Elden Ring Boss Guide: All Main Bosses Ranked by Difficulty (2026)

Elden Ring has over 165 boss encounters, but only a handful are mandatory to complete the game. This guide covers every remembrance (main) boss plus key gatekeepers, ranked from easiest to hardest, with strategies and recommended loadouts for each.

How Boss Difficulty Is Ranked

This ranking considers: damage output, moveset complexity, arena hazards, summon availability, and typical player level at the encounter. Your mileage may vary based on build — Malenia is brutal for melee but manageable for sorcerers with Night Comet.

Margit, the Fell Omen — Difficulty: 4/10

• Location: Stormveil Castle entrance
• Recommended Level: 25-30
• Weakness: Bleed, Parry, Heavy Jumping Attacks

Margit is the first real skill check. His delayed attack timings are designed to punish panic rolling. Counter-strategy: Stay at medium range to bait his leaping hammer slam, dodge forward through it, and get two hits in. In phase two, his golden dagger combo is devastating at close range — run away when he raises the glowing hammer.

Summon: Sorcerer Rogier (gold sign outside fog door) + Lone Wolf Ashes.

Godrick the Grafted — Difficulty: 4/10

• Location: Stormveil Castle (end)
• Recommended Level: 30-35
• Weakness: Bleed, Fire

Godrick is slower than Margit but has wider area attacks. In phase one, stick to his left side. In phase two, the dragon head breaths fire in a sweeping arc — run toward him and under the flames. Do not summon Nepheli if you want a challenge; her dual-wield damage trivializes the fight.

Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon — Difficulty: 3/10

• Location: Raya Lucaria Academy, Liurnia
• Recommended Level: 40-50
• Weakness: Physical damage, Bleed

Phase one is a gimmick — kill the glowing students to drop Rennala’s barrier. Phase two she summons spirit allies. Ignore them, rush Rennala directly. She has low poise and gets staggered by consecutive hits. Melee builds should sprint sideways to dodge her Comet Azur beam. This is the easiest remembrance boss.

Starscourge Radahn — Difficulty: 5/10 → 3/10

• Location: Redmane Castle, Caelid
• Recommended Level: 50-60
• Weakness: Scarlet Rot, Bleed, horse combat

Radahn was heavily nerfed since launch. Use the summon signs scattered across the arena — you can summon up to six NPCs simultaneously, and their signs respawn when they die. Stay on Torrent the entire fight. Charge in for one or two hits after his combos, then ride out. When he leaps into the sky, sprint on Torrent perpendicular to his descent path.

Morgott, the Omen King — Difficulty: 5/10

• Location: Leyndell, Royal Capital
• Recommended Level: 70-80
• Weakness: Bleed, Lightning, Slash

Morgott is Margit with a much deeper moveset. Same delayed timings, but now with sword rain, cursed blood explosions, and a devastating spear charge. Use Melina’s summon sign if available. Stay close to bait his sword combos — his ranged attacks are harder to avoid.

Fire Giant — Difficulty: 6/10

• Location: Mountaintops of the Giants
• Recommended Level: 90-100
• Weakness: Bleed, Frost, hitting the left ankle

Phase one: Attack the left ankle (wrapped in hair). Phase two: Attack his hands and eye. Use Torrent to close distance after his roll. The fire breath is dodgeable by sprinting sideways on Torrent. This fight is more about endurance than skill — his HP pool is massive.

Mohg, Lord of Blood — Difficulty: 7/10

• Location: Mohgwyn Palace
• Recommended Level: 100-110
• Weakness: Bleed ironically, Hemorrhage, Physical

Mohg has three phases of curse buildup (NIHIL!) that deal unavoidable damage. Use the Purifying Crystal Tear (from Yura’s questline) in your Physick to negate the curse damage. Stay behind him during combos. In phase two, the bloodflame on the floor limits movement — kite him to clean areas.

Maliketh, the Black Blade — Difficulty: 8/10

• Location: Crumbling Farum Azula
• Recommended Level: 110-120
• Weakness: Bleed, Frost, aggression

Phase one (Beast Clergyman) is manageable with guard counters. Phase two Maliketh is hyper-aggressive with Destined Death (max HP reduction + damage over time). Use the Blasphemous Claw (from Bernahl’s questline) to parry his glowing gold attacks. Stay underneath him — his horizontal sweeps miss at point-blank range.

Godfrey / Hoarah Loux — Difficulty: 8/10

• Location: Leyndell, Ashen Capital
• Recommended Level: 120-130
• Weakness: Lightning, Bleed, jump attacks

Phase one (Godfrey) uses axe slams with delayed shockwaves. Jump over the stomp waves. Phase two (Hoarah Loux) abandons the axe for grappling attacks. His grab has absurd tracking — dodge twice not once. His powerbomb AoE covers the entire arena; sprint to the edge. This fight rewards hit-and-run tactics.

Radagon of the Golden Order / Elden Beast — Difficulty: 8/10

• Location: Inside the Erdtree
• Recommended Level: 120-140
• Weakness: Radagon: Fire, Strike. Elden Beast: Black Flame, Physical

Radagon is a parry-able, staggerable boss — use the Blasphemous Blade or a heavy strike weapon. Elden Beast is a marathon with high holy resistance. Use Lord’s Divine Fortification. Sprint perpendicular to the golden rings. The Elden Stars attack in phase two is nearly unavoidable — save Crimson Flasks for it.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella — Difficulty: 10/10

• Location: Miquella’s Haligtree, Elphael
• Recommended Level: 130-150
• Weakness: Bleed, Frost, Fire, stagger-locking

The hardest boss in Elden Ring and arguably all of FromSoftware. Malenia heals on every hit — even blocked hits. Her Waterfowl Dance (spinning slash flurry) kills most builds in one combo.

Counter-strategies for Waterfowl Dance:

• Run away from the first flurry, dodge into the second, stand still for the third (it tracks forward, missing you)
• Use Vow of the Indomitable (Stormhawk Deenh ash) for i-frame immunity
• Bloodhound’s Step ash of war for quick repositioning
• Freezing Pots interrupt the windup if thrown during her jump

Phase two adds Scarlet Rot and phantom spirit attacks. Dodge the dive bomb (she lands where you are standing 2 seconds after jumping), then punish. Summon Black Knife Tiche for percentage-based damage.

Recommended Boss Order by Level

Level Range	Boss	Location
25-35	Margit → Godrick	Stormveil Castle
40-50	Rennala	Raya Lucaria
50-60	Radahn	Caelid
70-80	Morgott	Leyndell
90-100	Fire Giant	Mountaintops
100-110	Mohg	Mohgwyn Palace
110-120	Maliketh	Farum Azula
120-130	Godfrey	Ashen Capital
130-150	Malenia	Haligtree
120-140	Radagon + Elden Beast	Erdtree

This boss guide reflects the 2026 state of the game, including all patches and balance adjustments. The strategies above work across all difficulty settings and NG cycles.