The 12 hardest bosses in Elden Ring

I’ve spent over 40 hours with Elden Ring and I’m still not very good at it. At this stage I’m less of a worthy Tarnished warrior on their way to be crowned the Elden Lord and instead more of a Mr. Bean type, accidentally succeeding through sheer incompetence alone. I can’t explain it, but my method of defeating Godrick had the same energy as Bean making a sandwich, in that I think the game eventually just took pity on me and let me win the fight to save me any further embarrasment.

I’m coming to terms with the fact I may never finish Elden Ring. I'm only in the second proper area, but I'm finding encounters to require a level of patience I simply don't possess. Its boss fights are simply too hard. But if I’m struggling this much at such an early stage, what else could Elden Ring possibly have to offer? What types of monstrosities lurk in the farthest reaches of the Lands Between, and how difficult are they to defeat? Spoilers, naturally, below.

To help answer this question I sat down with Guides Editor Ollie who has spent countless hours battling his way through the game over the past few weeks. Ollie has faced pretty much every single one of Elden Ring’s 100+ bosses to bring you his exhaustive list detailing all of their locations, making him our foremost expert on everything that snarls, dribbles or howls in the game.

In the video above, Ollie reveals his list of the 12 hardest baddies he’s faced in Elden Ring. Ollie’s list is fascinating for a number of reasons. For starters, it highlights just how personal your time with Elden Ring can be, with Ollie’s melee focused character struggling against certain eldritch nasties that ranged users may consider to be a walk in the park. Ollie also does a fantastic job of including early-game enemies that he found particularly tricky, rather than stuffing the list full of end-game encounters. Meanwhile, I'm there to make very important comments about what each boss is wearing and how much they resemble haunted drinks. You’re welcome.

FromSoftware recently nerfed an overpowered ability known as the Mimic Tear, which we discuss a fair amount in the video. The game’s PVP component has also been ovverun by dangerous rolling invaders that bear a startling resemblance to a certain blue hedgehog. If this were a list of the most cursed enemies in Elden Ring, this fella would be right at the top.

Are there any bosses you found particularly tricky when playing Elden Ring? How do you find the game’s encounters stack up against those found in previous Souls games? Let us know in the comments below.