With a sprawling open world that is just begging to be explored, a lifetime's worth of deep, interesting lore, and an abundance of possible character builds, there are plenty of things Elden Ring deserves praise for. It is a FromSoftware game, though, and these titles have built their reputation on excruciatingly difficult (but also very satisfying) boss battles.

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Elden Ring's bosses are no different. Intimidating and hard to beat, some of these creatures have stopped players in their tracks plenty of times. Thankfully, just like in any other Soulslike title, there are certain clever exploits, i.e. "cheeses," that can turn these formidable bosses into dust in a matter of seconds. While some of the more hardcore fans will vehemently disapprove of using these in any circumstances, they can come in handy for players who simply want to progress further.

Updated on January 19, 2023, by Maciej Grzymkowski: Ever since its release in February 2022, Elden Ring has gone through multiple updates and patches, which rendered some of the boss cheese methods that relied on bugs useless for players desperate for an easy way out of some battles. Thankfully, most of the tricks included in this article are still possible to pull off in the game, except for the Radagon cheese that entailed getting the boss to glitch out and get stuck in a single spot. This is because rather than exploiting the game's code, they focus on clever ways to utilize perfectly legitimate mechanics to make fights easier. The list has been expanded by three more entries focusing on simplifying the fight against arguably the toughest bosses in Elden Ring.

12 The Fall Of The Fire Giant

elden-ring-fire-giant

The main philosophy behind cheesing bosses in Elden Ring is to use the environment, items, and sometimes even the boss's own attack moves to the player's advantage. A lot of the time, these tactics go beyond what the developers intended, and making the Fire Giant fall to his death from a tiny height is definitely not something FromSoftware wanted players to do.

In order to effortlessly kill the Fire Giant and progress in the story, all players have to do is lure him onto a short, rocky hill near the start of the fight. Then, with the help of ranged attacks, they need to aggravate the giant enough so that he swings his weapon, throwing himself off the hill and losing all of his HP in a pretty hilarious manner. This process needs to be repeated in the second phase of the battle. That particular boss cheese method is best depicted in this video.

11 Infecting Commander O'Neil

commander_oneil

Despite being an optional boss, most Elden Ring players will cross paths with Commander O'Neil and his archers, either by accident or while following Millicent's quest line. When encountered in early to mid-game, he can pose quite the challenge. As an overworld boss, though, he can be led away from the battle arena straight into the Scarlet Rot-ridden swampland.

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Just outside the arena, players will find a spot with three Scarlet Rot geysers erupting in a coordinated pattern, one after another. In order to kill O'Neil without pressing the attack button even once, players should have him chase them around these geysers, which will erupt underneath him, dealing hefty damage right away, as well as slowly building up the Commander's Scarlet Rot infection meter. Three or four eruptions should be enough to drain all of O'Neil's HP.

10 Patiently Poisoning The Draconic Tree Sentinel

Draconic Tree Sentinel attacking a player in Elden Ring.

Players getting obliterated by the Draconic Tree Sentinel at the gates of Leyndell should be happy to learn that there is a cheesing tactic that can take care of this particular boss with very little effort required on their part. All they need to equip themselves with is a lot of patience and the Poison Mist Incantation.

This particular strategy was discovered by a popular Souls-focused YouTuber, Iron Pineapple. It can be seen in action here. All one has to do to kill the Draconic Sentinel is to stealthily position oneself behind the boss, and continuously cast Poison Mist at him. This spell will not aggravate the Sentinel, all the while dealing steady poison damage. The only drawback of this approach is that it can take as long as 15 minutes to kill him, due to Poison Mist's low damage stats.

9 Stop Radagon In His Tracks

elden ring radagon

This is quite an embarrassing exploit, seeing as it has to do with a phase of the very final boss battle in Elden Ring: the fight against Radagon and the Elden Beast. Looking at the game's patch history and the pride FromSoftware takes in its boss battles, it is honestly quite surprising that it has only been patched in August 2022, nearly six months after the game's release date.

It was a mechanical cheese that freezes Radagon's AI, immobilizing him for the entire fight. To carry out this particular feat, players need to skip the pre-fight cutscene and sprint up to the boss before he manages to take a step in their direction. That should render him unable to move, making the rest of this phase childishly easy and allowing players to conserve their flasks and other resources for the Elden Beast.

8 Rock Slinging Away at the Elden Beast

Elden beast

The Elden Beast poses a mighty challenge that wraps up the entire storyline, and although it isn't the most difficult boss in the game, many players still find it quite difficult to beat, especially if they struggle to find the right tools for the job. Those playing a mage character can consider themselves lucky, though, as this class can deploy a spell that is arguably the easiest way to beat the Elden Beast.

This Elden Ring final boss cheese method is reserved for players with an Intelligence-focused character build, as the Rock Sling sorcery scales up with this attribute. The trick here is to aim at the Beast's weak spot, which is a small, glowing point located on its lower torso. Repeatedly slinging rocks at that spot is a straightforward, low-effort way to kill the last boss in Elden Ring, but one still has to remember to dodge the Beast's own attacks between each sling.

7 Suffocate Maliketh With Rotten Breath

elden-ring-maliketh

Compared to some other boss cheese methods listed here, this one requires a few extra steps on the player's part. First of all, it requires Rotten Breath, which is a Dragon Communion Incantation obtainable in exchange for a Dragon Heart at the Cathedral of Dragon Communion. This means that in order to be able to cheese Maliketh this way, one needs to have killed at least one dragon earlier on in the game.

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Maliketh, the Black Blade is extremely susceptible to contracting Scarlet Rot, and with a few well-placed Rotten Breath blows, the infection will begin to take away chunks of his health on its own. Players will still need to show some skill by avoiding his attacks and making sure to keep the boss infected. With enough persistence, this is by far the easiest way to get rid of Maliketh.

6 Disarming The Mimic Tear

elden-ring-mimic-tear-boss

This one is a simple, clever way to defeat the Mimic Tear optional boss. Moreover, it has nothing to do with actual combat. Players with strong menu navigation skills will have no trouble pulling off this cheesing strategy.

Seeing as the Mimic Tear will have the exact same equipment and skills as the player character upon entering the arena, the best way to nerf it is by unequipping all weapons and armor before starting the fight. Once inside, all one has to do is quickly put these items back on and tear apart the naked, defenseless Mimic Tear in a matter of seconds.

5 Singling Out the Godskin Duo

Godskin Noble duo.

Many Elden Ring players getting through the game for the first time find themselves getting stuck at the Godskin Duo battle in the Crumbling Farum Azula. While the Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble are individual, optional bosses that can be encountered on multiple occasions throughout the game, fighting both of them at the same time is a mandatory ordeal for all those who want to see one of Elden Ring's endings.

Luckily for players who don't mind resorting to a little bit of trickery, the battle can be made much easier by preventing one of the opponents from reviving the other one. Either one of the Godskins is programmed to revive their fallen partner in less than a minute, but as Reddit user Karolus2001 discovered, players can prevent them from doing so by breaking the boss's poise as he starts the revival process, effectively turning the rest of the fight into a much more manageable 1v1 fight. This requires precise timing, but it's certainly easier than taking both Godskins on at the same time.

4 Gaining High Ground Against Overworld Bosses

Elden Ring Tarnished Wielding Bow

As opposed to traditional, arena-based bosses, overworld encounters are characterized by the fact that players can get away from them at any moment, or stretch out the fight area by having the enemies chase them. This cheesing tactic applies to nearly every overworld boss, including the already-mentioned Commander O'Neil or Draconic Tree Sentinel.

To easily gain a significant advantage over any overworld boss, all players need to do is use ranged attacks from a high enough vantage point. Of course, it results in a very slow picking away at the enemy's health, but in most cases, it virtually eliminates the chances of getting hit or even aggravating the boss in the first place.

3 Leading Starscourge Radahn Astray

Radahn from Elden Ring riding his horse with his blades raised, against a glowing red sky,

The battle against Starscourge Radahn is one of the most exhilarating fights in the entire game. Summoning NPCs to aid the players and charging at the demigod feels epic, and so does the satisfaction that comes with defeating Radahn. The only problem? It's an excruciatingly difficult encounter. Understandably, many players set out to find an easier way of handling it.

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Players should charge at Radahn to get him to follow them. The next course of action is to gallop to the western end of the map, run up the hill and stop midway. Radahn is unable to hit the player there, but he'll get aggravated enough to glitch further up the hill. Once Radahn gets climbing, the player should then hop over to a nearby branch and watch as the boss hopelessly tries to reach them and inevitably falls to his death. This video visualizes that particular strategy perfectly, courtesy of Mono RPG.

2 The Right Gear for The Malenia Fight

malenia 2nd phase flying

The vast majority of Elden Ring's fanbase agrees upon the fact that Malenia, Blade of Miquella is hands-down the single toughest boss in the entire game. Gamers had so much trouble with this one, that one player who mastered the fight to near perfection, LetMeSoloHer, was honored by Bandai Namco, who sent him a special gift in recognition of his skill.

However, the Malenia fight doesn't have to be so difficult, as long as one uses the right weapon. Ordovis's Greatsword is by far the best one to equip for this battle, as its strong and special attacks effortlessly break Malenia's poise almost every time. Players wanting to try out this approach can obtain the greatsword by killing Crucible Knight Ordovis in Auriza Hero's Grave. It's a tough fight, but not nearly as difficult and exhausting as facing Malenia without Ordovis's trusted blade.

1 Mimic Tear Ashes+10: The Ultimate Cheese

Elden Ring Mimic Tear Ashes

The debate around the use of Spirit Ashes continues to divide the Elden Ring fanbase. On the one hand, if the developers included the option of summoning combat companions in the game, then they clearly wanted players to use it. On the other, though, some of these summons are so powerful that it completely derails the balance of the game.

The Mimic Tear Ash Summon is the perfect example. If upgraded to the maximum level, it becomes even more powerful than the player character, capable of obliterating the majority of bosses without much input from the player. Those struggling to get past a boss encounter should seek out this item and make use of it to tip the scales in their favor. FromSoftware allegedly nerfed the Mimic Tear in Patch 1.03, but it remains quite powerful, nevertheless.

Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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