Ranking DARK SOULS Bosses from EASIEST to HARDEST - Tier List

My personal perspective of all the Dark Souls Remastered Bosses ranked from easiest to most difficult. A lot of the opinions come from a combination of early experience and having ran the games for greater challenge. Make sure to leave a comment with YOUR ideal order below or which tier list you want to see next. Follow these links below for more!
Twitch.tv/Squillakilla
ogsquilla
Twitter.com/OGsquilla

[@underkitten]

Personally find sif the hardest fight, as its too difficult to see through the tears in my eyes

[@MatthewTheUntitled]

The trick is to never fight them after DLC. Also to anyone who fights Sif after the dlc on purpose: fuck you.

[@filipgasic2642]

@@MatthewTheUntitled But... but how do you finish the game then?

[@ENCHANTMEN_]

idk it's hard to feel bad about it when the game literally forces me to do it

[@underkitten]

@@filipgasic2642 you fight him before you do dlc in your playthrough, as cutscene changes slightly as sif knows you so he licks your face as he likes you, then you murder him Edit: rewatched cutscene as its been a few years, he doesn't lick your face when you fall over. But he still recognises you as a friend

[@filipgasic2642]

@@underkitten Dude i know, I've beaten the game multiple times and on NG+x too. I've done everything there id and also saw that cutscene many times. I was just asking how does the guy above beat the game if he never fights Sif, without glitches ofc

[@aurumarma5711]

7:24 Hundreds of hours on this game, and I've never seen that spider butt attack.

[@iminmissouri8589]

Bro yeah wtf

[@classymuffin4589]

I've seen it 2-3 times and I'm pretty close to a thousand hours, it's super rare and I have no idea what causes her to do it.

[@DeadPixel___]

Didnt know this attack exist too :D

[@vengefulbird6918]

I see that attack about every other fight

[@classymuffin4589]

@@vengefulbird6918 Must be something to do with the way you fight it.

[@hungryhotdog103]

The homeward-bone dryness of the humor in this video is impeccable

[@unkindlednut7736]

You have dad humor

[@danielfrost6327]

Agreed

[@kefkajanar12324]

Well. He is a skeleton

[@MexicanCerealBox]

Man sounds so bored 😭

[@insidegame4252]

I know what you mean, but if you want keep the mythology in videos up, you can't build jump comedy cuts everywhere you want..

[@RalIix]

The fun thing about Kalameet's “he breathes fire” intro is that it's fire in appearance only - when in fact, it's a dark sorcery dealing magic and physical damage.

[@insidegame4252]

Hm is it?

[@Malcador-TWOM]

@@insidegame4252 yes, it is. Apparently it is dark sorcery because it deals both physical and magic damage. I still think it should be magic and fire damage but i didnt make the game.

[@insidegame4252]

@@Malcador-TWOM Thanks

[@michaelparas9596]

@@insidegame4252 how John

[@dingding12321]

ARE YOU KIDDING! I JUST SPENT AN HOUR PUTTING TOGETHER A FIRE SET LOL

[@BenderZGreat]

16:37 "and he also has a super rare backflip attack" 1000+ hours and I've never seen this attack, wow

[@4evertyranitar]

Same, I've only seen it in videos but it never happened to me. I'm doing another run and Kalameet is the only boss alive alongside Gwyn. Perhaps the time has come?

[@dantefernandez1348]

your not funny

[@capperbuns]

Same

[@lordziz]

I’ve seen it once and it killed me because I had no idea what was happening

[@d3viLang3LFall3n]

And here I am, still having never successfully cut off its tail.

[@juwe7143]

My personal hardest in Darksouls 1 (and third hardest in the Darksouls trilogy) is Manus because of how relentless he attacks. Will you do a DS2 list soon too btw?

[@MrJordwalk]

Thankfully, Manus can be cheesed. Get the Hawk Ring, upgrade a Bow to +10 or higher (I usually use the Composite or Pharis Black Bow), buy 300 Feather Arrows and snipe him from outside the Boss Fog. I beat him the normal way the first time I fought him, but have cheesed him ever since because he's BS. He doesn't only attack relentlessly, he also continues doing damage to you when you're on your back and that makes the fight unfair IMHO. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX66Zmywg7OYjpaW

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

@@MrJordwalk He is actually fun to fight. just equip the OP greatshield of artorias and make the fight simple. Using cheese and pendant is just annoying bs so ditch them. When he deploys dark magic balls(that hit u from behind) remove the lock on from the boss and turn back. The shield will block it. Also u can just braindead block all his physical attacks.

[@SlayerOfPlayer]

@@btchiaintkidding7837 when he casts the orbs behind the player just run up to him and slap him. Orbs disappear a certain distance around him

[@MrJordwalk]

@@btchiaintkidding7837 No, I'm not going to ditch them. The cheese allows me to beat Manus without taking damage, so why would I consider another way in light of finding that?

[@are3287]

@@MrJordwalk Man whoever is willing to do that in a regular run is maybe playing the wrong game. Some ridiculous meme run, maybe sure.

[@liamace1107]

The fact that this tier list is almost in linear order really shows how finely crated DS1 was, despite it's lack of polish

[@talilover5979]

Yeah except the list is actually all over the place and not even remotely linear sure

[@insidegame4252]

Not only Bosses, the game-design is just amazing in DS1, some places in DS1 exist in real life.

[@liamace1107]

@@talilover5979 Literally the start of the list is all bosses from the beginning of the game....

[@talilover5979]

@@liamace1107 Aw yes the starting boss ceasless discharge, not to be confused with the end game boss bell gargoyles Quit talking out your ass bruh

[@MatthewTheUntitled]

Polacy tez nie lubia nie wypolerowanych gier (I had to do a typo for easier translation folks :^))

[@tevildo9383]

Currently replaying DS for the 7th time and so far I have died the most to Capra and O&S. On my first playthrough, I think Kalameet was the hardest. And the Nito gank was a nightmare before I figured out you have to stay where you land.

[@Parrtorias]

The annoying thing about Capra is his trashy arena, if it were larger than a bread-bin it'd be manageable lol

[@handledis]

And 2 dogs...

[@MatthewTheUntitled]

7th 😂

[@arkayv]

I am surprised that you died to O&S just as much as to Capra. Capra always takes the cake for me, it has never been a consistent fight. If I am doing an all bosses run, I will always go to Capra (and in extension Gaping) after getting the lord vessel. Hell, I died to more to Capra than to 4 Kings - One of the only times where I feel the game is just doing this to fuck with you.

[@JonathanGiovannacci]

@@Parrtorias and the trash runback

[@GamersWeekend]

It’s amazing how if I put together my own list how it would probably look almost entirely different. Not that that’s a bad thing, I still find it so cool how some people can find certain bosses so easy while others feel like they’re up against a wall.

[@ebkplague]

fax like bed of chaos was not hard at all imo but everyone says it was hella difficult

[@-opus]

I was told Capra Demon would stop me in my tracks, but I beat him first go. The same person then told me that I must have been overpowered for that area... that was my introduction to souls fan mentality 🤡 Different builds and different playstyles produce different results with different bosses, which is great because it means that at some stage you will most likely have to adapt your playstyle. Ceaseless discharge should be at the bottom of every single list though, since all you need to do is shake his hand.

[@joneatsbagels7239]

Not really a comment on the difficulty of the boss but when I was about 9 and playing dark souls for the first time (and being a dumb kid no where near beating it)… I remember vividly going on the wiki and looking up things about the Taurus demon and gold pine resin and Uchigatana and falling in love with the game because I truly felt like I was learning everything I could just to have a slight edge against this game that was out to get me… 9 year old me still couldn’t beat Taurus but it’s the thought that counts

[@justrandomstuff6828]

It's like studying for a test right?

[@aclown1278]

I was 5 when I started this game and I got pretty far with enough time but I never focused on beating the game I just liked messing around

[@joneatsbagels7239]

@@aclown1278 no offense but you’re either god or I’m doubting this heavy… I have not yet decided which it is, you shall be judged at a later date

[@aclown1278]

@@joneatsbagels7239 I been playing for 8 years im kinda good at it but I wouldnt say god tier

[@kristjanmartin9883]

Exactly the same story for me except replace Dark Souls with Demons Souls and Taurus with Tower Knight lol

[@xinsanedefeatx]

I feel like the zweihander breaks half the bosses. Just beat my first playthrough with a basic str build and for some reason I beat many of the "hardest bosses" in 2 tries (O&S, Five Kings, Sif, Nito, Capra) yet somehow Stray Demon and Bell's Gargoyle absolutely pushed my shit in

[@erkhaanst]

Same goes with claymore or black knight sword imo. I got bks on my first walkthrough and it ruined my gaming experience, because game become r1 simulator xD

[@arutorius6080]

@@erkhaanst bkh is even worse (although you won’t get it as early on with a casual noob route)

[@Ziabetus]

The speed and relentless attacks of the dlc bosses makes the Zweihander user sweat in my experience. But yes, a Max poise damage weapon that is equipable with 16 strength is pretty game breaking.

[@HoricHraje]

True, Gargoyles just give me such a hard time, still couldn't finish them without Solaire's help.

[@fizzymilk2246]

gargoyles are so painful with heavy weapons

[@calypso.9469]

we all know Solaire sad ending mini 'boss' should be on s tier because how hard it is to kill our best companion...

[@tevildo9383]

Siegmeyer+Siegward > Solaire Praise the Onion! \(-Î-)/

[@tolman4497]

Just save him! Easy life.

[@fastenedcarrot9570]

Also the end of Sif's fight.

[@calypso.9469]

@@tolman4497 30 Humanity was just too much for me without duping

[@mellomoose_]

@@calypso.9469 u can kill the maggot thru the door with poison mist or a heavy attack with the dragon great sword

[@amandapanda1288]

23. Pinwheel 22. Moonlight Butterfly 21. Asylum demon 20. Gaping 19. Priscilla 18. Gwyndolin 17. Firesage 16. Stray 15. Ceaseless (only up higher because I couldn’t perfect the cheese for many tries) 14. Iron golem 13. Seath 12. Quelaag 11. Centipede 10. Capra .. (more so the arena and his dogs) 9. Sif 8. Nito 7. Sanctuary guardian 6. Kalameet 5. Gwyn 4. Bell gargoyles (really destroyed me early game) 3. O&S 2. Artorias 1. Manus I think that’s all of them !

[@bonarldsburritosbobtimer962]

You are missing the 4 kings, bed of chaos and the touris demon

[@JBrandonMercer123]

It's not all of them. You're missing Taurus Demon, 4 Kings and Bed of Chaos.

[@amandapanda1288]

@@JBrandonMercer123 crap .. I had them in there and was moving things around and they must have gotten bumped out lol.

[@TheMacNilly]

Learning O&S is one of my favorite memories ever playing games

[@GhostRiposte]

I love getting your perspective on these sorts of things with how talented you are at FromSoft games! I'm surprised you had Seath so high, maybe I'm just OP by the time I get to him, but I've never found him difficult. Also, I didn't know about the Taurus Demon ladder in my first playthrough haha

[@sunbro6452]

I'd say rather well practised than talented.

[@mtsoccerman]

@@sunbro6452 both

[@GhostRiposte]

@@sunbro6452 A lot of players practice a lot, few no hit the game. It definitely takes both!

[@scalycoronet5198]

I love how your experience with bosses changes based on your build. I like to play a fast roll strength build, meaning very little armor and a very big sword. I always have trouble with Nito and Centipede Demon, but O&S and Manus were a cakewalk for some reason. Then on my SL1 run, Quelaag was super easy but Ceaseless Discharge was a nightmare (he would one shot me before I could get him to jump to the ledge).

[@GhostRiposte]

@@scalycoronet5198 It is really interesting how certain bosses are easy to some and hard to others and vice versa. Especially based on build. My first ever playthrough of Dark Souls I had 50 strength, full Havel's armor, +15 Zweihander and Havel's Shield for the DLC haha, needless to say it made the bosses way easier than they should have been. Now, I play a much more free, roll dodging style that is more fun.

[@Marwington]

Sif's fight might be B tier, but refighting him on ng+ is easily an SS tier based on emotional damage alone.

[@Malcador-TWOM]

As someone who loves dogs, i have an emotional obligation to not play this game. However, i still do because i like suffering

[@Mar_Marine]

Not gonna lie, I didn't know there was a ladder in Taurus Demon's arena for a long time, and I played the games in reverse (3 -> 2 -> 1). Going from the high-speed of everything in 3, and slowing down to the pace of 1, it was actually a challenging fight. But I agree that it is a solid early boss that forces you to really learn to play the game am its slower and more measured pace - Asylum Demon really is just "get behind it, and roll when it wants to butt slam you", which just isn't enough.

[@pokekiller787x]

The hardest boss is tricky but for me it's probably always gonna be kalameet. Gwyn is really not that hard parrying in dark souls 1 is very easy especially with his massive jumpslash.

[@brandanmentch]

thats a shame, i beat ds1 this week and completely missed Kalameet in the dlc, same thing for the painting world lady :(

[@tylerbakermusic]

Manus was by far the hardest for me when playing through the first time. To be fair, I was crippling myself by only using 10 +1 estus (cause I was an idiot) during the fight and mid-rolling. He took me about 2 hours while all the other boss fights at most took me 2-4 tries. It’s definitely a very subjective topic though. I believe most people will have a similar-ish top 10, but the top 3 has big potential to be vastly different amongst other people. My brother, for example, beat Manus first try but was decimated by Stray Demon…while I kicked his AOE spamming ass first try lmao. It’s all about your experience, play-style and perception. But hey, thats why souls tier-lists are dope!

[@chrisherzog1367]

I had the most trouble with Manus and Kalameet on my playthrough. Manus because I could not grasp dodging his mega combo attack, and Kalameet because I could not accept beating him without cutting the tail. O&S also took me a ton of tries - I feel like patience is such a huge key with them (for separation) and I'm terrible at it.

[@FlygonSal330]

Man, my first playthrough, it took me 3 weeks to beat O&S, the amount of achievement i felt after i finally beat Super Ornstein was astronomical.

[@rhomayyann4691]

@Urn Turn That's the same with me, but for Kalameet. I brought in two people to help with O&S, but I'll one man them on my second run I'm currently doing. After beating Kalameet no other boss can give me an issue because of what that boss taught me.

[@glowcloudwheatproducts495]

@UCpN3VElJGM6jPBZ--0aLVeQ honestly, if you don't just set aside an entire afternoon or day for O&S, id imagine it'd be quite hard to remember their movements. I think this is just the sort of game you need to play in chunks

[@FlygonSal330]

@@glowcloudwheatproducts495 this was actually my issue, I'd play for like a couple of hours at a time and it wasn't daily either, work-life can be busy lol, but despite that, it was a glorious night when I finally beat them at 3 am on a Saturday night, screamed "yes!" so loudly that i woke my parents up lmao

[@coryisftw1]

“Just don’t tell anybody I’m trying to grow the channel.” For that, I’m a sub

[@YangBalanceYin]

Bed of Chaos is the only boss in the game that will always give me a hard time no matter how many times I fight it. I have no idea why. It isn't "hard" and with speedrun strats you don't even need to get into its "bed of chaos". I just always get swiped or slip off the tree roots.

[@isprobablyjobhunting]

That damn boss. First playthrough (After looking it up). Boom 2nd try. 2nd playthrough took me like 10.

[@KrazyJohnnySvK]

Same applies to me with rotten. I fucking HATE that boss.

[@justrandomstuff6828]

Because it's not mechanicaly hard, it's cheap hard, i died 15 times to that garbage, and i only got through because on the third target, the A.I. gave up and shot itself down

[@goodnesswhy]

Doing a no-hit run with that boss is an absolute nightmare (if you don't have a bow or firebombs).

[@blitzie66]

@@justrandomstuff6828 i am so ashamed of how many times i’ve been saved by the absolutely shitty ai giving up and breaking itself in certain areas… thank you gaping dragon for whatever caused u to get stuck u cheeky bastard

[@rhomayyann4691]

In my opinion, after just completing DS1 for my first time, Kalameet is 10 times harder than Ornstein and Gwyn. The rest of the list isn't bad up until that point. Gwyn was a joke I brought Solaire just because I could, but I ended fighting and killing Gwyn all on my own. Glad they made him a lot harder as the Soul of Cinder.

[@Snow-lv4bk]

Well, I guess that its just about individual experience. I’ve killed Kalameet on the first try but Gwyn on the other hand was a different story.

[@apemayor3046]

I thought Soul of Cinder was WAY harder than Gwyn.

[@Albatross0913]

Eh, people struggle with different things. I beat Champion Gundyr and Nameless on my first try but then got stuck for three or four hours on Lothric and Oseiros

[@lotsanoisy69]

Safe to say you did a good job with this and we'd like to see more. I'd put Gwyn lower only because about three parries you can beat him, but good list.

[@namarie.2289]

Dope I literally just beat the game for the first time LMAO the timing

[@gerwazy8264]

Good job man keep it up!

[@aclown1278]

nice man

[@mongooseman6585]

The Heide Dragon Rider is the hardest of all the games, cant think of any way to cheese him.

[@Sharkamfss]

There's a popular cheese people use in challenge runs. If you don't pull the lever and keep the arena small you can make him fall off by baiting a certain attacks while standing at the edge.

[@MobyDrip]

@@Sharkamfss He's being sarcastic

[@callmeej8399]

I’m still stuck on him

[@mongooseman6585]

@@Sharkamfss I was being sarcastic but I appreciate the kind advice all the same so thank you.

[@Sharkamfss]

@@mongooseman6585 yeah I figured way after posting the comment lol

[@kevisaur9889]

Gywns easier to learn imo then O&S

[@ayosammy]

Took me 3 tries for gwyn and about 10 for o&s

[@kevisaur9889]

@@ayosammy it took me like 25-50 for O&S and about 10 to learn gywn

[@angelstoynov2221]

@@kevisaur9889 it took me 2 for gwyn and like 40 for O&S

[@JBrandonMercer123]

One shot Gwyn first playthrough. O&S took about 5 hours.

[@TheFloodFourm]

Learn? Just get gud

[@silfah3194]

Hardest one for me (i speedrun a lot) is o&s. On my first playthrough it was manus.

[@kumicables]

i literally beat ds1 for the first time like 30 minutes ago so here i am

[@tinamariecurrier7397]

What is your profile pic from? I see it everywhere

[@bingus6978]

@@tinamariecurrier7397 celeste

[@banana_pancake7171]

I used to have a harder time with Manus than Artorias. Artorias is easy to dodge roll but Manus goes all wild and scared me.

[@frankhuang5645]

I never through my 400 hours of DS1 knew that iron golem had a falling animation where he does a 360 flip before dying

[@garbageguy2599]

I just finished Ds1 a few weeks ago actually. Funnily enough alot of the hardest bosses ( 4 kings and Gwyn ) I breezed through but then some of the earlier bosses gave me alot of trouble. It also made me realize how op poise is pls Elden ring re-add it

[@glowcloudwheatproducts495]

I think its a case of the game's reputation combined with some of the earlier bosses being really hard causing lots of players, myself included, to sometimes overprepare for the late game. I was definitely overleveled by the end game, to the point where I didn't even know what stats to put points into. I also had loads of consumables and the best possible gear by the end.

[@garbageguy2599]

@@glowcloudwheatproducts495 The game quickly taught me a valuable lesson... You can do a ton of damage with a str build and being able to poise thru alot of attacks helped me

[@BlackJar72]

I had the most trouble with Gwyn, Manus, and the Moonlight Butterfly. I beat many of the proclaimed hardest bosses on my first try (though I did have Solaire for O&S) -- but ran across darkroot garden at least a couple dozen times to trying to kill that damn butterfly! Gwyn had me screening obscenities for hours, and I just gave up and cheesed Manus with arrows from the ledge before the white wall (going back for the black bow and feather arrows became its own sub-quest).

[@bjmurphy34]

Ornstein & Smough were the second hardest fight for me. It took me 20 attempts to defeat Manus in the DLC.

[@brittig8983]

The true hardest boss is Centipede Demon when you're doing a pyro run and you didn't realize he was immune to fire :)

[@nightwolfcry5415]

Dude I really feel like you and your content are way over looked. I thoroughly Enjoy your videos man. Keep it up!

[@dovesr0478]

After spending hundreds of hours playing DS1 over the last 10ish years, I've decided that Manus is the hardest boss. His attacks are relentless and he has a bunch of moves that you need to watch for. Plus he has a ton of health (WAY more than Gwyn), and can't be parried. I honestly think of Manus as a sort of alternative final boss, representing darkness and humanity, acting as a foil to Gwyn who represents gods and light.

[@Sebastianguitar01]

The Sir Artorias & Sif really hit hard on the feelings.

[@aeontheyearningyouth2934]

Edit: If you want a emotional fight for Artorias and Sif: Restriction and Pledge for Artorias and Torn Apart (Bleach) for Sif after you finish the DLC.

[@aeontheyearningyouth2934]

@Random person Never heard this one, is that from the 2011 or the original

[@aeontheyearningyouth2934]

@Random person Ohhh now I remember thanks

[@aeontheyearningyouth2934]

@Random person Okay I take it back about Heartful cry, Restriction and Pledge is a way better option thanks dude.

[@MehrdadParthian]

Its been a long while since i played ds1. I mostly play ds3. But if i remember correctly the ornstein fight is the hardest. Because you are met with two over powered monsters that can time you from behind while the other is busy takin u down from front. Both have large hp. And icing on top of the cake is that theres a phase 2 where one of them gets super charged. And if you pick ornstein to kill last... then you're one of the brave ones !!!

[@hamletfisherman5740]

I just completed DS last week, killing every bosses for the first time, after having played through Bloodborne, Sekiro and DS3 multiple times in the last year and a half, and having completed DS2 one time. I have to say that in over 600 hours of Fromsoft games, the first few hours of DS were the only times I felt frustrated. There was a lot of bullshit here and there that you mentioned and I did not enjoy much, except Sif, Sen’s Fortress and the Tombs of Giants. The DLC was fun too, but damn Manus did beat my ass. After I couldn’t time the rolls correctly every time, I tried to get the pendant to help me with the magic attacks. Looking on the net, I figured it was not surprising I hadn’t find it earlier (an invisible wall unlocked by casting a light in an area which is well-lit). I had sold my bug helmet for some souls after I cleared the tombs of giants, so no light there. I also exchanged the lanterns for the fog ring, so not that way neither. And I had killed that mushroom lady from a distance with like two arrows, thinking it was a monster, so she couldn’t sell me the light spell. I resigned to learning how to dodge every spell. After so many deaths, and thinking I couldn’t do it, I decided to go for the ninja roll ring to see how little it would help. I got him down to one hit that try, and killed him easily the attempt after. So weird that dodging feels wrong in this game, and that the ring that makes dodging intuitive and closer to the other games is from speaking to a cat hidden in the forest and then pushing a ninja down a cliff. Kalameet was a blast with that ring too, took me three tries. It was the best boss in this game. (Also I never summon, those that summon must have a different take on difficulty I guess).

[@octagonseventynine1253]

Rolling only has 4 directions in ds1 which is why it felt weird to you. It has way more s than the base roll in ds2 and more again than the sekiro dodge so it is extremely useful even with medium weight. Going from Sekiro to DS1 would be extremely jarring due to different twitch reflex timing and mechanics

[@Phshteve]

@@octagonseventynine1253 Rolling in ds1 is far easier when unlocked, since you get omnidirectional rolling then.

[@hamletfisherman5740]

@@octagonseventynine1253 I usually can roll in any directions as I try not locking on to, but my point was more that the dark grain wood ring is amazing. More s, less recovery time and you roll further.

[@octagonseventynine1253]

I love combining that ring with the shadow garb and 2 handing a black Knight sword for a low level dark wraith build

[@hamletfisherman5740]

@@octagonseventynine1253 😳 dude that’s exactly my setup, except I wear Solaire’s helmet (sadly he died in mysterious circumstances).

[@patmen12]

I wanna know how I can listen to the music you're playing in the background. Listening to this felt like a nice, soothing head massage, even while it was juxtaposed with clips and commentary of some of my most incredibly rage-inducing memories. Fantastic combo.

[@ethanabramov6345]

Seath was too high imo, all you have to do is stay in front of him. Its harder to cut his tail off, because of his tentacle move, but overall the boss is pretty easy. Also I think manus shouldve been higher. Also gwyn wasnt too bad for me with or without parrying, its definitely way harder to dodge but it still was manageable if you get behind him

[@l1ghtjok3s66]

I haven't even seen seaths move set cuz I wooped him to fast 💀

[@JBrandonMercer123]

Can't agree more. Seath is a joke. Gwyn isn't hard at all.

[@l1ghtjok3s66]

@@JBrandonMercer123 My first time fighting him I struggled a little bit cuz I was surprised of how aggressive he is but if I fought him now he would prob be easy

[@giorgiobarone6522]

Seath and Centipede are the perfect example of the limits From Software has with its camera. Buuuut they still are two bosses that struggle to do anything to you

[@l1ghtjok3s66]

@@giorgiobarone6522 fr lol centipede was just having a temper tantrum while I hit his legs

[@KaylaHall-bb2zf]

It was only until very recently that I decided to give these games a try mainly from watching your videos that I accidentally stumbled on but anyway I ended up buying Bloodborne and DS3 with all dlc. Now I see why this series is so praised because i’m having a blast with both titles and plan on buying the older ones too. Thanks for the content and thanks for unknowingly inspiring me to try this series out you have earned a sub.

[@roaringlaughter3812]

Artorias fight best boss fight in my gaming history, its an epic experience where you learn your enemy then defeat them instead of cheese rushing them or them just butfukkin you out of existence

[@FirEBeast]

My first play though of this game has been so weird compared to most others I feel. Since I played Elden Ring first, which is what got me into souls, this game was pretty easy. I took the 4 Lord Souls in just 2 sessions and beat Quelaag, Seathe, Nito, and Sanctuary Guardian, on my first attempt. I have a feeling it’s because when I got to Nito and Seathe, it took so long to get to them, that I knew I couldn’t run back and it would have to be first try. I literally randomly guessed the to hit Seathes crystal because idk gamer instincts. All of this isn’t to say I’m good or better than anyone. I think it’s remarkable that by already having an idea of what the game was going to be about and what approach to take to things it made it so much easier. If dark souls had been my first, I would’ve been just as lost as when I first entered Limgrave, but that background context goes such a long way. (Btw I was pure strength build using Battle Axe which evolved to Golem Axe)

[@TheRealGovika]

Personally have never had issues with O&S. But it took me god forever to beat Nito, Artorias, and Manus my first time through

[@JBrandonMercer123]

That's funny. It took about 5 hours for me to beat O&S my first time. One shot Nito. Three shot Artorias. Manus took quite a few tries. Different playstyles, I guess.

[@MSDGAMEZ]

I had barely any trouble with Dark Souls until I got to kalameet. I beat O&S on my first try. I really didn't understand the hype afterwards.

[@rocco2949]

o k

[@ursaminor2732]

Squilla long time stream watcher from 2014 to 2018-ish (life got busy) this was a GREAT video, first of your videos i've seen of this type, your voice is concise as ever, and i'd love more of this content from you.

[@senioritapolyester]

I started my first play through two weeks ago and I managed to kill O&S on my third try thanks the the many hours Ive seen you play on Twitch. Most difficult boss for me was Manus because I was super clumsy switching between the silver pendant and the Estus lol 😅

[@notveryultraguy]

I don't know how but I've never died to him and I don't even know where the silver pendant is

[@senioritapolyester]

@@notveryultraguy ✨🙌 / (also, the silver pendant is in a chest in a hidden room in Oolacile Township).

[@louisgreubel742]

I like this list a lot. Most other lists seem to be made with the hindsight of hundreds (or even thousands) of hours of playtime, but you seemed to tailor yours to the perspective of a newer player. I like that. Good job!

[@PKSkeith]

Squilla: "memes are dumb and degenerate" also Squilla "memes in every single boss description"

[@tox6894]

Eventually anything turns into a meme

[@mythosspecialist1352]

For me, the top tier in the series for SL1 from easiest to hardest is: 5. Four Kings (when you SL1 at around NG+2, it gets rough) 4. Smough and Ornstein 3. Demon in Pain and Demon From Below 2. Soul of Cinder 1. Manus Father of the Abyss Honorable Mention: Friede and her 3 phases P.S. I never felt comfortable to use the pendant in the Manus fight, so that might have affected the difficulty for me. It felt like any mistake in positioning, stamina, or movement would lead to death, once he started unleashing his magic. The latter two thirds of it were stressful enough that Manus was the only boss I felt I could only beat in hypermode (and with a decent pattern). I could rant about why Manus is so difficult but I don't think it really matters here. He was challenging in a way that was fun/enjoyable to deal with, but it was more like "oh thank god, it's finally over." I think Friede is the BEST boss which is also very difficult, because she is fun to fight and shares player mechanics. Being able to stagger her consistently means you can be aggressive and play your game to an extent. It doesn't just feel like sitting around and waiting for punishes.

[@ktribe2381]

easiest: BoC with cheese hardest: BoC without cheese need i say more?

[@MobyDrip]

True, I think I've died on BoC most out of any boss, but all the deaths were due to hot BS. Most actual boss I died to was Manus by far, then Kalameet and Artorias. Gwyn was a breeze, even without parrying, idk why.

[@ktribe2381]

@@MobyDrip my worst boss fight right now is honestly Capra... those frigging dogs stagger me so i cant dodge his swing

[@gabehere]

When I got to the DLC, Manus and Artorias honestly felt like Dark Souls 3 bosses in DS1. Having played DS3 first, I got them quickly, but actually beating them with Dark Souls 1 movement was the real challenge.

[@nailbiter6974]

I one shot both manus and Gwyn, but artorias destroyed my ass like 20+ times before I bested him.

[@jjgpvp1258]

Lol manus is the hardest in the game, when you say "one shot" do you mean one hit kill or one attempt?

[@nailbiter6974]

@@jjgpvp1258 one attempt. Got him first attempt. I put the vid on my page

[@jacktrussler20]

Time to add this to the commands! Wonderful video as always :)

[@songbird6414]

Just finished it yesterday. As a veteran of two Monster Hunter games(definitely a different ball game, but somewhat similar in premise), I had some experience coming in. The hardest boss for me was absolutely Artorias. Even Havel’s armor can’t tank him out when he’s fully powered up. Ornstein and Smough gave me the next amount of trouble, and then Kalameet and Seath were probably tied, as it took me about four tries each to get.

[@garionwirsig7960]

I love watching these boss rankings cause you get to see what was more challenging for other players. Personally I beat Gwyn first try on my first playthrough, but I had loads of trouble with Stray Demon.

[@tydresen3905]

Thanks for the fun video. I didn’t know that my notifications weren’t on but they are now.

[@nazimzerrouki467]

Honestly, nothing was ever as hard as Manus in the Dark Souls trilogy though a few did come close. Manus had a variety of different moves that look similar, but have different timings, and generally all of these moves chain to other moves as well which means that you don't have to dodge precisely once, but dodge precisely multiple times in that given moment. He also has an insane combo that is very difficult to dodge since its wind-up is very quick. Manus literally ate my ass inside out, especially on NG+.

[@ncrtrooper6619]

For me after multiple playthroughs 26. Moonlight Butterfly 25. Asylum Demon 24. Pinwheel 23. Ceaseless Discharge 22. Iron Golem 21. Taurus Demon 20. Gaping 19. Demon Firesage 18. Gwendolyn 17. Bed Of Chaos 16. Crossbreed Pricilla 15. Gravelord Nito 14. Stray Demon 13. Seath the Scaless 12. Sif 11. Bell Gargoyles 10. Centipede Demon 9. Quelaag 8. Gwyn, Lord Of Cinder 7. Sanctuary Guardian 6. Bed Of Chaos 5. 4 Kings 4. Manus 3. Ornstein and Smough 2. Artorias 1. Kalameet

[@groundhog3051]

This video made me want to become a youtuber. Thank you so much squilla. You're the real og

[@mooseroom]

i would've never expected this kind of video from you but god i'm happy

[@Lamentationsofapoory]

I absolutely agree with Gwyn at No. 1. I just recently beat DS1 for the first time about 6 months ago, and even Artorias felt more doable at first (shout out to Havel Poise and the Dragon Tooth two handed roll attack) but Gwyn absolutely gave me the most trouble. His fast slash is impossible to react to, but if you hold up your shield, you might be able to parry the second hit. If you do hold up your shield, however, prepare to be grabbed and your face pumped full of fire. If you try to heal behind pillars, his insane range from his sword or the almighty Gwyn Leap of Death slaughters you. I died to Gwyn probably twice as much as Artorias, because I could at least place my shots with him. Also this content is great Squilla, definitely had to pause because I was laughing too hard at Spidermelons. Well done.

[@TaylorCoffman87]

I believe this is the first video of yours I have ever come across. I enjoyed it and will be checking out more of your content.

[@JimmyBackbeat]

The one that beat me to tears was 4 kings. That one stands out to me. I had played DkS so much when the DLC launched so I could manage those bosses pretty well, but they probably would have murdered me otherwise... I found that lots of players struggled with the fire lady-spider in the swap so it became one of my go-to--places for soul farming. I just joined other players and killed her over and over until I learned her well enough to never take damage from her. It might not have been the most effective way to farm souls, but it was way more fun than the other known methods.

[@justrandomstuff6828]

You can get a +15 weapon before Anor Londo, get the Claymore on the bridge, level up nicely and then two hand that baby, you'll kill the kings so fast you'll have to wait for them to spawn more

[@christianwalls7994]

First ever play-through of the Painted World of Ariamis, I was so underleveled and didn’t have any ranged weapons capable of dealing with the toxic hollows. I was too scared to even fight the Phalanx guys and open the shortcut. Naturally when Priscilla gave me a choice I fucked off and thanked my lucky stars she was optional.

[@legi0n47x]

Artorias is definitely one of the most fun boss fights in the game. My favorite boss however is Sif. The easter egg with him if you beat Artorias before you fight him is a nice touch.

[@thepepperronin6845]

I thought the requirement was saving tiny Sif in the abyss for the special cutscene?

[@legi0n47x]

@@thepepperronin6845 You may be correct. Honestly I just did the whole DLC, and that was quite a while ago.

[@gamerfeed101]

Over 10000 hours in the game and I still love it as much as my first time playing

[@johnapplesauce6129]

Thanks for the list always interesting to hear what challenge runners think

[@daniel698324]

11:05 Actually Big Hat Logan can tell you that, if you have done his questline so far and release him from prison

[@steveyuhas9278]

"And this detached eldritch torso has snakes for legs... That's sus" Bruh 🤣🤣🤣 that delivery had me rollin

[@deezul7328]

That pinwheel theory is long debukned

[@fastenedcarrot9570]

Gywn's fight is also very hard to find time to heal in. He's absolutely relentless and does big damage so on a first playthrough if you're hit once you can easily get caught in a bit of a spiral of trying to heal and getting hit again.

[@JBrandonMercer123]

Just hide behind a pillar to heal. If you're ever played arena in WoW, you're probably pretty good at pillar humping.

[@fastenedcarrot9570]

@@JBrandonMercer123 I did, but I only ever really found one pillar that worked consistently and even then I had to wait until he got stuck on it trying jump at me instead of running round it.

[@chickennuggetgaming4997]

I'm actually REALLY glad you put Gwyn at number 1. He is by far my hardest boss still. Everyone always says "oh he's easy, just parry him", but there's so many inconsistencies in trying to parry him due to the wide variety of delays on his different attacks and the only safe time to heal is during the grab attack normally. I died to him like 50+ times over the course of over 2 hours on my last SL 1 run, by far the most of any boss in the game.

[@ladyfox6705]

On my first playthrough in 2019, the Capra Demon gave me the most grief. Artorias is still one of my favourite bosses, because he was the one where everything really 'clicked' for me. Plus 💖😭🐕 Hundreds of hours later, & on my recent Platinum run, I got the Bed of Chaos on my first try ever. I couldn't believe it & just sat there shocked & laughing!!😂 No bow, firebombs, quitouts etc, just RNGesus was on my side that day🙌 God, I love Dark Souls 💓💗💟

[@vyzex5818]

When you called Sif Artorias' partner instead of pet, my heart snapped.

[@hitlord]

Well, he (or potentially she, given a lot of potential back-lore which I won't go into here) is though. It's both.

[@damianhernandez1665]

Ornstein and Smough can be cheesed, just farm a whole bunch until you can wear full havel gear without breaking your back. Then just summon Solaire and go ooga booga monkey mode on Ornstein while chugging flask, and then do it again once Smough becomes big chungus.

[@atomictoaster8013]

bro was it really necessary to give a dark souls tier list a genuinely awe inspiring soundtrack

[@vasting9829]

15:36 I didn't know that Artorias was blind...

[@Kyrogus]

My list (Difficult -> Easiest) 1. Manus, Father of the Abyss 2. Black Dragon Kalameet 3. Ornstein and Smough 4. Gravelord Nito 5. Knight Artorias 6. Bed of Chaos 7. Gwyn, Lord of Cinder 8. Seath the Scaleless 9. Four Kings 10. Capra Demon 11. Great Grey Wolf Sif 12. Chaos Witch Quelaag 13. Demon Firesage 14. Centipede Demon 15. Sanctuary Guardian 16. Iron Golem 17. Bell Gargoyles 18. Moonlight Butterfly 19. Dark Sun Gwyndolin 20. Gaping Dragon 21. Stray Demon 22. Priscilla 23. Taurus Demon 24. Asylum Demon 25. Ceaseless Discharge 26. Pinwheel

[@oldcrow6752]

Spider-Melons back to back with Dragonlady Feet? OK, I'm subscribing.

[@garrhawe]

Squilla goin for content!, i'm delighted, best of luck killa

[@rohitchaoji]

I don't know why but Seath has usually been pretty easy for me. I stick to his left tentacle where it doesn't trigger his tail/tentacle swipe attack, and just lay it on it. You also stay out of range of his cursed crystal beam or whatever if you stick to the very edge of his left tentacle and never go behind it. If you go behind the tentacle and towards the tail, he'll do that wild swiping attack. Of course, this method means that you can't go for the Moonlight Greatsword, if you play it this safe.

[@SevenGC89]

Ceaseless discharge is what happens when you don't cast a protection wrap spell on your 1h sword before you go diving into unfamiliar catacombs, remember ashen one, don't be a gourd...remember to cast a protection spell on your sword!

[@stevenglowacki8576]

I ended up having absolutely no trouble with Gravelord Nito or Demonfire Sage on my first playthrough with no hints. On Demonfire Sage, he was just a carbon copy of Aslyum Demon and Stray Demon, and I had no problem avoiding his attacks. For Gravelord Nito, when I first killed the skeleton adds and saw they'd probably be respawning, I made sure to kill them all well away from Nito, then hit Nito a few times, then run away as the skeletons respawned, kill them away from Nito, and repeat. It didn't take that many cycles, and I don't think I was ever close to dying. I may not have even needed to heal, but I probably did at least once. Seath is also really easy if you don't try to melee. I had trouble figuring out how to get to the immortality switch originally, but once I hit it, I just kept away from him and shot him with my crossbow. I guess I should probably mention that I tried to stay at range and shoot with the crossbow for pretty much every boss, since I had a terrible time trying to avoid attacks while in melee range - trying to practice to roll to avoid attacks when the death runs are as long as they are just didn't seem to be a good use of time compared to being a coward and using a ranged weapon. On O&S I eventually managed to kill Super Ornstein by taking out most of his life while he was stuck wanting to exchange ranged attacks, so I just dodged and kept shooting until something broke him out of the loop and I had to figure out how to not die while taking out his remaining health. Maybe Smough is easier in Super Mode, but in my attempts I always fared much worse with that so I focused on killing him first; I probably managed better on Ornstein since he had the chance of getting stuck wanting to do ranged attacks. I never thought about trying to plunge attack Taurus Demon after the first time I climbed the tower to kill the Hollows there, when he climbed up before I finished killing them. I probably had time on future attempts, but I was too scared to try, thinking he was going to be jumping up just as I got to the edge and before I could plunge. Based on number of attempts and how well I did during them, I'd say the hardest was Four Kings, then O&S, then Sif. I never found the Gwyn- boss you fight in the long corridor in Anor Londo, nor did I find how to access the DLC, so I can't rate them. I'll need to be out of new games to play before I ever come back and try again, and that's very unlikely to happen given my backlog.

[@stevenglowacki8576]

I also only tried parrying Gwyn once, and when I failed, stopped trying and just spammed R1 with +15 Partizan with shield up and Green Blossom active (same as Five kings). Five Kings was easy with that strat (though it took a long time for me to find it), and Gwyn was a bit harder, but once I decided I learned enough about the fight to make powering through it with Green Blossoms like with Five Kings, I think I killed him immediately.

[@navtektv]

For a minute I was confused by the crisp capture that is more HD than I've ever seen Dark Souls 1 be and then I remembered my yonder years of owning a gaming PC.

[@JBrandonMercer123]

PC master race.

[@navtektv]

@@JBrandonMercer123 If you can afford it. I remember building my rig in 2011 with the best hardware available for a little under $4000USD, talking just hardware and no shipping costs? A little under $3K to ship to my country. Now Ultra High graphics rigs that run current gen games cost well over $5-6K. To ship to me? Over 10K definitely. And then the graphic cards need upgrading almost every year. That's a consoles worth of money being forked out of your pocket every year mate! I remember gaming on my PC from 2011 to 2017 and within that tine had switched five GPUs. GTX 480 to 680, to 780 to 980 and then finally to RX560. Fortunately a storm hit my house and my PC got water damage and I was forced to reevaluate. Got myself a Ps4 and didn't have to spend a minute or cent upgrading it to play current gen games ever since, because the games come optimized to run it. In a few years time when the PS5 hype drops, the bullshit with the stocks stop, its library get beefed up and the slim/pro version comes out ill get that and have fun without all the hastle of hardware upgrades and such. I can appreciate the abilities of a souped up PC, but truly it's now definitely for a master race, a richer one. Us plebs have to make do with the exclusives.

[@parzival_35f32]

The video has much great insight into this game with enough humor to make me want to watch it again.

[@Trexirl]

I've beaten Ds1 like 50 times and didn't know you could fight Neto without the skeletons spawning, I legit just always put up with them lmao this series is something else

[@ketembo]

Here is my bump for an algorithm. I wish you success in growing your channel, Squill.

[@jessemasters1446]

On my first playthrough O&S WRECKED me so many times but after Sunbroing that fight for at least 100 times I can easily solo them now. It's pretty simple to kite them around the arena. Yeah Ornstein can glitch through pillars from time to time, but as long as you can manage fat boy behind pillars as well, the fight isn't too bad. I always have trouble with the 4 Kings unless I'm super high level which sucks because low level invasions require you to beat them at such a low level.

[@ikej1200]

Love this new video type you are trying out! Hope you keep making more of them

[@thekaz5225]

I agree, if you can't parry Gwyn he is definently S tier difficulty. Being able to parry though drops him to a B tier at best though. If you restrict yourself from Parrying he is an extremely challenging final boss. That music score when fighting him too is so good.

[@notapplicable292]

I am going in to this fully expecting the number 1 spot to be SquillaKilla

[@turntapeover5749]

That Iron Pineapple joke made me ROFL. XD

[@cleverexpert2]

when you forget to bring up that artorius is also weilding his weapon in his off hand not his main

[@Strength_Build_Fun]

My opinion of DS1 boss difficulty. 1. Manus (Hardest boss) 2. Black Dragon Kalameet 3. Four Kings 4. Ornstein and Smough 5. Capra Demon 6. Gwyn, Lord of Cinder 7. Artorias the Abysswalker 8. Gwyndolin 9. Sif the Wolf 10. Bed of Chaos 11. Gravelord Nito 12. Seath the Scaleless 13. Quelagg 14. Sanctuary Guardian 15. Firesage Demon 16. Stray Demon 17. Centipede Demon 18. Ceaseless Discharge 19. Bell Gargoyles 20. Moonlight Butterfly 21. Gaping Dragon 22. Priscilla 23. Taurus Demon 24. Asylum Demon 25. Pinwheel (Easiest boss)

[@samuelcottle4370]

the amount of bosses that I didn't recognize is honestly infuriating