasons

[@LadyGendercide]

@@JoeyCentralno no no, he WAS nerfed, his damage and hitboxes were reduced. However, this nerf proved overkill and they reverted the damage nerf, but left the hitboxes reduced.

[@raiden3013]

original radhan isnt nerfed. they did for 1 week by accident and fixed it. only thing changed it beyond horrible hit boxes he had. consort radhan was nerfed due to hit boxes and bas game play and over tuned on damage. hes not chad for not being tested before release.

[@brandonwilliams3777]

​@@JoeyCentral that's still a nerf. He was made weaker.

[@lottji]

We all know the top spot. We all know.

[@TheGimbishGlob]

Evergoal knight

[@TehPwnographer]

Prowling Magus

[@Silver-xd1ge]

Wit the nerf it’s debatable now

[@oliverhendrix8176]

Dragonrider

[@best_mate456]

Well not anymore…

[@Sasheto05]

Time to claim our “I beat Radahn pre-nerf” card

[@CrazeeAdam]

MOST everyone here probably played the DLC in the first week at the very least. If not first couple days. So I would think most everyone here feels the pain. Including Dmod himself

[@Igorsbackagain-c6q]

Me

[@bananaman4613]

Happy i got it, it felt great beating him

[@SuperSlice333]

@@Igorsbackagain-c6q me beating radhan in hour after the patch released (i feel so empty now)

[@utisti4976]

Present ✋️

[@andrewdurst8455]

Just for the record, the sword midra uses (greatsword of damnation) isn’t his skeleton/spine, it’s just a barbed greatsword meant to pierce midra from within and suppress his frenzy. That’s what the inquisitors wield, and that’s also why the sword doesn’t deal frenzy damage bc it was intended to suppress frenzy, not wield it

[@gabebernhard4601]

Though it probably hurts about as much as ripping out one’s own skeleton

[@John_Cinna]

I only wish we got another incantation to do his nuke attack.

[@unoriginal2552]

Yeah, if the sword was his skeleton or even just his spine, there wouldn't be a boss because Midra would be a corpse on the ground unable to move

[@pennygirl015]

He does imbue it with frenzied flame in some attacks in the second phase, I guess that's just supposed to show how powerful he is?

[@acommongamer6351]

Literally every boss of this dlc was hard as fuck for me

[@andyb6400]

I went back and played DS3after SOTE and couldn't believe how much better I was, it made ds3 seem so easy bc of how hard the elden ring dlc was. They're crafting us into amazing players

[@ghostparty2062]

​@@andyb6400 because that dlc has balance and isn't hard for the sake of it 😆

[@tannerkennedy4192]

@@andyb6400nah it’s cause elden rings dlc is just way harder than ds3 elden ring dlc makes all the souls games and base game elden ring look like a cake walk cause the dlc is just harder than all of them

[@Gunholy1]

The Knight before Trina was the only hard boss on my opinion besides Rahdan but it tooks me a few less tries for Rahdan. It took me a second to realize I should jump over the flames and roll into the horse.

[@ASmartNameForMe]

@@tannerkennedy4192 Yeah, especially if youre like me and decided to play Elden ring like it really is Dark Souls 3: You, a claymore, and the boss. Whats that? You could make life easier for yourself using the tools the game gives you? Im a souls player, you think im goverened by logic? All I have is my oversized ego to fuel me

[@shinyhydreigon7257]

i remember when i first started playing souls games, I would always watch these rankings to see how difficult the boss I just beat was. These are classics man, glad to have you back making positive videos dude

[@a_fuckin_spacemarine7514]

I'd rather him make honest videos, rather than being brow beaten by the rabid fanboys.

[@glisteninggames2981]

@@a_fuckin_spacemarine7514 this is the type of content he has always made. how much more honest do you want it to get smh

[@wadee-r5l]

i thought i was the only one who did that. I play super aggressive and since demod has a similar play style i was always curious how long it took him and what level of difficulty the boss was.

[@ramrodbldm9876]

​@glisteninggames2981 yea this dude is a weirdo as if dude started making different content lmao

[@glisteninggames2981]

@@ramrodbldm9876 true, ive heard his argument a couple times before too. they really think that if you're not ranting constantly or not making possibly disingeneous arguments about the game, its somehow dishonest. truly insane lol

[@mr.irrelevent8956]

Romina was one of my favorites of the DLC, had really good balance and i always felt like I was barely dodging her attacks

[@WeirdTroll666]

fr

[@Frank-kq4te]

You allucinating

[@ToxicVex267]

Mine has got to be Bayle the dread his fight felt so epic, especially the second phase. But I also love Midra for the OST and the atmosphere kinda gave me bloodborne vibes.

[@HoChiMinhSD77]

Let’s gooooo

[@TheActualMrLink]

She feels like a magical girl with all the floating movements and butterflies.

[@BananaLoaf77]

Putrescent that high is wild! Amazing how different classes and playstyles change difficulty.

[@shredjward]

Yeah putrescent being as high as he was surprised me too. I definitely wouldve put him lower than bayle, and based on trying to fight midra at however many fragments i had originally lower than him as well - but more ikely the difference was i was able to read their moveset more easily than this creator

[@valhalla1416]

Yeah, I played with Colossal Swords and I would've actually put Putrescent Knight at 2nd and Messmer near the bottom

[@sebastianb.3978]

That mfer shaved a decade of me and my buddys life...

[@valhalla1416]

Might also have to consider on which New Game Cycle someone plays cause Putrescent Knight gets 10.4k Health at NG+7 or 18k Health on NG+7 if you have beaten Promised Consort Radahn but Messmer gets 20k or 27k respectively. On my last run Messmer was an absolute Tank with 65k Health thats 18k more than the standard Promised Consort.

[@playoffperfect8162]

Putrescent was so easy for me, but Scadutree has been the hardest boss besides Radahn.

[@IWF97]

I beat Radahn after a week of attempts while suffering from COVID I screamed at the top of my lungs when I finally put him down while my dad was in a work call also suffering from COVID

[@thegoldendorito565]

Hey Demod! I doubt you'll see this comment, but I wanna say that this type of content was what got me into souls in the first place. I remember during quarantine when I watched your souls boss rankings, your humor made me fall in love with souls. I'd be lying if I said I haven't missed that sense of humor, and this video seemed to bring it back, and bring back all the good memories of binge watching your videos all day. So thank you

[@KingCasual1986]

As my name implies, I tend to run pretty casual builds when I play Elden Ring. Blasphemous Blade, big incantations, stuff like that (I don’t summon or use bleed though. I don’t find them very fun). The first time I did the DLC I beat Bayle on my second attempt. He’s strong against everything except pierce damage but that didn’t stop Burn, O Flame, Ancient Dragon’s Lightning Strike, and the Dragon Hunter’s Great Katana from melting him like hot knife through butter. It felt SO GOOD to be on the giving end of an ass-kicking to FromSoft DLC boss! My favorite boss of this DLC is Messmer but Bayle will always give me a sense of sheer satisfaction every time I run a strength-faith build!

[@TheManBehindtheScreen]

I had a similar experience with Bayle. Second attempt saw us both kill each other, but since the Burn, O Flame! I loosed directly below him got the hit on him a split second before his last hit got me, he died a mere second before I did. Just long enough for me to get the win and die with Igon's victorious cry being the last thing I heard. Favorite boss kill this expansion.

[@JoseViktor4099]

Bayle is the only case where presentation genuely did something to me even if he is somewhat jank. Of my favorites DLCs bosses honestly and probably my favorite dragon Boss fight.

[@sunshineandrei2569]

Bayle enjoyers when he has no poise :(

[@NoNo-qt4ov]

Man the Scadutree was an absolute nightmare for me. Was not expecting the 2nd resurrection lol. Once I used fire it was a lil easier

[@OpiumPrime28]

On my first try I had Gaius down to literally 1 hp, like I literally couldn't see his health bar, and he did the charge and it hit me TWICE, I then spent the next 3 hours just throwing my face into his boar until I finally killed him. Literally had to go for a walk after to calm my self down, I genuinely fucking hate Gaius

[@elijahbuettel5107]

I had the exact same experience. I was literally laughing at him on my first attempt talking about how easy he was. Then I spent the next like 30 attempts extra pissed because I thought I was dying to an easy boss and I was really confused

[@Saicofake]

When it comes to gaming, tilting is a common occurrence. After a while you are unable to perform at your best and a walk or a good night sleep is what is needed for a mental reset.

[@geraltofrivia7448]

Romina harder than lion? 💀

[@DigitalHaze65536]

I thought the lion was harder too. She is the one boss I wish they would actually buff a little. I really enjoy everything about her fight, arena, boss design, MUSIC!!, ect. I just wish she were a bit harder. (not Messmer or Radahn level though lol)

[@ahamedthermadhi492]

I found Romina harder than both lions. Something about the way she moved just threw my dodge timings in the trash bin.

[@jaisalrw3494]

Maybe he went to romina with very low blessing level

[@theorangeman9147]

Romina's just as flosty as the lion, but I feel it's more she feels so out of place for a typical Elden Ring boss, being more of a back and forth, ds3 style, over whatever you'd call Elden Ring's stuff. Plus, once you get past the Lions floatiness, he isn't all that bad, as said floatiness carrys him immensely, in terms of difficulty.

[@jajasking9652]

Lion's moveset isn't really that bad to deal with, is just a lot more unorthodox than most bosses, plus his scaling is wayyyy lower than the rest of the main DLC bosses, if every boss was scaled equally, then Romina would be a bit easier, and midra would be the easiest of the DLC ( his moveset is pretty simple, i feel like fromsoftware was scared of going too hard on a boss that gets the most dangerous status efects for the player that isn't deathblight )

[@ZerkMonsterHunter]

Messmer feels somewhere between Friede and Nameless King in terms of design - considering how similar the combat is between DS3 and ER in terms of game speed, Messmer felt absolutely perfect. I died 41 times to Messmer but I was grinning the entire time. Messmer is absolutely the best fight in Elden Ring - Morgott, Mohg, Maliketh, Rellana, Midra and Bayle are the bosses that give me hope From hasn't lost their way yet with delivering stellar encounters

[@anonisnoone6125]

The only shit move he has is the double ground swipe. The window to dodge that is too tight. If ur even slightly late in rolling, u get hit.

[@JoeyCentral]

I guess you can say that Fromsoft is willing to deliver us Stellar Blade… Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh 😎

[@thisstatementisfalsenothin5312]

Messmer unironically has the NieR replicant spear combo (+dark execution) Like. It was similar to the point I went “oh I know this move” and just dodged all of them. Beat bro like second try

[@joshualing5667]

One thing to note about commander gaius is the fact that before patch 1.13, when you re-attempt the fight after the first time, he starts of right in front of the fog wall, which means he could easily kill you with just the charge. Patch 1.13 basically made it so that after you died to him, when you enter the fog wall again, he starts of charging towards you from way behind as he would when you first encounter him. Same goes for the golden hippopotamus.

[@VitorGSM]

That might have been a glitch tbh, that didn't happen to me before the patch, he always started way back after i died to him

[@TheShadowNovus]

16:37 "Now hang on, I'm not crying waterfowl here" I see what you did there you clever bastard xD

[@hellheartgaming6668]

Best comment. Dmod knew what we were thinking lmfao

[@davidmurphy7332]

Regarding your "correction" at the end of the video: the nerfing of PCR mostly consists of him no longer flattening you the nanosecond you enter the arena. He is still a complete bastard to fight other than that and him just waiting around at the start now feels more like he's just mocking you

[@thatlittlemonstrosity]

the only actual nerf is that cross slash is now rollable and some attacks have a slightly larger window for punishes. That waiting around at the start is for people to have time to summon, it’s more like that time Radahn waited for Malenia to reattach her arm, he lets the opponent to fight in full strength and it fits his personality more also they did a huge improvement in performance issues and visual clarity. My steamdeck now can run faster than a slideshow and I can actually see incoming attacks behind pillars of light. Overall I’d say he’s still the hardest boss by a really long shot, the changes just made him fun and no longer frustrating. They really did manage to make him from D-tier to my personal top 5

[@glisteninggames2981]

@@thatlittlemonstrosity followup swing after clones from neutral is slower, removed a hitbox on meteor call, decreased damage on meteor call, light of miquella range nerfed. idk man those are some hefty nerfs

[@thatlittlemonstrosity]

@@glisteninggames2981 when I fought him, I didn't notice most of these changes, they are probably extremely minute since meteor call is as unforgiving as ever and timing of Light of Miquella is still extremely tight. I was afraid they'd reduce his damage drastically but honestly he dealt pretty much the same damage, maybe on some specific attacks but idk like 2 damage less is not that hefty

[@entroponetics]

In terms of difficulty, just from a RL1 perspective: Gaius < Midra < Putrescent Knight < Sunflower < Divine Fursuit < Romina < Rellana < Messmer < Bayle < Metyr < PCR

[@glisteninggames2981]

gaius is so consistent its insane. pretty fun easy boss

[@lubue5795]

Suprised Romina is this high up. I experienced her as being quite consistent to dodge, more so that Fursuit or Sunflower. What made you put her so high?

[@entroponetics]

@@lubue5795 Romina is janky as all hell. The phase transition AOE (which she can do at any point in phase 2) comes out pretty much instantaneously. Also, she will frequently clip through the walls of her arena which makes certain attacks impossible to read. Plus, I encountered a few instances of her doing her centipede swipe attack when I was positioned awkwardly and her full body became a hitbox without a tell that I could see. That may have just been a me-problem, but it was definitely noticeable. Basically, she's piss-easy on a standard run because you encounter her at a point where you're already pretty well OP, but at RL1 she's way tougher.

[@entroponetics]

@@glisteninggames2981 the tracking on the charge is insane, but it's pretty easy to counter by means other than simple dodging, so it's not a huge issue. The rest of his attacks are really intuitive once you pick up on the tells and timings.

[@glisteninggames2981]

@@entroponetics very true yeah. also romina does have hitbox and attack queuing issues, its not just you. many of the dlc bosses have jank and thats pretty sad imo

[@thejohnhopkinscompany9599]

You know Fromsoft could have pulled the funniest move in history and BUFFED Consort Radahn in the update. EDIT: Here's a perfect idea, a second grab attack, except this time when Miquella leans down, he straight up robs you and takes away your weapon or shield, and you only get them back when you defeat him. Can't cheese him with the Antspur rapier if he steals it!

[@abdalla8558]

imagine the ego damage on those gatekeepers

[@jameslough6329]

I personally think they should have buffed his damage a little bit tbh. You shouldn’t be able to tank 4 to 5 hits from him at Scadutree level 15 or above

[@dhaumya23gango75]

​​@@jameslough6329you must be on ng. I was on ng+2 at scadutree level 18 and could tank at most 3 or 4 hits even with dragoncrest greatshield talisman and heavy armor.

[@AnthonyDoesYouTube]

He should have been buffed.

[@jameslough6329]

@@AnthonyDoesKZbin He should have only get a slight buff to his damage and NOTHING else

[@ShadyboyDCT]

DEMOD!!!!! A great way to start the day!

[@JorgelCrisp]

I’ve been surprised seeing Messmer so high for folks. It’s a difficult fight for sure, but I found that once I got into the second phase consistently I was having a much easier time with him

[@demonicgrub1025]

Dude, mesmer has been a wild experience for me. I struggled with him the first time I played through the dlc, not a ton, but enough to take about 10 attempts. Then on my following runs I've had him down easy, I know his dodge timings, and his patterns quite well. But he is a boss that seems to get FAR harder in coop. I've helped 3 of my friends through that fight, and consistently the more of us there were, the harder the fight was.

[@eggbug2244]

He’s very akin to Melania in that regard. He seems so overwhelming at first, but once you figure out his timings you could do it with your eyes closed. Of course that’s a tall task, but he’s very balanced. Can’t say the same about Radahn

[@minimoYT]

Messmer is hard for a lot of people because they fight him too early. Every single tiny hit that clipped me would take out 60%+ of my HP, and dealing less damage, the longer fight also made me take more hits. Summoning Hornsent made it much more manageable, but because of the AoEs he was still more challenging than solo Metyr or Midra

[@Cav829]

I am doing a new game plus playthrough, and I would probably rank him like third or fourth now. He’s challenging, but he has big punish windows compared to many DLC bosses. He gets in your head because if his long combo strings, but many of the separate hits don’t do great damage, so you cab be pretty sloppy. Radahn is still in a class by himself at the top. I think for where you fight her, Rellana should be second as a lot of people just have to eventually brute force her through Scad levels. Bayle and Gaius are the other two in the discussion, with Gaius being there because of terrible hit boxes and the fact sometimes he just spams his 7 hit combo nonstop.

[@rhysofsneezingdragon1758]

Putrescent Knight feels like Morgott for me. He's either easy as hell, or hard as hell If hes easy, you probably exploited his weakness to holy damage and ended him in 45 seconds. If hes hard, you probably found his attacks awkward and hard to figure out 19:14 hey, that's me

[@anonisnoone6125]

Putrescent Knight is o trash. He constantly runs away, constantly stays aggressive with only 1 attack window per combo. And his combos r long as hell. He is not fun at all. Compared to Morgott whose moves r so fun to dodge, whose moves look cooler and has many openings.

[@rhysofsneezingdragon1758]

@@anonisnoone6125 1: most of the gaps between attacks in his combos are long enough for you to get a rolling attack in. You can get in a rhythm of "roll, light, roll, light, roll" 2: spinning Guillotine actually has a lot of options. If you dodge backwards on the last of the Knight's spins, you can get some hits in as he's mounting his horse again. If you run a guard counter build, you can block the horse, and counter the knight as he spins in 3: during his second phase transition, you have a lot of time to get hits in while jumping over the ghostflame

[@Saicofake]

In my first blind playthrough, I outright gave up on him and used my mimic. I found him so much harder than PCR (Pre Nerf).

[@JoeyCentral]

You should be allowed to summon torrent for the putrescent knight boss

[@thisstatementisfalsenothin5312]

I used the same strat for every fight but Radahn I just dodged and used the moon light greatsword beam. Radahn was legit the only boss I struggled with

[@RegalRoyalWasTaken]

Seeing Radahn get nerfed into the ground brought me such immense cathartic joy.

[@ToxicVex267]

After beating me into paste several times cause I'm in NG+7 thank god. I still managed to beat him before that patch but man was I not looking forward to fighting him again.

[@barackobreezy]

fr i know people are going to complain, but his cross slash was literally just a frame trap shitty move pre patch. they honestly didn't need to nerf his damagh tbh. but i don't know how significant the damage nerf was

[@RegalRoyalWasTaken]

@@barackobreezy honestly everything I'm hearing is that he's still the hardest boss, just in a way that feels manageable and enjoyable. So more Orphan of Kos.

[@Sinhesthysia]

He's so back baby Also don't know who needs to hear this but this channel is what got me into souls games. Watching the Sekiro rankings while I first played through the game as my intro to Fromsoft was amazing, and I have loved every game since. Even though I initially heavily disagreed with his SotE review, I will always appreciate what this channel did for me. Thanks Dmod.

[@lubue5795]

3:20 What? I never knew the grab had this effect! Who says demod is not an educational youtuber?

[@ToxicVex267]

Me neither no wonder there were times when bro just had more health.

[@solitudeguard3138]

He has awoken once more🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@ultra9349]

20:22 LET ME TANK HIM already exists

[@murderface5773]

DMOD: "Rellana killed me 16 times." Me: Dies to Rellana for 4 hours before finally winning. Rellana is a great boss. My personal 3rd favorite in the dlc. Love your boss rankings, and analysis of them.

[@lethalweeb4415]

That bitch killed me over and over for 6 hours and it was some of the best fun I’ve had with a souls game since fighting Ludwig

[@anonisnoone6125]

I'm still debating if she's A tier or not. She does too much in her 2nd phase for me to enjoy her as much as I want to.

[@zjay]

​@@anonisnoone6125 her 2nd phase is literally the same plus like 2 or 3 attacks, the main difference is some of her combo finishers have a fire or magic attack, but the moves are still the same

[@iota-09]

you know how people always said "oh but elden ring bosses leave you no openings, you just gotta wait and wait for them and can't do anything with them, they're so boring!" never bought that bullshit. ...theni fought rellana. fuck do i hate rellana, she's probably fine with the defledcting hardtear, but without it? god did i feel like giving up so many times, it was RELENTLESS. and yet i still find her less hard and, to an extent, less annoying than pre-nerf radahn...

[@thisstatementisfalsenothin5312]

@@iota-09seriously? I had 0 issues with her being aggressive. She’s just Pontiff again. Radahn is the one I found unbearable with how little punish windows he had

[@gabrielschaldach401]

I dont think i can disagree more with your ranking. Great video! Fr tho that sunflower got me absolutely clapped, there is no way its the 2nd easiest in the dlc

[@aaronhedick4355]

I’ve never taken more than three attempts to beat Messmer. The Scadutree Avatar on the other hand, I’ve never beaten in less than 10. I think we’re the weird ones though.

[@JamesBond-ip6pl]

I’ve had no real issues until I got to Mesmer. I can get him to phase two almost every time but man does he whoop my rear on phase two. 😂😂

[@JLHoskins]

The thing I love about the difficulty is seeing how different it is for other people. - Melee enjoyers? - Spellcasters? - Those who use spirt ashes? - RL1 runners? It's interesting seeing how different the discussion becomes. Like at NG+7, Miquella is one of the hardest bosses- Straight up was too strong with the summoned NPCs, had to do it alone after 70+ tries. But on RL1? Metyr might just be the hardest fight because of that undodgable beam attack

[@irdi2023]

This types of video makes me feel nostalgic of when i first played Bloodborne and watched your videos to help me 100% the game

[@jackofdiamonds7303]

This list is so interesting because of how different it was for me. I recorded all my deaths in the DLC and there seems to be a large difference in difficulty. The biggest margin for me was certainly Putrescent Knight, which I 4-shotted on my winning attempt. My recordings in order: Dancing Lion: 45 Rellana: 42 Scadutree Avatar: 11 Gaius: 21 Metyr: 19 Putrescent: 3 Midra: 14 Messmer: 8 Romina: 5 Bayle: 7 Radahn: 82

[@alielsakkout7415]

I love seeing death counts, goes to show how unique everyone's experience was. For me it goes like this : Dancing Lion - 6 Rellana - 15 Bayle - 25 Scadutree Avatar - 1 Putrescent Knight - 0 Gaius - 3 Messmer - 1 Metyr - 8 Romina - 4 Midra - 11 Radahn - 143

[@tehCostHD]

Did you summon for Bayle and messmer or any other fights?

[@jackofdiamonds7303]

@@tehCostHD I summoned Hornsent in one of my Messmer attempts but didn’t win with him and I summoned Igon for 3 of my Bayle fights and won with him

[@tehCostHD]

@@jackofdiamonds7303 that’s why Bayle was so easy. He is a completely different fight with and without igon

[@glisteninggames2981]

Rellana - 116 Putrescent Knight - 15 Messmer - 47 Lion - 1 Metyr - 3 Gaius - 19 Midra - 21 Romina - 9 Rest is still unbeaten

[@dicloniusgames]

Despite only playing DS1, 2, and Sekiro, I always love seeing these ranking videos even for Souls-like games like Lies Of P, Black Myth Wukong and Mortal Shell. Your channel has come a long way DeMod.

[@Seddyhere]

To quote the great Count Dooku "I've been looking forward to this" Also fun fact when I fought Meytr, I originally did her fairly early when I was at a crossroad, I just beat Messmer, and wasn't sure which I should fight next. When I entered Meytr's boss arena I got my ass kicked, did barely any damage and took alot of damage in return. Then after fighting every remaining boss before Radahn I remembered she existed and decided to go again Then I saw my Executioner Blender Sword melt her health in a single use of a fully charged Ash of War. Genuinely don't think she could get her second phase off before she was dead. Afterwards I fought Radahn, then remembered Ymir existed, did I'd day 75% of his Health with just one Ash of War That day I learned that the Marais Executioner's Sword is broken

[@arturospica6815]

This ranking is INSANE. Bayle is easily 2. Romina is easy as hell for when you get to her. Scadutree avatar prob belongs top 6 (THREE phases). All One Shot: Metyr Romina Putrescent Knight Hard, but doable in a few attempts with right build, all sub an hour/10-15 tries max: Divine Beast Lion Rellana Midra Avatar Gaius Hours: Messmer Haven’t beaten due to frustration, moved on to Wukong: Bayle Radahn

[@DuncanMaisonneuve-kk3vf]

My personal difficulty ranking: 11. Romina 10. Putrescent Knight 9. Scadutree Avatar 8. Dancing Lion 7. Rellana 6. Midra 5. Metyr 4. Gaius 3. Bayle 2. Messmer 1. Consort Radahn

[@davealaya]

Why is every boss easy for me EXCEPT the stupid Scadu Tree Avatar

[@Erullluvitar]

I love how different your list vs my list can be. Shows how we truly play the game!

[@jorgehuertas3995]

Relax Dmod, I beat Radahn for my second play through 3 hours ago and he is still insane. I even went for level 20 blessings this time I thought the guy was going to be a joke and he moped the floor with me.

[@valkeitos]

He isn't that bad. He became much easier in my opinion but he is still one of the most difficult fights. Personally I found Bayle to be more difficult than nerfed Radahn but that's probably because I was being overly aggressive and the laser beam fire always hit me.

[@KayPeeOpee]

​@valkeitos when did the nerf happen

[@georgethomas4567]

Yo where my day one Radahn brothers at? Those of us who Starscourge and Promised Consort before the nerfs killed him for us.

[@TehPwnographer]

16:19 classic Dmod right there

[@demonicgrub1025]

For anyone who has not yet figured out Gaius' charge, if you sprint to the side then jump right as he gets to you, you can evade his hitbox. Makes the fight much easier.

[@ThroughfulGamer95]

Commander Gaius' charge is dodged by walking to one side and then dodging directly in that direction, NOT by rolling into him. This is more generous than you'd think, as there were several times I thought I rolled too early, but no, I got off scot free.

[@c0n33r]

In other words, roll diagonally into him to quickly get through the active hitbox instead of straight ahead.

[@ThroughfulGamer95]

@@c0n33r You can, but no. I meant directly to the side to i-frame through the tusks and outspace the rest.

[@randomnessanimation6831]

I’ve been anticipating another one of your boss ranking videos for so long!

[@itzpayday1238]

Before watching, here was my experience + rough attempts for each boss: Sunflower (1) < Putrescent (1) < Romina (1) < Metyr (3) < Gaius (~5) < Midra (~5) < Lion (~5)

[@SuperSlice333]

DMOD got me into souls games, thats enough for me to alway watch you, no matter what

[@ThoseTypeOfGamers]

I’ve been watching since the original dark souls rankings and I just wanted to say, thank you for putting out these videos. I always enjoy hearing from others on their boss experiences and yours are always surrounded by some funny commentary. Thanks and keep up the great work!

[@robertmcdiarmid4921]

Favourite thing about these videos on fromsoft bosses, is getting to see how my personal experiences almost revearses half the lists

[@azfarhussain9541]

now this, ladies and gentlemen, is what i call true nostalgia. Loved the positive comeback bro, the energy is amazing!

[@el_mer01]

I appreciate the start of the video because you mention just how difficult it is. As you know a lot of the fromsoft community is very toxic and you’ll have a lot of them say elden ring base game was too easy and the dlc is “the average fromsoft experience” to try and say new souls fans have it on easy mode. Yet I personally started with elden ring and then went to play all the other games only for the bosses in them to be doing almost nothing, especially in dark souls 1 and 2. DS3 has the best bosses to me(not including Sekiro) and elden ring has the hardest as they are relentless and always attacking

[@minimoYT]

This video makes me so glad that I fought Gaius post-patch. After getting a hang of the charge it became 100% consistent to dodge. Not sure if unlocking made a diference, but it felt nicer when I did it

[@Budd631]

Anderson going nuts this year with more than one video.

[@ironstark917]

There is one thing that makes Rellana's difficulty get greatly reduced. Like Lady Maria and Pontiff before her, she can be taken to parry town pretty easily.

[@Be_Jenuine]

My favorite thing about Dmod's reviews of bosses (historically and this one) is his willingness and openness of acknowledging that the bosses difficulty are highly dependent on Playstyle and build. It's what makes these difficulty ranking subjective and fun to hear other perspectives

[@collinhalverson4681]

So good to be back with another Demod boss ranking. Can't wait for the full ER worst to best ranking and Wukong!

[@CryptusGaming]

I was honestly waiting for your ranking video. I have been waiting for months and at long last, here it is. Thank you DeMod

[@ayhamshaheed1194]

I find it cool how rankings are so different for everyone. Like for me my top 5 in difficulty would go Radahn, Bayle, Metyr, Midra and Messmer, from hardest to easiest

[@rebel1608]

I love rankings like this because every person has a different Elden Ring experience. For me, Scadutree and Metyr regularly beat me down for some reason but Midra and Rellana never really bothered me

[@joshuapatrick682]

19:25 finally someone talks about the bleeping particle effects making it so hard to tell what the eff Radahnilla is even doing.

[@Vike10018]

Ahhhh the comfort zone of Demods boss rankings :)

[@grfrjiglstan]

Putrescent Knight is the only one I'd kibbutz about. Slap Sacred Blade on your weapon, and recognize he always does his overhead slam twice in a row if you're close enough, and he's really not so bad. Other than that, great video.

[@rumipeterson6808]

When I heard the Elden Ring dlc was dropping, I got excited specifically because I knew this video would be made.

[@Lloyd00]

good to have you back brother

[@freaknr1]

Good to see a list from you again. Feels like old times. 😊

[@sonofhades57]

"It makes me WIDE." Damn it, Demod, I was getting a drink!

[@joshuaweston6531]

Good list Demod! Here's mine, from what I found to be easiest to hardest on my first ever playthrough of Shadow Of The Erdtree! Part I: 12. ROMINA, SAINT OF THE BUD: I also agree that Romina was a breath of fresh air after getting my butt handed to me by so many bosses. The speed of her attacks combined with her whole body not being a hitbox, made for a breezy encounter. Pretty impressive considering she inflicts one of the very worst status effects. I got her on my first try and actually felt kinda sad it ended so quickly. Plus I really like her design, in the vein of Quelaag and Najka before her. 11. GOLDEN HIPPOPOTAMUS: I chose to explore and do pretty much everything possible before heading into the Shadow Keep and was therefore more than prepared for the Hippo. I actually really enjoyed this one as well. Difficult, but still fairly easy compared to the rest of the roster. Suffice to say, the big guy went down quick. I like his Sonic The Hedgehog roll attacks! 10. DIVINE BEAST DANCING LION: Maybe it's because I scoured through everything in Gravesite Plain before tackling Belurat, but I didn't have much trouble with the Lion. It took me only a few tries. Another boss I really enjoyed. The design is intriguing and it's attacks are all very flashy! I also like how you can see the guys who are Puppeteering the Lion. But yeah, didn't care for it's return later in the game. Deathblight really is an annoying status ailment. 09. SCADUTREE AVATAR: I am not a big fan of multiple health bars in Fromsoft's bosses. Two phases is fine, but keep it to one health bar. Even more egregious is three of em'! And yet, Fromsoft has managed to create a boss with three separate health bars that I actually enjoyed. It's designed in such a way that, as long as you learn it's timings, you can end each phase fairly quickly by whacking it's big ol' sunflower head. Plus each phase ends with a free riposte that lessens it's health on the following phase. It's second phase also doesn't change things up all that drastically. The attacks speed up and cover more of the area, plus it gets a ramming charge attack that's pretty easy to dodge. By the third phase it can barely fight. Opting instead to exhaust it's energy in a last ditch set of attacks, which leave it vulnerable for several seconds, allowing for a very quick kill in it's final phase. A really solid, learnable encounter set in a captivating golden arena! I'm a fan! 08. METYR, MOTHER OF FINGERS: Giant finger momma gets the award for creepiest boss fight for sure. Her design, along with the arena scream Bloodborne vibes. See, even Souls can do cosmic horror! Well, sorta. I didn't find Metyr too difficult, but she was tanky and I had to really get a feel for her lasers and AOE attacks. It took several tries, but I was also abusing Scarlet Aeonia as I did with most all the bosses, which helped. And no, it's not cheap. I don't even use spirit ashes, and it's magic the same as any other spell. Besides, I had to beat MALENIA to get it. After that trauma, I think I deserve to spread the rot! 07. MIDRA, LORD OF FRENZIED FLAME: I think Midra sitting at the middle of the pack is about perfect. He gave me a hard time, but I still think the speed and style of his attacks makes him one of the more manageable of the DLC encounters. I think I could do with a few less AOE's and attacks that can carry him across the entire arena in a second, but then I feel that way about most all these bosses. I do really like his design, and the fact that we got a boss centered around the madness status effect. It's also pretty fun to bully the little guy before he transforms! 06. RELLANA, TWIN MOON KNIGHT: If it wasn't for the fact that I personally just had more trouble with the following fights, I would definitely put Rellana higher. For the point in the DLC at which you can face her, she is absolutely brutal! If you do face her when she's first available, you will not have found near enough scadutree fragments to deal decent damage. I went into the DLC rocking a level 180 something character and it made no difference! A combination of Scarlet rot, avoidance, and taking quick swings and backing off eventually managed to claim me victory after multiple attempts. She's got combos that seem to never end. Plus those elemental swords are rough, and I don't care to admit how many times that moon spell near the end of her fight ended my run...

[@xymos7807]

Baal was the most epic/cinematic fight in the expansion. I was in awe and very frantic when he appeared. I generally don't enjoy bosses in these games, but Baal and Midra were honestly my favorite.

[@kamilstenzel3929]

The fact that this list is essentially upside down for me (sans you know who) shows how much playstyle matters in these games

[@davealaya]

Same for me, Metyr and Scaduplant are the hardest

[@Roland3ld]

Absolutely love that sunflower boss. I can't look at actual sunflowers the same way anymore, they just make me laugh.

[@Rando3498]

I think Bayle might be my most favorite From Software Boss at this point. The build up to his fight, the lore surrounding him and let’s not forget the best voice acting in any video game ever with Igon bellowing out “CURSSSEEEE YOUUUU BAAAAYYYYLLEEE!!!!” Just all around great boss.

[@AMVShooterUnlimited]

Midra is my favourite fight in the DLC, beat him on my second try then added his boss music to my Spotify playlist. That music hits hard, the whole atmosphere of the fight was incredible. I joined my friend when he was going after Midra and progressed through the abyssal woods and he had to listen to me being giddy whilst we were fighting Midra. We won the fight on the first try but my friend was laughing (between moments of panic) as I was just jamming to the music rather than concentrating on the actual fight.

[@gramlar3506]

Good to have you back. You are allowed to not feel good

[@brandonmarshall528]

rly rly missed this channel man glad you're fucking back! this feels like classic demod

[@adamedifyoudo]

I'm impressed (and envious) that you managed to make the paired Great Stars work against Radahn in the end. Try as I might, I just could manage it, and ended up cheesing him with the bleed antspur.

[@Gamernutritionfacts]

Bayle at number 6 is crazy. I didn’t actually die to his second phase very many times before winning but the learning curve absolutely spanked my ass. I must’ve died at least 15 times before even getting to phase 2. That’s partially because of my grug tier claymore-only build, but bayle has tricky mixups with his head bashes and they can come out VERY quickly. Quite honestly I think if I were to go back and fight midir after this it would be total cake by comparison

[@joshuapatrick682]

so this DLC really makes you double roll a lot whereas that wasn't really a necessity of the base game. Biggest difference is that and when you realize it it opens the add on up to be bludgeoned.

[@issi529]

Gaius and Bayle should have been higher.

[@alsybroth]

So glad you’re doing the boss rankings again. I know you wanted to venture out beyond these but your takes are so good. We’d love to hear your takes on the bosses from FF7 Rebirth & Black Myth Wukong

[@maxastro]

As a greatshield wielder, Radahn was easily my favorite fight in the entire DLC, if not the entire game. The dance of blocking his combos and looking for openings - and the extra pressure in his second phase of the holy damage meaning you can't block everything - felt amazing. My first few fights he felt like an unassailable wall of insanity just in phase 1, but every single fight I would get slightly closer to understanding his movements and where I could punish him. I can imagine he's a lot less fun to dodge, but going sword and board against him really felt like I was testing my strength against his every step of the way.

[@Gilamang]

Greatshield is certainly a reliable way to beat him. And it’s fun so long as you are not relying on poking. But this guy was made to be parried. It’s significantly more fun than greatshield strategy, albeit not as reliable.

[@maxastro]

@@Gilamang I've always been ass at parries, tbh.

[@scissorman8667]

It must be my birthday! A Demod ranking video the same day i finally beat Consort Radahn! Welcome back Demod!

[@orionyuh3919]

i loved the p knight fight, it was fairly challenging to learn but it was incredibly rewarding in my experience. learning to dodge his horse and spin combo is so much fun

[@antonioramirez-fh1vl]

Midra’s cutscene is one of my favorites. His area was also fairly difficult and creepy but it was sick

[@jackofminds8338]

It's honestly kinda funny. I beat Rellana first try without too much trouble. At the time I was running the new support on a storm build with Milady and Storm Slash, so maybe that's why. It was over so quick that I barely remember the fight. Meanwhile, Messmer straight-up dogwalked me, yet I had way more fun. It led to one of the awesomest moments in my time with Fromsoft games: a sliver of health, out of heals, but getting the last hit on him with a random YOLO r1 that just happened to beat out the frames on an attack that would've finished me. Despite the massive struggle against him, I can safely say he's one of my favorite bosses. Especially considering his spear is one of my favorite weapons in the game too.

[@thisstatementisfalsenothin5312]

I didn’t realize so many people struggled with Rellana. I reacted to all of her attacks pretty easily. Took 2 tries.

[@HavokGeometryDash]

Watching this video genuinely made me happy. Its always great to see people turn around on a game they originally were sour to after learning to play by its rules :P Also, even as a seasoned player of this game, I had no idea about that gap in Scadutree's giant thorn aoe. Seems like even in the unlikliest of places, you learn something new.

[@grfrjiglstan]

I'm glad we can all agree that Romina was a nice breather before what awaits in the next area.

[@Anhko67]

Amazing video Demod, it really has same vibes as the ones in your DS3 period! It feels good to be back! For me, Romina was by far the easiest in this DLC and Bayle clearly in the top 3!

[@MusicVersa]

I think the order in which you encounter these bosses can make a HUGE difference to the perceived difficulty. I died more to Midra than any boss other than Radahn, but I found him early - I think he was only the third major boss I encountered after the Dancing Lion and Relanna. Putrescent Knight, on the other hand, was one of the last bosses I found and I absolutely steamrolled him.

[@Hoss23_22]

Egon, the ultimate Wingman, allowing "all day access pass to that....."

[@joshuaremo922]

The final boss for Shadows of the Erdtree is the only one I’ve ever cheesed. He was just ridiculously so hard to fight against.

[@Yonkington]

I got the dlc yesterday and I have been struggling with rellana and dancing lion. Lion seems a lot easier to read once you figure out his entire moveset but still does a fuck ton of damage towards the end, like hes panicking to kill you as fast as possible. Rellana is forcing me to fight defensively which I have never really been used to. Nagakiba(keen) with dragon crest shield, shard of alexander, great jars arsenal, and bull goats talisman with physicks that changes to match each boss' weakness. This build has always been one that is perfect for counter attacking but I never had to fight another counter attacker in rellana so it's a bit of a challenge. Wish me luck fellas! :)

[@sirwickel4240]

I have a pretty similar lineup but very different numbers. I’m damn impressed you beat most on your first attempt. My death numbers in the order I fought them are DL:41 Rellana:214 PK:25 Bayle:37 Mess:98 Gaius:19 Flower:46 Romina:50 Midra:63 Radahn~700 (lost count) Metyr:3

[@ascreamingcat4944]

DEMODCRACY BOSS RANKINGS ARE BACK :D I would love to see your Remnant 2 ranking!

[@LeMoNYGaming]

The ranking king is back!!!!

[@ricardodarcangelo2437]

It's always interesting to see difficulty rankings from players whose play style is opposite my own. Other than #1, I thought differently on every boss. Messmer, Romina, putrescent, are my 9-11 respectively. And Rellana was just fun, the whole time. Took 24 tries, but by the end, way predicting every dodge and parry lol. But the lion was one of my hardest, and I struggled with Midra's delays. Great video, I love the takes. And screw Radahn. Was never a fun fight, at any point. It's strange to me how much criticism Malenia got (and still gets tbh), but "you can't criticize Radahn". "It's a skill issue", etc; No, that 2nd phase was awful. Thanks demod, have a great week!

[@jonathanspurgeon4371]

This is what we've all been waiting for 🎉

[@flabbyotter9824]

it would have been cool if some kind of sidequest in the black keep allowed Torrent to be buffed up for Gaius's fight (only that fight)

[@oppa793]

"I settled for being a crotch goblin" truer words have never been spoken, demod

[@the_blake_chapa]

Played the DLC on NG+ and I cannot express how much harder all of these bosses hit versus NG. My list is very different than what was presented, other than the top spots, but overall GOAT DLC