Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is finally out, and with it comes a whole lot of new bosses to terrorize you. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki himself says some of the bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree were designed to push players to their very limit, and after finishing the DLC, we’re inclined to agree.
So of course we decided to rank all of the new bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, from least difficult to most. One important caveat is that there are way more bosses than the ones we’ve listed here in the DLC. However, we’ve decided to just rank the main bosses – the ones that drop Remembrances you can then take to exchange for legendary gear and weapons.
And of course, this is one of the most spoiler-filled lists we have for Shadow of the Erdtree, so do not read on if you haven’t finished the DLC.
So with all that in mind, here are the toughest bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree!
10. Romina, Saint of the Bud
Though Romina is a bit of a later-half boss, she ends up not being all too difficult. A sort of play on Melania’s Scarlet Rot boss, Romina is a flowery spellcaster whose primary attacks inflict Scarlet Rot if you stay too long in her poisonous fumes. Dodging those, and she can also send exploding butterflies at you.
Luckily, it’s quite easy to escape these noxious AoEs to get your hits in until she’s defeated. Whether you’re a melee player or a spellcaster, Romina hardly puts up a fight considering how late in the game you’ll face her.
9. Scadutree Avatar
One of the many big bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, the Scadutree Avatar might be large, but is also, funnily enough, easy to miss. Tucked away in a hidden part of the Shadow Keep, the Scadutree Avatar is a large sunflower monster who takes big swipes and can cause some massive bleed damage at range. You also have to fight it three times in a row.
Luckily, like other big FromSoftware bosses, the Scadutree Avatar’s attacks are easy to dodge, and the boss’s primary difficulty stems from having to beat it three times more than any of its actual attacks.
8 . Metyr, Mother of Fingers
Despite coming in near the bottom of the list, Metyr is still a very difficult boss thanks to her combination of big, physical AoE attacks and ability to fire lasers and other ranged abilities. Get too close and Metyr can squash you like a bug, while attacking from afar risks getting shot with a pretty powerful beam attack.
She also has a nasty ability to summon some fingery goons to help her, which can get pretty tiresome real quick. Still, Metyr is pretty weak to magic, so depending on your build you can quickly melt her health bar.
7. Divine Beast Dancing Lion
Depending on how closely you’re following the critical path, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion is likely the first boss you’ll encounter in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and FromSoftware sure enjoys setting the bar high.
The Divine Beast hits hard, moves fast, and can switch between shooting lighting, blasting you with frost, or blowing you away with wind. This is true FromSoftware combat, so get ready to dodge, duck, dive, dip, and get one, maybe two hits in before you repeat. The only reason why Divine Beast is this low on the list is because the other bosses are just straight-up harder.
6. Rellana, Twin Moon Knight
Rellana follows a rich tradition of duel-style bosses where the players feel like they’re going one-on-one with another player character, similar to Artorias and Lady Maria. The sister of Renalla, Rellana is a magical knight who combines vicious swordplay with a magic-focused second phase where she’ll wield both fire and ice magic against you.
A mix of close-combat hits, long-range AoEs, and a one-hit magic attack that took this writer multiple hours to figure out how to counter, Rellana was the first boss that I got stuck on, meaning I spent literal days trying to beat her, even with the help of a NPC summon.
5. Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame
In a sense, Midra and Rellana are fairly similar bosses who utilize the same attack style of combining close-range sword attacks and long-ranged abilities. Only in the case of Midra these long-range attacks are Frenzied instead of magic. The main differences between the two bosses is that Midra is a bit faster, Frenzy is slightly more annoying to deal with, and he has a bigger range for AoEs than Rellana.
Also, true to the Frenzied Flame name, Midra’s attack patterns are definitely more chaotic, meaning finding the patterns to dodge his attacks are just a bit trickier.
4. Putrescent Knight
The Putrescent Knight gave me big Bloodborne vibes, not only from its design as a goopy, skeletal knight riding a slime horse, but also in its relentless attacks. The Putrescent Knight has a tendency to always hit a few more times than you expect, meaning when you think you’re in the clear and ready to take a swig from your flask, oops! He’s hit you again and now you’re dead.
More than that, the Putrescent Knight’s nasty habit of being able to split from his horse and temporarily become two enemies is also a headache to deal with.
3. Commander Gaius
When speaking with my fellow early access Shadow of the Erdtree enjoyers, Gaius repeatedly appeared in the “Toughest Bosses” conversation. Sort of like a remixed version of Radahn from the base game, Commander Gaius charges into the battlefield on a mighty boar, to trample over players. Survive that? Well he’s armed to the teeth with gravity magic that he can then use in the second phase to crush you.
The biggest problem with Commander Gaius is you need to be perfect with your timing. If you fail to dodge him once, there’s a good chance he’ll stomp you out in a single go. But much like Radahn, if you take him head on and perfect your timing, you should be in a good place for one epic duel.
2. Messmer the Impaler
FromSoftware has heavily advertised Messmer the Impaler leading into the release of the DLC, and for good reason. Messmer’s boss fight is one of the toughest in the entire DLC, and maybe the game. A two-part fight, Messmer begins his onslaught with his mighty spear, which has a huge range. Not only is Messmer fast, but his fire damage and counters make his first phase alone a pain to deal with.
The second phase is where, unfortunately, the real fight starts as he’s able to add a giant snake to his arsenal. You’ll have to dodge both Messmer and the snake because if either gets a hold of you, it’s likely game over. Whether you get gripped in the jaws of the snake as it pummels you into the ground, or deal with Messmer’s fiery grasp that can practically one-shot you, Messmer is a hard boss to read, and an even harder boss to dodge.
1. Promised Consort Radahn
Effectively the “Final Boss” of the DLC, I have a feeling Promised Consort Radahn is who director Hidetaka Miyzaki might be referring to when he talked about pushing the boundaries of boss difficulty for the DLC.
To put it simply, Promised Consort Radahn is relentless. In his first phase, Radahn’s size belies his absolute speed. Hard-hitting, fast-moving, you’ll be lucky to get through his first phase unscathed between his massive sword swings, gravity attacks, and huge health bar.
The second phase, however, feels downright impossible. Adding Miquella’s holy attacks to Radahn’s moveset makes nowhere in the arena safe for the player. As holy beams rain down continuously around the duo, Promised Consort Radahn is now also able to move at the speed of light, rushing down the player insanely fast, and hardly ever letting up even then. What this does is effectively takes away the players’ greatest skill: the dodge roll.
It will take frame-perfect movement, guile, and maybe more than a little luck to get through this two-part boss fight. But I promise the feeling afterward will be worth it.
So that’s how we rank the toughest boss fights in the new Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. Let us know in the comments which bosses are giving you a particularly hard time, and be sure to check out our Shadow of the Erdtree review if you haven’t already.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
