It's no secret that Elden Ring is filled with challenging Main Bosses like that of Mohg, Lord of Blood, or Starscourge Radahn (even though players always find a way of cheesing the most difficult of Main Bosses like that of Radagon). But, FromSoftware games always feature a wide variety of Boss Catagories from Main Bosses to World Bosses, each bringing a different array of difficulties.
But, even the so-called Mini-Bosses can still put even the most skilled player to shame, whether because the Mini-Boss has a powerful arsenal of abilities or annoying mechanics. And while some Mini-Bosses in Elden Ring can be cheesed, others will need careful planning and lots of "Gitting Gud."
Updated May 18, 2022, by Daniel Dilena: Even though FromSoftware explicitly designed Elden Ring to accommodate newcomers to the Soulsbourne, Elden Ring is still one of the most challenging Soulsbourne games in the entire series. And that's because Elden Ring features dozens of unique enemies and bosses that force players to rethink their builds and strategies.
Bus, as with previous Soulsbourne entries, players manage to discover unique ways (through glitches) to defeat certain enemies or bosses, forcing Fromsoftware to tweak them. And due to these minor tweaks, some mini-bosses now deserve a place as Elden Ring's hardest mini-bosses.
13 Borealis, the Freezing Fog
Location:
- Mountaintops of the Giants
Even though Mountaintop of the Giants is full of unique and beautiful sceneries, it's also the home of several bosses that can make even hardcore Elden Ring players look like they just started the game. One of such bosses is Borealis the Freezing Fog, a mighty dragon with several attacks that can cause Frostbite, which will cause players to have reduced stamina recovery and decrease Max HP by 10%.
But, to make matters worse, the location where Borealis the Freezing Fog is located is covered with a thick fog, making it extremely difficult to see, not to mention there are cliffs near its spawn location. So, thanks to its unrelenting frost-ridden attacks and being located in an area with thick fog, this dragon earns its place as one of Elden Ring's hardest bosses.
12 Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble (Spiritcaller Variant)
Location:
- Spiritcaller Cave
The Godskin Duo have already proven their place as the hardest mini-bosses in Elden Ring, so it's no surprise that the Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble (Spiritcaller variant) are also some of Elden Ring's hardest bosses players can have the unfortunate experience of facing. Fortunately, players will not have to fight them together like the ones found in Crumbling Farum Azula, which makes the fight a little easier.
But, players will need to fight them one after the other, leaving little to no time to recover from the previous encounter. And to make matters worse, they're immune to Scarlet Rot, Hemmorage, and Frost. So, players will need to come prepared with either Poison or Sleep greases if they want to defeat them effectively.
11 Dragonkin Soldier of Lake Rot
Location:
- Lake of Rot
Players will undoubtedly avoid enemies or locations with the Scarlet Rot status effect since it's among the most potent effects in Elden Ring. And that's why Dragonkin Soldier merits a place as one of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring since it's located in the middle of Lake Rot, among the worse areas in the entire game. That means players will need to survive the onslaught of the Dragonkin Soldier and make sure they don't perish due to the Scarlet Rot effect.
The good news is that there's a way to avoid the Scarlet Rot status effect, making it a little easier to fight Dragonkin Soldier. And that's by activating four pillars scattered around the area where the Dragonkin Soldier spawns. So, players should first activate all pillars, then travel back to the Lake of Rot Shoreside or Grand Cloister Site of Grace, and return to the boss. But, of course, players should also carry plenty of Preserving Boluses as completely avoiding the Scarlet Rot is nearly impossible.
10 Cemetery Shade
Locations:
- Tombsward Catacombs
- Black Knife Catacombs
- Caelid Catacombs
The Cemetery Shade is among the hardest Catacomb Mini-Bosses to fight since it deals massive Blood Loss Build Up. And as players that are well aware of this Status Effect, once the meter reaches 250, it deals a percentage of HP damage.
And to make matters worse, the Black Knife Catacombs version of Cemetery Shade is slightly stronger than the rest, which means a player will have to kill it within seconds of passing the fog or be killed by it. Fortunately, players can use Spirit Ash Summons, which makes the fight a little easier (and why it's not ranked higher).
9 Glintstone Dragon Adula
Location:
- Cathedral of Manus Celes
FromSoftware went above and beyond when introducing new combat mechanics in Elden Ring. And one gameplay feature that stands out is Horseback combat, which is crucial when fighting the ill-omened Dragons of Lands Between. And Glintstone Dragon Adula tests a player's finesse when it comes to horseback combat since they'll need to use Torrent to evade many of its powerful AOE magic attacks.
Moreover, Glintstone Dragon Adula's primary attack Adula's Moonblade summons a giant magic Greatsword that it uses to swing at the player, followed up with multiple cold shard projectiles. But, players that want to stack up on Dragon Incantations will want to kill this Dragon since it drops 3 Dragon Hearts that players can use at the Dragon Communion Altar.
8 Red Wolf of Radagon
Location:
- Raya Lucaria Academy
Even though Red Wolf of Radagon has lower HP than the other Mini-Bosses in Elden Ring, it has a near-infinite amount of stamina that it uses (or abuses) to dodge nearly every attack players try to make. On top of that, most of its abilities are wide-range attacks, which means players will need to time their dodges perfectly.
But, what makes this Mini-Boss difficult is that there's no Site of Grace near the fight, which means players will need to fight several enemies before reaching him again. And players that already have visited Raya Lucaria Academy know that it's filled with Pendulum Statues and Lazuli Sorcerers.
7 Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella
Location:
- Ainsel River
Many players are fooled when they first face Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella since most of its attacks are slow and predictable. However, Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella's second phase is where players quickly notice that it's no longer a sluggish beast but rather a powerful speed demon.
And that's because it gains several new Frost-based attacks that cause severe Frost Build Up. Fortunately, players don't have to face this horrid creature until they are well into Ranni's questline since it involves traveling to Nokstella, Eternal City.
6 Decaying Ekzykes
Location:
- Caelid
As many veteran Souls players know, Caelid is the Blighttown of Elden Ring since it's full of annoying enemies, most of which cause Scarlet Rot. So, as players can expect, most bosses in this region of the Lands Between will abuse Scarlet Rot, and Decaying Ekzykes is one of them.
This Mini-Boss Dragon has a whole arsenal of Scarlet Rot abilities, to the point even its basic stomp attack causes Scarlet Rot. And to top it all off, his Rot Breath has a large spread radius that'll instakill most players. But, killing him is worth the risk since he'll drop a Dragon Heart, so players should come prepared on how to cure Scarlet Rot.
5 Flying Dragon Agheel
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Location:
- Dragon-Burnt Ruins
It seems that FromSoftware went all out when they added Dragons since Flying Dragon Agheel is yet another powerful Mini-Boss players can fight. And while this Mini-Boss has similar move sets to the previous entries, it's the location of the fight that makes it tedious.
And that's because it's located since there are dozens of Poison Pods surrounding the area, so players must also avoid them if they want to survive the battle. But, players aiming to have a Dragon Incantation build will need to kill him to unlock Agheel's Flame, which is a strong fiery attack.
4 Leonine Misbegotten
Location:
- Castle Morne
Leonine Misbegotten is one of the few Mini-Bosses that'll punish a player for panic rolling. And that's because it unleashes a flurry of attacks that are quick and near-impossible to block (unless the player uses the Ash of War: Barricade Shield). Moreover, Leonine Misbegotten uses a lot of jump attacks that deal Pierce Damage.
Fortunately, beating Leonine Misbegotten rewards the player with one of the best Strength Weapons in the game: Grafted Blade Greatsword. And after defeating Edgar the Revenger (part of Irina's questline), players will receive a Banished Knight's Halberd (+8).
3 Valiant Gargoyle & Twinblade
Location:
- Siofra Aqueduct
More than likely, players have fought a "lesser-form" of the Valiant Gargoyle while traversing through Leyndell Royal Capital and other areas of the Elden Ring, and even then, this enemy was tough to beat. So, players can expect that the Mini-Boss version Valiant Gargoyle is even tougher, and to make matters worse, it doesn't come alone but with another Valiant Gargoyle.
This Duo Mini-Boss is quite a challenge to beat as both Valiant Gargoyles deal a massive amount of damage, not to mention most of their attacks are spinning attacks. This alone makes these Mini-Bosses one of the hardest fights in Elden Ring.
2 Margit the Fell Omen
Location:
- Stormhill
Even though Margit the Fell Omen is far from being the toughest Mini-Boss in Elden Ring, it made it this high up the list because it's one of the first "real" boss fans new to Soulsgame must face. And as a result, they start to understand why FromSoftware games are known to have the most unforgiving gameplay mechanics in the gaming community.
That's why many veteran Soulsbourne players recommend facing Margit the Fell Omen once a player reaches level 80, as fighting beforehand may result in instant death. But, once beaten, new players to the genre can feel more confident in their combat skills.
1 Godskin Duo
Location:
- Crumbling Farum Azula
If players thought facing a lone Godskin Mini-Boss was challenging, then facing two Godskin Mini-Bosses at the same time will really test their limits. And to make it even more challenging, the Godskin Duo have a shared HP bar (apart from their own) that'll continuously revive them until depleted.
And not to mention that as soon as a player gets out of their melee range, they'll start to barrage them with Black Fireballs. So, players must be ready to die several times before defeating them. Undoubtedly, the Godskin Duo is the most challenging Mini-Boss to fight in Elden Ring.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.