Before you get to that shiny new DLC, though, you first need to fulfil certain criteria in the base game. You will want to get to the boss battles in Shadow of the Erdtree, too, as the expansion is critically acclaimed.
But how many bosses are in the game (and now the DLC) and how are you going to beat them all?
We’re here to let you know the answers to both.
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How many bosses are in Elden Ring?
As far as anyone knows, there are 238 bosses in Elden Ring.
These bosses range from smaller hidden boss battles to those required to earn specific achievements/trophies (30 of these particular bosses) and the 16 main story bosses.
Yeah… that’s a lot of bosses to defeat.
Elden Ring bosses order – list of main bosses
While there is no set order in which you have to defeat the main bosses in Elden Ring, there is an order which is widely accepted as the best to take in terms of difficulty.
The order from easiest to most difficult bosses in Elden Ring is as follows:
- Margit, the Fell Omen
- Godrick the Grafted
- Red Wolf of Radagon
- Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
- Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
- Starscourge Radahn
- Godfrey, First Elden Lord (Golden Shade)
- Morgott, the Omen King
- Fire Giant
- Godskin Duo
- Maliketh, the Black Blade
- Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing
- Godfrey, First Elden Lord (and Hoarah Loux)
- Radagon of the Golden Order
- Elden Beast
If you’re after the achievements/trophies, meanwhile, you need to defeat the following bosses in Elden Ring:
- Ancestor Spirit
- Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
- Commander Niall
- Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella
- Dragonlord Placidusax
- Elemer of the Briar
- Fire Giant
- Godfrey, First Elden Lord (Golden Shade)
- Godrick the Grafted
- Godskin Duo
- Godskin Noble
- Hoarah Loux, Warrior
- Leonine Misbegotten
- Lichdragon Fortissax
- Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree
- Magma Wyrm Makar
- Malenia, Blade of Miquella
- Maliketh, the Black Blade
- Margit, the Fell Omen
- Mimic Tear
- Mohg, thr Lord of Blood
- Mohg, the Omen
- Morgott, the Omen King
- Red Wolf of Radagon
- Regal Ancestor Spirit
- Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
- Royal Knight Loretta
- Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
- Starscourge Radahn
- Valiant Gargoyles
Finally, if you want to play the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, you have to defeat Mohg, the Lord of Blood in Mohgwyn Palace. Check out our guide on how to defeat Mohg and unlock Shadow of the Erdtree.
Elden Ring DLC bosses – full list of new bosses
As far as we’re aware, there are 34 new bosses in the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Just as with the base game, most of these bosses do not need to be defeated to complete the story – there’s a list of main bosses that do need to be defeated, however.
- Divine Beast Dancing Lion
- Rellana, Twin Moon Knight
- Putrescent Knight
- Romina, Saint of the Bud
- Bayle the Dread
- Messmer the Impaler (followed by Base Serpent Messmer)
- Promised Consort Radahn (followed by Radahn, Consort of Miquella)
You can watch the spoiler-filled video on how to defeat each Elden Ring DLC boss by YouTuber Banden below:
If you’re looking for the full list of new bosses in the Elden Ring DLC, meanwhile, it’s worth checking out the Elden Ring Wiki.
Top tips for taking on Elden Ring bosses
Every boss is going to be different, and there will be no hard and fast rule that will work against them all, but there are some key things to keep in mind.
Reviewer Giovanni Colantonio noted in his Elden Ring write-up for Digital Trends, “battles are all about evading an enemy’s ferocious attack patterns and waiting for the precise moment to strike.”
If you aren’t sure that your reflexes and swordplay skills are up to the task of taking on those 50+ Elden Ring bosses, Colantonio’s review suggests that spending your skills points on magic could be the way to go.
He said, “spell-casting gives players more flexibility when tackling tough fights. […] New players can essentially create their own set of training wheels through magic, while veterans can ignore the systems entirely and focus on traditional slashing and parrying.”
So if you want to give yourself the best possible chance against those tough Elden Ring bosses, it might be worth picking the sorcery-obsessed Astrologer class at the start and building a magical character that can help you out of tight spots.
Plus, there is co-op in the game so if things do get too tough, rope in a friend and try to take on the foe together. It can still be a tough battle but you have a far better chance at emerging victorious if you have someone to fight by your side.
Bosses are part of the main story but they can also be stumbled upon outside of that in all manner of places – making a hasty exit and coming back once you have more firepower is definitely a smart play and one that we will be using frequently when we get started.
But what else can you take advantage of to make a brutal encounter a little simpler? Well, as we touched upon early, magic will be key! “Ashes” are things that can be attached to weapons that will give them a power boost, while there are various spells and summons you can try out to give you an edge. A lot to think about, but any way to make some of these fights easier is something we will take as some are guaranteed to be as brutal and as difficult as boss fights can get.
But above all, the thing to keep in mind with boss fights is something that is key to many across all sorts of games – patterns. Bosses will have attack patterns, pretty scary ones, that will be coming your way and a large part of staying alive will be down to how well you can remember what is coming and when.
Be ready to die a lot if you take a boss on, and remember that practice and patience will be key. These bosses are tough, but they can all be defeated – it may just take you a while to learn the pattern and how to work around it!
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