TheSoulsborne series is well known for its difficulty. In fact, it’s one of the reasons the series has become so popular.Bloodbornebosses are no exception. The gothic Victorian setting of this game is horrifying, to say the least, yet a feast for the eyes of veteran Soulsborne players. The one thing more frightening than the bleak setting, along with the jagged camera movements, is thearray of gruesome and difficult bossesHunters will have to tangle with.
Bloodborne has its share of some of the best and hardest bosses in the entire series. The game boasts a wide variety of challenging bosses across the course of the main adventure, most of which prove difficult for even the most skilled of Soulslike players. Here we have comprised alist of the hardest bosses in Bloodborne, eachranked by difficulty. It should be worth noting that, although bosses from the main game make their appearances, we have alsoincluded Chalice Dungeon bosses, along withbosses present inThe Old Hunters DLC.
Bloodborne
Updated by Nathan Round on 23rd February 2024:We have updated this guide with comprehensive stats on each boss, along with introducing additional links to other Bloodborne-related guides and lists. We have also introduced additional entries to this list, along with adjusting the rankings.
18Pthumerian Descendant
Fast & Aggressive Boss That’s Difficult To Parry
Weaknesses
Pthumeru Ihyll
Pthumerian Descendantis quite the infuriating Chalice boss to take on in Bloodborne. This boss isfast and aggressive, giving players very little time to breathe during its frenzy of attacks. The arena is also pretty unforgiving, with the various pillars around the area failing to form as effective cover for the Pthumerian Descendant’s attacks.
Another thing that makes the Pthumerian Descendant difficult is itslack of distinctive attacks, making it rather difficult to get a read on him. Dodging and Parrying seems to be the most effective means of taking this boss out. However, with the sheer speed of this boss, even that can be quite hard to do.
17Headless Bloodletting Beast
Large Boss With Long Reaching Attacks
Though earlier encounters with theBloodletting Beastare much more forgiving, the Pthumeru Ihyll headless variant is a lot harder to deal with. Withlong-reaching attacksthat can sometimes span across the entire arena, players may often find themselves unable to dodge many of its moves. The Bloodletting Beast also employs a pesky stomp attack, one which candeal an immense amount of damage.
What makes matters worse is the Bloodletting Beast’sability to deal Poison damageduring its second phase, which can rapidly decrease your health over time. The most straightforward way of taking out this beast is to dodge into its attacks, and concentrate your efforts on damaging the monster’s left leg to stagger. Employing Fire and Serrated will also prove handy in beating this large boss.
16Abhorrent Beast
Beast With Lightning Fast Combo Attacks
Lower Loran
Earlier renditions of theAbhorrent Beastmay seem like a breeze to beat. However, the one located at Lower Loran is quite the beastly encounter. With a larger pool of health andferocious and fast attacks, this boss is quite tricky to beat. Not to mention that this beast canclose the gap on you in an instantif you decide to keep your distance.
To further the difficulty of this boss fight, the Abhorrent Beast employs a series oflightning-fast combos- ones which can be pretty hard to anticipate. This leaves players with verysmall windows to dish out some series damage. The key to beating this boss is patience, waiting for an opening to attack and seizing the opportunity when you get it.
15The One Reborn
Slow Moving Boss With AoE Attacks
Yahar’gul, Unseen Village Advent Plaza
The One Rebornis one of those bosses that starts out as pure nightmare fuel, largely down to its grotesque design and terrifying intro. This boss is pretty big and slow, making itrather easy to time your dodges correctlywith incoming attacks. However, getting caught in its grasp canchomp off a large chunk of your health, so don’t get too greedy when tackling this boss.
The main difficulties of The One Reborn are made apparent from the start, as thearena will house quite a few base enemiescapable of attacking you across range. This makes the boss fight quite a chore if you neglect to take them out first. The One Reborn also employs aneasily anticipated, yet annoying AoE attack, along with arather deadly acid vomit attack. Both can be predicted and dodged rather intuitively but can leave lasting damage if not avoided. However, once you get into the habit of focusing your attacks on the boss’s weak spot, slaying it becomes a breeze.
14Micolash: Host Of The Nightmare
Trickster Boss With Hordes Of Puppets
Nightmare of Mensis
The peculiar thing aboutMicolash: Host Of The Nightmareis that it is not the boss itself that makes the fight challenging. Instead, it is a combination of the arena, along with the various enemies that inhabit it. When entering the arena, you will need to chase Micolash through various corridors, before cornering him for the first phase of his fight. The first phase is actually quite easy to deal with. That is, if you are able tokeep the swarms of puppets off your back. Ignoring these pesky critters can knock you down a notch, leading to a quick death.
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As for the second phase, the difficulty is cranked up slightly, largely thanks to Micolash adopting a slightly different moveset than before - along with an annoyingranged attack that covers much of the arena. However, taking him out is quite the breeze, especially if you are able to deal a decent amount of Fire damage. The ironic part about the second phase is that reaching it is actually the hardest part, as thelabyrinth you are in is pretty tricky to navigate through.
13Shadow Of Yharnam
A Terrifying & Fast Attacking Trio
Forbidden Woods Forbidden Grave
3645 / 2302 / 2046
As a Soulsborne player, you’re probably quite used to taking on nimble human-sized bosses. But throw players into a bossfight where they have to take on three enemies at once, and that’s where the struggle begins. TheShadow Of Yharnamis a difficult boss fight, mainly due to the fact that the player is bothoutmatched and outnumbered. Each shadow is the same size as the player, giving themsmall hitboxes and nimble movements- making them rather tricky to keep track of.
Each shadow has its own strengths, and while focusing and killing one would seemingly give you the upper hand, it only strengthens those that remain. Though these bosses have distinctive ranged and melee attacks that can be learned through trial and error, each of theirmovesets drastically changes once they lose enough health- making each enemy encounter rather tricky to anticipate.
12Darkbeast Paarl
Aggressive & Erratic Moving Boss
Hypogean Gaol
Darkbeast Paarlcan be incredibly difficult to overcome, depending on when this towering Beast is fought. Paarl is an optional boss andcan be encountered at vastly different levels, as it can first be battled at around level 30 (if the Hunter is taken to the Hypogean Gaol by a Snatcher early on). Level aside, however, there is one other notable aspect that makes this boss rather challenging.
Darkbeast Paarldeals quite a lot of damageand is fast, sportingerratic movements and attacksthat prove to be unpredictable at times. Pair this with the tedious camera management, along with theboss’s strength against Blunt and Bolt damage, and you have a powerful foe on your hands. However, if you’re able to get into the habit of staggering this boss by concentrating on hitting its hind legs, beating it becomes quite the breeze.
11Blood-Starved Beast
Poison Damage Boss Located In A Narrow Arena
Old Yharnam
TheBlood-Starved Beastis a horrific-looking creature that is relentless. Its big swiping attack from its right claws will certainly hurt, and if the Hunter gets greedy, itscombo of vicious swipes can be difficult to escape from. Not only that, but this boss alsodeals lingering Poison damage. The Blood-Starved Beast is an early boss fight, proving to be among the first to really test players' patience - especially for beginners.
Thearena itself actively works against the playertoo, as the Church of the Good Chalice is narrow and benefits the boss’s long swiping attack. On the other hand, though, there are pillars in the arena that offer some limited protection, and weapons and items imbued with Fire are quite effective against this Beast.
10Father Gascoigne
Fast Moving Early Game Roadblock
Central Yharnam
Father Gascoigneproves to be an early-game roadblock for many players. He is a mandatory boss and an opponent unlike anything you may have faced before. Father Gascoigne is afast, mobile, dual-wielding fellow Hunter, able to transform his weapon right along with the player. This brings quite a bit ofvariety and unpredictability to his moveset, especially once it switches up during the second phase.
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Hunters who aren’t adept at Parrying with a pistol and scoring Visceral Attack opportunities will have a hard time when entering the second phase. On transformation, Gascoigne becomes incredibly aggressive. Compounding the difficulty further, thearena is small and narrow, makingdodging rather difficult. However, using the Tiny Music Box item to temporarily stun Gascoigne, along with employing Fire and Serration, will more than aid you in this bossfight.
Long Reaching, Combo Attacking Boss
Cursed Pthumerian Defilement
Amygdalain the Nightmare Frontier doesn’t tend to be too challenging at first glance. The Defiled Chalice variant of Amygdala, however, is regarded by some as among the most frustrating battles in the game. The main difficulty of this boss is itslong-reaching attacks, all of which areincredibly difficult to dodge.
To throw more salt into the wound, theplayer’s health is halved in this Chalice Dungeon. The arena is also tiny, furtherhindering the player’s ability to dodge attackseffectively - or find safe spots to recoup and heal. Amygdala can also just thrust from one attack to another, leaving very little room to get enough hits in. The best strategy seems to be striking the head wherever possible to deal optimal damage, but this will require patience and well-timed dodges.
