Even when Dark Souls 2 is the ugly duckling of FromSoftware’s pristine line of motion RPGs, the sport continues to be a solid entry within the Dark Souls series. Despite its flaws, Dark Souls 2 still takes you on an exhilarating adventure through fallen kingdoms full of powerful enemies. Regarding boss fights, Dark Souls 2 might end on the straightforward side of the FromSoftware scale. Still, some hard encounters will force you to ‘git gud.’
Mostly due to a series of great DLCs that far surpass the bottom game by way of boss quality, Dark Souls 2 still has some tough-as-nails bosses that may test your patience. Listed here are the toughest bosses in the sport, ranked by how long they may make you suffer.
Updated on October 13, 2024 by Ryan Hay: Dark Souls 2, like all From Software title, is filled with bosses. Limiting the toughest fights to only ten, especially considering the DLC, doesn’t do the sport justice. We have updated this list so as to add in a number of more we expect are value mentioning.
13 Spoil Sentinels
Animated Armor
The Ruins Sentinels are one in every of the primary bosses you’ll encounter in Dark Souls 2, which is why they’re especially tricky to beat. Once you cross paths with the Sentinels in The Lost Bastille, you’ll still be mastering the sport’s mechanics, making them the primary big skill check in your journey.
Coping with a single Spoil Sentinel shouldn’t be so bad. Yes, they do a number of damage and have loads of health. Still, their attacks are well-telegraphed, so you may learn easy methods to dodge them. The issue is that the Spoil Sentinels boss fight has three enemies directly, forcing you to remain in your toes all the battle. In subsequent runs and NG+ cycles, the Spoil Sentinels are easy to dispatch. Yet, their difficult first encounter makes them one in every of the toughest bosses in Dark Souls 2.
12 Aldia, Scholar Of The First Sin
The Monster Of The Bonfire
King Vendrick’s malevolent brother, and the reason for much pain and suffering in the dominion of Drangleic, Aldia sought the secrets of the undead curse but failed to seek out the true purpose of the curse. Either in consequence of his failures or another side-effect of his research, Aldia has been transformed right into a monstrous abomination, only appearing to the Bearer of the Curse as a malformed head, seemingly charred and burnt by the flames of the bonfire he appears to reside in.
While mostly immobile in battle, Aldia can teleport across the battlefield while striking with powerful magic attacks and appendages that seem like branches of a tree. Keeping your footing is vital on this battle, as Aldia will spread waves of flames across the battlefield, too, damaging you while attempting to get close enough to attack.
11 Sinh, The Slumbering Dragon
The Dragon Sleeps No More
Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon, is the ultimate boss of the Crown of the Sunken King DLC. The mighty dragon spills poisoned fire that builds up your Toxic meter, forcing you to continually evade the clouds of miasma it leaves in its waking. Sinh has a ton of HP as an endgame boss, and a few of its attacks might kill you in a single hit, depending in your construct. As such, the dragon poses an amazing challenge.
Sinh also has the bothersome habit of flying away out of your attacks, meaning it’s worthwhile to keep dodging until the dragon decides to land again. That extends the duration of the fight and forces you to administer your resources for a very long time.
Cutting the tail of Sihn doesn’t grant you any unique weapon. Nonetheless, without its tail, Sinh will use flying attacks more often. Cutting Sinh’s tail is a nasty move for melee builds, so be careful where you hit the dragon.
10 Burnt Ivory King
The Ruler of Eleum Loyce
The Burnt Ivory King stands between you and the Crown of the Ivory King, one in every of the items it’s worthwhile to unlock a brand new ending in Dark Souls 2. Taking down the Ivory King is not any easy task, though. This knight in shining armor is fast, hits like a truck, and his attacks have incredible range, forcing you to master its dodging windows.
To make matters worse, the Ivory King makes its last stand in an arena full of portals that continually spawn Charred Loyce Knights. So, it’s worthwhile to fight off the Ivory King’s allies while attempting to take down the boss himself.
You’ll be able to make the fight easier by finding the Loyce Knights scattered across the DLC. They are going to fight by your side against the Ivory King’s forces and eventually sacrifice their lives to maintain the portals closed. Even so, that is one in every of the toughest bosses in Dark Souls 2.
Charred Loyce Knights have a rare likelihood to drop Loyce Souls. You’ll need 50 Loyce Souls to get the Soul of Alsanna and unlock the Ivory King armor set.
So, if you happen to are a completionist, you could farm the Charred Loyce Knights before you defeat the Ivory King. You may as well farm Loyce Souls in co-op.
9 Twin Pursuers
They Won’t Stop Until You are Dead
The Pursuer is a recurring enemy that may block your path quite a few times as you explore Drangleic. By the endgame, you already know easy methods to dodge its attacks properly, but nothing prepares you to fight two Pursuers concurrently. The Twin Pursuers will not be official bosses, spawning as regular enemies in Drangleic’s Castle throne room. There’s no fog door and no visible HP bar for them. Nonetheless, since they don’t respawn, have huge health bars, and are an exceptional challenge, we expect giving them a spot within the rating is fair.
The Twin Pursuers will only appear in NG+ or after you burn a Bonfire Ascetic within the King’s Gate Bonfire, meaning they’ll have upgraded stats in comparison with the bottom game. That’s only another reason why they’re so hard to beat.
8 Velstadt, The Royal Aegis
Present in the Undead Crypt, the imposing type of Velstadt, the Royal Aegis, together with his massive hammer, is an imposing one. His range is gigantic, and while he could be a bit of slow together with his attacks, any hits you are taking will deal a major amount of injury. When you deal enough damage to Velstadt, he’ll give himself a buff that increases his defense and attack while also giving him a magic attack that may take out players in a single hit.
Even the trail leading as much as Velstadt is difficult, requiring you to run through a gauntlet of knights before. Defeating this boss will grant you the Soul of Velstadt, which you’ll be able to exchange for either the Sacred Oath miracle or the Sacred Chime Hammer.
7 Elana, The Squalid Queen
Queen Of The Sunken King
Elana, the Squalid Queen, is a robust spellcaster who teleports around the sector and keeps launching projectiles at you. She also has a scythe to punish you for getting too near her. That combination already makes her quite a difficult boss. Yet, the worst thing about Elana is that she continually summons enemies to assist take you down.
Elana will randomly summon skeletons, a wild boar, or Velstadt. Velstadt is a boss who you could defeat in the bottom. So, since Elana has an infinite health pool that provides her loads of time to summon help multiple times throughout the fight, you’ll likely should fight two powerful bosses concurrently.
6 Blue Smelter Demon
A Fire Burns Inside
Regular Smelter Demons deal fire damage and get stronger the longer they continue to be alive. Which means the very best technique to take care of Smelter Demons is to kill them as fast as possible. That’s easier said than done regarding the Blue Smelter Demon, the boss version with the largest health pool.
The Blue Smelter Demon also trades the fireplace damage of its brethren for magic damage. Having decent magic defenses in Dark Souls 2 is harder than blocking fire damage, so fighting the Blue Smelter Demon requires preparation. Add to that the incontrovertible fact that this boss keeps increasing its damage output throughout the whole fight, and it easily becomes one in every of the toughest bosses in Dark Souls 2.
5 The Ancient Dragon
A False Deity
Dragons are key to the core of Dark Souls 2’s story, and though the Ancient Dragon may or might not be a natural dragon, it still is an enormous beast that may prove to be quite the challenge to players should they decide to fight it. This optional boss is one in every of the most important in the sport, boasting an enormous amount of health and dealing tons of injury with each its fire-breathing and brutal attacks.
The one good thing is because the Ancient Dragon is so large, it’s fairly obvious when it telegraphs attacks. Among the best strategies to take down this colossal beast is to attack the back a part of the dragon, specializing in striking the dragon’s feet. While he can still stomp and deal a major amount of injury, it is less complicated to dodge his flame attack while further away from his head.
4 Darklurker
Born Of The Abyss
To face the Darlurker, you could complete the three Dark Chasm of Old, small dungeons full of powerful NPC enemies. When you’ve done that, you’ll meet an angelic boss who can teleport and shoot magic at you.
Darklurker’s damage output is absurd, its movement pattern makes it hard to hit, and one tiny slip of your part can lead to death. In that case, you could complete the third Dark Chasm of Old again to face it again, a path that drains your resources before a tricky boss fight. Finally, Darklurker splits into two when it reaches 60 percent of its health, forcing you to evade two bosses at the identical time.
3 Sir Alonne
Warrior Of One other Land
Sir Alonne is the most effective boss battles within the Dark Souls series. This optional boss is an honorable knight who greets you each time you enter the room just before he wipes the ground along with your dead carcass. There’s no trick to beating Sir Alonne, you simply should learn his movement pattern and react to each attack. The result’s an exhilarating sword fight between two mighty warriors.
While Sir Alonne doesn’t have area attacks or magic, he’s still a formidable opponent that makes the very best of Dark Souls 2 combat system. He’s one in every of the last word skill checks for knowledgeable players, with a good but hard-to-master fighting style.
2 Lud And Zallen
Executioners Of The Ivory King
Lud and Zallen are one in every of the worst bosses in Dark Souls 2. They’re a reskin of a previous boss, are highly aggressive, and fighting them alone leaves few windows to counterattack. Their attacks also corrode weapons, meaning you could repair your equipment mid-fight. As well as, when you kill one in every of the 2 tigers, the opposite gets enraged, increasing its aggressivity to a level that it’s hard even to dodge its attacks.
Lud and Zallen are a pain to fight, but there’s no arguing that they’re extremely difficult. The chaotic fight and powerful attacks make the duo quite unpleasant, but taking them out continues to be something you’ll only manage with a number of practice.
1 Fume Knight
Vendrick’s Traitous Knight
Fume Knight is a beast. He has an incredible range, deals physical and fire damage, is fast, and infrequently stops attacking you. To win the fight, you could learn its patterns and discover a solution to chip at his health while attempting to stay alive. Fume Knight’s arena can be surrounded by statues that heal the boss, prolonging your suffering. To deactivate these statues, you could fully explore the Crown of the Old Iron King DLC, including defeating Sir Alonne.
Fume Knight is one in every of those bosses that feel inconceivable to beat. Yet, after you beat him, you higher understand the sport’s mechanics and feel able to face greater challenges. This incredible sensation is one in every of the best rewards FromSoftware offers with its games.
