The whole Wandering in the Dark quest with Keira is what I struggled with the most in the entire game because it was so early and I didn't know how to play. My silver sword broke and I had no backup, was locked in that cave and had to load a previous save to get out of it... Looking back at it now it isn't that difficult but it was a chock for me the first time I played it.
I was in the same situation XD I didn't have any food and potions so i tried to get through this quest with line 1/4 of my hp I gave up after like 30min and reloaded the save
Ya first time my sword broke also lol. Took some time to beat him. But now he's just cake. Still I love the fight and character wish we had more of him. I absolutely love the wild hunt characters
I just finished my first Deathrun playthrough and Dettlaff was truly challenging. The bats he summons are ridiculously strong, as well as his annoying Goblin lookalike in the third. Overall the best Boss fight by far tho. Very enjoyable and well made!
Olgeid fight was one of the coolest fights I've ever had in a video game. The scene, the dialogue, the music , rain in the background with burning manor. It's awesome I didn't want the fight to end You need to add that goddamn djinn on the wrecked ship in the main story.
I just beat the djynn on ng+ deathmarch at level 57 and it took almost a dozen tries. 2 hit death combined with those super fast range attacks was brutal.
I beat the Jinn relatively easily on Death March - I used the ship's mast as cover when he did his projectile attack, than got a few swings in, before hiding behind the mast again
Even on just the easier difficulty, the Toad Prince is just irritation incarnate. It has so much hp and, the part I hate most about fighting monsters, the god damn knockback. The poison damage at that point was just minor compared to how annoying this is and how satisfied I was when I finally killed it. It's probably the second most satisfying kill ever in the game. I found it more satisfying than when I killed Eredin or even Imlerith
I just did it a couple of days ago on DM and you cannot fathom my pride, lol. I ended up using Yrden a ton, the Doppler Decoction, Golden Oriole and Tawny Owl. It still took a lot of time. I found the Ethereal to be even worse, though. Took me several attempts, because it one-hitted me a couple of times. My fault, though, since I chose to hold Geralt back by still using the last armor I wore when I started New Game+ (I love the look of the Hen Gaidth armor, especially with the glasses. I feel like Daredevil :D)
@@LukeR1M that's the great thing about being a Witcher, right? Once you know how to prepare for a fight you can render any fight meaningless. Like I initially had a terrible time with Toad Prince and those venom spitting plants in toussiant, but when i realized i had Golden Oriole those fights before a breeze.
Remember first time fighting detlaff and dying over and over for an hour had to search a yt tips video than finally beat him and was so relieved. Than on my second play through basically destroyed him and felt so stupid that I had such a hard time the first time
@@unusualswoop7660 no lol he's ez af, witchers dodging system is op u can just spam dodge and be invincible, it aint like that in other games for example horizon forbidden west or dark souls, u have to time ur dodge at the right time or u dead
the ghost in the painting was one of the toughest - after a while, when it kept healing, I figured out that I needed to break the paintings, but it didn't seem to work - had to google it Sure enough, I had the right idea - but just wasn't close enough to the painting. Still quite hard, as the thing heals very quickly if you don't get to the painting in time - and it can be any one of them
Honestly I think the fight with the crones as ciri is the most difficult and frustrating fight especially on death March difficulty. With other fights you can manipulate a few things even if it doesn’t seem apparent at the time like where you’re standing or obstacles between you and them or even if you’re loosing too much you can try new gear and tactics. Not true with that fight with ciri and the crones, everything is all in that small space at the bottom of the tree and Ciris abilities don’t really seem to help much when any of the three crones can 2 shot you from full health. And there’s no other kind of gear you can get with ciri you just get what you get and have to hit and run dodge for like a half an hour of just muscle memory hitting each of them for chip damage. I know I did it eventually after struggling and a lot of the time just getting lucky but never again will I do that fight once was too much.
Hm maybe I’ll struggle during my upscaled dm playthru, kinda just reminded me of handling multiple high level guards while fucking around at a low level
Played on deathmarch don't remember having a hard time with that. Only time I truly truly hit a brick wall was when I tried to mess with enemies that were higher level early on. On deathmarch your potions etc become essential but I remember ciri always being op no matter my lv. Although I love ciri I hated playing as her because it essentially took away my specialized build and gear.
The best tip I can give for the crones fight on DM is to spam her charged ability and then run away, until one of them is dead, and then focus the fat one first
Crones fight is the only one I chickened out on during my DM playthrough and turned down the difficulty. Fight is super repetitive "buttpoke and run" style
Since i played with a light attack cat school build, I didn't find that particular fight that hard, but i can see why someone who plays any other build would have a hard time
In my first playthrough, Jenny o the woods whooped me. So did lmlerith. The Elves in the extreme cosplay mission also were extremely hard, that quest had to be bugged.
Extreme Cosplay? That 'coincidental Mission' you run into in the south of Toussaint? If so, i'd fully agree, those Elves were ridicoulous! I ran into that Quest on my Newgame+, maxed on Level 100, L98 Grandmaster Ursine Gear, Synapse Springs+Heigtened Tolerance+ 4 Decoctions up for +220% more attackpower, Hanged Man's Venom, and despite me doing reasonably good damage to them, the real problem was the damage they did to ME! Especially the Mages in that pack are overtuned like MAD and can easily take you down in a few hits already! Even with a talented Quen-shield! They just shoot holes in you or something? It baffled me, as with Grandmaster Ursine Gear, you have thé highest amount of Armor and protection you can wish for? ... Yeah perhaps the damage-reductions from Undvik Armor áre better suited for fighting 'humanoid' Elves.... Havent tried that, but on a NG+ Undvik Armor is like L70-74-ish? só much lower then Grandmaster-level gear.
@@thegreenreaper6660 finally, someone talked about those elven statues. Their damages were extremely unfair, and i beat deatlaff on deathmarch without a single death.
@@babelUNCHAINED I think this Quest sort of 'forces' you to use Improved Axii; Mindcontrol one of those Mages?? Those elven mage-spellcasters are indeed ridicoulously powerful! Either that, or you need to keep Quen up.. A LOT... and White Raffard-rank 3 equipped!!
Yeah fuck those 2 shot mage bitches. Pisses me off when you are in such danger of those hitscan mages, all you have time for is rolling/dodging around trying to get a moment to cast Quen, and then bam, they destroy it instantly, and then you're killed by the others. And you've done exactly nothing to them. Rinse repeat
Great list! I found chort decoction and golden oriole help tremendously with The Frog Prince. Many players say golden oriole isn't useful, but this is a rare situation where it makes the fight easier. Chort reduces knockdown and stuns. Both of these make the fight much less annoying.
Superior Golden oriole and superior devil's puffball (poison gas bomb) actually good combo tho, it's healing geralt health and poisoning enemy at the same time
Bruxae and Alps are my absolute favorite monsters to fight. Black Blood is a fun potion effect, their speed and the way they move makes the fights look absolutely badass, especially when you get good at fighting them. It's so fast paced and it just makes you feel like an absolute boss.
i have like an exploit i use when i fight bruxae and alps. if you have atleast +100% sign intensity from mutagens or like places of power, just use yrden then aard and they get knocked down and you can oneshot them
I watched the show, then read the books, then played the game, and after the game, I became obsessed with learning everything I can about the lore of the Witcher world. I just came across your channel a few weeks ago while I was searching and I just wanna say thank you so much for what you do on this channel!
The Djinn that you fight in Yennefer's Quest is (almost) impossible with enemy up-scaling. It is the only boss that I had to turn it off in the entire game.
@@aashutoshrimal1497 agreed, but I managed to get them all in a mob, and blow them up with bombs. Actually also got me one or the achievements can't remember which (something like total damage or kills on a single attack, or something like that).
Doesn't the Toad Prince have a mechanic where you use igni at the right time, he takes massive damage? I vaguely remember doing just that. I think he creates some kind of fumes that you have to ignite.
yeh , in my first play through i did a full igni build so the Toad Prince was 1 of the easiest bosses in the game for me so i never rly understood what was so hard about him until i got there with a different build
I got to Detlaff with minimal healing potions or food to restore health. It took me a long time to beat him, I think I screamed in celebration when I beat him. Worthy 1st placed
Nice list, man. I personally felt Iris’ Greatest Fear was the hardest even when super geared out. I also think the werewolf in Wild at Heart is hard on a first playthrough just because of health regen.
Irises worst fear is the only boss fight I had to turn down difficulty on. I had a heavy attack build and after hours of trying I decided to give up. also the Djinn is extreme on enemy upscaling.
For me the miss-born child of the bloody baron was one the hardest, i dont even think youre suposed to fight it since the story is way better if you dont. If you try to fight him anyways, the first stage is pretty easy, but in the second stage this thing just heals so much i cant deal more damage than it heals.
Try the Chort Decoction against Olgierd. You can now block his attacks. Against Detlaf the most important thing is timing your dodge against his bats. When the sound stops, wait one second then dodge. The deadliest enemies in the game for me are wolves and wild dogs.
I honestly didn't have much trouble with most of these bosses (other than the toad prince), but surprisingly one that I really struggled with was the painting wraith on new game plus death March. I wasn't over leveled when I fought her and it ended up being a never ending battle because I had a health regen mechanic and she- no matter how fast I dodged to her painting- would regen health almost instantly. It wasn't until I over leveled myself to hell that I was able to take her down easy.
Thanks for taking a break from walking the path to share your knowledge WitcherGeorge. I completely agree with all 5 of your choices in order. The Dettlaff fight is the closest this to a Souls-like boss battle in The Witcher 3 and boy does it show. The Olgierd von Everec fight also could be considered Souls-like in how hard it is. I really enjoyed the Olgierd fight because it pushed me harder than any other boss battle. Died more times than I'd like to mention, but I appreciate how it made me a better gamer because of it.
I never struggled as much with any boss as I did with a group of wraiths........ They always thrashed the soul out of me whenever I tried to mess around.🗿
The warewolf that guards the mother of the Crones. He heals very quickly and it can be quite difficult, considering that we meet him early on. Though once, I don't know why, I went to that tree and the warewolf didn't spawn. It was weird. Another frustrating enemy to deal with is the Jenny ghost. For inexperienced players it's better to give it a try a good few levels higher than recommended.
I personally believe in the main game this are the hardest I played death march in my first playthrough 5- cat school witcher madman 4-golem in an abandoned mansion 3- the arachnid in a contract about missing brother 2-eredin 1- the witcher possesed by a red miasma ( I think is extra content but is as an adition to the main game rather than a whole DLC, i think )
I actually found the the bloody barrens botchling in my first play through to be very difficult, not having grasped the mechanics and the time, and it was a steep curve from anything up to that point.
My most recent Death March play through I mostly only had trouble with the Hearts of Stone bosses, mainly Dettlaff as his bat swarms would melt through my quen.
Pretty good list overall, and I agree with most of it. I personally would've put the Toad above Olgierd/Iris' greatest fear. The latter becomes a lot less difficult to deal with (though still by no means easy) once you figure out that parrying the red glowy power attacks stuns him (and how to time it correctly for the various attack animations). I also would've maybe given the #5 spot to Caranthir (specifically when you fight him as Geralt, the first phase as Ciri is almost laughably trivial), because those blue ice orb thingies he throws at you do a lot of damage and the timing window to dodge them is pretty short.
Detlaff may be one of the most difficult but after learning you can parry him during my original death march run it made the fight much more enjoyable.
The hardest boss: The menu screen when blood and wine theme starts playing, you have to be really quick with clicking the "continue" button, or else you could end up just looking at the screen not wanting to load the game
In general, i agree: Dettlaff is thé hardest boss in the game. I ám kinda missing Imlerith here tbf. If you dont really know what Imlerith is capable of, he can be a real menace on your very first playthrough: The first stage is tricky with him behind protected by that mássive shield he wields, so taking him halfway down, takes good timing! For the second stage of the fight, where he tosses away his shield and goes full tilt on you, his Melee-attacks with his warmace become twohanded, and thus deal a lot more damage, but the worst part is Imlerith just teleporting right behind you; you've got a VERY narrow window to dodge, kinda like with Dettlaff? On the very first playthrough, imho Imlerith définately belongs in the Top3. Kind of a tough call to determine him, or the Toad Prince for P2 imho... But Dettlaff really is the Endboss of Endbosses in the game. Whát a fight!
TOAD!!! I can't believe how difficult this boss was in comparison to anything else in the game. IDK if im bad, or what. Caretaker first time was hard, but the Toad was relentless
Personally, Iris greatest fear is my number 1 for the hardest fight, couldnt manage to clear it on DM and enemy upscaling. and i did clear detlaff on those settings.
As WitcherGeorge explained in the Video: the mechanic of that fight is that the other Ghosts become stronger and faster, with every 1 of the 6 ghosts you kill, so the last 2 are TERRIBLE to get down from 100% health? Perhaps it'd be easier to first kill 1 or 2, then weaken the other 4 first to an inch of their life, so taking down the last ones can be done with a single blow, or an Igni-wave? ^^ Bosses arent the only ones that (can) use certain mechanics :)
You forgot the cave troll that attack you while looking for missing miners.. I agree with most of the list, playing with DM difficulty without the euphoria mutation skill really gonna get you frustrated,, even with geralt's euphoria, you still have to fight as ciri vs the crones without it 😅
I had the same trouble you described with The Caretaker. I was so focused on trying not to die that I didn't hang back enough to discover its mechanics the first couple of tries. Likewise with a couple of golems, and the same with the Frog Prince, which I would put at number one just for how bullshit hard he is for an initial boss - but again, not taking that moment to learn their mechanics. Of the fights you mentioned, I actually found Detlaff the easiest, and the only one who didn't hand me my arse a few times before I got past him - but I think that whatever my fighting style is, it just suited going up against him more, or maybe I got good between playing the base game and Blood & Wine, because I did generally find those from Heart of Stone more difficult. I actually managed to dies a couple of times and defeat Iris' Biggest Fear before ever realising that engaging any of the others would get them involved at the same time - then I watched a video of yours and felt ironically pretty silly for it! Edit to add: the one I found hardest in Blood & Wine was the Cosplay one in Toussaint - it took me the longest to figure out!
Not just the Bosses! If you defeated Eredin, even those first Knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose are pretty tough: Clearly a big step upwards in the scaling? The Hanse-bases in Toussaint also hold a 'lieutenant' as a Boss, with Filibert Fourfingers as the final boss of them, though, they are easier to deal with imho.. probably also due to higher level and maxed out Gear...they're pretty tough for 'sidequest bosses'. Also since they are humanoid and not monsters!
For me I would remove the Caretaker. I found it very easy to dodge, so even if he healed every now and then, I never felt at risk of dying. I had a hard time with the jinn at the last wish. Got it first time, but I had never used so many Quens and food to heal as with that fight. And funnily enough, when there are more than 1 archespore at the same time, I always struggle. Hate them so much. Of course this only applies at maximum difficulty.
It honestly surprises me people don't think there's a lot of unique boss fights in this game... maybe not necessarily in the main quest but Geralt's day job is literally hunting monsters
I think my harder boss fights were the Djiin, the Toad and Ciri's fight against the three Crones. Also, I struggled a lot at my first gamethrough against the specters coming for the Baron's dead child (I don't remember the name of this kind of monster in english) : I didn't have the proper gears and nor the level so the cursed child or specters were both tough options.
If you're playing Ciri, 'Spacebar is your Friend'... Hit and Run is the tactic; Get 1-2 hits in, and 'teleport' by hitting spacebar...1-2 hits, and GTFO again, before they can hit you. Imho tháts the simplest way to 'PWN with Ciri'?
I'm currently replaying witcher 3 and for me the hardest boss were these living statues in one of blood and wine side quest, damn elven sorceresses with their range attacks killed me like 5 times.
I'd like to add a few thoughts if I may: Nithral - I think the reason this boss can be difficult is because, like you mentioned, it's so early on. Most players by this point have probably been mashing their way through the game, but that won't work on him. He can parry and power through your attacks. He always heals multiple times, making for a longer fight. And Keira, like most sorceresses, isn't very helpful, providing minor stagger but no actual damage. The Caretaker - I still think he's one of the hardest bosses. The healing alone can make him frustrating. Quen is basically a requirement to try and stop him from leeching life from you. But even then, you have to deal with the ghosts, which can be frustrating. Toad Prince - Everyone complains about how hard this boss is, and I get it. However, Golden Oriole alone is enough to make this fight way way easier. If you're running a Griffin build with a beefed up Yrden, this boss is a joke. Olgierd/Ethereal - Agreed with everything you said. This is one of the few fights where you actually have to be skilled with dodging (not rolling!), parrying, swordplay, and patience. Great boss. Dettlaff - Phase 2 is the annoying bit. If you don't have the rolling timing for the bats, you can die over and over. Phase 1 and even 3 aren't as bad.
I have always thought the fight was easy... I have always went into that fight well prepared. I was worried when I went into with an alchemy build... that was the easiest run because I hit so hard the massive HP seemed to be a dream. On my last deathmarch run, I went into that fight ten levels under knowing I had all the perfect gear... then ran into the sorcerer that I forgot happened right after it, and had to run for my life. Bad times...
i agree with all except the first mension in the video i defeated nithral pretty easily and i would change his spot with the botchling or imlerith since the botchling is the second boss in the main story and it is quite difficult even when you play the game again. imlerith in the other hand is the first wild hunt general that u fight and at the begginning u just have to follow a pattern but when the second phase starts u have to spam quen and wait for him to finish all his attacks but overall great video.
I’m streaming the Witcher 3 (I’ve already played it before) and I’m doing Hearts of Stone but I’m genuinely terrified of fighting Detlaff again. That second phase is insane Top 3 for me are 1. Detlaff 2. Bruxa of Corvo Bianco 3. Toad Prince
On harder difficulties, one of the most reliable methods to maintain survivability is to use the protective coating skill (+25% damage resistance against enemies the applied oil is targeting). Having the skill active can mean a night and day difference. I struggled against Iris' greatest fear because I was using the wrong oil. One attack was enough to take out 70% of my health. Also, I think armor and protective coating cannot resist against magic attacks. This makes the Ofieri mage also very challenging. Another fight worth mentioning was the quest in Toussaint where several statues turned into elven mages and swordsmen. The magic attacks of the mages are very devastating.
Gwent playing nobleman in Vizima was tough... Had to to go back to him on my first play through lol. Igni and Yrden deal with most of the others quite effectively, especially the Toad Prince.
The Crones as Ciri on DM with enemy upscaling is a nightmare for me. Even worse b/c the save point includes 30+ seconds of pre-fight+cutscene even skipped. Good list.
I actually agree with your assessment of these bosses by difficulty with the exception of two points: I find the Toad Prince to be more challenging than Olgierd in every way that makes Detlaff the Ultimate Boss of the game. Therefore I would put Olgierd as 3rd most challenging, and the Toad Prince as 2nd most challenging. (Not including Iris' Greatest Fear, It's too easy to make that one a cake walk and I don't include it on my top 5, even though I understand why you do) The Olgierd fight is one of my favorite, but if I'm properly leveled and equipped, I have to throttle myself and draw out the fight just so I can listen to that awesome track. However, Even when I do that he can and does still punish me for lapsing my concentration during the fight. The Toad Prince can be made slightly more trivial if you can manage to get ahold of, and use Superior Golden Oriole for the fight... the poison effect is a nasty thing which kills me if I'm not careful. However, what really makes it more challenging than Olgierd is the combination of multiple attack types, and attack ranges. All of which, when combined with the ability to choose between different retaliations that The Toad Prince can make from the same position (just like with Detlaff) I am guaranteed to die at least 1.8 times, each time I go to fight him. Those are my thoughts at least. Though all are challenging, I only find Immlerith, the Ofeiri Mage, and the Toad Prince to be annoying in any respect. The rest of these are so fun... especially the Detlaff fights he's so challenging and dangerous, and really satisfying to fight because of what gets you there. The Toad Prince also takes the #2 spotfor the same reasons that Detlaff takes #1 in every list of the best Boss fights in TW3. Their setup is phenomenal, both in story and in the challenge they provide. Olgierd takes #3 because he is always easier than the other two, despite matching them for set-up/payoff. The Caretaker is easily #4 because Olgierd edges him out for the enjoyment factor I mentioned previously. Despite The Caretaker being more challenging than Olgierd. As for #5: I choose the Bruxa at Corvo Bianco. With Nidhal, I went in underequipped and one run expecting a particularly challenging fight and wiped the floor with him so easily that he doesn't qualify for this any longer. Plus his setup is more shoddy. With the Bruxa, there is the encounter where you see her before, the dead soldiers and creepy mystery which builds her to be challenging and she doesn't disappoint. Even if I'm perfectly equipped and leveled, she can still kill me easily. Also, She sets the bar and the tone for the entirety of Blood and Wine by giving you a more challenging vampire to face in preparation for the first fight with Detlaff. In short: the Bruxa is #5 because not only is she set up better than Nidhall, but she serves as a setup for the bigger boss to come: Detlaff without her, he might not have quite earned his spot as #1 in every "Best Boss Fight" in TW3.
The first time I fought Detlaff at the end of b&w on death march I was zoned in and so impressed with how they made that fight you really do have to be quick with him I loved that it really puts Geralt to the test you could say my favorite boss ever
5. Lot of possible picks but for something unorthodox I'd say the wraith in the painting. That thing can heal insanely quickly on DM and it took me a while to figure out the gimmick (it's one of the few times in this game that crossbow perks are actually good, to slow time down and shoot the paintings.) 4. Iris' worst nightmare because Olgierd's charge attack can hit you through quen on DM. 3. Triple Crones fight as Ciri because it's a long fight, you can't heal, switch gear or drink potions and you get 3 shot on DM. 2. Toad Prince because of the reasons outlined in this video, also I'd like to add that the best way to beat him is actually to use a sign build which I'm assuming most players aren't using. 1. Djinn during the last wish with enemy upscaling on because you literally get one shot instantly. I don't even think the devs intended for that to happen but it is what it is. Shared 1. Living statues in blood and wine, they'll stunlock and 2 shot you if you don't cheese it. Honorable mention: shaelmaar in general, but especially the tufo monster because they're hard to pin down and they can kinda stunlock you. I never really struggled with Dettlaff, if you just run from his bats to the edge of the arena and time your roll, you won't get hit. Then run in, hit 3-4 times and back off, rinse and repeat. Apparently a lot of people found him difficult though.
The fight with Detlaff almost made me give up on the Witcher 3. So I lowered the difficulty level for this one, and thankfully could enjoy the end of the game.
I just beat detlaff with me having basic feline armor, death march, lvl 39 when he is 50 so he can basically one shot me if i dont dodge but i did have the aerondight with no relics and 3 greater red mutagens
For me the hardest boss fight was Iris' Greatest Fear, just for the fact that each Olgierd gets a new moveset and you need to remember in what order they get them and what to do for them, it's a bit much to keep track of, the boss fight itself took me 12 tries to finish, normal Olgierd was a bit easier, but it was probably the longest boss fight I have ever done, it took me the entire in game night to finish, as for Dettlaff, I've found him disappointingly easy, cool mechanics and all but I don't remember having much difficulty with him, all three fought on deathmarch with level upscaling
I did both DLCs on a New Game + on Death March, and the bosses were brutal compared to the main game. I'm currently playing Elden Ring and this experience prepared me for my first from software game.
I personally found olgeird and iris' greatest fear to be quite easy. If you can properly space yourself out you can force them to do one of their powerful moves which you can then parry to get 3 hits in easily.
I just recently discovered that when you fight Olgierd & Iris' Greatest Fear, if you parry when they do the super attacks with the glowing red sword, it reverses the damage back onto them and stuns them (good for three free hits). You have to parry just before they land with the glowing red sword. Once you get the timing, it is SOOOOO much easier to defeat them. In fact, as soon as you do this successfully, move far away from them, which will then trigger them using the super attack again. Rinse repeat.
Everything in Hearts of Stone on Death March with enemy upscaling on (in NG+). Seriously the Toad, Boat Captain, Olgierd, Iris’ Fear they all whooped me something serious. Also the Djinn pre-patch with enemy upscaling on was un-killable.
I played on DM multiple times, and tbh for me the hardest bosses were: Caranthir and the Ofieri Mage from Hos. Never really had trouble with the others
definetly agree on that list, also played every boss, except Nithral, on Death March the first time I faced them. I really struggled with those, especially with the Prince and Iris' greatest fear. But Detlaff is still to be faced, it'll be on Death March of course.
Every boss on this list kneels for rats in the sewers (on death march and enemy scaling enabled) you can not kill them by igni or hitting by sword but they kills you with 2 bites.
Agree with the top 4 but would probably put Imlerith as the hardest base game boss. Also honourable mention to fighting the botchling, its brutal when fought early
The Toad Prince never caused any issues for me. Both the Caretaker and the 6 Olgierds caused me a lot of grief, multiple deaths and a week long break between first meeting them and finally beating them. The feeling of satisfaction once I had was immense.
I agree with your list however I would have included (maybe as an "honorable mention") the Bruxa-Alp tandem that you encounter while you are with Regis trying to find Damien del la Tour (can't remember the name of the quest). Although technically not a boss fight that part of the game made me go out to my balcony and yell at my perplexed neighbors several times for no reason whatsoever. Great video, BTW.
I'm not sure if you're aware, but you can pretty easily time a parry when Olgierd readies his big red attack. That will stun him for a while, allowing you to do significant damage. And if you stand at about the right distance, that easily-parried attack will be the only attack he does, making the fight extremely easy, without every having to worry about chasing him down or him blocking your attacks.
Hey WitcherGeorge, I have been binging in your videos regarding witcher lores and you just awoken my nostagia for the game once again even with just the soundtracks that are played on the background. Im wondering if you could cover a topic which I don't know if you already had covered before. Can you discuss about witcher potions?
I started heart of stone exactly after I saved dandelion in the carriage ambush. 18 levels down from the dlc on newplusgame death March. It was a wholesome try hard experience. I recommend it.
Deadlaf in 1st place makes complete sense, my ex had the most trouble with him, then I took the controls and sure enough, after about 4 years of not touching the game, did a no-hit run of him. She was both frustrated and awed by how Deadlaf was getting pounded.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 91 | คู่เอก "คมอาวุธ vs อเล็กเซย์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/V0RkEfYFsgM/mqdefault.jpg)
That wraith in the graveyard on your first playthrough is the hardest boss in the game 🤣
Damn right
That wraith. That damn wraith.
Lol I just replayed the witcher and I was like wtf I don't remember her being this hard. Took me 3 times to beat her
Yarden
That's no boss, it's a Superboss
Hardest boss: The rats in the cave with Keira if you have enemy scaling enabled.
Omg, i remember that sucking so much
Nightmare fuel
The rats when your helping Triss escape Novigrad are even worse
LMAO! TRUE
Yes and the djinn haha have to turn enemy up scaling off for those two lol
The whole Wandering in the Dark quest with Keira is what I struggled with the most in the entire game because it was so early and I didn't know how to play. My silver sword broke and I had no backup, was locked in that cave and had to load a previous save to get out of it... Looking back at it now it isn't that difficult but it was a chock for me the first time I played it.
I was in the same situation XD I didn't have any food and potions so i tried to get through this quest with line 1/4 of my hp
I gave up after like 30min and reloaded the save
Ya first time my sword broke also lol. Took some time to beat him. But now he's just cake. Still I love the fight and character wish we had more of him. I absolutely love the wild hunt characters
same lol, I was level 3 or smth like that and that boss 2 hit me even though I was on 2nd easiest difficulty
Im pretty sure u can leave the cave and comeback and keira would still be there.
Your 1st time playing that blind is a nightmare. Absolutely.
I just finished my first Deathrun playthrough and Dettlaff was truly challenging. The bats he summons are ridiculously strong, as well as his annoying Goblin lookalike in the third. Overall the best Boss fight by far tho. Very enjoyable and well made!
The bats are the worst of it
absolutely!! he made Eredin to look like a bitch...
Is there a DLC trophy for deathmarch?
@@urbanprojectz No, I dont think so
I had a tougher time with him on my first playthrough but going into death march I already knew what was coming so it wasuch easier.
Olgeid fight was one of the coolest fights I've ever had in a video game.
The scene, the dialogue, the music , rain in the background with burning manor. It's awesome I didn't want the fight to end
You need to add that goddamn djinn on the wrecked ship in the main story.
I just beat the djynn on ng+ deathmarch at level 57 and it took almost a dozen tries. 2 hit death combined with those super fast range attacks was brutal.
@@alechall7082 i fought the djinn on broken sword and bones and it got so frustrating for me that i turned down the difficulty and beat him easily....
I beat the Jinn relatively easily on Death March - I used the ship's mast as cover when he did his projectile attack, than got a few swings in, before hiding behind the mast again
If you use whirl on Olgierd he can block every swipe and it sounds brutal.
I had no idea that u can fight him there actually
Even on just the easier difficulty, the Toad Prince is just irritation incarnate. It has so much hp and, the part I hate most about fighting monsters, the god damn knockback. The poison damage at that point was just minor compared to how annoying this is and how satisfied I was when I finally killed it. It's probably the second most satisfying kill ever in the game. I found it more satisfying than when I killed Eredin or even Imlerith
Use a stack of potions so that the poison heals you.
Try a sign build and igni that b*tch. Takes one minute :P
I just did it a couple of days ago on DM and you cannot fathom my pride, lol. I ended up using Yrden a ton, the Doppler Decoction, Golden Oriole and Tawny Owl. It still took a lot of time. I found the Ethereal to be even worse, though. Took me several attempts, because it one-hitted me a couple of times. My fault, though, since I chose to hold Geralt back by still using the last armor I wore when I started New Game+ (I love the look of the Hen Gaidth armor, especially with the glasses. I feel like Daredevil :D)
I've beaten that boss by only using igni in my ng+ deathmarch playthrough
If you manage to put the toad on fire - it just melts hp
That bruxa at corvo bianco killed me more than every other fight combined
All you have to do is use Black Blood and the fight becomes trivial.
@@LukeR1M that's the great thing about being a Witcher, right? Once you know how to prepare for a fight you can render any fight meaningless. Like I initially had a terrible time with Toad Prince and those venom spitting plants in toussiant, but when i realized i had Golden Oriole those fights before a breeze.
Remember first time fighting detlaff and dying over and over for an hour had to search a yt tips video than finally beat him and was so relieved. Than on my second play through basically destroyed him and felt so stupid that I had such a hard time the first time
Bruh detlaff is like a minor soulsborne boss, he wasnt so hard since u can just spam dodge and fast attack
Easy to get him done by potions skill and Euphoria mutation
@@murasaki9318 hes way harder on W3EE
@@unusualswoop7660 no lol he's ez af, witchers dodging system is op u can just spam dodge and be invincible, it aint like that in other games for example horizon forbidden west or dark souls, u have to time ur dodge at the right time or u dead
@@murasaki9318 I think you lack reading and comprehension I said W3EE
the ghost in the painting was one of the toughest - after a while, when it kept healing, I figured out that I needed to break the paintings, but it didn't seem to work - had to google it
Sure enough, I had the right idea - but just wasn't close enough to the painting. Still quite hard, as the thing heals very quickly if you don't get to the painting in time - and it can be any one of them
Sometimes you don't line up with the painting on the first swing and lose 3-4 seconds, which means she regens 25% of her full health
Honestly I think the fight with the crones as ciri is the most difficult and frustrating fight especially on death March difficulty. With other fights you can manipulate a few things even if it doesn’t seem apparent at the time like where you’re standing or obstacles between you and them or even if you’re loosing too much you can try new gear and tactics. Not true with that fight with ciri and the crones, everything is all in that small space at the bottom of the tree and Ciris abilities don’t really seem to help much when any of the three crones can 2 shot you from full health. And there’s no other kind of gear you can get with ciri you just get what you get and have to hit and run dodge for like a half an hour of just muscle memory hitting each of them for chip damage. I know I did it eventually after struggling and a lot of the time just getting lucky but never again will I do that fight once was too much.
Hm maybe I’ll struggle during my upscaled dm playthru, kinda just reminded me of handling multiple high level guards while fucking around at a low level
Played on deathmarch don't remember having a hard time with that. Only time I truly truly hit a brick wall was when I tried to mess with enemies that were higher level early on.
On deathmarch your potions etc become essential but I remember ciri always being op no matter my lv. Although I love ciri I hated playing as her because it essentially took away my specialized build and gear.
The best tip I can give for the crones fight on DM is to spam her charged ability and then run away, until one of them is dead, and then focus the fat one first
Crones fight is the only one I chickened out on during my DM playthrough and turned down the difficulty. Fight is super repetitive "buttpoke and run" style
Since i played with a light attack cat school build, I didn't find that particular fight that hard, but i can see why someone who plays any other build would have a hard time
In my first playthrough, Jenny o the woods whooped me. So did lmlerith. The Elves in the extreme cosplay mission also were extremely hard, that quest had to be bugged.
Extreme Cosplay? That 'coincidental Mission' you run into in the south of Toussaint? If so, i'd fully agree, those Elves were ridicoulous!
I ran into that Quest on my Newgame+, maxed on Level 100, L98 Grandmaster Ursine Gear, Synapse Springs+Heigtened Tolerance+ 4 Decoctions up for +220% more attackpower, Hanged Man's Venom, and despite me doing reasonably good damage to them, the real problem was the damage they did to ME! Especially the Mages in that pack are overtuned like MAD and can easily take you down in a few hits already! Even with a talented Quen-shield! They just shoot holes in you or something?
It baffled me, as with Grandmaster Ursine Gear, you have thé highest amount of Armor and protection you can wish for? ... Yeah perhaps the damage-reductions from Undvik Armor áre better suited for fighting 'humanoid' Elves.... Havent tried that, but on a NG+ Undvik Armor is like L70-74-ish? só much lower then Grandmaster-level gear.
@@thegreenreaper6660 finally, someone talked about those elven statues. Their damages were extremely unfair, and i beat deatlaff on deathmarch without a single death.
@@babelUNCHAINED I think this Quest sort of 'forces' you to use Improved Axii; Mindcontrol one of those Mages?? Those elven mage-spellcasters are indeed ridicoulously powerful!
Either that, or you need to keep Quen up.. A LOT... and White Raffard-rank 3 equipped!!
On my first play through, even though I was above the level the game suggests, Jenny o the Woods and that Foglet in the swamp would whoop my arse.
Yeah fuck those 2 shot mage bitches. Pisses me off when you are in such danger of those hitscan mages, all you have time for is rolling/dodging around trying to get a moment to cast Quen, and then bam, they destroy it instantly, and then you're killed by the others. And you've done exactly nothing to them. Rinse repeat
Great list! I found chort decoction and golden oriole help tremendously with The Frog Prince. Many players say golden oriole isn't useful, but this is a rare situation where it makes the fight easier. Chort reduces knockdown and stuns. Both of these make the fight much less annoying.
Superior Golden oriole and superior devil's puffball (poison gas bomb) actually good combo tho, it's healing geralt health and poisoning enemy at the same time
Dettlaff definitely gets my vote.
Bruxae and Alps are my absolute favorite monsters to fight. Black Blood is a fun potion effect, their speed and the way they move makes the fights look absolutely badass, especially when you get good at fighting them. It's so fast paced and it just makes you feel like an absolute boss.
i have like an exploit i use when i fight bruxae and alps. if you have atleast +100% sign intensity from mutagens or like places of power, just use yrden then aard and they get knocked down and you can oneshot them
sucks when the black blood suckin animation doesn't happen though
@@yuuki3826 used it yesterday on bruxa, but i have like 70% sign intensity
@@yuuki3826 if you use yrden and aard to fight a Bruxa it’s pretty easy to kill them
And spam igni
*The wind is:*
A. Humming, a place of power, gotta be
B. An Ugly bastard
C. Howling
D. How do you like that Silver?
E. All of the above
C. Howling
*silently nods and pulls out gwent deck*
I watched the show, then read the books, then played the game, and after the game, I became obsessed with learning everything I can about the lore of the Witcher world. I just came across your channel a few weeks ago while I was searching and I just wanna say thank you so much for what you do on this channel!
The Djinn that you fight in Yennefer's Quest is (almost) impossible with enemy up-scaling. It is the only boss that I had to turn it off in the entire game.
I used bows continuously and just kept dodging and it worked😂 because no way I was gonna beat him
came looking for this, that mf is impossible
Or just use Quen lol.
Rats in sewers too.
@@aashutoshrimal1497 agreed, but I managed to get them all in a mob, and blow them up with bombs. Actually also got me one or the achievements can't remember which (something like total damage or kills on a single attack, or something like that).
Doesn't the Toad Prince have a mechanic where you use igni at the right time, he takes massive damage? I vaguely remember doing just that.
I think he creates some kind of fumes that you have to ignite.
Can you parry his tongue off? or was that just the hags?
i bombed the shit out of him with dancing star
Only when he opens his mouth
yeh , in my first play through i did a full igni build so the Toad Prince was 1 of the easiest bosses in the game for me so i never rly understood what was so hard about him until i got there with a different build
@@edgarrocha5607 i've had a playthrough where i could only use swords, it was the most boring and tedious fight i had.
I got to Detlaff with minimal healing potions or food to restore health. It took me a long time to beat him, I think I screamed in celebration when I beat him. Worthy 1st placed
The troll fist fight on Death March is its own circle of hell
Nice list, man. I personally felt Iris’ Greatest Fear was the hardest even when super geared out. I also think the werewolf in Wild at Heart is hard on a first playthrough just because of health regen.
Irises worst fear is the only boss fight I had to turn down difficulty on. I had a heavy attack build and after hours of trying I decided to give up. also the Djinn is extreme on enemy upscaling.
moon dust bomb for lycans
Great vid! I completely agree with your list. Dettlaff was so challenging the first time I faced off with him
For me the miss-born child of the bloody baron was one the hardest, i dont even think youre suposed to fight it since the story is way better if you dont. If you try to fight him anyways, the first stage is pretty easy, but in the second stage this thing just heals so much i cant deal more damage than it heals.
Try the Chort Decoction against Olgierd. You can now block his attacks.
Against Detlaf the most important thing is timing your dodge against his bats. When the sound stops, wait one second then dodge.
The deadliest enemies in the game for me are wolves and wild dogs.
I honestly didn't have much trouble with most of these bosses (other than the toad prince), but surprisingly one that I really struggled with was the painting wraith on new game plus death March. I wasn't over leveled when I fought her and it ended up being a never ending battle because I had a health regen mechanic and she- no matter how fast I dodged to her painting- would regen health almost instantly. It wasn't until I over leveled myself to hell that I was able to take her down easy.
Thanks for taking a break from walking the path to share your knowledge WitcherGeorge. I completely agree with all 5 of your choices in order. The Dettlaff fight is the closest this to a Souls-like boss battle in The Witcher 3 and boy does it show. The Olgierd von Everec fight also could be considered Souls-like in how hard it is. I really enjoyed the Olgierd fight because it pushed me harder than any other boss battle. Died more times than I'd like to mention, but I appreciate how it made me a better gamer because of it.
I never struggled as much with any boss as I did with a group of wraiths........
They always thrashed the soul out of me whenever I tried to mess around.🗿
Dettlaff is definitely the hardest, but the Offiri sorcerer after Gaunter sinks the ship is pretty frustrating. Stupid tornadoes.
Im usually overleveled at that point and he always kills me at least once
The warewolf that guards the mother of the Crones. He heals very quickly and it can be quite difficult, considering that we meet him early on. Though once, I don't know why, I went to that tree and the warewolf didn't spawn. It was weird. Another frustrating enemy to deal with is the Jenny ghost. For inexperienced players it's better to give it a try a good few levels higher than recommended.
I personally believe in the main game this are the hardest I played death march in my first playthrough
5- cat school witcher madman
4-golem in an abandoned mansion
3- the arachnid in a contract about missing brother
2-eredin
1- the witcher possesed by a red miasma ( I think is extra content but is as an adition to the main game rather than a whole DLC, i think )
I actually found the the bloody barrens botchling in my first play through to be very difficult, not having grasped the mechanics and the time, and it was a steep curve from anything up to that point.
Just wanted to thank you for all your hard work on these videos. I love all the lore ones and rewatch them regularly.
My most recent Death March play through I mostly only had trouble with the Hearts of Stone bosses, mainly Dettlaff as his bat swarms would melt through my quen.
Me who just started a deathmarch playthrough with enemy upscaling and a no quen rule.
._.
Yeah, hehe, especially on Death March, you shouldnt éver tank that Batswarm head on! DODGE!!! That attacks just drains your HP to 1-2% in an instant!
Soulsborne Veteran here I had a few problems with some of the bosses in this but I found them exstreamly fun
Pretty good list overall, and I agree with most of it. I personally would've put the Toad above Olgierd/Iris' greatest fear. The latter becomes a lot less difficult to deal with (though still by no means easy) once you figure out that parrying the red glowy power attacks stuns him (and how to time it correctly for the various attack animations). I also would've maybe given the #5 spot to Caranthir (specifically when you fight him as Geralt, the first phase as Ciri is almost laughably trivial), because those blue ice orb thingies he throws at you do a lot of damage and the timing window to dodge them is pretty short.
Dettlaff's bats are easy to avoid if, instead of roling, you just run to the side
The difficulty for many of these vary depending on the build you use. Toad Prince becomes really easy with good igni :)
...that... or you just like to burn big oversized Toads? 🤣
The whole video I was saying to myself
Dettlaff better be number one. Glad to see you didn't disappoint.
The toad prince in death march was a dark souls level boss no cap
Until you've got fully upgraded Golden Oriele.
Detlaff may be one of the most difficult but after learning you can parry him during my original death march run it made the fight much more enjoyable.
No one said the Ofieri wizard!? I put him as just below Detlaf.
The hardest boss: The menu screen when blood and wine theme starts playing, you have to be really quick with clicking the "continue" button, or else you could end up just looking at the screen not wanting to load the game
In general, i agree: Dettlaff is thé hardest boss in the game.
I ám kinda missing Imlerith here tbf. If you dont really know what Imlerith is capable of, he can be a real menace on your very first playthrough: The first stage is tricky with him behind protected by that mássive shield he wields, so taking him halfway down, takes good timing! For the second stage of the fight, where he tosses away his shield and goes full tilt on you, his Melee-attacks with his warmace become twohanded, and thus deal a lot more damage, but the worst part is Imlerith just teleporting right behind you; you've got a VERY narrow window to dodge, kinda like with Dettlaff?
On the very first playthrough, imho Imlerith définately belongs in the Top3. Kind of a tough call to determine him, or the Toad Prince for P2 imho... But Dettlaff really is the Endboss of Endbosses in the game. Whát a fight!
Great video mate! What was the instrumental at 2:45? I’ve been looking everywhere for it
nothing is harder than the elf statues in the blood and wine side quest on death march and enemy upscaling
Holy shit, that quest had me tilted out of my mind. They are so fucking hard. By far my most challenging boss fight in the series!
TOAD!!! I can't believe how difficult this boss was in comparison to anything else in the game. IDK if im bad, or what. Caretaker first time was hard, but the Toad was relentless
Personally, Iris greatest fear is my number 1 for the hardest fight, couldnt manage to clear it on DM and enemy upscaling. and i did clear detlaff on those settings.
As WitcherGeorge explained in the Video: the mechanic of that fight is that the other Ghosts become stronger and faster, with every 1 of the 6 ghosts you kill, so the last 2 are TERRIBLE to get down from 100% health? Perhaps it'd be easier to first kill 1 or 2, then weaken the other 4 first to an inch of their life, so taking down the last ones can be done with a single blow, or an Igni-wave?
^^ Bosses arent the only ones that (can) use certain mechanics :)
Ngl Ofieri mage had me fucked up on DeathMarch
You forgot the cave troll that attack you while looking for missing miners..
I agree with most of the list, playing with DM difficulty without the euphoria mutation skill really gonna get you frustrated,, even with geralt's euphoria, you still have to fight as ciri vs the crones without it 😅
you don't have to fight that one!! you just have to dodge like 2 of its attacks until it realizes geralt isn't evil
I had the same trouble you described with The Caretaker. I was so focused on trying not to die that I didn't hang back enough to discover its mechanics the first couple of tries. Likewise with a couple of golems, and the same with the Frog Prince, which I would put at number one just for how bullshit hard he is for an initial boss - but again, not taking that moment to learn their mechanics. Of the fights you mentioned, I actually found Detlaff the easiest, and the only one who didn't hand me my arse a few times before I got past him - but I think that whatever my fighting style is, it just suited going up against him more, or maybe I got good between playing the base game and Blood & Wine, because I did generally find those from Heart of Stone more difficult. I actually managed to dies a couple of times and defeat Iris' Biggest Fear before ever realising that engaging any of the others would get them involved at the same time - then I watched a video of yours and felt ironically pretty silly for it!
Edit to add: the one I found hardest in Blood & Wine was the Cosplay one in Toussaint - it took me the longest to figure out!
You should top 5 most annoying enemies. I personally hate fighting those big flower guys in blood and wine
I personally think that fighting Imlerith on death march was quite hard. Maybe not as much as Toad Prince, but still he is a formidable opponent.
The DLC bosses are much more challenging.
Not just the Bosses! If you defeated Eredin, even those first Knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose are pretty tough: Clearly a big step upwards in the scaling?
The Hanse-bases in Toussaint also hold a 'lieutenant' as a Boss, with Filibert Fourfingers as the final boss of them, though, they are easier to deal with imho.. probably also due to higher level and maxed out Gear...they're pretty tough for 'sidequest bosses'. Also since they are humanoid and not monsters!
Fun fact you can beat the frog with one or two hits if u throw a northern wind bomb and while he froze punch him with your bare hands
For me I would remove the Caretaker. I found it very easy to dodge, so even if he healed every now and then, I never felt at risk of dying.
I had a hard time with the jinn at the last wish. Got it first time, but I had never used so many Quens and food to heal as with that fight.
And funnily enough, when there are more than 1 archespore at the same time, I always struggle. Hate them so much. Of course this only applies at maximum difficulty.
It honestly surprises me people don't think there's a lot of unique boss fights in this game... maybe not necessarily in the main quest but Geralt's day job is literally hunting monsters
I think my harder boss fights were the Djiin, the Toad and Ciri's fight against the three Crones. Also, I struggled a lot at my first gamethrough against the specters coming for the Baron's dead child (I don't remember the name of this kind of monster in english) : I didn't have the proper gears and nor the level so the cursed child or specters were both tough options.
If you're playing Ciri, 'Spacebar is your Friend'... Hit and Run is the tactic; Get 1-2 hits in, and 'teleport' by hitting spacebar...1-2 hits, and GTFO again, before they can hit you. Imho tháts the simplest way to 'PWN with Ciri'?
I'm currently replaying witcher 3 and for me the hardest boss were these living statues in one of blood and wine side quest, damn elven sorceresses with their range attacks killed me like 5 times.
I'd like to add a few thoughts if I may:
Nithral - I think the reason this boss can be difficult is because, like you mentioned, it's so early on. Most players by this point have probably been mashing their way through the game, but that won't work on him. He can parry and power through your attacks. He always heals multiple times, making for a longer fight. And Keira, like most sorceresses, isn't very helpful, providing minor stagger but no actual damage.
The Caretaker - I still think he's one of the hardest bosses. The healing alone can make him frustrating. Quen is basically a requirement to try and stop him from leeching life from you. But even then, you have to deal with the ghosts, which can be frustrating.
Toad Prince - Everyone complains about how hard this boss is, and I get it. However, Golden Oriole alone is enough to make this fight way way easier. If you're running a Griffin build with a beefed up Yrden, this boss is a joke.
Olgierd/Ethereal - Agreed with everything you said. This is one of the few fights where you actually have to be skilled with dodging (not rolling!), parrying, swordplay, and patience. Great boss.
Dettlaff - Phase 2 is the annoying bit. If you don't have the rolling timing for the bats, you can die over and over. Phase 1 and even 3 aren't as bad.
There‘s also the one where you reenact that old story and you hear that panting behind that one door. That fight was a nightmare on deathmarch
I'd like to say that after playing the game 4 times on death run, the toad Prince was hands down the worst boss, detlaff was fine
I have always thought the fight was easy... I have always went into that fight well prepared. I was worried when I went into with an alchemy build... that was the easiest run because I hit so hard the massive HP seemed to be a dream. On my last deathmarch run, I went into that fight ten levels under knowing I had all the perfect gear... then ran into the sorcerer that I forgot happened right after it, and had to run for my life. Bad times...
detlaff was fine even on dm because i made sure i got aerondight before the fight. the toad prince is hard on all difficulty levels
i agree with all except the first mension in the video i defeated nithral pretty easily and i would change his spot with the botchling or imlerith since the botchling is the second boss in the main story and it is quite difficult even when you play the game again. imlerith in the other hand is the first wild hunt general that u fight and at the begginning u just have to follow a pattern but when the second phase starts u have to spam quen and wait for him to finish all his attacks but overall great video.
Can you do a lore video about Sorel Degerlund or the Rissberg sorceres in general?
I agree. The toad prince was hard AF for me. I never fought Detlaff, partly because I was legit afraid haha.
I had enemy upscaling on while on Death March and nothing was harder than fighting the djin on “The Last Wish” mission with Yennefer
enemy upscaling, lots and lots of wolves. Lost more witchers to that than I have to riders of the Wild Hunt
Short and sweet 👌 could’ve easily made this 20+ minutes like most youtubers would. awesome video
I find Northern Wind to be very effective against the Toad Prince. Potion and bomb builds are pretty effective against him in my experience
I’m streaming the Witcher 3 (I’ve already played it before) and I’m doing Hearts of Stone but I’m genuinely terrified of fighting Detlaff again.
That second phase is insane
Top 3 for me are
1. Detlaff
2. Bruxa of Corvo Bianco
3. Toad Prince
On harder difficulties, one of the most reliable methods to maintain survivability is to use the protective coating skill (+25% damage resistance against enemies the applied oil is targeting). Having the skill active can mean a night and day difference. I struggled against Iris' greatest fear because I was using the wrong oil. One attack was enough to take out 70% of my health.
Also, I think armor and protective coating cannot resist against magic attacks. This makes the Ofieri mage also very challenging. Another fight worth mentioning was the quest in Toussaint where several statues turned into elven mages and swordsmen. The magic attacks of the mages are very devastating.
Gwent playing nobleman in Vizima was tough... Had to to go back to him on my first play through lol.
Igni and Yrden deal with most of the others quite effectively, especially the Toad Prince.
Dude the Tailor you fight in Fists of Novigrad is kicking my ass and I'm at level 33 now. It's driving me to insanity.
The Crones as Ciri on DM with enemy upscaling is a nightmare for me. Even worse b/c the save point includes 30+ seconds of pre-fight+cutscene even skipped. Good list.
I actually agree with your assessment of these bosses by difficulty with the exception of two points: I find the Toad Prince to be more challenging than Olgierd in every way that makes Detlaff the Ultimate Boss of the game. Therefore I would put Olgierd as 3rd most challenging, and the Toad Prince as 2nd most challenging.
(Not including Iris' Greatest Fear, It's too easy to make that one a cake walk and I don't include it on my top 5, even though I understand why you do) The Olgierd fight is one of my favorite, but if I'm properly leveled and equipped, I have to throttle myself and draw out the fight just so I can listen to that awesome track. However, Even when I do that he can and does still punish me for lapsing my concentration during the fight.
The Toad Prince can be made slightly more trivial if you can manage to get ahold of, and use Superior Golden Oriole for the fight... the poison effect is a nasty thing which kills me if I'm not careful. However, what really makes it more challenging than Olgierd is the combination of multiple attack types, and attack ranges. All of which, when combined with the ability to choose between different retaliations that The Toad Prince can make from the same position (just like with Detlaff) I am guaranteed to die at least 1.8 times, each time I go to fight him.
Those are my thoughts at least. Though all are challenging, I only find Immlerith, the Ofeiri Mage, and the Toad Prince to be annoying in any respect. The rest of these are so fun... especially the Detlaff fights he's so challenging and dangerous, and really satisfying to fight because of what gets you there.
The Toad Prince also takes the #2 spotfor the same reasons that Detlaff takes #1 in every list of the best Boss fights in TW3. Their setup is phenomenal, both in story and in the challenge they provide.
Olgierd takes #3 because he is always easier than the other two, despite matching them for set-up/payoff.
The Caretaker is easily #4 because Olgierd edges him out for the enjoyment factor I mentioned previously. Despite The Caretaker being more challenging than Olgierd.
As for #5: I choose the Bruxa at Corvo Bianco. With Nidhal, I went in underequipped and one run expecting a particularly challenging fight and wiped the floor with him so easily that he doesn't qualify for this any longer. Plus his setup is more shoddy. With the Bruxa, there is the encounter where you see her before, the dead soldiers and creepy mystery which builds her to be challenging and she doesn't disappoint. Even if I'm perfectly equipped and leveled, she can still kill me easily. Also, She sets the bar and the tone for the entirety of Blood and Wine by giving you a more challenging vampire to face in preparation for the first fight with Detlaff.
In short: the Bruxa is #5 because not only is she set up better than Nidhall, but she serves as a setup for the bigger boss to come: Detlaff without her, he might not have quite earned his spot as #1 in every "Best Boss Fight" in TW3.
The first time I fought Detlaff at the end of b&w on death march I was zoned in and so impressed with how they made that fight you really do have to be quick with him I loved that it really puts Geralt to the test you could say my favorite boss ever
Gotta say man i love the new thumbnail
designs.
5. Lot of possible picks but for something unorthodox I'd say the wraith in the painting. That thing can heal insanely quickly on DM and it took me a while to figure out the gimmick (it's one of the few times in this game that crossbow perks are actually good, to slow time down and shoot the paintings.)
4. Iris' worst nightmare because Olgierd's charge attack can hit you through quen on DM.
3. Triple Crones fight as Ciri because it's a long fight, you can't heal, switch gear or drink potions and you get 3 shot on DM.
2. Toad Prince because of the reasons outlined in this video, also I'd like to add that the best way to beat him is actually to use a sign build which I'm assuming most players aren't using.
1. Djinn during the last wish with enemy upscaling on because you literally get one shot instantly. I don't even think the devs intended for that to happen but it is what it is.
Shared 1. Living statues in blood and wine, they'll stunlock and 2 shot you if you don't cheese it.
Honorable mention: shaelmaar in general, but especially the tufo monster because they're hard to pin down and they can kinda stunlock you.
I never really struggled with Dettlaff, if you just run from his bats to the edge of the arena and time your roll, you won't get hit. Then run in, hit 3-4 times and back off, rinse and repeat. Apparently a lot of people found him difficult though.
The fight with Detlaff almost made me give up on the Witcher 3. So I lowered the difficulty level for this one, and thankfully could enjoy the end of the game.
"If you worship any gods, start praying now" I still hear that Dettlaf line in my nightmares, that fight took so many tries..
I just beat detlaff with me having basic feline armor, death march, lvl 39 when he is 50 so he can basically one shot me if i dont dodge but i did have the aerondight with no relics and 3 greater red mutagens
For me the hardest boss fight was Iris' Greatest Fear, just for the fact that each Olgierd gets a new moveset and you need to remember in what order they get them and what to do for them, it's a bit much to keep track of, the boss fight itself took me 12 tries to finish, normal Olgierd was a bit easier, but it was probably the longest boss fight I have ever done, it took me the entire in game night to finish, as for Dettlaff, I've found him disappointingly easy, cool mechanics and all but I don't remember having much difficulty with him, all three fought on deathmarch with level upscaling
I did both DLCs on a New Game + on Death March, and the bosses were brutal compared to the main game. I'm currently playing Elden Ring and this experience prepared me for my first from software game.
I personally found olgeird and iris' greatest fear to be quite easy. If you can properly space yourself out you can force them to do one of their powerful moves which you can then parry to get 3 hits in easily.
I just recently discovered that when you fight Olgierd & Iris' Greatest Fear, if you parry when they do the super attacks with the glowing red sword, it reverses the damage back onto them and stuns them (good for three free hits). You have to parry just before they land with the glowing red sword. Once you get the timing, it is SOOOOO much easier to defeat them. In fact, as soon as you do this successfully, move far away from them, which will then trigger them using the super attack again. Rinse repeat.
Everything in Hearts of Stone on Death March with enemy upscaling on (in NG+). Seriously the Toad, Boat Captain, Olgierd, Iris’ Fear they all whooped me something serious.
Also the Djinn pre-patch with enemy upscaling on was un-killable.
i need to play this game again, some of these boss i already killed but some bosses i forgot to find them and thanks for the vid!
I played on DM multiple times, and tbh for me the hardest bosses were: Caranthir and the Ofieri Mage from Hos. Never really had trouble with the others
definetly agree on that list, also played every boss, except Nithral, on Death March the first time I faced them. I really struggled with those, especially with the Prince and Iris' greatest fear. But Detlaff is still to be faced, it'll be on Death March of course.
Every boss on this list kneels for rats in the sewers (on death march and enemy scaling enabled) you can not kill them by igni or hitting by sword but they kills you with 2 bites.
When i first saw the caretaker i was like" wtf am i fighting the grim reaper ?!" One of the most chilling and suspenseful moments in the game
Agree with the top 4 but would probably put Imlerith as the hardest base game boss. Also honourable mention to fighting the botchling, its brutal when fought early
The Toad Prince never caused any issues for me.
Both the Caretaker and the 6 Olgierds caused me a lot of grief, multiple deaths and a week long break between first meeting them and finally beating them.
The feeling of satisfaction once I had was immense.
Dettlaff was the hardest for me as well when I played it a few years ago, I played that boss fight for 4 hours straight
It all depends on the difficult level we play
I agree with your list however I would have included (maybe as an "honorable mention") the Bruxa-Alp tandem that you encounter while you are with Regis trying to find Damien del la Tour (can't remember the name of the quest). Although technically not a boss fight that part of the game made me go out to my balcony and yell at my perplexed neighbors several times for no reason whatsoever. Great video, BTW.
I'm not sure if you're aware, but you can pretty easily time a parry when Olgierd readies his big red attack. That will stun him for a while, allowing you to do significant damage. And if you stand at about the right distance, that easily-parried attack will be the only attack he does, making the fight extremely easy, without every having to worry about chasing him down or him blocking your attacks.
Hey WitcherGeorge, I have been binging in your videos regarding witcher lores and you just awoken my nostagia for the game once again even with just the soundtracks that are played on the background. Im wondering if you could cover a topic which I don't know if you already had covered before. Can you discuss about witcher potions?
I started heart of stone exactly after I saved dandelion in the carriage ambush. 18 levels down from the dlc on newplusgame death March. It was a wholesome try hard experience. I recommend it.
1:10 not to mention how Keira keeps attacking him while his shield is up, healing him
Deadlaf in 1st place makes complete sense, my ex had the most trouble with him, then I took the controls and sure enough, after about 4 years of not touching the game, did a no-hit run of him. She was both frustrated and awed by how Deadlaf was getting pounded.
Beautiful video! I like! Thanks for sharing!