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| Dark Souls 2: Top 10 Bosses
Dark Souls 2 has grown to become my favorite game in the trilogy and given its status a black sheep, I wanted to give it some love by making a boss ranking, hopefully enticing those who haven't played the game to take the plunge and try it out . The boss roster is massive however (the franchise's second largest after Elden Ring), so I am limiting my list to the best of the pack. My only experience with the game is through the Scholar of the First Sin edition, so I am unaware of any differences that may exist between versions of the game apart from lighting and summons. Major credit to the fantastic OST on behalf of Motoi Sakuraba & Yuka Kitamura. Anyone who's ever booted the game up and created a character can surely attest to how brilliant the music in Things Betwixt and Majula is, playing a central role in establishing the atmosphere of what I find to be the best hub in Soulsborne. The boss themes aren't too shabby either, with most being on par with and exceeding those of its predecessor. | | 1 |  | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Burnt Ivory King (5/5)
Possibly my favorite boss in the series, with some of the most epic presentation that FromSoft has ever achieved (without the use of cut scenes to boot). It is possible to beat the Burnt Ivory King without the aid of the loyce knights, but unless you're after the additional challenge, you would be depriving yourself of most of the encounter's allure. Jumping into the Old Chaos with allies to help you in freezing the arena's portals clears out the burnt loyce knights, allowing you to fight the king either solo or with one remaining loyce knight. The atmosphere and exposition are perfection, it was the most memorable and enjoyable encounter in the game for me, and it's easily Dark Souls at its finest. A perfect conclusion to one hell of a DLC. | | 2 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Sir Alonne (5/5)
In spite of having one of the most migraine inducing boss runs that I've ever experienced in a game that is already full of them, Sir Alonne is about as close to flawless as a FromSoft boss can get, emblematic of the tough but fair ethos that makes this series what it is. He's punishing with devastating damage potential, he has some of the longest attack windups outside of Elden Ring and Sekiro, and his magic resistance makes this fight a nightmare for casters. It feels like an honorable duel to the death from start to finish however, and it's even possible to get him to perform seppuku if you manage to master the mechanics and can beat him quickly enough. A clear series highlight, and a superb way to conclude the Crown of the Old Iron King DLC. | | 3 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Fume Knight (5/5)
I personally struggled more with Sir Alonne, but Fume Knight is without a doubt one of the toughest bosses in the series. His swords attack at different speeds with delayed windups in his first phase, making him extremely difficult to reliably dodge if you've neglected to adequately level adaptability as I did on my first character. The second phase is generally easier in spite of the higher damage potential, but it is absolutely essential to use the smelter wedges outside of the arena in order to prevent him from regenerating health. All-around phenomenal boss with some of the best design, mechanics, and lore in the game, and the fact that there's a bonfire so close to the arena is a massive bonus considering how awful some of the boss runs in DS2 can be. | | 4 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Darklurker (4.5/5)
Darklurker is easily my favorite duo-boss in the game. It has a great design, incredible atmosphere, I love how it's locked behind one of the coolest covenants in the game, and it's challenging enough to pose a major threat regardless of when you choose to face it. In a boss roster that's often subject to plenty of flack relative to the other games (and justifiably so), I can't see many arguing against it earning a place toward the top of any DS2 boss ranking. | | 5 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Looking Glass Knight (4.5/5)
I hate that I was so late getting into DS2 because I've never been able to fight Looking Glass Knight with another player summoned in its second phase. Nonetheless, it is an exceptional boss to cap off Drangleic Castle, it has what might be the most gorgeous looking boss arena in the whole series, and in spite of not being nearly as challenging as some of the series' other 'castle bosses', it's an obvious highlight that I'll always look forward to re-matching on future playthroughs. | | 6 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Sinh, Slumbering Dragon (4.5/5)
Sinh is an incredibly fun fight, and it's certainly challenging enough to warrant its position at the end of the Crown of the Sunken King DLC. It's thankfully not as tanky as Ancient Dragon or Midir, it actually puts up a fight in contrast to Guardian Dragon, and it feels most similar to Kalameet in respect to design and quality. The toxic buildup is the only part of the encounter that I don't like. Otherwise, it's a definitive highlight with superb atmosphere and a stunning boss theme. | | 7 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Aava, the King's Pet (4/5)
I've seen Aava get flack before, but I enjoyed it in both playthroughs thus far. I like how it's invisible during the snowstorm and how it incentivizes you to explore Eleum Loyce for the eye of the priestess. Though it's similar to other FromSoft beast bosses, I find it to be unique given that it uses a homing crystal soul mass, which makes me think that it must have been an influence on Red Wolf of Radagon's design in Elden Ring. The arena is one of my favorites in the series, the boss is great with a stunning theme, and I feel like if it's sullied by anything, it has to be the 'reskin' later on in the Frigid Outskirts, which is admittedly horrendous and inexcusable. | | 8 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Velstadt, the Royal Aegis (4/5)
Between its mechanics and lore, Velstadt is easily one of the best knight-bosses in the game. He's tanky but appropriately so in contrast to the slogs of Ancient Dragon and Vendrick, and though he gets a massive buff in physical damage around midway through the fight, his moves are perfectly telegraphed, never feeling unfair which is a relief given how grueling and cheap many of the midgame bosses and enemy hordes can feel. He's resistant to dark which definitely gave me some trouble on my first playthrough as a hexer, but you can easily shred his health bar if you use lightning. He has an epic boss theme, and discovering a blind, mad, and endlessly pacing Vendrick upon beating him was one of the highlights of the game. | | 9 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
The Rotten (4/5)
The Rotten isn't the most satisfying boss to fight mechanically speaking, and the area preceding him is by far one of the most tiresome and annoying in the entire series. I love its design though, and in spite of Black Gulch being absolutely painful on a first playthrough, the descent from the well in Majula, adventuring through the filth of the Gutter, and discovering this gruesome ensemble of bodies and rubbish at the bottom manages to feel significantly more oppressive, dark, and dreadful than areas like Blightown and Valley of Defilement ever did in the other games. The Rotten gets my respect thematically, and as is often the case in these games, the strength and quality of bosses doesn't necessarily correlate with the combat | | 10 | | Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
Old Dragon Slayer (4/5)
What's there not to love about fighting Ornstein again, and especially in an area as beautiful as Heide's Tower of Flame? There's no doubt that the original Ornstein was much tougher considering the nature of the fight and the area that it took place in, but it's undeniably attractive being able to face one of the best bosses in the series again without the company of his gluttonous comrade, forcing him into a justified retirement given the fact that there's a dragon that's right outside of the arena that he failed to slay. I like the fact that he has his ground-pound from the start, and that he has dark magic instead of lightning. Not a major shift, but it keeps it from being a complete reskin from DS1. Great fight overall, and it's more challenging if you tackle Heide's prior to beating The Last Giant. | |
beefshoes
06.17.22 | No roses tinted glasses for this ranking, because I only played it for the first time last autumn. The bosses generally aren't as impressive as the other games', and the worst bosses are among the worst that I've played in a long time. The highs are spectacular though, and I found the areas and level design to be more enjoyable to play through compared to DS1 & 3. The world's inconsistency in layout (the Iron Keep lava) never bothered me, and I think that heading into the game accepting it on its own terms without constantly comparing it to its siblings helped me enjoy it much more. It has incredible lore that's easily on par with DeS and DS1, it dared to stray from the shadows of its predecessor by making loads of changes and experimenting with the basics, and it oozes identity in a way that DS3 doesn't enjoy. It's also clear now just how much of DS2 went into Elden Ring. Best DLCs in the trilogy too, basically even with the Old Hunters DLC from Bloodborne. | Dewinged
06.17.22 | i played both versions on release. Still my favorite "Souls" game, not even ER changed that. | Mort.
06.17.22 | still havent played the dlc for 2, really need to get round to it | BaselineOOO
06.17.22 | Beautiful list, had fun reading it. As you know too well, this is also my favorite Dark Souls game - it's the one that stayed with me. I love how it feels like a dream compared to DS1 and DS3. I believe the original release is much better than Scholar of The First Sin though and I highly recommend playing it.
I made a mod attempting to fix the lighting in SOTFS btw, it's not perfect but you can check it out. https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls2/mods/996 | Mort.
06.17.22 | why do you think the original release is better? i remember playing it on 360 and now playing sotfs on ps4 it seems way better. better enemy placement, better graphics (obvs), some other shit im probs forgetting.
and yeah i like the weird feel of ds2. i also like how it pushes you away from being a turtle shield player(only like one starting class with a shield i think?~) | Gyromania
06.17.22 | Fume knight is mechanically way more enjoyable than burnt ivory king or sir alonne, but the spectacle of their fights does make them stand out | BaselineOOO
06.17.22 | I'm not talking about the console versions. On PC the graphics are faaar better in the original release because SOTFS butchered the lighting. Your character and all enemies are lit from all angles and look plastic-like. The environment suffers from the same problem (see the link of my mod posted above to understand what I mean). And subjectively, I think the enemy placement is a joke in SOTFS, it feels like they took the original game and remixed it like in Mario Maker. To me it just doesn't feel like the real deal, more like a fan mod. Some things make more sense, I'll give it that, but 90% of the time the changes are for the worse. They've also ruined the way you access the DLCs in SOTFS. Only one thing is worse in the original release imo, the fact that the controller has two speeds - once you reach a certain left or right point on your joystick, the camera rotation speed doubles.
https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/482/images/996/996-1629725356-1609534565.png
https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/482/images/996/996-1629725360-1410617900.png
First picture is SOTFS, second is my lighting mod. The original release looks closer to my mod, take my word for it! | Gyromania
06.17.22 | I'd put fume knight first and replace old Dragonslayer with either the pursuer or executioner's chariot, otherwise you nailed basically everything in this list. Prob the best ds2 boss ranking I've seen | JohnnyoftheWell
06.17.22 | Mmmhm yeah this is a good list. Mirror Knight is a pretty average boss imo, probably a standout for the base game but still not one I'd have so high - would drop that a few places, maybe bump Darklurker down a little too, and swap Old Dragonslayer for the Pursuer [2]
Maybe switch the Rotten for the Lost Sinner or Freja actually hmmm | BaselineOOO
06.17.22 | Elana, Squalid Queen is also a sweet fight but only when she summons Velstadt. | pizzamachine
06.17.22 | Got past the Pursuer, only to find 6 or whatever bosses in the same room. Shit was too hard for me. | beefshoes
06.17.22 | Lost Sinner and the Pursuer are definitely fantastic. I'm a bit mixed on Freja though. Not a bad boss, but if you do the fight with a torch, it becomes a joke since the smaller spiders leave you alone. Executioners Chariot is great as well, but that boss run is miserable. haha |
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