Dark Souls 3 released worldwide in April 2016, Developed by FromSoftware and Produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment
Whether you love or hate the third entry to FromSoftware’s infamously brutal franchise, it’s hard to dispute that the game’s additional content, Ashes of Ariandel and particularly The Ringed City, offer up some of the series best bosses, finishing out the series on a high note.
With the tenth anniversary of Dark Souls 3, and Demon in Pain & Demon from Below reappearing in Elden Ring Nightreign: Forsaken Hollows, it’s time to go back and see whether or not it was the best choice, or if another would have also been a welcome return.
6. Halflight: Spear of the Church
The Ringed City
It’s difficult to discuss a boss fight that changes each time you attempt it. If you’re playing the game in offline mode, this fight is a pretty standard faceoff against a few NPCs, which is as challenging as offline Invasions can be. However, if playing online, you’ll have the chance to have Halflight be another player, akin to other fights in the series, like Looking Glass Knight from Dark Souls 2.
Where the Looking Glass Knight fight differs from this one is that it has a decently designed actual boss that utilises players alongside their own attacks, which can lead to an interesting and difficult battle. This fight skips the interesting boss design entirely, and the large Judicator that summons the fighters simply offers some intro dialogue, which is nice, I guess, but doesn’t offer much in the way of a memorable experience.
5. Champion’s Gravetender & Gravetender Greatwolf
Ashes of Ariandel
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the other NPC-focused boss fight joins Halflight at the bottom of this list. It might, however, still end up being a surprise for two reasons. Reason one is that you may never have encountered this skippable boss, hidden below a broken bridge, and reason two is that you’ll have forgotten the fight entirely.
While not an awful experience, the roster you’ll be up against is a few wolves, the Gravetender NPC himself, and once he’s at half health, a Greatwolf, which you’ll have faced a few times already in the painted world of Ariandel. It joins the plethora of boss fights throughout the series that are pretty forgettable, and while its setting is interesting, it doesn’t do much to warrant Ariandel being a paid experience.
4. Sister Friede
Ashes of Ariandel
Now here’s the real reason to pick up the first DLC of the game. The only boss fight in Ariandel other than the aforementioned Gravetender and Greatwolf, Sister Friede is also the only boss in the entire series with three distinct phases (not soft transitions). While that might come across as a bit of a slog, the intensity and standoffish combat of phases 1 and 3 make for an almost amazing boss fight.
If you haven’t picked up on what I mean by mentioning only phase 1 and 3, the second phase, while visually striking, can drag on a bit. You’ll have to deal with not only Friede but Father Ariandel as well, which, like with the last two entries, means you’ll have to run around and deal with both enemies at the same time. The pro of this fight is that Ariandel is a hulking behemoth with easily telegraphed attacks, so while a bit long, it’s way easier to focus on one enemy at a time. Plus, after the second phase, you’re treated to the best part of the fight, Blackflame Friede, which would probably be higher up the list if it were a fight on its own.
3. Demon in Pain & Demon from Below
The Ringed City
The second half of this list becomes a lot harder to rank, as The Ringed City really does offer up some of the best bosses in FromSoftware’s long history of incredible fights. As the fourth and final fight on this list with multiple enemies, it falls just short of the top three, as sometimes that can feel a bit much to deal with at once. That’s not to say that everything else about this fight isn’t amazing.
In what feels like a spiritual successor to the iconic Ornstein and Smough fight from the first game, you’ll witness the individual threats of both demons combine in an incredible transition into phase 2. Whilst following in the footsteps of other great demon fights, the revitalised Demon Prince may be the very best the series has to offer, as it’s a challenging encounter with incredible visual storytelling, and, at least for my playthrough, felt like the perfect difficulty for the time I faced it. While I did manage to best it on the first try (humble brag), it did take all 15 max-level flasks, which in turn created one of the most intense and satisfying fights I’ve had in a while.
2. Darkeater Midir
The Ringed City
As the last optional boss fight of the entire series (unless they release a fourth title), Midir is as difficult as an ending challenge should be. While they’ve since designed quite a few more dragons for Elden Ring, such as Fortissax and Placidusax, Darkeater Midir is the frontrunner for the coolest and most difficult dragon fight we’ll ever get.
This absolute behemoth is not just strong, it’s impressively nimble for its size, and you’ll spend a decent amount of time chasing it across the arena, just to get in a few smacks to the head. While the tried and true method of standing under four-legged bosses can still be done, Midir will often punish you by spewing flames directly under himself. He’ll also not hold back once you reach his second phase, and will exhaust the player enough that it’s tricky to get hits in at the right moment. I found that stamina played a big role in the fight, and after two attempts of it feeling almost impossible, the fight clicked on the third. This was incredibly gratifying, as the grand spectacle of the encounter was then matched by an intense yet rewarding battle.
1. Slave Knight Gael
The Ringed City
Wow. What an absolutely stellar way to end the series. While Soul of Cinder was equally as fitting a final boss for the last base-game battle, Gael really takes the cake in every conceivable way. The lead into his fight, the setting, his unravelling narrative throughout the two DLCs, and, of course, his relentless assault, along with the musical score that accompanies it.
Gael gets more and more aggressive as the fight goes on, and his attacks become heavily dependent on dodging at just the right time, punishing you for hitting that button slightly too early. He closes the gap constantly, and is as persistent in attacking as the hardest fight in the base game: Nameless King. His design also mirrors that of Artorias, in both his loss of control and attack patterns. That’s not to say that Gael’s fight is derivative at all, as his abundance of attacks means that whatever distance you are to the knight, he’ll respond accordingly, even by pulling out an automatic crossbow. I finished him off on the second attempt, but I’d gladly have died a few more times to experience him again. Just wow.
It’s always interesting seeing how different people experience the bosses Dark Souls games have to offer. Often a boss that gives you the most grief is one that a friend may have breezed through, and vice-versa. Any opinions on these bosses, good or bad, would be great to hear about, so feel free to comment your hot takes on these DLC bosses.
