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So with Elden Ring out, which is the hardest From Soft boss?

Well?

  • Malenia, blade of Miquella

    Votes: 582 39.9%

  • Isshin The Sword Saint

    Votes: 513 35.2%

  • Kos, Orphan of Kos

    Votes: 215 14.7%

  • Artorias of the Abyss

    Votes: 13 0.9%

  • Manus

    Votes: 30 2.1%

  • Demon of Hatred

    Votes: 81 5.6%

  • Slave Knight Gael

    Votes: 25 1.7%
  • Total voters
    1,459
Martinski

Martinski

Member
Jan 15, 2019
8,441
Göteborg
Well what do you say?

Without a cheesy build with blood loss and mimic tear summon i think Malenia might be at the top. But since i used just that i was able to beat her after a handful tries. She deal a ton of damage and such and would be still hard without her life steal.

For me it is probably still Isshin first time i played Sekiro, these days if i replay the game i can roll over him in 1-2 tries though.




 
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Martinski

Martinski

Member
Jan 15, 2019
8,441
Göteborg
Kromeo

Kromeo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,980
You can beat Artorias without dodging a single one of his attacks, I've never had trouble with him. I find Kalameet the hardest boss from that game
 
Griffith

Griffith

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,585
I love Artorias, I still consider him to be the best boss in the Souls series but I don't think he's even on the Top 10 of hardest bosses and I've barely scratched the surface with Elden Ring.
 
vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Dec 28, 2017
24,796
Demon of Hatred
Had a harder time with him than I did Isshin who went down in two tries
 
Enforcer

Enforcer

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
2,962
Malenia. It's basically Sword Saint but you can't parry as easily and every time you get hit they life steal haha.

This is of course if you actually solo her without the cheese strats.
 
Common Knowledge

Common Knowledge

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,330
Wait so Radahn is considered easy enough that he doesn't even get included in this list? Goddamn now I'm scared lol
 
Hippopuncher12

Hippopuncher12

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,390
Cincinnati
The last boss in Elden Ring took me more tries than any other boss in any other game (haven't played Sekiro though). I two tried Malenia, I killed the 2 headed dragon in like 4 tries, but that Elden Beast asshole? Took me hours, hoursssss.

Forgot about Friede, actually she is probably the hardest now that I think about it. Close though.
 
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Martinski

Martinski

Member
Jan 15, 2019
8,441
Göteborg
Enforcer said:
Malenia. It's basically Sword Saint but you can't parry as easily and every time you get hit they life steal haha.

This is of course if you actually solo her without the cheese strats.
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This was my strat against her first time, beating her into submission with the bloodhound fang with mimic bro. She gets staggered easy with heavy weapons and it stacks blood loss too.

 
Enforcer

Enforcer

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
2,962
Martinski said:
This was my strat against her first time, beating her into submission with the bloodhound fang with mimic bro. She gets staggered easy with heavy weapons and it stacks blood loss too.

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That's why I said if you solo her without cheese strats. Mimic tear is pretty much the most broken thing you can do in the game lol.

Try doing that with your heavy weapons without something distracting her. You won't have much window to stagger her.
 
Gol

Gol

Member
Nov 4, 2017
774
It's not Malenia. Or any bosses from Elden Ring.

I'd go with Orphan or maybe Midir.
 
Soulflarz

Soulflarz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,827
Recency bias if you pick anything from elden ring - all of elden ring can be cheesed without player summons. A lot of other fromsoftware games can't be. No contest. I didn't even find maleena that bad with UGS which is definitely not the ideal build - she can be staggered which means you pretty consistently get 2 hits for free every time you run.

I'm not even saying that to be elitist or something - I just legitimately thought margit was harder. She took me 2nd longest of any boss @ level (29m), while margit I was underleveled and took me ~40m. Rest of the game was....pretty much 1-3 shots on all bosses.

To be fair I also think False King Allant is my hardest souls boss in retrospect, mainly because when I fought him in Demons I had literally no idea what I was doing since it was my first souls game.
 
Papercuts

Papercuts

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,158
Isshin has no real BS within the game to abuse like all the souls builds so it feel like the biggest cliff to climb out of all of them.

Malenia has one single move that carries the entire fight which is not very interesting to make a boss difficult. Saying this is the hardest boss IF "bunch of handicaps* goes against what the game is to me too. Isshin just expects that.
 
BossAttack

BossAttack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
43,255
Malenia and it's not even close.

Fuck that boss.

Isshin is fun, I can probably play that boss with my eyes closed at this point. Sekiro boss fights in general are all pretty fun since they are balanced correctly.
 
NuclearDistortion

NuclearDistortion

Member
Nov 9, 2017
1,054
Martinski said:
Also one of those fights from DS3 i always forget about since i think i did her in one try with a summon.
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That's fair. I'd LIKE to forget Freida lol.

My vote is probably Freida - I could never quite figure out timing on her moveset.

Runner up would be Midir/Malenia - insane health pool (Midir) and maybe the fastest moving boss (Malenia) ever from a From Soft title - and I LOVED the Malenia fight (I'm rocking dual +10 Hands of Malenia in NG+ in ER).
 
Shemhazai

Shemhazai

Member
Aug 13, 2020
6,625
I found Isshin to be the easiest final boss outside of maybe the Demon's Souls one. Like, he wasn't easy but I had him down in a few hours. I didn't even realise Orphan of Kos was supposed to be hard and was disappointed when he ended up being the last boss of the Bloodborne DLC.

Malenia can get fucked though. Great design visually, but she's the ultimate iteration of what I hated about Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring boss fights, in that they're not really designed for how the player is able to respond, almost like they're tuned more for Sekiro than they are the Souls style of play. The self-healing was the real piss take since her Waterfowl Dance has some pretty nasty tracking and hit box that makes avoiding it really hard.

Honestly though, the winner for me is Ebrietas, being the only boss I don't think I've beaten despite actually giving it a proper go (I haven't always bothered with DLC or optional bosses). Don't know what it was about the fight but I just couldn't get it done before I lost interest in trying.
 
Semfry

Semfry

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,975
Playing "fair" Malenia easily. Taking into account summons and amount and ease of available broken stuff in their respective games Orphan or Isshin are probably still harder.
 
Jakenbakin

Jakenbakin

"This guy are sick" and Corrupted by Vengeance
Member
Jun 17, 2018
11,985
Haven't got to the big one in this, but I couldn't beat Isshin. I just couldn't. The expectations in that fight, which is obviously mandatory unlike ERs, is absolutely fucking insane. I see people railing about ERs but at least it wasn't in the way of the ending of the game. I liked Sekiro so much I wanted to NG+ it, but the boss was just like "oh that's cute you dumb little shit, how about you stop hesitating and go through my 67 phases first."

FUCK Isshin. One day. One day I will curb stomp that old fucker and piss on his grave.
 
Duxxy3

Duxxy3

Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,028
USA
These Malenia videos make me think she was meant for Devil May Cry 5, and not a Souls game. Just looks so out of place (the fight, not Malenia). Anyhow, I'm not planning to ever do that fight, so I'll rank what I have fought.

Isshin Sword Saint would be my pick. I've never legit beat him and I don't think he's a bullshit boss. I think he fits perfectly in the game and is a great last boss. Even if I never beat him.
 
JustinBB7

JustinBB7

Member
Nov 16, 2017
2,365
Melania for sure. I beat all of them and she gave me the most trouble. But I don't summon or use magic or cheese weapons so that's most likely why.
 
PlayBee

PlayBee

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 8, 2017
5,603
I don't feel right saying something is hard when there's an easy way to do it. Anything can be hard if you arbitrarily limit yourself. I was able to beat Malenia on my 2nd or 3rd try just because my build made it fairly easy and I wasn't purposefully ignoring the tools the game gave me.
 
sku

sku

Member
Feb 11, 2018
782
You're asking at a time when many people are stuck on Malenia, so you're not going to get very interesting results.

Idk, the only really hard thing about Malenia is her one mind attack. Her other attacks aren't hard to dodge. And she gives you a lot of breathing room -- you can back off for a bit if you want and most of the time she won't give chase. Artorias, for example, is much more relentless, though it's a shorter fight.

Not sure who I'd put as most difficult. I'd probably say Friede if you disregard backstabs.
 
Instro

Instro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,144
I haven't finished Elden Ring so can't comment there. I'd put Demon of Hatred above them all otherwise though.
 
Corncob

Corncob

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,638
UK
The alternate Owl fight in Sekiro for me. So good.

Elden Ring bosses are just shit.
 
Nocturnowl

Nocturnowl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,236
No Father Owl or Friede huh
I guess we've each got our own mortal enemies.
Friede part 3 is basically like playing against Lady Maria, but it's Dark Souls and not Bloodborne, so it's a very bad time, especially if you rolled in as a strongman and not a dexy boy.

Father Owl doesn't give you the luxury of any cheese builds, bringing a partner or even blowing a whistle for at least something like his Sekiro super boss counterpart
You just gotta deal with it, and it was HARD.

Anyway of the poll options I voted Malenia, recency bias but that one move is so very overtuned, on top of the heal/scarlet rot, makes it go beyond anything I've seen From throw out there. I've never known one animation fill me with "guess I'll die"
I couldn't for the life of me figure out the actual evasion tactic and nothing in the move itself really gives you any kind of idea as to where and when to roll, so I;d basically just take the first two flurrys on my shield and then roll/quickstep for dear life and that might work 50% of the time, the fact I can't even bloodhoudn quickstep away in general says it all.
The only saving grace is you have the options to find some cheese, and even the mimic tear isn't immediately gonna tip the scales to making it that manageable.
 
Shemhazai

Shemhazai

Member
Aug 13, 2020
6,625
I'm surprised to see people having trouble with Godskin Duo. Even without the Mimic Tear it just felt like an easier Ornstein & Smough.
 

Dodgerfan74

Member
Dec 27, 2017
2,696
Malenia in the same universe as Isshin is hilarious. You can stagger her half the fight. I think I had to heal twice during the one try it took to drop her.

Isshin, Kos, and Freide are probably the hardest from the different From franchises.
 
Zeta Ori

Zeta Ori

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,102
NY
Melania took me more attempts than every boss in every souls prior combined. That lifesteal plus windcutter combo is ridiculous lmao
 
Fadewise

Fadewise

Member
Nov 5, 2017
3,210
FromSoft boss discussions always fascinate me, because despite the consensus of "hardest bosses" that seems to arise there are almost always outliers on a person by person basis. For example, personally, I psyched my self out about Orphan of Kos, and then ended up beating him on my third try; I spent WAY more time on the Living Failures. I've also been mentoring a good friend through Dark Souls (his first Soulslike game), and finding an almost opposite assessment of who we thought the hardest bosses were; for me it was O&S, which he beat on the second try, whereas he spent days on Manus, who I dispatched right quick on my original playthrough.
 
Lulu

Lulu

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,004
Shemhazai said:
I found Isshin to be the easiest final boss outside of maybe the Demon's Souls one. Like, he wasn't easy but I had him down in a few hours. I didn't even realise Orphan of Kos was supposed to be hard and was disappointed when he ended up being the last boss of the Bloodborne DLC.

Malenia can get fucked though. Great design visually, but she's the ultimate iteration of what I hated about Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring boss fights, in that they're not really designed for how the player is able to respond, almost like they're tuned more for Sekiro than they are the Souls style of play. The self-healing was the real piss take since her Waterfowl Dance has some pretty nasty tracking and hit box that makes avoiding it really hard.

Honestly though, the winner for me is Ebrietas, being the only boss I don't think I've beaten despite actually giving it a proper go (I haven't always bothered with DLC or optional bosses). Don't know what it was about the fight but I just couldn't get it done before I lost interest in trying.
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Isshin is the easiest for me too but Sekiro is like a rhythm game and it either clicks or it doesn't.
 
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