Summary
TheDark Soulsseries is renowned for its gruelingboss fights, yetDark Souls 3is possibly the most divisive game in the series. The direction that developerFromSoftwaretook with its bosses tends to cause heated discussions in the Souls community. Some would argue that they are too easy, but the game’s optional bosses bring a new meaning to the word “difficult.”
InDark Souls 3, players embark on a journey as the Ashen One. Their goal is to return the five Lords of Cinder to their rightful thrones so that they may link the flame at Firelink Shrine. To accomplish this goal, players must face aplethora of painstaking bosses. These monumental encounters can be pretty challenging in their own right, and players must be confident in their equipment and skills to beat some of thehardestDS3bosses.
Updated on July 17, 2025 by Ritwik Mitra:Dark Souls 3 is a fitting sendoff to the series, with Miyazaki coming back to let players enjoy a satisfying end to an action RPG trilogy that took over the world by storm. Players will love the return of meaningful boss encounters without any cheap mobs and level design that feels connected and believable. Of course, it would be impossible to talk about the best aspects of any Dark Souls game without mentioning the amazing boss fights scattered across this experience, and thehardest DS3 bossesdo a great job of making players think twice before jumping into the fray and initiating a hectic, nervous battle where a single mistake can be costly.
7,873
70,000
Drops
Dragon Head Stone
The Ancient Wyvern is a boss that seems rather intimidating at first glance, especially since fighting a dragon in anyDark Soulsgame is bound to be scary. It helps the initial atmosphere of this boss fight that the battle takes place in Archdragon Peak, a secret area that is a pain to find as is.
However, players will soon realize that this encounter isn’t all that challenging, since players will figure out how this puzzle boss fight works and land a plunging attack in no time. It may still be a memorable encounter, but the Ancient Wyvern becomes a rather underwhelmingDS3boss fightonce players figure out the trick to defeat this foe.
Tips For Defeating The Ancient Wyvern
While it’s possible to take on this boss head-on and kill it with tactical dodges and blocks, there’s a far easier way to deal with the Ancient Wyvern. All players need to do is head left from the boss fight to find a path with ladders and enemies, after reaching the highest point, players need only wait for the Ancient Wyvern to stop breathing fire before unleashing a plunging attack from above and defeating this boss fight for good.
27,822
36,000
Soul of Yhorm the Giant, Cinders of a Lord
Yhorm the Giant is a powerful entity that serves as one of the Lords of Cinder that players must defeat to progress through the game. The funny part is that Yhorm can be both the easiest andhardest boss inDark Souls 3based on whether players figure out his secret.
If not, then they’ll have to spend a lot of time hacking his limbs, doing minuscule damage, and repairing their weapon to defeat this powerful foe, which is much easier said than done.
Tips For Defeating Yhorm The Giant
Unlike most other bosses, Yhorm is more of a puzzle boss, with players needing to use the special Weapon Art of the Stormbreaker to deal a ton of damage with each hit. Alternatively, if they’ve been following Siegfried’s questline, he’ll join the fray and use Stormbreaker to intensify the damage dealt.
5,405
7,000
Transposing Kiln, Soul of the Rotted Greatwood
The Curse-Rotted Greatwood is one of the earliest boss fights inDark Souls 3, which significantly affects its difficulty as players are often under-leveled when they pass throughthe optional boss' fog gate.
The old spirit tree’s attacks are slow and heavily telegraphed, but they pack an almighty punch that can one-shot some players if they’re not careful. When it comes to ranking theDark Souls 3bosses, the Curse-Rotted Greatwood is more accessible than most but harder than some.
Tips For Defeating The Curse-Rotted Greatwood
Aim for the pustules on its legs, body, and arms, as these deal massive damage upon being destroyed. When the Curse-Rotted Gravewood is above ground,attack its bellyto progress tothe second phase. At a certain point, it will drop through the floor to a lower level. Here, the Greatwood moves a little faster and gains new attacks but still has pustules that can be burst.
The Curse Rotted Greatwood is weak to slashing damage on its arms and pustules, so players should prioritize that area for easy hits. Its arms are also weak to thrust damage but not the pustules. The boss is weak to fire damage and the Pestilent Mist sorcery. At this point in the game, pretty much any weapon will work on this boss. Charcoal pine resin and bundles will apply fire damage to players' weapons for extra damage.
4,099
13,000
Cathedral of the Deep
Soul of the Deacons of the Deep, Small Doll Archdeacon Set
Players may be intimidated by the Deacons of the Deep when they encounter this boss, especially since there are so many enemies in the arena that seem rather hard to deal with.
Thankfully, this encounter is balanced by making each deacon react slowly, meaning that players should have enough time to dodge attacks and position themselves to ensure that they can take out the followers of Aldrich, Devourer of Gods.
Tips For Defeating Deacons Of The Deep
Deacons of the Deep may not be thehardestDS3bossplayers encounter, but this doesn’t mean that the Ashen One should take them lightly. Positioning is key in this fight, and players must ensure that they don’t put themselves in a vulnerable position when they try to whittle down the numbers. Instead of getting greedy, players should measure their hits and back off if they’re in danger of being stun-locked to death with successive attacks.
2,723
8,000
Soul of a Crystal Sage
Magical enemies can either be a joke or a nightmare to deal with. The Crystal Sage is somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, and players who take this encounter too lightly may just turn what would normally be a simple fight into one of thehardestDS3bosseswith their carelessness.
Players who want to proceed to the Cathedral of the Deep must make it a point to defeat this boss before attempting to do so.
Tips For Defeating The Crystal Sage
The Crystal Sage teleports a lot, forcing players to sprint and close the distance so that they’re not overwhelmed by the projectiles he summons. Stamina management is key to ensuring that players can maintain a steady offense instead of only unleashing a hit or two before the sage teleports. When he starts summoning clones, players should focus their attention on the main body and take out the clones only if they become too unmanageable.
15,041
22,000
Soul of High Lord Wolnir
High Lord Wolnir isa manageable boss fightif players know what they’re doing, but most people who encounter this enemy for the first time will be clueless about what to do.
It doesn’t help that he looks imposing, summons skeletons, randomly brings a sword into battle, and is surrounded by a thick fog that saps the player’s health if they’re not being careful.
Tips For Defeating High Lord Wolnir
Players should aim for his bangles as soon as possible, moving quickly in front of him whenever one of them is shattered. His movements are erratic, and players can become stranded in a vitality-draining fog that will sap all of their HP in no time at all. This fight should also be done quickly since Wolnir can summon skeletons and bring out a sword to make things more complicated for the player.
1,328
3,000
Soul of Boreal Valley Vordt
Players who descend the High Wall of Lothric will be greeted by a massive boss at the end of the area, making for a pretty intimidating boss fight. Vordt of the Boreal Valley is quite intimidating, but players who maintain a cool head will be able to take out this boss without too many problems.
Tips For Defeating Vordt Of The Boreal Valley
Players should be wary of the Frostbite status while fighting this boss since it will spell their doom if they take too many hits from Vordt without a plan. Staying behind him during the first phase is the best way to land attacks without worrying too much about his attacks. In the second phase, players should dodge his charged rush and hit him for some serious damage whenever a window presents itself.
1,037
Coiled Sword
The first bossthat players encounter inDark Souls 3takes no prisoners, hitting like a truck and having a moveset that is easy to figure out early on but becomes quite chaotic once the second phase starts. For a first boss, Gundyr is pretty challenging and will likely give many players a run for their money.
Tips For Defeating Iudex Gundyr
Dodging will be the player’s saving grace in this fight during both phases. The moment players pull out the Coiled Sword from his body, the Ashen One can wail at the boss, dwindling his health bar quite a bit before he can even act. When the Pus of Man erupts from his body, players should be wary about dodging and try to stay behind him at all times to not get caught in one of his hard-hitting attacks.
8,087
58,000
Soul of Consumed Oceiros
The unusually chatty bossOceiros may initially look like a cakewalk due to his lack of eyes; however, his sharp sense of smell and hearing more than makes up for it.
Oceiros, the Consumed King has two phases. The first isn’t too tricky, as he seems more concerned about protecting an invisible or imaginary child cradled in his arms. The second phase, however, is brutally difficult. Here, Oceiros drops the child and begins charging at the player like an enraged beast protecting his young.
Tips For Defeating Oceiros, The Consumed King
In the first phase,stick very close to Oceiros, getting underneath whenever possible. In later phases, try to stay behind the boss but pay attention to its backward attacks. The boss room is a little smaller than most, so be sure to keep the camera in a good position to see Oceiros' movement and attack patterns. He’s a fast boss, so players need to be nimble andonly attack when necessary.
Oceiros is weak to Lightning and Frost damage, and as such, players may use weapons that deal such damage to give them an advantage. For frost damage, the Irithyll Straight Sword is an excellent weapon that can build up Frostbite with each hit and deal humongous amounts of damage when it procs. For lightning damage, there are several weapons that players can use here depending on how far along they are in the game.
The Lothric Knight Greatsword, Dragonslayer Swordspear, Dragonslayer Spear, etc. are good options that deal lightning damage. However, if players do not have the weapons yet, they can apply Gold Pine Bundles and Resins on their weapons to temporarily give them Lightning Damage when they attack.
60,000
Valorheart, Champion’s Bones
The DLC bosses of mostDark Soulsgames are as tough as they come, but Champion’s Gravetender and Gravetender Greatwolf is fairly by the numbers as long as players know how to tackle both regular-sized enemies and massive behemoths.
It’s a decent boss fight if a somewhat unremarkable one that won’t impress players who’ve foundtheAshes of AriandelDLCto be pretty underwhelming.
Tips For Defeating Champion’s Gravetender & Gravetender Greatwolf
At the start of the fight, players will have to deal with Champion’s Gravetender and his lackeys. Taking out his wolves isn’t too hard, but it’s the second phase of the fight that’s slightly trickier when the massive Gravetender Greatwolf joins the fray. It’s important to dodge his high-damage charges and attacks, and players should target one enemy each and take them down for the count before focusing on the second one. In this case, the Champion’s Gravetender should ideally be the player’s first target before the Greatwolf becomes a major priority.
