How to track down all four of the Great Souls in Dark Souls 2, beat the bosses that keep them, and open up the path into Drangleic Castle.

Considering the experience in the regular game, not New Game + (or higher) neither through Bonfire Ascetics. All the bosses of Scholar of the First Sin considered, that said all the bosses from the three DLC's plus Aldia are candidates

The Top Ten Hardest Bosses In Dark Souls II

1Fume Knight

His first phase is almost unkillable. His bigger sword crushes you with two hits and shorter in maybe 3 but if you get hit by the bigger the shorter will end you. Also his defence stance is annoying, he is blocking but his attack from that stance with shorter swords almost always hits so you get great damage

The first phase is a nightmare with DS2's stiffer controls and the adp stat. This guy is almost too aggressive for that game's speed. The second phase is slightly easier but not by much. It's easier to dodge his attacks since he only uses one sword, but dear god the damage this guy does in this phase. He'll pretty much two-shot you if you aren't careful. If he already isn't hard enough, there are statues around his arena that will heal him if he gets close so you have to have enough wedges to stop them or this fight becomes a frustrating disaster. Oh and if you summon phantoms to help..good luck, that only makes the fight harder since he'll annihilate them in a couple of hits and leave you soloing a boss with double, triple, or quadruple his already tanky base health.

Imagine playing Ninja Gaiden where you can only take 3 hits and the floor you step on will burn you if you stand on it for too long. That's this boss. There's little time to heal, he can pummel you quickly even if you're a tank, he's very fast, hard to predict and dodge, and he has a lot of health. Learn to dodge, be patient, don't run out of healing items, and you MUST solo this boss. Bringing a friend will only make his resistances more ridiculous. Good luck, and may the Sun bless you.

My first time playing through Brume Tower, it must have taken me 3 hours to finally get his pattern down and beat him. Clearly it stuck with me, because now I can beat him first or second try, every time. Even knowing that though, no fight in any game gets my heart pounding quite like this one. It's amazing, and the highlight of the entire game.

2Lud and Zallen, the King's Pets

Welcome to the frigid outskirts, or as Tylerlangford1224 said, the seventh circle of hell.
This is the biggest place in the entire game.
There are no bonfires in this area.
There are frequent snowstorms that makes it hard to see where you are going.
During snowstorms, at least one electric ice horse will charge towards you, and because you can't see very well during snowstorms, they will likely deal damage to you before can see them. The exception to this is when you are close to a house, in which case they won't spawn.
Finally, the fight itself.
It's like fighting against Aava again (which already was a tough boss to begin with), but this time in a much more smaller area, and two of them at the same time.

By very far, the hardest boss of the game. Completing the convoluted path filled with those annoying Lightning Horses was a hard task, let alone taking the boss itself! Having no bonfire next to the gate fog was cruel. I mean, Aava was already hard, imagine fighting two of them at the same time; took me so many attempts! - MetalGurja

One of two bosses I fought with summons other than the belfry gargoyles. I decided this boss was made unfun and wasn’t worth the effort after running through that absolutely terrible area that I’d rather not talk about. The boss itself is difficult and could have potential if it had a normal path leading to it.

Not that hard themselves but consider that the area leading up to it is the seventh circle of gaming hell - Tylerlangford1234

3Ruin Sentinels

How are they this high on the list? Sure, they're brutal for a new player, but they're a joke for veterans. - MKBeast

I blew these poor bastards out of the water with nothing but a tower shield. They are a nightmare for noobs and a nothing boss for veterans

In the beginning these guys are absolute hell

A bit rough but not in my top five

4Ancient Dragon

One-hit kills.. I remember that my Dragon Shrine stage was already with no enemies given the times I completed it after several deaths at the boss fight. The boss isn't that hard but the one-hit kills and the very large HP transformed it in a test of patience where one mistake was fatal. And escaping from that diving fire breath was very hard and tricky - MetalGurja

Just tedious an boring. Run in, take a few hits and RUN away, then RUN back and repeat. If you do it wrong he one-shots you. Fun.

On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.And He has a name having been written upon the robe and upon His thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.' King assassin latin kings.

One shot to fast boss is too hard for a game

Ayeh this isn't even worth it

5Afflicted Graverobber

Ganking is very annoying, and now it's made into a trifecta of bosses. A biggun, a regular Knight, and an archer; a good combination. Bring friends into this fight, or be ready to pull your hair out in frustration (or break your controller if you're bald). DON'T let anyone backstab you, or you're automatically screwed. Good luck.

Tied with royal rat authority for worst boss in the series.

Real name of the boss: Afflicted Graverobber, Ancient Soldier Varg, Cerah the Old Explorer. Guess the site found it too big and edited
Kind of and understimated fight. As a melee build it is very hard indeed. You have to be so aware of the enviromnent and there is no place to rest; such a tense fight. And the journey to the arena in painful also. - MetalGurja

6Blue Smelter Demon

Amazingly entertaining fight, it's a toughie but once you get the hang of it you can probably beat him consistently without much trouble. One of my favorites of ds2

I only beat him because the game somehow glitches so that he didn't buff himself to constantly radiate magic damage. Before this happened, though, he killed me a pretty good amount of times.

His attacks have a wide range and power after he buffers his weapon; and the patth to the arena is a pain in the ass. Dodging is extremely required to beat him - MetalGurja

I died 80 times (give or take). Fume Knight is a nightmare too. Both are the hardest bosses I've ever fight with since PacMan. Each of them is even harder than the infamous Ornstein&Smough. (I beat Demon's Souls & Dark Souls).

7Royal Rat Authority

This and the Smelter Demon are the only ones I'm yet to beat on the vanilla game first section (getting the 4 great souls).

The small rats are the most dangerous part. Otherwise the quick head sweep is nigh on impossible to dodge.

The boss isn't that hard. What IS hard is the rats at the beginning. If you get toxic, it's all over from there. The best thing to do is lure them and use Lingering Flame. - MKBeast

My brother brought his friend over for the weekend once, and they played against this boss, it was very entertaining. - EliHbk

8Darklurker

His dark attack are devastating for moat builds, he is pretty hard to get to and hia cloning is a pain in the ass

If you think it is easy, that's only because it hasn't split yet. The only reason it is so low on this list is because it is a vague, optional boss that very few have seen.

This angle of death delivers and is one of the few bosses that are actually a challenge, the fact that you NEED effigies to fight it puts on pressure on you every time you die the. Oh and that splitting in two thing..no.

The Hardest boss in the Vanilla game so far. It is almost impossible to beat him if you're a melee character, somehow you're forced to use lightning spells or fireballs to kill him when he uses mitosis before he kills you, has a huge variety of spells, and some of them are very hard to avoid (like the dark bomb), specially when he ganks you doing the same attack divided.

9Sir Alonne

He is damn too fast and his devastating attacks that only details in look make them diffrent but have another timing of blade swing and wing reactions causes you to get hit, furthermore there is almost no time to heal or deal damage

Haven't been able to beat him so in my opinion he's the hardest. I beat fume knight third try. Rat authority also third try, blue smelter first, and grave robbers on 3rd. I'm like on my 5th try with guy rn

Changed my mind about fume knight being the hardest. This guy is. This is because of how fast he is.

Another awesome fight! Isn't that hard because you can block all of his attack with the Royal Kite Shield, the most basic shield of the game; if wasn't for that, this would be one hell of a hard fight. Again, another hard path culminating with a boss fight without a Bonfire along the way - MetalGurja

10Belfry Gargoyles

This boss is a paint in the a**.. like seriously, either you rush it, or you have to kill like 3 or 4 at the same time. Especially if they stay compact together, it gets really frustrating.. This is the only boss I never killed in the entire Souls series..

I'm really shocked this boss is so low, way harder than sentinels.

The boys! I fought these guys after Belfry Sol, so I didn't expect guards other than gray phantoms. But these guys knocked me flat. Turns out Disney's Hunchback severely underestimated the power of gargoyles.

Remember fighting 2 of these? Here comes 5, you silly peasant!

The Contenders

11Burnt Ivory King

People on here tend to get mixed up on what was their favorite boss fight and what was actually their hardest boss fight for example the guy on this site has fume knight listed as his number one hardest boss and it only took him a few tries to defeat the fume knight where the burnt ivory king took him a few weeks to beat that means burnt ivory king should be at the number one spot for being the hardest boss fight not number 11

This fight is absolutely epic. The knights getting ready, the entrance, the fight before the king shows up, the boss fight, everything. I loved this fight. - MKBeast

Why is the giant lord ranked higher than him..

A difficult well designed boss but not too hard.

12Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon

That damn camera

This guy. OK, lemme sum this up via bulleted list:
1. Dragon. enough said.
2. When you hit him, your weapons break faster. Bring some repair powder
3. Difficult to predict melee attacks and difficult to dodge ranged attacks.
4. He has a ton of health.
5. He does a lot of damage.

13Looking Glass Knight

One of the best bosses in the game. - reaperam

Best boss fight in the game.

Not the hardest, but one of the best fights, with the ambiance of the arena and the looming, brooding, silver knight who claps lightning while you're wet. I had a really huge Greatsword (Ultra Greatsword) and when it hits the shield's hit box, it bounces right off. Fun fight. Definitely worth the duel.

14Elana, the Squalid Queen

Hardest fight for me. Took hours. Tried with every combination of gear I had. Tried with summons, and without. Finally got her down as hollow, lots of health missing, no summons, and no shield. I'm the boss now

Been breezing through scholar till now. I've completed vanilla but not any dlc. This is the toughest boss I've fought so far. That health though!

This THING summons Velstadt. While shooting overpowered magic at you and teleporting wherever it wants. Even so I still enjoy the fight, but it is really difficult.

Why isn't she first place? This boss is so unfair in all points of view.

15Ninja

Hardest boss by far. Too far

Definitely the hardest

Overpowered. FromSoftware please nerf

damn

17The Pursuer

Rayman legends download. His moves are incredibly predictable and easy to dodge. - MKBeast

This boss was harder for me than the rest, when I fought him I was with the champions covenant..which means he was NG+ or NG++ for me

18Velstadt, the Royal Aegis

Not a bad fight at all. Decent size windows to heal, attacks blockable with a shield. The only thing to worry about is phase two with his magic attacks. But as long as you stay close to him they're nothing to worry about.

He's really slow. To me he is the most 'men' boss in the game.

Meh. He should've been a fight for earlier in the game. Every giant fight has prepared you for this guy's telegraphed attacks, but he hits really hard. - MKBeast

What I intended to do was use my bastard sword +8 on the path to him, and then switch to my Raw Bastard Sword +10 for the actual fight. I forgot to switch. That would have made it easier. My armor was Vengarl's armor and gloves, and the hood and leggings from Straid. I also had Idol's chime and 44 lightning spear.

19Vendrick

It depends, really. If you don't have giant souls or don't have 5 of them, good luck. His defense multiplies by 72 without giant souls, whereas it's pretty weak if you do have 5. An Old Whip and Soul Appease will put him down quickly, but be careful, as his attacks are devastating (although predictable).

20Throne Defenders

This is one huge adrenaline rush. Having to manage two well-rounded characters that are scaled for endgame means you're in for quite a fight. Be sure to kill them quickly, or one will revive the other. - MKBeast

The challenge here is to beat them solo! I wasted 4 effigies, 25 gold pine resin ( approximately 40000 souls ) to do that. Their ability to revive each other after one of them is killed is a real pain in the ass.

21The Duke's Dear Freja

Having to hit the heads only was the trickiest part.. And the spiders that attack you..

If u bring your lit torch to this boss,it minions will stay away from the torch u bring which make the fight a bit easier.Getting to the boss though..

Nothing too terrible, but can be incredibly agonizing to get to. - MKBeast

22Executioner's Chariot

This boss is cool because of the corellation between him and the area where we meet him!

The most annoying boss fight I have seen in any game and the only boss in dark souls series -which I played- that I had to put down only with my crossbow

This fight is easy if you know what to do. bring alluring skulls to group the skeletons, kill the necromancers and hide in the doorways when the boss rides by. after skeletons are dead use lingering flame with the hexers hood for the bonus. after his health is down enough he wont be able to make the jump, hit the horse once and victory is achieved

23Giant Lord

He's easy for ranged characters, and somewhat difficult for melee. In fact, get him outta here.

24Aava, The King's Pet

This is a hard hitting boss with a good bit of health. It was one of my more difficult fights in the game but it never felt too unfair other than some big hit boxes.

Bad News

25Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin

To sum this bugger up: high resistance to everything, high health, fire damages nearby players, giving the middle finger to melee users, highly-damaging spells, and worst of all, absolutely nothing meaningful as a reward for beating him.

Screw this boss fight. - reaperam

26The Lost Sinner

This fight is a pain in the a**! Every time I think I have her, then she jumps out of the way.

How is Covetous demon above this? That doesn't make any sense.

27Covetous Demon

One of the slowest bosses in the game, extremely telegraphed attacks, and even if he unequips your weapons you could still fist him to death.

Hardest boss! I beat fume knight on ng +++++++ with bss, but this.. this is on another league! Currently on day 79 trying to beat this.. Wish me luck.

28Old Dragonslayer

Such a shame game calls him Ornstein. He is a crude imposter

29Skeleton Lords

Th initial stages are really easy, but the last phase with the rolling wheel skeletons suddenly struck fear in me. They were fast and took heaps of health (even though individually, they went down fast)

These should be at the bottom of the list, and so here they are. Very weak to everything, especially thrusting weapons. The fact there only 3 of them to 3-4 shot is ridiculously a piece of cake.

30Old Iron King

Really easy to dodge, but those annoying lava pits in the middle can make this fight really frustrating.

Only time I raged 1 hit left and I fellin to lava

31Slave Knight Gale

Umm yep its not dark souls 2 buy dlc for dark souls 3

32The Rotten

Only time I've summoned 2 helpers! If he doesn't get you the lava/ fire likely will. I used a few effigies on this boss. :(

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The Top Ten Hardest Bosses In the Dark Souls Series

1Nameless King (Dark Souls III)

Took me 70 plus tries to beat this guy solo.

This guy. he's one of my favorite fights in the series but also the hardest. One time I got super frustrated because I had him down to one hit left and then died. But then. I summoned another player and we took him down together.

Definitely the hardest, because it takes such a level of concentration and perfect timing just to avoid the attacks

Awesome!

2Ornstein & Smough (Dark Souls)

Smough and Ornstein have definitely earned this spot on the throne as one of the hardest boss fights in Dark Souls. I have lost countless souls to these guys, out all the bosses in the base game this is the fight I have the most trouble with. This fight is troubling for me because I have a heavier build, I use Havel's armor minus his helmet I substitute that with the mask of the child, a ring of favor and protection and Havel's ring. If I don't have this there is a 100% chance that I will get completely screwed over by the speed of ornstein. Now smough really isn't that hard for me to handle. I can move faster than he can, and if I have solaire to help me he helps keep smough disgraced while work on killing ornstein. I always kill him first because if I don't the fight becomes almost literally impossible for me because of his speed. Super Smough is no problem because of his lack of speed so I'm able to get a couple hits off after one of his attacks that take him a while to recover from - Ihategwyn310

O&S is without doubt the hardest boss in the Souls series.

I don't know how the nameless king is harder than these two, must have but played the first one

Just down vote this, then. If it isn't so bad, down vote it. Make a remix. There's nothing I can do. - MKBeast

3Fume Knight (Dark Souls II)

Raime has a 93% failure rate, and sadly.. I can confirm that

Shouldn't Raime be higher he ripped my ass more than the Smelter Demon - Hoxton

4Manus, Father of the Abyss (Dark Souls)

In my opinion, this is the hardest boss in all Souls-games.

Definitely one of the most aggressive bosses of the three games. He also has the highest health in the game. - MKBeast

5Darkeater Midir (Dark Souls III)

Atomic Breath - Glauberson

Between Midir and Gael not sure who is the new Numero Uno

Absurd. - MKBeast

For me all of the DS3 dlc bosses (apart from the Gravetender and Halflight) are very challenging. Midir just barely wins because of the health and absurd damage. You really do feel like you can die at any second. I feel like the Nameless King is much more predictable.

6Ancient Dragon (Dark Souls II)

One hit AoEs, massive damage, massive range, enourmous health, enough said. - MKBeast

7Lud and Zallen, The King's Pets (Dark Souls II)

The second 'Aava' just appears when the life of the first is around 40%, so the developers were not that deranged; still, the period when you're facing both tigers makes atheists pray. The tigers are very fast, their attacks hit like a truck, the windows for attacking are scarce cause you can be hit by the other tiger.. and the worst: the motherf****** bonfire distant as hell from the arena, the adrenaline of taking another shot at the boss is destroyed by the thought of completing the awful path to reach it. I was seriously reconsidering my policy in the Soul series of beating the boss solo, but then, out of a blue, I somehow killed him. Fire is their weakness by the way - MetalGurja

That run tho

8Black Dragon Kalameet (Dark Souls)

This dragon is a terror. Extreme difficulty, nearly impossible when fighting him while he's flying. - Unseptium

When I took the DLC I was going with a sorcerer build-up and I found out that the game is ridiculously easier (and by consequence, less enjoyable) when you can Soul Spear everything from afar. So this guy causes me trouble, but not so much; by the other hand, I could foresse how insane Manus, Astorias and Kalameet should be with melees. Mostly Manus, this guy should be something - MetalGurja

God, this guy. High damage, high health, difficult to dodge attacks, etcetera.. - MKBeast

The Contenders

12Twin Princes (Dark Souls III)

The only boss I had to use summon in Dark Souls III. These guys were absolute hell, a lot harder than Nameless King.

' Teleports - Glauberson

13Abyss Knight Artorias (Dark Souls)

Artorias is one of the hardest bosses to read, he can combo you easily, and he hits pretty hard. - MKBeast

14Gwyn, Lord of Cinder (Dark Souls)

There's one factor that prevents him from being any higher: parrying. That's easier said than done, as his attacks are mostly hard to read, but one can get the timings down. - MKBeast

If you can parry this boss becomes a joke - Ihategwyn310

He is insane so fast and does so much damage he doesn't let you healike the hardest boss

16Pontiff Sulyvahn (Dark Souls III)

This boss can be and is pretty difficult. He does, fire, magic, and physical damage, and his combos can be quite punishing. However if you can get his parry timing down you can get this boss to half health with little to no struggle. After that however he gets a bit harder. Not only can his clone hit you but he now has ranged magic attacks that hit pretty damn hard so watch out for those - Ihategwyn310

The one boss that gave me a run for my money- the only one in gaming in fact - Spiralcore

From what I've heard, he's one of the hardest bosses in the game. Me? I didn't have too much trouble with him. That said, he has sporadic delays, heavy hitting attacks, combos that can stun lock you to death, his AoEs are the worst, and has quite a health bar. Definitely a fantastic fight. - MKBeast

If you think that Pontiff is easy then you must be very good at parrying. - Aguythatpeopleignores

If You suck at Parrying like I do then get ready to die.. a lot.. while fighting Pontiff Sulyvahn he is extremely agressive which he can stun lock you until you die, he can use spells, he has heavy attacks and he makes a clone of himself in the 2nd phase. - Aguythatpeopleignores

17Sir Alonne (Dark Souls II)

Shame that I missed this boss. From what I've heard, it's the best in Dark Souls II. I've also heard that it's one of the hardest. - MKBeast

You need to git good by now

20Aldrich, Devourer Of Gods (Dark Souls III)

Those ****ing arrows. - MKBeast

21Smelter Demon (Dark Souls II)

This is one of the hardest main game bosses. High health, extreme damage, and when he buffs, he damages you over time when you get close. This is a fight of how much Estus you have before you unfortunately run out. - MKBeast

23Looking Glass Knight (Dark Souls II)

He isn't the hardest, but can be a tough adversary if you're not careful. He hits really hard, and can summon a PLAYER to assist him. - MKBeast

26High Lord Wolnir (Dark Souls III)

This fight is not that hard it's is all about speed you need to rush and destory the bracelet to your left (his right arm) because he attacks with that and be careful of his posion breath which can kill you instantly and don't go near his chest or behind him or you'll die and whenever a bracelet is destoryed he gets staggered for like 5 solid seconds and whenever the 2nd bracelet is broken he will move upwards and leave you inside the fog to your death so don't attack him instantly when you break the 2nd bracelet. - Aguythatpeopleignores

Just rush to his bracelets break them and he's dead. Watch out for the poison though - Ihategwyn310

27Laurence the First Vicar (Bloodborne)

I said Dark Souls, which excludes Bloodborne and Demon's Souls. - MKBeast

28Orphan of Kos (Bloodborne)

Sorry, m8. This isn't Dark Souls. - MKBeast

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