The Ultimate Elden Ring Bosses Guide: Hardest Bosses Ranked

As the latest addition to the Dark Souls game genre, Elden Ring maintains the element of high difficulty. Most bosses in the game are especially challenging, while some are borderline unbeatable.

In this ultimate bosses guide, I will list and rank the hardest bosses in Elden Ring, explain what makes them so challenging, and provide some tips on how to defeat them.

If you want to increase your chances of defeating any boss by making the fights a bit more even, make sure to check out first our guide on how to summon spirits in Elden Ring and how to upgrade them.

Table of Contents:

5. Crucible Knight Duo

4. Starscourge Radahn

3. Margit the Fell Omen

2. Radagon of the Fallen Order/Elden Beast

1. Malenia Blade of Miquella

Hardest Bosses Ranked in Elden Ring and How to Defeat Them

While Elden Ring isn’t overall one of the hardest games in the Dark Souls series, some of its bosses have managed to stand out and test players’ patience due to their phenomenally high difficulty.

Let’s take a look at the five hardest bosses in the game and how to defeat them.

5. Crucible Knight Duo

The Crucible Knight is considered one of the hardest enemies to defeat in Elden Ring. You’ve probably encountered him more than a few times in the open world and hated every second of that encounter. Well, in this boss fight, players will have to face not one, but two Crucible Knights at the same time.

Found at the end of Auriza Hero’s Grave, this is considered the hardest of all the minor dungeon bosses in Elden Ring.

Other than their high damage and rapid close and long-range attacks, the Crucible Knights have a trigger to charge at you the second they see you healing. Due to that, you’re never safe to heal and should plan all of your moves carefully.

How to Defeat Crucible Knight Duo Boss in Elden Ring

To defeat the Crucible Knight Duo bosses in Elden Ring, use Spirit Ashes and weapons that deal Fire or Lightning damage.

Make sure to get in cover before healing (behind a pillar or any small object) and be as far away from the bosses as possible. Also, focus on killing the lesser Crucible Knight first (not Ordovis) as he’s easier to defeat.

4. Starscourge Radahn

Starscourge Radahn is notoriously known for his difficulty as he has high-damage AoE melee attacks, as well as ranged attacks that are extremely hard to dodge.

The boss has two phases, and can one-shot players at any point. The fight encourages you to be on your horse due to the extremely big battlefield and then one-shots you with undodgeable meteorites.

How to Defeat Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring

To defeat Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring, you’ll need to find the balance between riding your horse and dismounting to dodge certain attacks.

The best way to defeat Starscourge Radahn is to use the seven summons around the arena and keep reviving them when their down. Also, focus on dealing ranged damage while Radahn is occupied with the summons.

Margit the Fell Omen

Margit is the first main story boss of the game and serves as a perfect introduction to the game's high difficulty.

With rapid, long-range attacks, as well as long, high-damage melee combos, Margit is ready to punish even your slightest misstep.

He’s one of those bosses where players have to master each of his attacks before having a chance to beat him. And even then, this fight will require a lot of patience.

Additionally, since he’s an early-game boss, players won’t have many weapons or builds to choose from, which makes the fight even harder.

How to Defeat Margit the Fell Omen in Elden Ring

Overall, in this ultimate Elden Ring bosses guide, the best tip I recommend for beating Margit is to keep fighting until you memorize each of his patterns.

The good news is that after beating Margit you’ll be ready to face almost any boss.

Radagon of the Golden Order/Elden Beast

Radagon of the Golden Order is the final main story boss in the game and Elden Beast is its second phase.

Players will have to defeat both of them to complete the game and each of them features many unique and extremely frustrating moves.

When Radagon is defeated, players will instantly start fighting Elden Beast. Dying here means you’ll have to start from Radagon again. Elden Beast constantly moves around the battlefield and nukes players will high-damage AoE attacks that are tricky to dodge.

How to Defeat  Radagon of the Golden Order/Elden Beast Boss in Elden Ring

Radagon is a challenging boss on his own due to his rapid attacks and high AoE damage. To defeat him, players should try to break his stance with heavier builds and save their resources for Elden Beast.

Your best bet here is to have saved as many resources as possible and use them here, including Flasks of Crimson Tears and Spirit Ashes.

I highly recommend using one of the more durable Spirit Ashes like the Mimic so that it can keep the aggro from the boss for a while.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella

Malenia is undoubtedly the hardest boss in Elden Ring, while many consider her one of the hardest bosses of all FromSoftwaregames. This boss fight takes hours to learn since it has multiple patterns that can one-shot the player and will test your patience.

Her most notable move is the flurry attack, where she goes into the air, charges, and launches a series of rapid attacks split into three combos that require precise timing to dodge.

Additionally, players will need to defeat her twice and her attacks will have lifesteal during the whole fight. After defeating her for the first time, Malenia will restore her HP back to full and move on to the second phase with even more deadly moves.

If you’re still not convinced about how hard this fight is, consider the best way to defeat her is by parrying. And to break her stance with a parry, you’ll have to parry her three times consecutively!

How to Defeat Malenia, Blade of Miquella Boss in Elden Ring

If you feel like this fight is unbeatable, check out this video on how a player managed to defeat her with a Level 1 character.

Overall, the best way to beat Malenia in Elden Ring is by practicing again and again. This fight will take a long time to master and there’s no shortcut. Master each of Malenia’s moves and keep trying until you can take her down.

Wrapping up

These were the five hardest bosses in Elden Ring and how to defeat them.

When facing any of these bosses, make sure to have enough patience and be willing to accept that you’ll die multiple times.

For more guides, consider checking out our guide on five tips for beginners for appreciating and mastering Elden Ring.