Funnily enough on challenge runs its usually the opposite. Midir is really easy to avoid, and Friede staggers almost every hit so you can keep her at bay fairly easily. Soul of Cinder doesnt really have a... 'weakness' like that, its a straight up fight. On a no level run I think most people find the likes of Soul of Cinder to be much harder, despite the others having considerably more health.
after i beat the game 2 times my second character was pyromancer and i literraly cheesed all of the bosses i couldnt kill from my first time.....pyromancy makes everything like a joke except bosses which have high fire dmg absorption like the demon boss under wolnir.Eitherway im slaying dark lothric knigh sword with dark infusion and drake sword with chaos infusion.I would suggest people start using dark infusions since most of the PVP shields weapons and items are with low dark absorption.Black flames and dark infusions is everything. P.S. Dont forget to trasmute the chaos vestige bed from the Old Demon King...cheers guys.
@@jamiefenwick8359 he actually did my second playthrough as the guy above me was saying he glitch pulled me with his animation of the arm when he is pulling and i died from the cursed fart around him.
if you have ever fought him at low level n+7 the fights a real shit show with the wolf and champion both alive and one shotting you. If you do have enough dps its not so bad, but most people fight him over leveled and over equipped. Midir on the other hand is consistent and predictable, obnoxiously tanky but manageable.
@@fuller1883 you can easily destroy the grave tender on new game plus 7; just use a great sword and he’s done. but I thought we were ranking them as like first play through anyway? But I digress, when the wolf goes into 2nd phase, you can literally kill it there if you keep stun locking it, midir may be “predictable” but he packs waaaay more of a punch than champion grave tender. He’s definitely more difficult than soul of cinder, I’ll tell you that much 😑
@@bonkusdonkus3743 I’m new game plus 5 currently on ds3, and he’s still a pain in the ass, I’m at pontiff rn but I think I’m going to skip him this play through
@@kingbrad6482 yeah in ds1 you kill gwyndolin but it is said after you leave aldrich devours the body. It is theorized that the other half of him is gravelore nito but we dont really know. Gwyndolin is an optional boss you probably never killed them
I find Gundyr harder than Midir! Midir is REALLY easy to avoid, whereas Gundyr is a fast paced back and forth. I have no idea on Gravetender being that high though lmao
@@wr5488 I can understand Champion Gundyr being closer to Midir but both Pontiff and Gravetender above them doesn’t make much sense to me. I will say with Champion Gundy if you get really good at parries he becomes pretty easy, I have a video on my Xbox of just standing still parrying him the whole fight.
I’d disagree. Aldrich was pathetically east for me. And the arrow storm is just a couple seconds of sprinting away. I beat him my first attempt and only used like 3 estus. I was expecting something much harder from the hype lol
It is interesting hearing the perspective of "difficulty" from someone who does no-hit runs. It seems that his difficulty is based upon predictability and fewer move sets than anything else.
@@leo-shun midir is really easy to dodge once you got the hang of it. Really predictable too, fun to fight just as much as he is predictable. Half light idk, fighting a player was annoying and those wolves make me want to die.
I'm currently fighting Midir on my first playthrough and though I've died a lot, I'm confident I'll get him soon. He's massive, slow and very predictable. Half-light, SOC and Champions are not, which is probably why they are rated difficult, probably from a 0 hit perspective. The worst for me is Friede, eratic movements, crazy AOE, harder to predict. Midir is definitely hard on the first playthrough but after you've figured it out (never be under it, always in front of it, be patient and let it come to you), it's just an endurance fight.
@@goblof that's why I don't think "once you learn it, it's easy" should be a definition for "difficulty". I think difficulty should be determined by how much it dunks on you first try, and how hard it is to learn how to beat it. When you are challenge running a game, "difficulty" takes on a whole new meaning that is more about mechanics and less about how "hard" something is.
I must say, the editing is clear with good transitions, and keeps the video at a good pace. The enunciation and backstory of each boss really holds my attention too. Overall, this video is phenomenal.
there was no moment in the video where I felt he was too repetitive and monotonous, very swell in capturing the audience. Reasoning was very logical for each placement. The video was a good length, seeming very fleshed out and detailed yet not too long as to bore the viewer. overall, I'd say this was a pleasant viewing. 8.5/10
For me Friede will always be far and away the hardest boss. I’ve played through DS3 probably 6 times and only on my most recent playthrough did I finally beat her without summoning or being OP.
@@adamhill596 Yep, I'm the opposite. I've done hittless nameless king runs but I still struggle vs Friede still this day. This is what makes DS series unique, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses in bosses.
Well I never struggled with the Twin Princes, Midir or Nameless King (nor the camera boss just before) but the Dragonslayer Armor for exemple always give me pain in the ass x) I guess we all have our personal challenges x).
I had 80 deaths against her first playthrough. Second most deaths came from NK. On subsequent playthroughs, I still am inconsistent against Friede, but NK has become easy for me.
I somehow beat her first go. I still don't know how, but it was definitely the best boss fight in my playthrough by far. I'm sure she'll get her revenge in NG+
@@leopard-- i think they misunderstood your joke. They told you how to jump in ds3. Pressing left joystick while holding dodge (Circle or B) makes you jump. (Idk computer controls for dark souls so very sorry if thats what you play and I'm just incoherently explaining console things XD)
Sister Friede gave me a fun, balanced, and exciting boss fight while also being able to kick my ass and not even get mad about it. Easily my favorite in the game.
I beat her first go, miraculously. It was definitely the most memorable fight, the entrance cuts cutscene was chilling and the third phase... such an awesome fight!
I had to fight her for 3 days to get it right in my sl1 run, everything can go wrong went wrong in my final attempt and I somehow managed to beat her, it's one of the best boss fight I had
@@gumplenet I recommend trying it, it's like learning to play dark souls for the first time I say 4-5 boss is a pain in the ass (most of them are in the DLC) but other than that it's a very fun challenge unlike the others and surprisingly you got a good amount of options in front of you even though you are sl1, I had comparable dmg to my friend who was playing normally only difference is you got less health and armor give it a shot, you might enjoy the experience
I love Soul of Cinder. My first time fighting him, I realized he was just all of my past characters from 1 and 2; and then phase 2 hit. Probably one of the most emotional final bosses in gaming for me.
Im fairly new to the series too. Finished Dark Souls 1 like a month ago and it holds a special place in my heart cause it’s my first Souls game. But as im typing this, im about to finish DS2 right now and im really sad that it’s coming to an end cause i really like the game, maybe not souls wise but still a pretty decent game nonetheless. Give it a shot.
@@kstreet7438 yeah she is a pain in the ass I did that and it took my low level character like 20 lives to kill her. Its not impossible but just hard. If anything just restart since thats literally right at the beginning of the game and it will take like an hour or less to get there again. Either stun lock her off the edge after dragonrider or just pay the one time fee. Its only a couple thousand souls and not very much
Well that would be fine if only the hitboxes on his legs weren’t utterly messed up when he attacks, his stomps can damage you even when they have absolutely no business doing so ^^
My first time it glitched out and got stuck on a corner, not being able to move to where you plunge attack it. I ended up smacking it in the neck for a few minutes until it died. I don't think it hit me once.
@@nathanjora7627 Yeah,it's like the opposite of Yhorm Yhorm isn't meant to be fought normally,but he's still a perfectly functional fight without his gimmick Wyvern however is barely playable without the gimmick
@@silverhand9965 Yeah, which thinking about it is really funny because it's basically the guardian dragon from DS2 except bigger, so you'd expect the DS3 version to have better hitboxes XD The other funny thing is that the next wyvern is easier to fight for some reason. But really I wish they just didn't have that stupid armor on their legs. Also I'm gonna say it : guardian dragon (both the boss and the mob) is one of the best dragon enemies (when you include ancient dragon, the five wyverns in lothric, the dragons in DeS, the drakes of DS1, only midir sinh and kalameet rank higher).
@@MrTrueCaller619 I believe it's about reading the boss, some you naturally read and know how to dodge, or at least know when you are making mistakes. On my first play of DS3 dlc 2, I was stuck at Midir for 2 days :)... after I finaly realised I should go for the head and did that fight a lot, I've beaten him SL1 no hits taken. However, I never played DS1 after beating it SL1, Manus is the fight that I will never be good at. As for the Cinder, I think moveset (and speed of the weapon in particular) matters the most. My go to was always heavy weapons and one hit per punish.
@@ghostparty2062 Watchers are a skill gate for sure. I had my share of trouble with them on my first couple of plays, so it's sooo rewarding to go back to them after 1000s of hours and parry humiliate them. :)
It’s always so interesting how difficulty varies between people, I beat dancer, the twin princes, and the soul of cinder second try on my first playthrough, but various other bosses took tons of attempts. I will say though that soul of cinder on sl1 is incredibly difficult. It’s pretty absurd, even compared to the rest of the dlc bosses like Gael, fride and midir
I agree, but I think it’s the fact that he practically 1-2 shots anyone who isn’t playing a strength build. It’s also a very long fight, so you have to doge perfectly for a long time
On my first playthrough, he took me hours to beat because I couldn't get the dodge timing down. After I did though, it's pretty easy. Now he's my favorite boss in the game. He's so fast and fun to fight. Edit: this was on a dex build
He’s definitely coming from the perspective as an SL1 player. Some bosses like dragonslayer become infinitely harder (relative to other bosses) when the fight lasts longer and your life ends quicker
i always struggled on many runs with Midir no matter what type of run, as a veteran of the game i must say in my case, Midir is by far the hardest, i don't struggle on any other boss than him since some years, can be my playstyle maybe
imo friede is not that hard. what u have to do in the first phase is bait the attack where she jumps in the air and slams down then backstab her. phase 2 you have to beat ariandel up and stay away from friede. backstab her when she heals him. phase 3 basically do the same thing as phase 1
@@tenorenstrom it's all in the build for decons. I went in blind and killed him in like a minute. All because is used pure strength with vordts mace. Being able to hit through the whole crowd and kill any given decon in 3 hits made it a joke. Pontif took me a week.
Funny enough I also feel that way. I died to Halflight (the npc) so many times to the point where I didn't even kill the npc to win cause a player was summoned. I think it's just RNG for me because I swear the npc will always do the most annoying attacks 99% of the time and that 1% is when he switches to the bow and arrow which is the easiest to punish.
19:Yhorm, this may be surprising but out of all the playthroughs I’ve had I only died to Yhorm a couple times you just gotta dodge correctly and time your charge. 18:Ancient Wyvern, if your not careful the snake dudes will get you especially the one with the axe and I’ve sometimes fallen through his head while plunging. 17:Curse Rotted, fights fairly simple pop balls and don’t get smooshed although I’ve sometimes been overly aggressive during second phase which lead to his hand grabbing me a lot. 16:Deacons, the only real difficulty I’ve had is when they gank me like your typical invasion or when I have just not enough damage and die to curse. 15:Wolnir, when he isn’t glitched and has his skeletons out sometimes he can be a pain if your to cocky. 14:Vordt, he only took me 3 tries on my first playthrough I figured out staying under him was my best bet at winning. 13:Crystal Sage, I really don’t know why but the first time I fought the sage I just couldn’t do it I would always get spammed by her sorceries in phase 2 and sometimes if you don’t do enough damage she can be a splinter in your playthrough. 12:Iudex Gundyr, ah my first ever souls boss..Iudex took me 7 tries on my first play through to beat and that’s what i’m basing my difficulty off for him now though I genuinely enjoy fighting him. 11:Dragonslayer Armor, on my pure strength build I switched over to Vordts hammer leveled it upped and killed him easily but on my pyromancer playthrough it was another story I had to pretty much memorize everything so I knew when I could attack. 10:Oceiros, like Squillakilla said first phase isn’t too bad and you just have rotate around him dodging his attacks and looking for your opening but his second phase can still sometimes give me a hiccup. 9:Pontiff, this was another boss that proved to be a roadblock in my playthrough he’s very persistent and barely ever gives me time to heal but once he activates his stand ability he can actually be easier during that part. 8:Chanpion Gundyr, his first phase is not to bad since it’s the same move set as before but when he goes into phase two he can be very very tough and persistent during sl1 runs his kick pretty much one shots you. 7:Old Demon King, since this boss is optional I haven’t really bothered to fight him much during the years having this game I’ve only killed him twice, his aoe attacks can be pain and his hammer does insane damage. 6:Dancer, her move set is so fluid that it almost doesn’t look like it should be in soils game and she is so relentless with her bayblades and don’t forget that grab. 5:Abyss Watchers, these guys are tough and we’re definitely a big road block for me I found the second phase easy man on man but first phase would always end up with me being killed in the corner. 4:Aldrich, this is mainly a personal struggle but it seems whenever I playthrough this game Aldrich always reminds me that i’m not good and it doesn’t help that he always spams arrows and magic whenever I fight him. 3:Lorian and Lothric, these bros can be quite the challenge first time around and even multiple times later in other playthroughs Lorian is one quick boi and it doesn’t help with Lothric spamming magic. 2:Soul of Cinder, kind of shocking that he’s number two but it was really tough for me to decide where he should be in top 3, Soul of Cinder is pretty much all your previous characters from the other games into one the only real problem I had with him was his damn sword combo in phase two but I was filled with joy the first time I beat him after only 6 tries (it’s also additionally harder with the tears in your eyes when Gwyns theme plays.) 1: Nameless King, even though i’ve had DS3 for 4 years I actually only defeated him last year on a Artorias build, i’ve always tried to beat him on playthroughs but I was never able to and to me he is the first boss that comes to my mind whenever I hear “Dark Souls Bosses.” Sorry for I can’t say anything about DLC since ive never played it.
Ds1 bosses are all a joke except gwyn, artorias, kalameet and manus but gwyn and artorias can be made super easy with high poise, whereas on the other hand in ds2 you actually have well made and difficult bosses like both smelter demons (especially blue smelter demon), fume knight, sinh, sir alonne, burnt ivory king etc...
This is an interesting tier list, a lot of different placements to others I’ve watched. For me, midir is the only boss where I wasn’t sure if I was going to beat it, where’s the others I didn’t ever think that so midir goes at the top for me
I just finished my first playthrough a few days ago and Sister Friede was the most difficult for me. I was about to give up on that fight. Then I think it would be Nameless King and Cinder. Gael and Abyss Watchers are my favorite fights :)
First phase with Friede is an awesome little dual that you can't get too greedy on lol. If I throw on my twinblades though I wreck through her health super fast, so I like to throw a scythe on myself and smash her with her own weapon.
For me it is a cool boss design, but the third phase was so brutal. And having to deal with second phase so I can practice the third one that was kinda annoying. But then I finally beat her and it felt good :)
Pontiff was actually easier for me on a soul level 1 playthrough, because I had a glass cannon build and parry/riposted his first attack. You can get him directly to phase 2, kill the stand before it's done being summoned, and then it's just a few hits to done. Basically if you nail the opening parry you can just steamroll him. I can post the video if people want to see it in action
Dark souls is such a unique game that everyone I talk to has a different opinion on the bosses. For example I thought dancer was easy meanwhile I struggled hard on the twin princes.
Haven’t finished the game yet, I’m currently in the catacombs of carthus, but so far I’d say the hardest boss was the abyss watchers. My friends offered to help but because of my pride I wanted to beat him alone i feel like it was worth it beating the boss alone but it also feels like i cheesed the fight somehow.
I'm in the same position, working my way through my first proper playthrough, the Dancer was something else for me, first boss that took me more than maybe 8 or 9 tries to beat. I spent a solid 7 hours with breaks tackling her until I got a glorious run where everything just clicked and I cleaned her up with a single estus use and no consumables used (because I had run out) and I felt kind of empty after, it just felt like it must have been all luck in the end. I wish you could replay a boss after beating it, would love to see if I could beat her with any consistency now.
I agree that Abyss Watchers are the hardest up to that point. They felt like the first real skill check, and it's until Pontiff Sulyvahn that the challenge increases in my book. And Nameless, oh boy.
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I must say that, in my 1st run, Crystal Sage was way too difficult :/
@@kell2818 lmao same, you get so used to the big slow moving bosses with huge combos that the fast ones with small combos beat your ass. Beat abyss watchers first try, then beat midir after 50 and Gael 30, then on NG+ I got stuck on Abyss watcher for an hour.
Lord of Cynder is deadly allergic to Dark Magic... That's how I beat him first try! (This is coming from someone who's so bad, it takes him 5 whole days to beat Dancer and started 5 days ago with Friede and still trying to this day...)
My top one is sister Friede and father Ariandel. The boss fight synergizes with dlc's plot so good, it's just masterpiece. And Midir has the best music that I've heard in video games.
@@biga9144 yeah, it's also pretty unbelievable, though I heard it only outside of the game, because I can't play Bloodborne due to PS exclusives politics
@@WitherAndrot damn that sucks yeh it’s should be on pc and Xbox it would make the community more alive and other people can experience the masterpiece of a game
As a veteran of the game, I wonder if anyone shared my experiences when it comes to difficulty First time: 1. darkeater midir 2. nameless king 3. pontiff After 10+ runs: 1. Soul of cinder 2. pontiff 3. twin princes Soul level 1 run: 1. gael 2. nameless king 3. friede
Minus the Nameless King ranking on your SL1 run, I completely agree. First time, NK was 40+ deaths, and Friede probably 40+ as well. Now at 2100 hours on it, Midir is in the top 5 easiest bosses, but Friede will still give me some trouble. And at low SL, it's the fast hitters like Gael and Friede that make things tough. That said, I don't understand the NK ranking. Besides Midir, he's the only boss on which I've managed my 10 times in a row no hit kill. He's extremely consistent.
If death count is difficulty, for me: 1. Pontiff - 12 deaths 2.Nameless King - 10 deaths 3.Curse-Rotted-Greatwood - 8 or 9 deaths The rest was 5 or less tries. After a few playthroughs I think Friede is the hardest boss by far. For me Sekiro was way harder with the final boss taking me 2 hours and many deaths.
First time: 1. Twin Princes 2. Pontiff 3. Midir NG+10: 1. Pontiff 2. Cinder 3. Friede I guess, but really everything other than Pontiff and SoC is relatively easy I haven't done a SL1 run, so no comment. In summary, fuck Pontiff.
I know planned videos are more effort for less reward but I'm not a huge livestream guy and this was amazing to be able to lay in bed and listen too. Thanks squilla
for me the only bosses that took longer than 30 minutes were pontiff, gael, friede, midir and abyss watchers (I think was underleveled for abyss watchers because I completely missed the entire cathedral and curse rotted greatwood before fighting them)
In my case, I think I am over leveled when I fought the Abyss Watchers and Pontiff Sulyvahn. I beat them first try, I summoned Anri in Pontiff Sulyvahn fight because I thought that it might be a part of her quest, she's good for tanking Sulyvahn's attack and his clone.
I absolutely love this video and your content, and I agree mostly with your list. I personally would have put soul of cinder in B just because by the time I fight him in every run I’m stacked as hell and I never do challenge runs, and I would have put twin princes in C because I have literally never died to them. Something about that fight is just dummy easy to me, idk why.
Pontiff was the hardest for me. It took me a whole day of constant attempts. Since I’m bad at partying him I had to fight him the hard way too so it super hard for me and I’ll never forget how I felt when I defeated him after like 6 hours of constant attempts
Yea it was definitely a challenge to fight pontif but he was pretty easy honestly once I started to get the hand of parrying. Phase 2 is a joke if you just attack his clone quick and kill him but it was definitely very fun to fight him
Vordt has always been one of the easiest one in my book. Stay under his belly for most of the fight and you can ignore almost all his moves. Occasionally have to dodge and get back under, but oh so easy. Dancer is also a piece of cake if youre sorc build as you can like two or three shot it with that one great soul arrow spell or whatever its called
While not the hardest, the dancer is definitely one of my favorite boss fights and I've only recently been able to beat her in just a few tries. Demon prince was easily one of the highest in terms of difficulty.
Couple months late, but yeah, I agree. Cinder is pretty underrated in terms of difficulty, at least by players who only played through the game a couple times. There's a lot of margin for error fighting him the first few playthroughs, but at like NG+5 and up you have to be on your absolute A-game. I feel like not enough people realize just how different some bosses can be at higher NG levels.
@@lth_lch Even more months later, I kind of disagree tho could be due to my playstyle. NG+17 was my highest and then that save disappeared but he was surprisingly easy to defeat every time, at most I died twice in NG+15 and none on higher with him, dodging his stuff is as simple as rolling in front most of the times besides when he does the multiple hit combo which you just want to run away
Crazy to see how different peoples' experiences were with the bosses. I guess it shows how different peoples' skills are in different areas, I'm sure that has a big impact on what bosses are hard for who, that and build diversity. Personally, I'd put Midir way higher up and Soul of Cinder way lower, SoC was 1 of the easiest bosses in the game imo and definitely underwhelming for the last boss of the base game. I killed him so quick that I thought there were multiple phases left lol. This is all perspective from someone who just finished their 1st playthrough a couple weeks ago though, but the only bosses that took more than 3-4 tries were Midir & Sister Friede.. I think Midir took like 10-12 tries and Friede took a good 5-6 before I figured out that you could actually locate her when she went invisible, even though I was getting to the last phase after my 2nd try I used a ton of my estus by that point from the 1st phase getting booty clapped from behind. Great video though, and interesting to see what people consider are the hardest bosses!
Midir's placement is actually accurate. One of it not the hardest boss on your first run, but as you fight him more and more and learn strategy he just gets so much easier. Even easier if you do a no hit run and try to fight him normally after that.
Hard agree. I was stuck on Midir for literally a month my first playthrough, got him into second phase like 2 or 3 times. The same fight that I first learned to roll backwards on his faceplant bite combo was the same fight I beat him and I haven't died to him since. I don't think there's another boss in the game where rolling straight backwards is ever a good idea which is why it took me so long to figure out, but once you get that down it's almost trivial.
@@Jacob-df5hr Exactly. Personally, I've no-hit midir myself, so the difference between the strategy and general knowledge I had on that run compared to my first run is insane. Also nice name 😎
On my initial playthrough Vordt was the only boss that took more than 10 attempts and that was because I was fat dodging and didn't know by that time that it was a thing. Soul of Cinder probably was the most difficult. Also fun fact, I killed Yhorm on first attempt attacking him normally since I didn't know about the Storm Ruler
I found Friede to be the hardest. I just couldn't figure her out until my second playthrough, when I finally got her patterns and was playing with a better staggering weapon she got a lot easier. But... It's the multiple phases that just make her annoying and a slog. The second phase is just annoying, with cutscenes ruining the flow and resetting the room and it being a completely different type of battle than the other 2 phases. I always lose my patience and rush it and die for my impatience or run low on estus. And then the whole time to wait for her to resurrect on the 3rd phase. It just takes so much time to figure out how to beat her. If it was just the first 2 phases I'd think she was a pretty good boss.
I found the princes to be one of the easier bosses in the game on my first playthrough. Sure the teleports can be chaotic, but just hitting one to two times and watching the teleport made it almost a game of tennis, alternating between me swinging and lorian swinging. Lothric's light "soul spear" wannabe was the only challenge in it for me, mainly because I sucked at dodging it. Also I was using an Irithyl straight sword +5 for my first time.
My top 5 DS3 bosses 1. Soul of cinder - a fantastic moveset, lore and atmosphere makes it truly worthy of being the crescendo of this legendary franchise. To once more face Gwyn's moveset here at the end makes for a wonderful book end. More need not be said. 2. Sister Friede - a boss that perfectly walks the line of being very challenging on your first and 50th time fighting her and feeling like a fair challenge. The memory of seeing her get up after phase 2 and loudly asking "what the fuck" will forever be one of my most treasured gaming moments. 3. Champion Gundyr - a wonderful moment of facing the champion in his prime makes for an excellent lore moment. Seeing the evolved moveset and facing it late game when you have found your preferred style of play and good gear makes for a very satisfying gaming moment of seeing how your skills have grown up to this point 4. Pontiff Sulyvahn - hands down my favorite musical score in any game. The opening choir makes for one of my favourite boss battles ever and easily the most enjoyable. After learning his tempo, cues and attacks it is a satisfying dance to the death matched only by Lady Maria from Bloodborne. 5. Slave knight Gael - a very good end to an excellent DLC. Much like the Orphan of Kos (or as some say, Kosm) he offers the final challenge. A wild and aggressive pattern with danger at every distance for all players. Besting this last test brings just as much satisfaction on the first time as on the 100th.
Shocked to see grave tender so high. I’ve never had an issue dunking on him and he’s never managed to kill me but I used to have more difficulty than I’d like to admit on some of your lower tier bosses so I’m no bad ass
Only thing I'd change on this list is Gael and Frieda. Their the absolute hardest in my opinion. Soul of cinder is definitely 3rd place tho. First phase is hard af, but 2nd phase i found to be really easy and pretty predictable. Good list 👍
To this day, Midir remains the only Dark Souls boss I've been unable to beat. I just can't get the hang of him for some reason, so personally I'd have put him higher
Something I find very important in these kinds of rankings is to incorporate the difference between a first playthrough and an experienced playthrough. There are these kind of bosses that seem really hard on a first attempt but become far easier on subsequent playthroughs because of the nature of their kit. I include bosses like Nameless King, Darkeater Midir, Champion Gundyr and Pontiff Sulyvhan in that category because of either one of two things. Nameless and Midir have very telegraphed movesets you can take advantage of and morph the fight in a perfect dance you can complete without being hit a single time. Sure with enough experience you can do that with every boss but it's especially true for these 2, comparing that with a boss like Dancer is impossible. On the other hand, Gundyr and Sulyvhan have very fast and agressive movesets but learning how to effectively parry can reduce them to jokes compared to their initial threat. And hey, Gundyr can also apply in the first category if you don't want to parry him.
I feel like Midir should be higher simply because if you’re not specifically familiar with one strategy, he’ll pancake your ass over and over. If you’ve fought the Watchdog of the Old Lords in the defiled chalice in Bloodborne, it’s essentially the same exact boss fight making Midir super simple if youve went through the torment of the Watchdog.
Bruh... I struggled with the great tree more than most bosses in the game, how is that easier than Gundir, I would bet most people could learn to no hit run Gundir in a few hours
I struggled with him until I realized that you didnt have to hit his third arm in the second phase, and when I learned that there were other weak spots on his back and legs and arms.
when I fought greatwood and old demon king with my str build they were really easy, then i tried with another character in a dex build and wielding the caestus.... they wiped the floor with me lol
I agreed with your dks 1 list alot but I didn't so much with this one. ngl ocieros was way higher for me and the soul of cinder was too easy. granted I was built but it still felt like I didn't deserve the win. with gael however, winning against him ALWAYS feels earned.
Pontiff *"you're a wooper" was the 2nd easiest boss for me on my first playthrough, well I was running a glass cannon mage build that was already at 60 int by then so just blasting him from range did the job pretty easily, he is a tad harder to male tho Edit: edited according to Brads wishes
@@kingbrad6482 so you struggled with him I take it? But seriously who cares, I could call him weird sword holly dude if I wanted to, but fine if it bothers you that much give me the correct spelling and I'll edit my comment if you want, I'm just too lazy to look it up myself
I really love the "endurance" part of Yhorm's fight without the ruler; It's such a good fight probably because of the length of it, seeing how long you can endure through it
I'm always amazed at how the difficulty of the bosses changes from one person to another. Took me like 10 attemps to kill champion gundyr, and 8 Pontiff/Nameless, yet I killed the twins, the dancer and the souls of cinders in my first try. For me this just shows how different playstyles affect the difficulty so much
I thought about that when I did different playthroughs. Weapons change the game, so having twinblades makes the game easy, running around with ultras require more planning, pyromancies have a hard start but easy end, sorceries has a hard start and never changes :P the game has a lot of replayability
Ngl, after dying so many times to *any* boss for that matter, I always look back on how far I've come, the difficulties I've faced, and how I've defeated them, it's always enough to inspire me to press on and overcome.
I like how everyone seems to have a totally different experience with these bosses. I’m on my first play through as a cleric, and I focus mainly on just killing things before they can kill me by using magic weapon enchanting and ironflesh to tank damage. I spent ages on the greatwood for some reason, and also died a lot to the crystal sage, but killed pontiff pretty easily on the first go by just standing right in front of him and wailing on him with a 340 damage mace lol.
Same dude, I died to him over a dozen times on my first playthrough, I think part of it was just not having enough DPS so I destroyed all the easy to reach sacs before actually killing him. Also I was using a rapier lol
That tree is a total pain in the balls. Did that thing where you get really close to beating the first time, die and have to go another dozen to get that close again.
Can we agree the chain axe guy is the actual boss in ancient wyvern
Yes.
He throw me to the abyss like 100 times
or the havel summon if you get unlucky
Yes
What chain axe guy ? These snake thingys?
In my experience Friede and Midir were by far the hardest, while soul of cinder was surprisingly easy.
Right?!
Cinder is easy, untill you fight him at sl1 no upgrades, then its a nightmare
Midir stops being a challenge once you figure him out. The higher bosses on the list usually don't.
Funnily enough on challenge runs its usually the opposite. Midir is really easy to avoid, and Friede staggers almost every hit so you can keep her at bay fairly easily. Soul of Cinder doesnt really have a... 'weakness' like that, its a straight up fight. On a no level run I think most people find the likes of Soul of Cinder to be much harder, despite the others having considerably more health.
@@wr5488 cinder is definitely great challenge
I died to High Lord Wolnir and Curse-Rotted Greatwood but I beat Champion Gundyr and Dragon Slayer Armour on first try....
after i beat the game 2 times my second character was pyromancer and i literraly cheesed all of the bosses i couldnt kill from my first time.....pyromancy makes everything like a joke except bosses which have high fire dmg absorption like the demon boss under wolnir.Eitherway im slaying dark lothric knigh sword with dark infusion and drake sword with chaos infusion.I would suggest people start using dark infusions since most of the PVP shields weapons and items are with low dark absorption.Black flames and dark infusions is everything.
P.S. Dont forget to trasmute the chaos vestige bed from the Old Demon King...cheers guys.
Wolnir can get some really cheeky kills on you even if you are fairly good at the game.
@@jamiefenwick8359 he actually did my second playthrough as the guy above me was saying he glitch pulled me with his animation of the arm when he is pulling and i died from the cursed fart around him.
E
I beat champ on my first try, it wasn’t quite as fun the next time around though lol
Champion grave tender being over midir actually boggles my mind
if you have ever fought him at low level n+7 the fights a real shit show with the wolf and champion both alive and one shotting you. If you do have enough dps its not so bad, but most people fight him over leveled and over equipped. Midir on the other hand is consistent and predictable, obnoxiously tanky but manageable.
@@fuller1883 you can easily destroy the grave tender on new game plus 7; just use a great sword and he’s done. but I thought we were ranking them as like first play through anyway? But I digress, when the wolf goes into 2nd phase, you can literally kill it there if you keep stun locking it, midir may be “predictable” but he packs waaaay more of a punch than champion grave tender. He’s definitely more difficult than soul of cinder, I’ll tell you that much 😑
@@beetlepimp4777 midir killed me a bunch on my first play through. After that he isn’t really that hard, but he’s still so much fun to fight.
@@bonkusdonkus3743 I’m new game plus 5 currently on ds3, and he’s still a pain in the ass, I’m at pontiff rn but I think I’m going to skip him this play through
@@beetlepimp4777 ah, I guess I just have so much experience with slow/big combo bosses that they’re easy to me.
Not proud to admit, but the curse-rotted greatwood clepped me the first couple of times, simply because I didn’t know wtf I had to attack
Admitting you’re trash is better than holding to a stupid pride.
Same lol
Every boss claps you the first couple/dozens of times
apart from wolnir
@@lactural cap I died hella times to him
Ancient Wyvern sometimes: what the hell are these spikes on my head for?
Good one ^^
Hahaha 😂 good one bro
Fashion
Fashion Souls.
Wolnir always smokes me cuz I'm too careless or overconfident and the fog just instant kills me
ya dude the only times ive died to him was his spooky mist
@@uglybastard6614 you know he can spawn a lot of these Skeleton Guards, if the fight takes to long? I had once really bad rng with his attacks.
Or, I was really unlucky and couldnt smack those rings and he pushed me almost to the corner of map and killed me with fog.
and he does the sword sometimes, and he can summon grave wardens
yeah vape lord wolnir has been known to do that
Rip Gwyndolin 2011-2016 eaten by pudding monster
How fun would it be if there would be more "eaten gods" as next phases or just switch them as he reapears...
You’re a clown for spoiling
@@kingbrad6482 mate you can see they are gwyndolin and it isnt revealed in ds3 because its already known. Wasnt a spoiler
Straatzz ohhh ok then even though I played ds1 too
@@kingbrad6482 yeah in ds1 you kill gwyndolin but it is said after you leave aldrich devours the body. It is theorized that the other half of him is gravelore nito but we dont really know. Gwyndolin is an optional boss you probably never killed them
Seeing champion gundyr higher than midir gave me physical pain
Seeing Pontiff Sulivan above Midir made me scratch my head, I think I’ve died one or two times ever against Pontiff on many different playthrus
I was confused at the rankings too
Seeing Gravetender even in the top 10 gave me pain.
I find Gundyr harder than Midir! Midir is REALLY easy to avoid, whereas Gundyr is a fast paced back and forth. I have no idea on Gravetender being that high though lmao
@@wr5488 I can understand Champion Gundyr being closer to Midir but both Pontiff and Gravetender above them doesn’t make much sense to me. I will say with Champion Gundy if you get really good at parries he becomes pretty easy, I have a video on my Xbox of just standing still parrying him the whole fight.
I don't know, Aldrich in the same tier as vordt and ancient wyvern feels...dirty
Definitely higher..
Arrow rain second Phase...
I’d disagree. Aldrich was pathetically east for me. And the arrow storm is just a couple seconds of sprinting away. I beat him my first attempt and only used like 3 estus. I was expecting something much harder from the hype lol
Yea.... He should be higher
Yeah, i got stuck big time my first playthrough on Aldrich.
It is interesting hearing the perspective of "difficulty" from someone who does no-hit runs. It seems that his difficulty is based upon predictability and fewer move sets than anything else.
Seeing that gravetender and halflight being harder than Midir is beyond me
@@leo-shun midir is really easy to dodge once you got the hang of it. Really predictable too, fun to fight just as much as he is predictable. Half light idk, fighting a player was annoying and those wolves make me want to die.
I'm currently fighting Midir on my first playthrough and though I've died a lot, I'm confident I'll get him soon. He's massive, slow and very predictable.
Half-light, SOC and Champions are not, which is probably why they are rated difficult, probably from a 0 hit perspective.
The worst for me is Friede, eratic movements, crazy AOE, harder to predict.
Midir is definitely hard on the first playthrough but after you've figured it out (never be under it, always in front of it, be patient and let it come to you), it's just an endurance fight.
@@bonkusdonkus3743 you can say that about every boss
@@goblof that's why I don't think "once you learn it, it's easy" should be a definition for "difficulty". I think difficulty should be determined by how much it dunks on you first try, and how hard it is to learn how to beat it. When you are challenge running a game, "difficulty" takes on a whole new meaning that is more about mechanics and less about how "hard" something is.
I must say, the editing is clear with good transitions, and keeps the video at a good pace. The enunciation and backstory of each boss really holds my attention too. Overall, this video is phenomenal.
The sudden great jokes really worked well too, overall extremely well put together. Goob job Squilla!
i think u just really vibe with his quick delivery, wit, and use of big words
there was no moment in the video where I felt he was too repetitive and monotonous, very swell in capturing the audience. Reasoning was very logical for each placement. The video was a good length, seeming very fleshed out and detailed yet not too long as to bore the viewer.
overall, I'd say this was a pleasant viewing. 8.5/10
*Cries in Gael OST
Fricking love his music
@@bryceburgess5981 ikr it's amazing
Plin plan plon.
Cries in midir ost
Squeegs it’s not even a sad symphony 🤡🤡🤦🏻♂️
For me Friede will always be far and away the hardest boss. I’ve played through DS3 probably 6 times and only on my most recent playthrough did I finally beat her without summoning or being OP.
Imo she is very ez to me. I can consistently beat her with +7 weapons. My problem lands on the nameless king.
Mate I am the exact same she kicks my ass the most!! And only beat her one v one... one time
@@capperbuns it's why i love dark souls we struggle with different bosses... I can comfortably beat him one two times max
@@adamhill596 Yep, I'm the opposite. I've done hittless nameless king runs but I still struggle vs Friede still this day. This is what makes DS series unique, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses in bosses.
Yeah me too, I'm in the first run and still battle against frida and namless king but can easely beat the final boss under maybe 10 attamps.
It's weird, I never struggled with Soul of Cinder NEARLY as much as with Friede or the Twin Princes.
Thats because soul of cinder is easy and friede might be the hardest boss in the game
@@timt8027 I think midir then Gael then her, those three bosses are the only ones that make me get butterflies before the fight even starts 😭
@@timt8027 Friede is the hardest boss, imo.
@@jackbartlett6936 moonlight butter
Well I never struggled with the Twin Princes, Midir or Nameless King (nor the camera boss just before) but the Dragonslayer Armor for exemple always give me pain in the ass x)
I guess we all have our personal challenges x).
Sister Friede clapped my cheeks so bad first time i fought her.
I had 80 deaths against her first playthrough. Second most deaths came from NK. On subsequent playthroughs, I still am inconsistent against Friede, but NK has become easy for me.
Me too, the first 30 times
I somehow beat her first go. I still don't know how, but it was definitely the best boss fight in my playthrough by far.
I'm sure she'll get her revenge in NG+
Just like how madrid clapped LivArpool.
@@kingbrad6482 good one!
Normal Game tutorial: “press X to jump”
Dark Souls tutorial: “X: Traverse the fog”
Press circle and while running which is done by holding circle while pushing L3 forward to jump.Very simple
@@biga9144 “Visible confusion”
@@leopard-- i think they misunderstood your joke. They told you how to jump in ds3. Pressing left joystick while holding dodge (Circle or B) makes you jump. (Idk computer controls for dark souls so very sorry if thats what you play and I'm just incoherently explaining console things XD)
@@randomstuff4874 for me it was press circle while while holding circle to jump tho maybe the jump controls were different for us?
@@biga9144 that was the old Demon's/Dark Souls jump control. Ever since DS2 I believe, it's pressing L3 while running (holding down circle).
Sister Friede gave me a fun, balanced, and exciting boss fight while also being able to kick my ass and not even get mad about it. Easily my favorite in the game.
I beat her first go, miraculously. It was definitely the most memorable fight, the entrance cuts cutscene was chilling and the third phase... such an awesome fight!
I had to fight her for 3 days to get it right in my sl1 run, everything can go wrong went wrong in my final attempt and I somehow managed to beat her, it's one of the best boss fight I had
@@gorkemaykut5230 hard work pays off! I'm a casul and couldn't imagine fighting her at SL1!
@@gumplenet I recommend trying it, it's like learning to play dark souls for the first time
I say 4-5 boss is a pain in the ass (most of them are in the DLC) but other than that it's a very fun challenge unlike the others and surprisingly you got a good amount of options in front of you even though you are sl1, I had comparable dmg to my friend who was playing normally only difference is you got less health and armor
give it a shot, you might enjoy the experience
@@gorkemaykut5230 I'll give it a go after my NG+ run 😊
12:55 "Soul of Cinder will make you feel like you are playing against a slot machine with Japanese A.I."
Well...
I love Soul of Cinder. My first time fighting him, I realized he was just all of my past characters from 1 and 2; and then phase 2 hit. Probably one of the most emotional final bosses in gaming for me.
Not the content i expected from this channel but its quite the welcome surprise, Squilla has a great voice and is perfect for these kind of analysts
a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
Yeah I love it
@@kade_viralbrush hello there
I'm so glad my brother bought me DS1 for Christmas last year. Beat then then went on to beat DS3. One of the greatest games of all time easy.
Play ds2. Its an absolute amazing game if you don't let people ruin it with negativity
Im fairly new to the series too. Finished Dark Souls 1 like a month ago and it holds a special place in my heart cause it’s my first Souls game. But as im typing this, im about to finish DS2 right now and im really sad that it’s coming to an end cause i really like the game, maybe not souls wise but still a pretty decent game nonetheless. Give it a shot.
@@stompingpeak2043 I'm stuck in it. I attacked the lady with the key to Huntsman's corpse and I can't kill her she's so op.
@@kstreet7438 yeah she is a pain in the ass I did that and it took my low level character like 20 lives to kill her. Its not impossible but just hard. If anything just restart since thats literally right at the beginning of the game and it will take like an hour or less to get there again. Either stun lock her off the edge after dragonrider or just pay the one time fee. Its only a couple thousand souls and not very much
@@kstreet7438 she can be stunlocked with a dagger
ds3 hardest boss for me was 100% wyvern. I never knew there was an area beyond him so i kept on tryinng to just whack at his legs
Well that would be fine if only the hitboxes on his legs weren’t utterly messed up when he attacks, his stomps can damage you even when they have absolutely no business doing so ^^
Eat your cereal
My first time it glitched out and got stuck on a corner, not being able to move to where you plunge attack it. I ended up smacking it in the neck for a few minutes until it died. I don't think it hit me once.
@@nathanjora7627 Yeah,it's like the opposite of Yhorm
Yhorm isn't meant to be fought normally,but he's still a perfectly functional fight without his gimmick
Wyvern however is barely playable without the gimmick
@@silverhand9965 Yeah, which thinking about it is really funny because it's basically the guardian dragon from DS2 except bigger, so you'd expect the DS3 version to have better hitboxes XD
The other funny thing is that the next wyvern is easier to fight for some reason.
But really I wish they just didn't have that stupid armor on their legs.
Also I'm gonna say it : guardian dragon (both the boss and the mob) is one of the best dragon enemies (when you include ancient dragon, the five wyverns in lothric, the dragons in DeS, the drakes of DS1, only midir sinh and kalameet rank higher).
Beautiful thing about the Souls is that everyone has different difficulty rating, it's magic.
O&S are like my bitches but i just can't beat Soul Of Cinder ..
@@MrTrueCaller619 I believe it's about reading the boss, some you naturally read and know how to dodge, or at least know when you are making mistakes. On my first play of DS3 dlc 2, I was stuck at Midir for 2 days :)... after I finaly realised I should go for the head and did that fight a lot, I've beaten him SL1 no hits taken. However, I never played DS1 after beating it SL1, Manus is the fight that I will never be good at. As for the Cinder, I think moveset (and speed of the weapon in particular) matters the most. My go to was always heavy weapons and one hit per punish.
I find melee bosses easier, beat almost every melee boss first try except champion gundyr. Mages on the other hand, Aldrich gave me so much trouble.
Yep. Iv beat darksouls 3 a thew times but I always have a hard time with abyss watchers
@@ghostparty2062 Watchers are a skill gate for sure. I had my share of trouble with them on my first couple of plays, so it's sooo rewarding to go back to them after 1000s of hours and parry humiliate them. :)
It’s always so interesting how difficulty varies between people, I beat dancer, the twin princes, and the soul of cinder second try on my first playthrough, but various other bosses took tons of attempts.
I will say though that soul of cinder on sl1 is incredibly difficult. It’s pretty absurd, even compared to the rest of the dlc bosses like Gael, fride and midir
Surprised at placement of dragonslayer armor. Always found him kinda easy and intuitive to dodge. Got him first try on my sl1 run.
Ikr. I killed him first try on my first play through after buying the game, and killed him without taking damage on my second play through.
I agree, but I think it’s the fact that he practically 1-2 shots anyone who isn’t playing a strength build. It’s also a very long fight, so you have to doge perfectly for a long time
On my first playthrough, he took me hours to beat because I couldn't get the dodge timing down. After I did though, it's pretty easy. Now he's my favorite boss in the game. He's so fast and fun to fight.
Edit: this was on a dex build
He’s definitely coming from the perspective as an SL1 player.
Some bosses like dragonslayer become infinitely harder (relative to other bosses) when the fight lasts longer and your life ends quicker
I suffered a lot with it
i always struggled on many runs with Midir no matter what type of run, as a veteran of the game i must say in my case, Midir is by far the hardest, i don't struggle on any other boss than him since some years, can be my playstyle maybe
Yeah, hardest boss for sure.
@@cman600000 Yeah, hardest boss of FS games alongside with Isshin Sword Saint, Demon of Hatred, Orphan of Kos, Laurence and Fume Knight.
@@fortel5 Fuck Demon of Hatred, I hate him with a passion. I would rather fight 3 Orphans than him.
Ppl say gale as well but I'm same something about midir fucks me up I should know his movement but then I'll just get mega lazered and die.
@@jimmygames5557 totally true man i feel ya so much
hardest for me was Sister Friede followed by Nameless King
Midir was way harder than Friede imho. NK was not even close that hard - I heard from him before and had respect. But nah...not hard
friede because my brain too small to understand I was supposed to get close to friede to reveal her invisibility
@@sensoeirensen aren't you cool...
imo friede is not that hard. what u have to do in the first phase is bait the attack where she jumps in the air and slams down then backstab her. phase 2 you have to beat ariandel up and stay away from friede. backstab her when she heals him. phase 3 basically do the same thing as phase 1
What about midir
I unironically died more one Deacons of the Deep and Wolnir than on Abyss Watchers and Pontiff Sulyvahn
True lol
Ditto. Deacons and Wolnir had me dying the most. Almost all other bosses were a maximum 2 deaths kill. First run experience.
@@tenorenstrom it's all in the build for decons. I went in blind and killed him in like a minute.
All because is used pure strength with vordts mace. Being able to hit through the whole crowd and kill any given decon in 3 hits made it a joke.
Pontif took me a week.
Bruh how do you even die to Wolnir lol pontiff is 100000x harder
@@defyyourlogic487 It took me like an hour to realize that the mist was Curse Mist that killed me in an instant
*The gravetender and halflight harder than midir*
Man the disrespect..
Funny enough I also feel that way. I died to Halflight (the npc) so many times to the point where I didn't even kill the npc to win cause a player was summoned. I think it's just RNG for me because I swear the npc will always do the most annoying attacks 99% of the time and that 1% is when he switches to the bow and arrow which is the easiest to punish.
19:Yhorm, this may be surprising but out of all the playthroughs I’ve had I only died to Yhorm a couple times you just gotta dodge correctly and time your charge.
18:Ancient Wyvern, if your not careful the snake dudes will get you especially the one with the axe and I’ve sometimes fallen through his head while plunging.
17:Curse Rotted, fights fairly simple pop balls and don’t get smooshed although I’ve sometimes been overly aggressive during second phase which lead to his hand grabbing me a lot.
16:Deacons, the only real difficulty I’ve had is when they gank me like your typical invasion or when I have just not enough damage and die to curse.
15:Wolnir, when he isn’t glitched and has his skeletons out sometimes he can be a pain if your to cocky.
14:Vordt, he only took me 3 tries on my first playthrough I figured out staying under him was my best bet at winning.
13:Crystal Sage, I really don’t know why but the first time I fought the sage I just couldn’t do it I would always get spammed by her sorceries in phase 2 and sometimes if you don’t do enough damage she can be a splinter in your playthrough.
12:Iudex Gundyr, ah my first ever souls boss..Iudex took me 7 tries on my first play through to beat and that’s what i’m basing my difficulty off for him now though I genuinely enjoy fighting him.
11:Dragonslayer Armor, on my pure strength build I switched over to Vordts hammer leveled it upped and killed him easily but on my pyromancer playthrough it was another story I had to pretty much memorize everything so I knew when I could attack.
10:Oceiros, like Squillakilla said first phase isn’t too bad and you just have rotate around him dodging his attacks and looking for your opening but his second phase can still sometimes give me a hiccup.
9:Pontiff, this was another boss that proved to be a roadblock in my playthrough he’s very persistent and barely ever gives me time to heal but once he activates his stand ability he can actually be easier during that part.
8:Chanpion Gundyr, his first phase is not to bad since it’s the same move set as before but when he goes into phase two he can be very very tough and persistent during sl1 runs his kick pretty much one shots you.
7:Old Demon King, since this boss is optional I haven’t really bothered to fight him much during the years having this game I’ve only killed him twice, his aoe attacks can be pain and his hammer does insane damage.
6:Dancer, her move set is so fluid that it almost doesn’t look like it should be in soils game and she is so relentless with her bayblades and don’t forget that grab.
5:Abyss Watchers, these guys are tough and we’re definitely a big road block for me I found the second phase easy man on man but first phase would always end up with me being killed in the corner.
4:Aldrich, this is mainly a personal struggle but it seems whenever I playthrough this game Aldrich always reminds me that i’m not good and it doesn’t help that he always spams arrows and magic whenever I fight him.
3:Lorian and Lothric, these bros can be quite the challenge first time around and even multiple times later in other playthroughs Lorian is one quick boi and it doesn’t help with Lothric spamming magic.
2:Soul of Cinder, kind of shocking that he’s number two but it was really tough for me to decide where he should be in top 3, Soul of Cinder is pretty much all your previous characters from the other games into one the only real problem I had with him was his damn sword combo in phase two but I was filled with joy the first time I beat him after only 6 tries (it’s also additionally harder with the tears in your eyes when Gwyns theme plays.)
1: Nameless King, even though i’ve had DS3 for 4 years I actually only defeated him last year on a Artorias build, i’ve always tried to beat him on playthroughs but I was never able to and to me he is the first boss that comes to my mind whenever I hear “Dark Souls Bosses.”
Sorry for I can’t say anything about DLC since ive never played it.
4:12 “Pale enough to be apart of my chemical romance” thank god I actually understood that reference
That’s not fair I want to understand it too
@@Inferno594 My chemical romance is a music band, and their faces are pale with make up
Nameless King..
So memorable for me when I accidentally found his area. The bossfight is also good, combined with his OST.
Waiting on Squilla to rank DS2 and DS1 bosses now.
We skip DS2
Si mon stfu.
Ds1 bosses are all a joke except gwyn, artorias, kalameet and manus but gwyn and artorias can be made super easy with high poise, whereas on the other hand in ds2 you actually have well made and difficult bosses like both smelter demons (especially blue smelter demon), fume knight, sinh, sir alonne, burnt ivory king etc...
@@jagosvujovic2086 you have to be trolling dude
@@jagosvujovic2086 Is this fr lol
This is an interesting tier list, a lot of different placements to others I’ve watched. For me, midir is the only boss where I wasn’t sure if I was going to beat it, where’s the others I didn’t ever think that so midir goes at the top for me
Am I crazy or did he forget about Twin Princes?
@@harry6270 he did it’s after slave knight Gael but there isn’t a timestamp so easy to miss :)
I would if I had time, but I will say the Gale is my favorite boss in the series, literally so perfect
I definitely think the setting and music is amazing and his moveset is very fun to watch , but they should rly have given him more health and damage
@@inferno2996 he already has the most health in the entire game and can easily 1 shot you if you lack poise
@@azrael5493 midir has more health
@@timelessdust3001 in terms of raw numbers but not in terms of defense on his hitzones
@@timelessdust3001 makes sense that midir has more health
I just finished my first playthrough a few days ago and Sister Friede was the most difficult for me. I was about to give up on that fight. Then I think it would be Nameless King and Cinder. Gael and Abyss Watchers are my favorite fights :)
First phase with Friede is an awesome little dual that you can't get too greedy on lol. If I throw on my twinblades though I wreck through her health super fast, so I like to throw a scythe on myself and smash her with her own weapon.
Friede is just one of the worst designs in souls. Every time i beat her it felt like complete cheese.
@@GinkgoPete How come?
For me it is a cool boss design, but the third phase was so brutal. And having to deal with second phase so I can practice the third one that was kinda annoying. But then I finally beat her and it felt good :)
@@senioritapolyester what about midir most consider him then Gael and friede to be the hardest bosses in the series
Pontiff took me the most attempts out of all of these... Nameless king hurt pretty bad too.
Pointiff destroyed me so many times. Dragonslayer was extremely easy and readable. No way they're in the same tier.
@@joshowen335 I beat dragonslayer and the princes in 3 tries, it took me over 35 on pontiff, probably more I swear...
@@laiserfish another person stated in the comments that squillas opinion might be influenced by no hit runs. So that might be it.
Pontiff was actually easier for me on a soul level 1 playthrough, because I had a glass cannon build and parry/riposted his first attack. You can get him directly to phase 2, kill the stand before it's done being summoned, and then it's just a few hits to done. Basically if you nail the opening parry you can just steamroll him.
I can post the video if people want to see it in action
@@stephencardone I had to parry him 3 times to get him to stage 2, so I had a bad time trying to parry. In the end I changed to a fire embued sword
Dark souls is such a unique game that everyone I talk to has a different opinion on the bosses. For example I thought dancer was easy meanwhile I struggled hard on the twin princes.
Haven’t finished the game yet, I’m currently in the catacombs of carthus, but so far I’d say the hardest boss was the abyss watchers. My friends offered to help but because of my pride I wanted to beat him alone i feel like it was worth it beating the boss alone but it also feels like i cheesed the fight somehow.
I'm in the same position, working my way through my first proper playthrough, the Dancer was something else for me, first boss that took me more than maybe 8 or 9 tries to beat. I spent a solid 7 hours with breaks tackling her until I got a glorious run where everything just clicked and I cleaned her up with a single estus use and no consumables used (because I had run out) and I felt kind of empty after, it just felt like it must have been all luck in the end.
I wish you could replay a boss after beating it, would love to see if I could beat her with any consistency now.
I agree that Abyss Watchers are the hardest up to that point. They felt like the first real skill check, and it's until Pontiff Sulyvahn that the challenge increases in my book. And Nameless, oh boy.
I must say that, in my 1st run, Crystal Sage was way too difficult :/
I'm soo glad that I am not the only one that finds Soul of Cinder to be difficult
I died almost as many times to him as dancer on my SL1 run
Soul of cinder is a pretty easy point , at this point at the game you should have no problem beating him
@@MOBSTER_ I think it's just my playstyle, I can beat Darkeater Midir first try ez pz but SoC destroys me everytime
@@kell2818 lmao same, you get so used to the big slow moving bosses with huge combos that the fast ones with small combos beat your ass. Beat abyss watchers first try, then beat midir after 50 and Gael 30, then on NG+ I got stuck on Abyss watcher for an hour.
I actually think that th only kick ass moment of soul of cinder is the pyromancy/curved sword stance
@@MOBSTER_ sl1 soc is really brutal especially phase 2 can just meme on you with one mistake
Can you do a tier list of all the bosses from the dark souls trilogy from easiest to hardest?
I will never forget that comment I saw once. it was something like: 'Friede doesn't have three phases. It is three different bosses' '
Lord of Cynder is deadly allergic to Dark Magic... That's how I beat him first try!
(This is coming from someone who's so bad, it takes him 5 whole days to beat Dancer and started 5 days ago with Friede and still trying to this day...)
@Reuel Burton Thx, but in terms of Damage, I'm settled
I just need timing and practice with rolling and Backstabbing
Awesome video! Could we get a Bloodborne version of this list?
My top one is sister Friede and father Ariandel. The boss fight synergizes with dlc's plot so good, it's just masterpiece. And Midir has the best music that I've heard in video games.
Ludwig ost would like to know your location
@@biga9144 yeah, it's also pretty unbelievable, though I heard it only outside of the game, because I can't play Bloodborne due to PS exclusives politics
@@WitherAndrot damn that sucks yeh it’s should be on pc and Xbox it would make the community more alive and other people can experience the masterpiece of a game
As a veteran of the game, I wonder if anyone shared my experiences when it comes to difficulty
First time:
1. darkeater midir
2. nameless king
3. pontiff
After 10+ runs:
1. Soul of cinder
2. pontiff
3. twin princes
Soul level 1 run:
1. gael
2. nameless king
3. friede
Minus the Nameless King ranking on your SL1 run, I completely agree. First time, NK was 40+ deaths, and Friede probably 40+ as well. Now at 2100 hours on it, Midir is in the top 5 easiest bosses, but Friede will still give me some trouble. And at low SL, it's the fast hitters like Gael and Friede that make things tough. That said, I don't understand the NK ranking. Besides Midir, he's the only boss on which I've managed my 10 times in a row no hit kill. He's extremely consistent.
If death count is difficulty, for me:
1. Pontiff - 12 deaths
2.Nameless King - 10 deaths
3.Curse-Rotted-Greatwood - 8 or 9 deaths
The rest was 5 or less tries.
After a few playthroughs I think Friede is the hardest boss by far.
For me Sekiro was way harder with the final boss taking me 2 hours and many deaths.
Only difficult sl1 boss was gael
First time:
1. Twin Princes
2. Pontiff
3. Midir
NG+10:
1. Pontiff
2. Cinder
3. Friede I guess, but really everything other than Pontiff and SoC is relatively easy
I haven't done a SL1 run, so no comment.
In summary, fuck Pontiff.
I know planned videos are more effort for less reward but I'm not a huge livestream guy and this was amazing to be able to lay in bed and listen too. Thanks squilla
for me the only bosses that took longer than 30 minutes were pontiff, gael, friede, midir and abyss watchers (I think was underleveled for abyss watchers because I completely missed the entire cathedral and curse rotted greatwood before fighting them)
In my case, I think I am over leveled when I fought the Abyss Watchers and Pontiff Sulyvahn. I beat them first try, I summoned Anri in Pontiff Sulyvahn fight because I thought that it might be a part of her quest, she's good for tanking Sulyvahn's attack and his clone.
I absolutely love this video and your content, and I agree mostly with your list. I personally would have put soul of cinder in B just because by the time I fight him in every run I’m stacked as hell and I never do challenge runs, and I would have put twin princes in C because I have literally never died to them. Something about that fight is just dummy easy to me, idk why.
On my first play through and first souls game the abyss watchers are making me contemplate my existence
reminds me of rusty 2 years ago, if i forgot what squilla and rusty sounds like i'd end up thinking im watching rusty 8/10
Pontiff was the hardest for me. It took me a whole day of constant attempts. Since I’m bad at partying him I had to fight him the hard way too so it super hard for me and I’ll never forget how I felt when I defeated him after like 6 hours of constant attempts
Yea it was definitely a challenge to fight pontif but he was pretty easy honestly once I started to get the hand of parrying. Phase 2 is a joke if you just attack his clone quick and kill him but it was definitely very fun to fight him
Pontiff either goes all the way with me or wrecks me without taking even 20% of his health bar, no in between.
Your script for this video is fantastic. I adore the subtle and overt references.
Vordt has always been one of the easiest one in my book. Stay under his belly for most of the fight and you can ignore almost all his moves. Occasionally have to dodge and get back under, but oh so easy.
Dancer is also a piece of cake if youre sorc build as you can like two or three shot it with that one great soul arrow spell or whatever its called
0:58 " and is the biggest damn tree you've ever seen"
Meanwhile: Archtrees
While not the hardest, the dancer is definitely one of my favorite boss fights and I've only recently been able to beat her in just a few tries. Demon prince was easily one of the highest in terms of difficulty.
Swap midir with soul of cinder and youve got yourself a tier list
"Biggest damn tree in your goddamn life"
Elden Ring: Hold my Beer
Soul of Cinder on NG+7 and higher is a literal monster. I struggled with him so much on especially NG+9 or smth
Couple months late, but yeah, I agree. Cinder is pretty underrated in terms of difficulty, at least by players who only played through the game a couple times. There's a lot of margin for error fighting him the first few playthroughs, but at like NG+5 and up you have to be on your absolute A-game. I feel like not enough people realize just how different some bosses can be at higher NG levels.
@@lth_lch Even more months later, I kind of disagree tho could be due to my playstyle. NG+17 was my highest and then that save disappeared but he was surprisingly easy to defeat every time, at most I died twice in NG+15 and none on higher with him, dodging his stuff is as simple as rolling in front most of the times besides when he does the multiple hit combo which you just want to run away
Crazy to see how different peoples' experiences were with the bosses. I guess it shows how different peoples' skills are in different areas, I'm sure that has a big impact on what bosses are hard for who, that and build diversity. Personally, I'd put Midir way higher up and Soul of Cinder way lower, SoC was 1 of the easiest bosses in the game imo and definitely underwhelming for the last boss of the base game. I killed him so quick that I thought there were multiple phases left lol. This is all perspective from someone who just finished their 1st playthrough a couple weeks ago though, but the only bosses that took more than 3-4 tries were Midir & Sister Friede.. I think Midir took like 10-12 tries and Friede took a good 5-6 before I figured out that you could actually locate her when she went invisible, even though I was getting to the last phase after my 2nd try I used a ton of my estus by that point from the 1st phase getting booty clapped from behind. Great video though, and interesting to see what people consider are the hardest bosses!
Same SoC was dissapointing for me but for some reasons the big tree took me way to many tries than i would admit on my first try lol.
My death count for Friede and Midir are exactly reversed lol
I must be in the minority then, I struggled a little less with Gael than Soul of Cinder.
Midir's placement is actually accurate. One of it not the hardest boss on your first run, but as you fight him more and more and learn strategy he just gets so much easier. Even easier if you do a no hit run and try to fight him normally after that.
Hard agree. I was stuck on Midir for literally a month my first playthrough, got him into second phase like 2 or 3 times. The same fight that I first learned to roll backwards on his faceplant bite combo was the same fight I beat him and I haven't died to him since. I don't think there's another boss in the game where rolling straight backwards is ever a good idea which is why it took me so long to figure out, but once you get that down it's almost trivial.
@@Jacob-df5hr Exactly. Personally, I've no-hit midir myself, so the difference between the strategy and general knowledge I had on that run compared to my first run is insane. Also nice name 😎
On my initial playthrough Vordt was the only boss that took more than 10 attempts and that was because I was fat dodging and didn't know by that time that it was a thing. Soul of Cinder probably was the most difficult. Also fun fact, I killed Yhorm on first attempt attacking him normally since I didn't know about the Storm Ruler
What’s the background music? Asking because this part is beautiful 5:33
So Vea - The Disappearance of the Unmoved Mover
I found Friede to be the hardest. I just couldn't figure her out until my second playthrough, when I finally got her patterns and was playing with a better staggering weapon she got a lot easier. But...
It's the multiple phases that just make her annoying and a slog. The second phase is just annoying, with cutscenes ruining the flow and resetting the room and it being a completely different type of battle than the other 2 phases. I always lose my patience and rush it and die for my impatience or run low on estus.
And then the whole time to wait for her to resurrect on the 3rd phase. It just takes so much time to figure out how to beat her. If it was just the first 2 phases I'd think she was a pretty good boss.
She is a good boss....
I mean, arnt we all on some levels just pudding monsters at different points in our lives ?
I found the princes to be one of the easier bosses in the game on my first playthrough. Sure the teleports can be chaotic, but just hitting one to two times and watching the teleport made it almost a game of tennis, alternating between me swinging and lorian swinging. Lothric's light "soul spear" wannabe was the only challenge in it for me, mainly because I sucked at dodging it. Also I was using an Irithyl straight sword +5 for my first time.
My top 5 DS3 bosses
1. Soul of cinder - a fantastic moveset, lore and atmosphere makes it truly worthy of being the crescendo of this legendary franchise. To once more face Gwyn's moveset here at the end makes for a wonderful book end. More need not be said.
2. Sister Friede - a boss that perfectly walks the line of being very challenging on your first and 50th time fighting her and feeling like a fair challenge. The memory of seeing her get up after phase 2 and loudly asking "what the fuck" will forever be one of my most treasured gaming moments.
3. Champion Gundyr - a wonderful moment of facing the champion in his prime makes for an excellent lore moment. Seeing the evolved moveset and facing it late game when you have found your preferred style of play and good gear makes for a very satisfying gaming moment of seeing how your skills have grown up to this point
4. Pontiff Sulyvahn - hands down my favorite musical score in any game. The opening choir makes for one of my favourite boss battles ever and easily the most enjoyable. After learning his tempo, cues and attacks it is a satisfying dance to the death matched only by Lady Maria from Bloodborne.
5. Slave knight Gael - a very good end to an excellent DLC. Much like the Orphan of Kos (or as some say, Kosm) he offers the final challenge. A wild and aggressive pattern with danger at every distance for all players. Besting this last test brings just as much satisfaction on the first time as on the 100th.
Shocked to see grave tender so high. I’ve never had an issue dunking on him and he’s never managed to kill me but I used to have more difficulty than I’d like to admit on some of your lower tier bosses so I’m no bad ass
Only thing I'd change on this list is Gael and Frieda. Their the absolute hardest in my opinion. Soul of cinder is definitely 3rd place tho. First phase is hard af, but 2nd phase i found to be really easy and pretty predictable. Good list 👍
I wouldn't even put soul in my top 3. Never had as much issue with him as I did with Gael and Frieda.
@@bobjohnson5557 fair enough i could see how. I just put him up there cause the first phase diversity of attacks is hard to overcome
Gael is probably the fairest fight while delivering the most challenge for that title.
I used less tries on Gael than Soul of Cinder just yesterday. Did not expect that.
You have to give the man credit for going all in on the cringe jokes :D
They're gold.
To this day, Midir remains the only Dark Souls boss I've been unable to beat. I just can't get the hang of him for some reason, so personally I'd have put him higher
same
I can't even hit him off the cliff 😂💀
Dog strategy (under his belly) and when he is about to do downwards fire run for the tail and run back in before the swipe.
Hit him in the head only and get 2 attacks in each time, then dodge backwards. Simple
I really really need to give you props about your scripted videos by how your voice is speedrun pace yet digestible
Something I find very important in these kinds of rankings is to incorporate the difference between a first playthrough and an experienced playthrough.
There are these kind of bosses that seem really hard on a first attempt but become far easier on subsequent playthroughs because of the nature of their kit.
I include bosses like Nameless King, Darkeater Midir, Champion Gundyr and Pontiff Sulyvhan in that category because of either one of two things.
Nameless and Midir have very telegraphed movesets you can take advantage of and morph the fight in a perfect dance you can complete without being hit a single time. Sure with enough experience you can do that with every boss but it's especially true for these 2, comparing that with a boss like Dancer is impossible.
On the other hand, Gundyr and Sulyvhan have very fast and agressive movesets but learning how to effectively parry can reduce them to jokes compared to their initial threat. And hey, Gundyr can also apply in the first category if you don't want to parry him.
So, Midir and Abyss Watchers have an equal type of difficulty.
Ok
I feel like Midir should be higher simply because if you’re not specifically familiar with one strategy, he’ll pancake your ass over and over. If you’ve fought the Watchdog of the Old Lords in the defiled chalice in Bloodborne, it’s essentially the same exact boss fight making Midir super simple if youve went through the torment of the Watchdog.
Bruh... I struggled with the great tree more than most bosses in the game, how is that easier than Gundir, I would bet most people could learn to no hit run Gundir in a few hours
I struggled with him until I realized that you didnt have to hit his third arm in the second phase, and when I learned that there were other weak spots on his back and legs and arms.
Bruh you realize you are getting rekt by a fucking tree? well well tree hunter keep git gud and maybe we plants will make you worthy of our time.
when I fought greatwood and old demon king with my str build they were really easy, then i tried with another character in a dex build and wielding the caestus.... they wiped the floor with me lol
I agreed with your dks 1 list alot but I didn't so much with this one. ngl ocieros was way higher for me and the soul of cinder was too easy. granted I was built but it still felt like I didn't deserve the win. with gael however, winning against him ALWAYS feels earned.
Pontiff *"you're a wooper" was the 2nd easiest boss for me on my first playthrough, well I was running a glass cannon mage build that was already at 60 int by then so just blasting him from range did the job pretty easily, he is a tad harder to male tho
Edit: edited according to Brads wishes
Stfu when you can’t say his name properly.
@@kingbrad6482 so you struggled with him I take it?
But seriously who cares, I could call him weird sword holly dude if I wanted to, but fine if it bothers you that much give me the correct spelling and I'll edit my comment if you want, I'm just too lazy to look it up myself
Google Is A Cruel Mistress edit it to you’re a wooper.
@@kingbrad6482 done your charming, and not at all so edgy that it's cringey, lordship, any other requests?
Google Is A Cruel Mistress you’re lovely.
Hardest boss for me in DS3 is definitely Friede although I don't die for hours or anything.
I really love the "endurance" part of Yhorm's fight without the ruler; It's such a good fight probably because of the length of it, seeing how long you can endure through it
Dancer will always be my highest difficulty, idk man just can't get a handle of it.
Use a crossbow. Easiest way to beat em. You can do it on soul level 1 too.
Yeah dancer sucks
For the most part i agree but from my personal experience, i beat demon prince first try, half estus at level 60 so thats my one major disagreement
I'm always amazed at how the difficulty of the bosses changes from one person to another.
Took me like 10 attemps to kill champion gundyr, and 8 Pontiff/Nameless, yet I killed the twins, the dancer and the souls of cinders in my first try. For me this just shows how different playstyles affect the difficulty so much
I thought about that when I did different playthroughs. Weapons change the game, so having twinblades makes the game easy, running around with ultras require more planning, pyromancies have a hard start but easy end, sorceries has a hard start and never changes :P the game has a lot of replayability
I was called, for Champion?
Game 2016 : exist
TH-camrs : another tier list
And we cant stop watching them
10:45 I feel like I just had PTSD
all bosses:
ME: **LAUGHS WITH +10 SHARP SELLSWORD TWINBLADES**
True Lol
Ngl, after dying so many times to *any* boss for that matter, I always look back on how far I've come, the difficulties I've faced, and how I've defeated them, it's always enough to inspire me to press on and overcome.
I like how everyone seems to have a totally different experience with these bosses. I’m on my first play through as a cleric, and I focus mainly on just killing things before they can kill me by using magic weapon enchanting and ironflesh to tank damage. I spent ages on the greatwood for some reason, and also died a lot to the crystal sage, but killed pontiff pretty easily on the first go by just standing right in front of him and wailing on him with a 340 damage mace lol.
2:53
Might one say you should... PREPARE TO CRY?
Just saying Squilla, I have never died to soul of cinder. Hands down easiest boss.
I died doing a punch only run (not ceastus) and got sloppy.
Damn son
Same! I’ve no hit him from day one with fist only SL 1! Oh and my eyes were closed.
@@1st-Law.SAME! I'm paralyzed from the neck down, and i was able to kill him without getting hit only using my fists,and I gouged my eyes out prior.
@@saltganker I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’ll send thoughts and prayers your way. That seems to fix all problems.
oh man this is good content squilla!
Wolnir clapped my everloving cheeks first playthrough wtf bro
I’ve never died to him lol
The one thing about wolnir is if you get to close his smoke/gas can kill you in an instant
He kept summoning his armies to spitroast me
pontif is the hardest boss for me. It took me like 30+ tries
He finally did it. He made a tier list.
I've beaten every boss so far but I'm stuck on midir. Started with 48 embers now down to 7.
5:31 the tier list kinda glitched into the screen here for a sec lol
I don't know why but I always struggle with the Tree Man. I'm not even bad at the game.
His very hard with no 2 handed weapon
Same dude, I died to him over a dozen times on my first playthrough, I think part of it was just not having enough DPS so I destroyed all the easy to reach sacs before actually killing him. Also I was using a rapier lol
That tree is a total pain in the balls.
Did that thing where you get really close to beating the first time, die and have to go another dozen to get that close again.