My Top 3 Elden Ring Boss Fights (SPOILERS)

Elden Ring is a game that has no shortage of boss fights with about 120 bosses in the whole game! Most of them are not required to complete the main story but if you want to get certain weapons, spells, remembrances, and other gear then it is recommended that you fight them. Some of the bosses are great, they are fast-paced, they are challenging, and knowing the backstory of the boss really does just get your blood pumping. So the way I am going to judge the boss fights are by: 1) how challenging it was, 2) how dynamic the fight was, and 3) the portrayal of each boss. Of course, this is just my opinion and not universal. That being said let's hop right into the list with my Top 3 Elden Ring Boss Fights.

3. Godrick the Grafted

Okay, so I know what you must be thinking! Why start the list with a boss that's so early in the game? There are a lot more challenging, and interesting bosses. And while I do agree, there is something about Godrick that I personally found very intriguing and important. When I first started the game and encountered Godrick for the first time, I was obviously low-levelled and had a hard time beating him! I had to fight Godrick way more times than I had to fight later bosses like Loretta, Astel or Godfrey! Of course, if I were to fight him now in a NG+ run having beaten the game I wouldn't find him to be that much more difficult having a chance to have gotten used to the controls and knowing his moveset.

Godrick was the second boss I fought in the game, after Margit the Fell Omen. Yet, in this boss fight, and not the first, I felt the player learned what they would really be in for when playing ER. Even though Margit was the first boss that most players encountered and was quite challenging for new players without a doubt, it seemed like he was there to ease the player into the game to an extent. Margit had a somewhat menacing appearance but did not have a transformative second phase. He really just pulls out a hammer and that's about it.

When it comes to Godrick he is much more menacing than Margit. You walk in and see a cloaked figure standing next to a dead dragon and you wonder what's gonna happen next. Well, I knew for sure about one thing. If they showed us a dead dragon there would be a living dragon I'd have to fight relatively soon. Anyways, he drops the cloak and you see that the guy has like a million arms! Well... it's actually more like 20 or 30, but still! That's a lot of arms. When Godrick first revealed what was under that garment, I let out an audible "woah" (well, actually it was more of a "woah, that's kinda gross) because of how surprised I was by the way the character was designed. I was excited to fight this guy, but at the same time, I felt it would be a difficult fight! And for me, it was!

In the second stage of the fight, things get more intense because Godrick grafts the dragon head to his arm! His moveset remained pretty much the same except the dragon head would shoot fire at the same time, making close-combat relatively difficult.

Another thing that made this boss my favourite was that even though I found him difficult and menacing, none of the in-game characters respect Godrick! They all think so low of him! The character even refers to himself as Godrick the Golden while the game itself refers to him as Godrick the Grafted.

2. Starscourge Radahn

I am sure many people will agree that Starscourge Radahn is one of the cooler boss fights. And that's why he's on the list! I was totally caught off guard when this fight started, and it was actually quite difficult for me to beat! There were so many things about this fight that were just perfect and really got me hyped.

The leadup and cutscene before the fight began were awesome. Walking into Redmane Castle and seeing a bunch of people all there for one special purpose: to give Radahn the beatdown of the century (this is quite an oversimplification). At the Castle, we got Blaidd, Alexander, Patches, and many more NPCs attending the Radahn Festival. The sheer number of characters that are present really may give you a hint at how tough this boss can be. Then you learn about the guy's backstory and realize that this is going to be quite the fight. When I spoke to Jerren to activate the Radahn Festival, he briefly gave us the Radahn's backstory.

General Radahn was infected with the Scarlet Rot during a fight with Malenia and roams the Wailing Dunes in Caelid with his incredibly emaciated trusty steed. The Scarlet Rot has driven him mad to the point of no return, and he eats any and all corpses he comes across. When exploring the world, you learn that Radahn is also a master of gravity magic and uses that magic to be able to ride his horse. Not only that but after you actually beat the boss, he is shown to have been way more powerful than he let on because it turns out he was using his powers to hold back the stars while he was fighting the player.

The fight itself was incredibly tough but very fun. When I first entered the Dunes, I saw Radahn at a distance and saw a bright purple glow coming from him. At first, I thought that it was some kind of starting animation, that maybe he was powering up or something? So, I start walking directly towards him and by the time I realized he was basically shooting a long-range attack, it was far too late. I was one-shotted. Then I respawned, went back to the dunes and was one-shotted again... and again... and again. After I figured out how to dodge that starting attack reasonably well he started dropping spears from the sky! Actually getting to him was such a pain, and only happened once. At that point, I decided to use summons. I summoned my three spirit wolves that I consistently used throughout my playthrough. And it was still incredibly tough. Then I realized I could summon all of the NPCs at Redmane Castle before the Festival began to the battlefield, and it honestly became easier, but it was still tough. I know people in the ER community have this running joke that players that use summons and magic are bad players, but summoning all those NPCs during the fight actually made it very exciting. I liked that so many characters were all united in a common goal. Just because they were a bunch of NPCs helping me, doesnt mean that the fight wasn't hard! He still had some combo attacks, sweeping attacks and AoE attacks to make things tough. I finally got to his second phase, and all of a sudden Radahn disappeared. I was so confused running around the map trying to figure out where he is before I realised that he turned into a meteor and was flying directly at me! However, it was pretty easy for me to get out of range of this attack because there was an insanely huge leadup to it. After this point, his attacks became slightly more varied and more frequent making the fight even harder. Plus he had attacks where he launched mutliple projectiles at me, but two can play at that game. So I decided to let the NPC summons do the job and I stayed back to fling rocks at Radahn. Eventually, I did beat him!

After the fight, you see the stars that were held back by Radahn's power and you can then move on to Nokron, Eternal City. This cutscene shows just how strong Radahn truly was and efficient at using gravity magic. It made me wonder how powerful he would be if he was not being eaten alive by the Scarlet Rot.

1. Godfrey First Elden Lord/Hoarah Loux, Warrior

Man, let me tell you something okay, this fight is my absolute favourite. The fight was decently challenging for me, as I fought him with more melee than sorcery attacks. The reason I did this was because Godfrey is a warrior that uses melee weapons, his fists, and just sheer strength! So I felt like I needed to fight him the same way. There I was, Tarnished, walking out of the Queen's Chamber to the Elden Throne where the Erdtree is ablaze to claim the title as Elden Lord. I walk up those steps to find this massively jacked dude with A LION ON HIS BACK carrying Morgott, who we killed earlier in the game. He tells the dead Morgott that he fought long and hard, honouring the guy, who turns out to be Godfrey's son! He then turns around to address us, Tarnished, telling us we have been granted an audience with the first Elden Lord as his piggybacking lion companion, Serosh, roars at us with such an intensity that the ground shakes. And so begins the battle with Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. The first part of the battle was intense, Godfrey came at me with his axe swinging it at me, each swing hitting the ground with enough force to launch me upwards if I'm in its hitbox. Not only that but, if I maintain enough distance, Godfrey would jump up into the air and smash his axe into the ground. But little-by-little I would whittle away at his health until I get his health bar to half. It is at this part that things really make my hair stand on end.

Godfrey's health drops to half, and he is taken aback. The lion on his back begins to move towards us but is stopped by the First Elden Lord. Godfrey then says "That will be all. Thou didst me good service, Serosh." AND THEN JUST TEARS THE DUDE APART. It's even cooler when you learn that the reason that Godfrey had Serosh on his back was so that he could quell his warrior instincts and lust for battle in order to be a capable Elden Lord. After relieving Serosh of his duties, Godfrey, covered in Serosh's blood, looks over at the player and says "I have given thee courtesy enough. Now I fight AS HOARAH LOUX... WARRIOR!" Man. Goosebumps. It was insane! Now instead of fighting me with his axe, he fights with his bare hands. Each attack has the ability to literally shatter the ground and on multiple instances, Hoarah Loux grabs me, throws me up into the air, catches me, and then slams me into the ground! After three tries I got him! I got that final hit in and I hear Hoarah Loux say "Brave Tarnished. Thy strength befits a crown." My heart was still racing from the fight, but I felt this sense of relief and melancholy over the fact I beat him, but now I won't really be interacting with that absolute unit of a man ever again! I mean of course, until I start a new run or NG+ run!

There was something very satisfying about my character who is seeking the Elden Throne fighting the first Elden Lord. That made this fight seem a lot more high-stakes to me than other super difficult fights, like Malenia. Maybe it was just the fact that Hoarah Loux was a giant muscular behemoth that awoke this intense desire to beat him, the fact that after him I would be really close to finishing the game, or the fact that I thought his character was very well-made. Maybe it was a mix of all of it. Regardless, Godfrey/Hoarah takes the first place position for my top 3 favourite Elden Ring Bosses.