gael is so good he makes me start an entire playthrough just to fight him again, he's the only boss where i feel actually sad when i beat him because it means the fun is over
I think Yhorm is more fun when you realize the storm ruler isn't the only intended way of killing him. Hitting his hands will do extra damage PLUS open him for a riposte after several hits, which will take off a massive chunk of health. So u just have to learn to bait the moves that lower his hands to the ground then punish which is so much more satisfying than timing the storm ruler imo
I love cinder the most for the fact it's 1. Got many years of fromsoft legacy as it's whole backbone, 2. It's so varied that many different playstyles get tested differently, 3. Music transition and finality. But the second one to me is Abyss Watchers, as 1. It's cool to try some tactical approaches with that chaos, 2. Guys are such a solid lore army and in combat they can adapt with some tricks, but are not bulletproof either, 3. Guys are LITERALLY the embodiment of non-online pvp, the corrupted Abyss Watcher and player are invaders, the 2nd Abyss Watcher is the phantom, and the main guy is the host. This 2v1v1 is very dynamic, exactly like pvp. While all bosses have their unique elements, none of them tap into something so deeply ingrained into the games as Abyss Watchers' brawl and Cinders' series-wide lore and playstyle customisation
You didn't mention it but champion gundyr is one of the only bosses that can juggle you in the air with his knock up followed by kick. The only other bosses that come to mind is soul of cinder's 2 phase combo and Promised Consort. Edit: I forgot Manus can juggle you and Gherman can too (Don't know how I forgot about manus, I think my mind willfully forgot about him due to ptsd)
Chad, my king…I’ve been waiting since I found your channel for this video and when I saw this upload I audibly exclaimed “YES” keep going boss. It’s awesome to see how your videos and you have changed and grown throughout the years
I understand you perfectly on Dancer man, even after doing SL1 I just can't fully understand her 2nd phase and it always feels like she does combos I haven't ever seen. I still find the fight very cool tho, the music is a banger and the style of her moves actually make it look like a dance.
Gael is so good of a boss that he alone pushes me to genuinely FINISH dark souls 3 so many times just to fight him. That’s what a final boss should be.
Hey, just finished your video! Calling back to your first ds3 upload really made me think about how much you’ve improved over time man. This was so much fun to watch, keep on doing what you love!!
Oceiros phase 2 actually can't do the instant charge unless you're either very very far away or directly under him, so you can consistently prevent it every time if you just leave a bit of space between you and the boss before he does a move (the space is not large at all, you can still stay aggressive). You mentioned that by staying behind the boss you can often prevent it but it's not guaranteed - generally if he's up against a wall he will get shoved towards the player so is closer after turning than usual, this is the time when he can instant charge. Great video btw
I think Soul level 1 would be a fun thing to try if you haven't already. I have so many days played on ds3 the very little margin of error lvl 1 runs give you made me appreciate the bosses a lot more
The Red Eyed Watcher getting up to help you is honestly one of the coolest moments in DS3. It's so unexpected and adds so much more to their lore and the fight itself. It shows these guys have truly just gone absolutely insane, even helping intruders against their own brothers.
I have over 600 hours in this game and have beaten it 7 times in vanilia (couple more in convergence and cinder) and I am just learning that Wolnir has a sword. That better explains his soul transfused weapon.
It took me a while for Gael to become my number one, but eventually it did. The only thing I ever had an issue with him is that he was always too easy. I even first tried him on my very first playthrough. (not my first souls game though.) What eventually tipped the scales in his favor was my sl1 playthrough. Gael was most definitely not the hardest challenge on my path, but instead, he was just the perfect amount of difficult. I've never had a boss's difficulty be as perfect as Gael at sl1. I don't need the bosses to be hard for me to enjoy them, I only need them to be hard for me to get intimately familiar with their movesets. Once I've achieved that, they might as well deal no damage at all, and I'd still be having the time of my life. Thanks to my sl1 playthrough, I've gotten to that point with Gael, and thanks to that, he isn't leaving my number 1 spot now or ever.
@ Midir took me multiple playthroughs to get the hang of, so I’d def call him (her?) the hardest boss in ds3. Friede also took me many hours but mostly because I was purposely underleveled. I don’t regret it though, that was a fun experience.
Champion Gundyr is still one of the best for me. He is just super fun to fight against. The pacing is good, the lore implications is nice, and best of all, his second phase is literally just putting in more effort. No theatrical displays of magic or powerups!
Most bosses at phase 2: explosion, spirit clone, fire sword, meteorite strikes, nuking the whole arena, etc Champion Gundyr at phase 2: stops playing around and starts trying
Sekiro and ds3 are my most played fromsoft games and it all comes down to the incredible boss line-up. After one or 2 playthrought bosses are the main factor that keeps the game spicy enough to replay.
I think soul of cinder is so awesome, for all the reasons you mentioned, but also because people had been asking for so long to use the bonfire sword, and Fromsoft goes “alright, it’s the last game in the trilogy, we’ll let you use the bonfire sword. But he gets to use it first.”
Great list, demon prince is my personal number one especially cause the duo is perfect, off screen visual and audio cues, and the way they ignite and reignite to signal who's passive and who's aggressive.
I think champion gundyr’s blandness works in his favor. No magic, no elements, no outside interference, no gimmick, just two people fighting to the death. Champion REALLY puts the “fight” in boss fight
Fun fact about old demon king is that his last attack is everything he has into one big attack and after that he isn’t aggressive and tries to hit you but he can’t bc he used all of his power up but eventually he dies slowly or you can kill him before he kills himself very cool detail added to this boss
dude the feeling of “oh wow i’m really in over my head here” when fighting sulyvahn in the boreal valley. the area is the first area that gave me a tough time only to find the pontiff and get obliterated. the feeling i got after defeating him the first time still hasn’t been matched in any soulsborne or even any souls like game.
You just convinced me, Sister Friede is my #1 fight, the second phase being 2 opponents at once, which are balanced perfectly, the third phase being so surprising yet so challenging, as much as I live Gael, I do find him a tad easy but Friede is just the perfect level of challenge and spectacle. Cool video
Pontiff at number 5 makes me so happy. He's my all-time favorite DS3 boss, even more than Gael, actually. Same for the ost, honestly. (The best part of the battle is when Pontiff and his clone both start comboing the shit out of you, and your camera flies around at mach 5 as its following them, and you somehow manage to dodge all of it. Best feeling ever)
@@ThePontiff113 His ost is top 3 for me fs, it’s so damn good, and ya there are few feelings in the game more hectic and satisfying than simultaneously dodging him and the clone’s combos
When it comes to Dancer, nothing will ever top the first time I beat her. I just went full ultra instinct and dodged every single move in her second phase perfectly. And yet, every time I've fought her since then I haven't been able to relearn her moveset. It's weird.
I'm so glad that i'm not the only one who was introduced to Dark Souls level of difficulty by the Pontiff Sulyvahn, dude was sooo hard at my first playthrough.
Some notes on a couple of the mid tiers I thought would be interesting to add. It's not actually really known if Oceiros is actually hallucinating. You can't see Ocelotte, sure, but even you can hear that baby wailing. Plus, it's already been established with Priscilla that crossbreeds with scaleless dragons like Seath and the mutated King can turn invisible... so he may have actually just killed his baby! Neat? Also something I like about Yhorm is while his health bar seems daunting, the Storm Ruler isn't necessary for the fight, since headshots deal massive damage. This can be achieved with both ranged damage and staggering him. He's actually really well thought out, it's super interesting that he can't be brute forced, but he can be solved in two ways.
49:49 another awesome thing about Midir is the "Head Openings" make sense in the context of the story as well. Because he's both blind and probably rabid from the abyss eating away at him, it makes total sense that he would leave his head exposed like this. S tier boss still, and I think Midir still stands above Bayle, mainly because Bayle's flame lightning has some pretty awkward jank to it.
My strongest memory of pontiff was learning that sully can just be shrecked in phase 2 by great club for some reason. Warcry will cleave through both sully and his clone, and you can pretty regularly just charged heavy as he summons the clone, chain heavy trade, kill the clone due to damage and stance break sully, repost him, drink off any trades. Do it again as soon as he tries to summon again.
I love your videos and I'm happy to finally be able to comment on one at the release ! I think this is the first time that I agree so much with a ranking of this game's bosses. I just want to say that the Dragonslayer Armor is so mutch underrated in my opinion, I find its moveset just perfect, everything is incredibly satisfying to dodge, and like Lorian and Gael, it feels like dancing when you master it. But obviously Gael is unbeatable ! Aside from Isshin maybe, I don't see any boss in the entire series that can compare to him.
Oh so that's why Madir remains the one boss I never beat in DS 1 to 3. I haven't revisited the game since around the time the DLC dropped. I saw a lot of strategies that were like Sinh's strategy. I never could beat Madir and I had no idea you should fight it from the front.
I only had nameless king at my number 1 spot cuz it took me 3 hrs to defeat him for the 1st time. Rest all took me like an hour at most, but each and every boss of game is great and i do agree with your rankings.
Great to see the praise for Sister Friede fight, it's one of my favorite FromSoft fights, but it's probably the one I see the most salty comments about lol. Your top 5 is exactly the same as mine with the exception that my 5th is the Twin princes
Yorn the giant is such a good fight in my opinion cause i didnt know about the sword behind the throne and his attack are very easy to read so it feel like a dance
I think we should start ranking bosses in 2 different ways , one based on your first playthrough and one based after multiple playthrough cuz some bosses are just made to wow you in your first time or became pretty easy after you understand it or master it
Absolutely goated list, just finished my SL1 run and this is almost the exact rankings i would put for all the bosses, personally i prefer Friede and Midir over Gael tho but its close. I feel like Demon Prince and Friede are the hardest bosses in the game they both took me over 5 hours to learn at SL1 because they are SO hard to do hitless
I also agree with what you said about dancer i did her hitless but i genuinely think i got lucky as i really struggle with seeing what attack she is going to do next
Nice list, for me top 10 would be slightly different: 10. Dancer 9. SoC 8. Abyss Watcher 7. Demon Prince 6. Dragonslayer Armour 5. Twin Princes 4. Nameless King 3. Friede 2. Midir 1. Gael
Random trivia about boss from place no. 1 (place well deserved) can be riposted, but how you do it makes it very unique. Normally he can be stunned which breaks his animation, but if you stagger him with the headshot, he has a unique animation (akin to headshoted Troll in Elden Ring) - if you approach him VERY fast and press regular attack, you will get the riposte (best for it are Claws and Oniriki & Ubadachi) However, for some reason he has no unique animation, if riposte kills him. He just gets up and dies, which looks weird to say the least.
I hate when youtuber says: this music is so good and then they don't play it. Just add 5-10 seconds it won't hurt you, you can skip it and not everyone remembers every boss ost
@@solaireofcatarina44 Ideally that’s actually how I’d like to do it, but I got the feeling that a lot of people would find it redundant since basically the entire upper half of the list would need a dedicated music segment
You know, I kinda agree with it being redundant, but maybe the music can be amped up in the background when you talk about it so it doesn’t take extra time off the video.
@@chadofastora idk maybe pley most of the theme in the background as you talk as rhe other comment suggested and then omay the most epic part at the end of the boss opinion for like 5 seconds
You said you feel that placing Dancer at #12 might be controversial ...To me, the fact that Dancer is "only" #12 speaks for the quality of the bosses in this game.
You know, sometimes I kinda dunk on the crappy early game bosses and Yhorm, but you’re right that the top 12 in this game are actually incredible bosses. Damn I need to do some reassessment here
A few days ago I finished my first sl1 run of ds3 and the 2nd worst part of the run was fact that I beat Gael on my third try. Like, I was so excited to get my ass handed to me by my favorite boss in the game and really learn the fight but apparently I’ve already “gotten good” at the fight which kinda pisses me off. If only I could forget the fight and relearn it all over again😔 Also, if you were wondering, the worst part of the run was Halflight. Fuck that boss. Also, also, great video. Very much enjoyed👍
What’s crazy is every boss in your top 12 is an S tier in my books. That’s how good this game is. Soul of cinder is fromsofts best boss in their history though I’d say
@@firstorderblade4432 Yeah, the boss quality is pretty peak. Presentation-wise I agree soul of cinder is one of the best, I just think he’s outshined by others in terms of gameplay
@@chadofastora I disagree. I can see why you wouldn't have as much fun dodging him, but he does have the largest moveset in the entire fromsoft series, and his music, presentation, arena, and lore all make up for any small flaws with him. I recommend playing armored core 6 if you haven't, because I'd say that game has the only final bosses that can beat isshin and rival soul of cinder and gael for me
42:35 same here. I had beaten Sekiro but DS3 was my first souls game. I reached Pontiff and was obliviously using a raw infused small axe two handed without even unlocking the fastest shortcut (had to take the elevator down every time) and thought "well I had fun this far but these games are just too hard for me so I guess this is where my journey ends" then I finally beat him and new I could beat the game eventually. Still used a raw axe the entire playthrough though
i agree with a lot of this! personally not a huge fan of midir but being completely honest it’s just a massive skill issue (i hate fighting dragons cause i suck at them). i ended up embering up for him in pure rage. i really liked danger though, i think she’s really tricky because of her fight style but it’s pretty fun.
Legit just beat Pontiff. Top 5 Souls boss for me. The mechanic of him duplicating the duplicate's attack is inspired and really feels gratifying when you figure out that keeping them both alive is key to victory.
Slave Knight Gael in my opinion became my favorite boss ever like his ost the "blood of the dark soul" 2nd phase and the lore of the character himself. Gael is the unsung hero who outlasted the very gods whose age has long since passed, Gael helped make a better world with his sacrifice or in other words HE'S AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
I felt the same overcoming feeling about nameless king that you do about pontiff. Pontiff with summons is a murder-fest, and solo he is a challenge, but not half the challenge, nor the memorable spectacle that nameless is personally. A clear #3 in my own book.
Agree with pretty much everything. I'd put the gravetenders lower but that's about it. It's a fight i hate because first phase is a big time waster (for 0 engagement, the wolves like to keep the distance and do nothing) while the second is chaotic in the bad way. You must keep the great wolf in sight because the dashes come out from anywhere, like the guy rushes you costantly at his slow pace, it's like having a pebble in your shoes. Sometimes the great wolf ai breaks and he starts spamming the charges 4-5 times, the arena and the music are great but nothing more.
The best time I had with the game was my SL1 run. And my god Halflight was hell! Because he’s a parry god everytime he brought the shield out I pretty much had to stay away until he swapped. Which gave the painting guardians enough chance to heal him in between. It was so painful. On my 13th attempt, by some miracle another lvl 1 player came in as the boss instead and I just went ham on him! I wasn’t letting that opportunity get away 🤣
For Halflight you can use unparriable weapon like the whip or throw bombs. Not super effective but at least you save yourself an estus or 2. They could have given bro a more thematic shield. The one he uses is more fit of a knight instead of a scholar/sorcerer.
I ve played all of the fromshoft souls series games and I ve got to admit that no boss has ever given me that feeling that Gael gave me. By far my favourite boss. People tend to think that the harder the boss, the greater it is but I totally disagree. Gael is very difficult but totally fair and feels very smooth to fight him while having an excellent design and backstory and obviously that music combined with the fact that you fight him in the end of all things... It's just to poetic... Nothing will ever give me the feeling of fighting him again.
I recently beat the main game but i didn’t do the dlc yet but i gotta say nameless king is my favorite along with pontiff and also hot take vordt is a good boss to me personally he’s not top 10 material but he’s a personal favorite
I can’t believe I just watched an hour long video ranking a game I’ve already played to death 💀 Gael solos #1 spot obviously but Ludwig from Bloodborne will always have the best soundtrack
Ngl my personal issue with some of those bosses (abyss watchers, dragonslayer's armor, soul of cinder, pontyff) is just how damn little hp they have. Replayed the game like a week ago and man. I really feel like they should have from 30% to 50% more HP.
Not gonna lie, i had a way easier time fighting Midir by attacking his legs and tail instead of his head despite it dealing less damage. I tried the head strat a few times but it never ended well.
Hot take: The Spear of the Church fight is one of the best in the series. I love everything about it (Not Halflight himself) the player being the boss has always been super fun imo, and since you can't use Estus or Divine Blessings as the Spear it's wayyyy more fair for the Host unlike in DeS where the player boss can still use grass for example.
I pretty much agree with most of this tier list except for everything after Twin Princes lmao. I am such a diehard fangirl of them it’s crazy, I have to put them in 2nd right behind Gael but I wanna talk about Aldrich. I think as an individual boss he’s meh, but the context of his lore makes me really have to put him higher. fanservice be damned he’s an emotional fight (for me) he’s the culmination of what happens after you link the fire in DS1. Priscilla is presumedly driven out of her home and killed by the Devourer of Gods. Gwyndolin takes off his ring as a way to break out of the shell his father forced him in, and still gets killed all the same. Gwynevere has long abandoned Lordran and Lothric. all of the original divinity of DS1 has been shattered. Aldrich is the ultimate conclusion to DS1’s lore relevant characters- you even fight him in a broken version of O&S’s room. you know, O&S, the bosses that defended the illusion of Gwynevere. and the twisted version of Gwyndolin’s theme seriously drives home the tragic fate of all gods who lived for too long. it shows, to me, that the fire needs to stop being linked. it’s the message the games have showed us time and time again.
I don't like how people are split on the Crystal Sage "He's bad because he's easy" "He's bad because he's hard" "He's boring" Imo, the sage is just cheap. Every time I hear how easy the fight was, I just retort with "You got lucky". Sometimes, you really just blaze through the guy with no problem, and sometimes you get pelted with a flurry of spells that true combo you and there was literally nothing you could've done. The sage is one of the bosses where if you don't have the means to kill him asap, he's going to be more and more of a problem.... So like Wolnir, except worse in every way.
Gael #1. Homeless Santa just cannot be dethroned
@@Calimc07 FR
Oversized gnome kinda fits him better ngl
Gael is overrated he never was the best
I like Lothric/Lorian and Midir more
@@WeirdTroll666 fair and based. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion
We all know the best boss is the camera.
King of the storms disagree's
controlling the camera properly is a skill a lot of people seem to want to ignore lol
@@kara-uppercutcan definitely control the camera when I get pushed back into a corner by storm king
Not the best but definitely the hardest. It lacks a cool character module though, in my opinion.
@@linkiboi286 agreed
gael is so good he makes me start an entire playthrough just to fight him again, he's the only boss where i feel actually sad when i beat him because it means the fun is over
I get the same feeling when with Messmer. To me those two and isshin share the spot of peak from soft boss design.
It’s the only boss where sometimes I get killed right at the end intentionally just so I can face him again
@@BLP04 SAME
@@mannytprimeministerofthemanate I bought the dlc yet, im super excited to fight messmer
@@sofy2299you‘re not gonna be dissapointed. 3rd best souls boss imo
The redeeming factor of the deacons is their phenomenal music and nice lore
Also it's just fun to smack 20 priests witha. Big sword
We all know the best boss is the friends we made along the way
I think Yhorm is more fun when you realize the storm ruler isn't the only intended way of killing him. Hitting his hands will do extra damage PLUS open him for a riposte after several hits, which will take off a massive chunk of health. So u just have to learn to bait the moves that lower his hands to the ground then punish which is so much more satisfying than timing the storm ruler imo
I love cinder the most for the fact it's 1. Got many years of fromsoft legacy as it's whole backbone, 2. It's so varied that many different playstyles get tested differently, 3. Music transition and finality.
But the second one to me is Abyss Watchers, as 1. It's cool to try some tactical approaches with that chaos, 2. Guys are such a solid lore army and in combat they can adapt with some tricks, but are not bulletproof either, 3. Guys are LITERALLY the embodiment of non-online pvp, the corrupted Abyss Watcher and player are invaders, the 2nd Abyss Watcher is the phantom, and the main guy is the host. This 2v1v1 is very dynamic, exactly like pvp.
While all bosses have their unique elements, none of them tap into something so deeply ingrained into the games as Abyss Watchers' brawl and Cinders' series-wide lore and playstyle customisation
@@otamatonefan8996 Well said, I love how the lineup is so good that you could make a case for like half of them to be near the top
You didn't mention it but champion gundyr is one of the only bosses that can juggle you in the air with his knock up followed by kick. The only other bosses that come to mind is soul of cinder's 2 phase combo and Promised Consort.
Edit: I forgot Manus can juggle you and Gherman can too (Don't know how I forgot about manus, I think my mind willfully forgot about him due to ptsd)
@@johnbloodborne6158 True, but bro how’d you get there already? 💀
@chadofastora I skipped to see where you placed him since champ is my personal favorite boss
@@johnbloodborne6158 Ah, ok
Gherman can juggle you with his Scythe form.
Manus can Juggle you.
Welcome back! Since you mentioned NPCs so much, I guess making a ranking of best NPC fights in FromSoft games could be a fun list
@@stainie Perhaps
All of them are shit so idk. It's like ranking the nicest war criminals
Gael 1: Sitting in chair, relaxed
Gael 2: Slightly leaning forward in chair
Gael 3: Standing
Chad, my king…I’ve been waiting since I found your channel for this video and when I saw this upload I audibly exclaimed “YES” keep going boss. It’s awesome to see how your videos and you have changed and grown throughout the years
For me PERSONALLY the dragonslayer armour is top 5, love the fight
@@brokeboi6079 Understandable, it goes hard af
I understand you perfectly on Dancer man, even after doing SL1 I just can't fully understand her 2nd phase and it always feels like she does combos I haven't ever seen. I still find the fight very cool tho, the music is a banger and the style of her moves actually make it look like a dance.
Dancer is one of the hardest bosses in the game for me, took me more attempts than Sister Friede
I had a really hard time fighting her, but i love her design, dance attacks and the loud sound of her shoes whenever she is walking.
Gael is so good of a boss that he alone pushes me to genuinely FINISH dark souls 3 so many times just to fight him. That’s what a final boss should be.
Hey, just finished your video! Calling back to your first ds3 upload really made me think about how much you’ve improved over time man. This was so much fun to watch, keep on doing what you love!!
Crazy how you hadn't made this video yet. Thought this would be a reupload for sure, which means, another awesome video to look forward to watching!!
There are VERY few moments playing a video game where I felt the way I felt when fighting Gael.
Oceiros phase 2 actually can't do the instant charge unless you're either very very far away or directly under him, so you can consistently prevent it every time if you just leave a bit of space between you and the boss before he does a move (the space is not large at all, you can still stay aggressive). You mentioned that by staying behind the boss you can often prevent it but it's not guaranteed - generally if he's up against a wall he will get shoved towards the player so is closer after turning than usual, this is the time when he can instant charge.
Great video btw
@@AdmiralJub-xt6xw Thanks for the tip
I think Soul level 1 would be a fun thing to try if you haven't already. I have so many days played on ds3 the very little margin of error lvl 1 runs give you made me appreciate the bosses a lot more
The Red Eyed Watcher getting up to help you is honestly one of the coolest moments in DS3. It's so unexpected and adds so much more to their lore and the fight itself. It shows these guys have truly just gone absolutely insane, even helping intruders against their own brothers.
I have over 600 hours in this game and have beaten it 7 times in vanilia (couple more in convergence and cinder) and I am just learning that Wolnir has a sword. That better explains his soul transfused weapon.
It took me a while for Gael to become my number one, but eventually it did. The only thing I ever had an issue with him is that he was always too easy. I even first tried him on my very first playthrough. (not my first souls game though.) What eventually tipped the scales in his favor was my sl1 playthrough. Gael was most definitely not the hardest challenge on my path, but instead, he was just the perfect amount of difficult. I've never had a boss's difficulty be as perfect as Gael at sl1. I don't need the bosses to be hard for me to enjoy them, I only need them to be hard for me to get intimately familiar with their movesets. Once I've achieved that, they might as well deal no damage at all, and I'd still be having the time of my life. Thanks to my sl1 playthrough, I've gotten to that point with Gael, and thanks to that, he isn't leaving my number 1 spot now or ever.
If Gael was to easy what is difficult in ds3?
@ Midir took me multiple playthroughs to get the hang of, so I’d def call him (her?) the hardest boss in ds3. Friede also took me many hours but mostly because I was purposely underleveled. I don’t regret it though, that was a fun experience.
Champion Gundyr is still one of the best for me. He is just super fun to fight against. The pacing is good, the lore implications is nice, and best of all, his second phase is literally just putting in more effort. No theatrical displays of magic or powerups!
@@MQhelper FR, it’s just a straight up fight with no BS
Most bosses at phase 2: explosion, spirit clone, fire sword, meteorite strikes, nuking the whole arena, etc
Champion Gundyr at phase 2: stops playing around and starts trying
People always compare Sully and Rellana, but Promised Consort's combo in phase 2 is literally Sully's combo almost one-to-one.
@@ros243 FR
Demon prince in number 4 made me extremely happy considering how overlooked it is compared to the other bosses in the game.
@@Ryn9116 I feel like over the last couple years I’ve heard more and more people calling it top tier, but ya I think it’s pretty underrated overall
Sekiro and ds3 are my most played fromsoft games and it all comes down to the incredible boss line-up. After one or 2 playthrought bosses are the main factor that keeps the game spicy enough to replay.
@@saswag2004 True
I think soul of cinder is so awesome, for all the reasons you mentioned, but also because people had been asking for so long to use the bonfire sword, and Fromsoft goes “alright, it’s the last game in the trilogy, we’ll let you use the bonfire sword.
But he gets to use it first.”
Great list, demon prince is my personal number one especially cause the duo is perfect, off screen visual and audio cues, and the way they ignite and reignite to signal who's passive and who's aggressive.
@@alextapia8798 FR, it’s super intuitive
I think champion gundyr’s blandness works in his favor. No magic, no elements, no outside interference, no gimmick, just two people fighting to the death.
Champion REALLY puts the “fight” in boss fight
Fun fact about old demon king is that his last attack is everything he has into one big attack and after that he isn’t aggressive and tries to hit you but he can’t bc he used all of his power up but eventually he dies slowly or you can kill him before he kills himself very cool detail added to this boss
dude the feeling of “oh wow i’m really in over my head here” when fighting sulyvahn in the boreal valley. the area is the first area that gave me a tough time only to find the pontiff and get obliterated. the feeling i got after defeating him the first time still hasn’t been matched in any soulsborne or even any souls like game.
I’m so hype for this when I get done with class :) keep it coming man
You just convinced me, Sister Friede is my #1 fight, the second phase being 2 opponents at once, which are balanced perfectly, the third phase being so surprising yet so challenging, as much as I live Gael, I do find him a tad easy but Friede is just the perfect level of challenge and spectacle. Cool video
Pontiff at number 5 makes me so happy. He's my all-time favorite DS3 boss, even more than Gael, actually. Same for the ost, honestly. (The best part of the battle is when Pontiff and his clone both start comboing the shit out of you, and your camera flies around at mach 5 as its following them, and you somehow manage to dodge all of it. Best feeling ever)
@@ThePontiff113 His ost is top 3 for me fs, it’s so damn good, and ya there are few feelings in the game more hectic and satisfying than simultaneously dodging him and the clone’s combos
When it comes to Dancer, nothing will ever top the first time I beat her. I just went full ultra instinct and dodged every single move in her second phase perfectly. And yet, every time I've fought her since then I haven't been able to relearn her moveset. It's weird.
I'm so glad that i'm not the only one who was introduced to Dark Souls level of difficulty by the Pontiff Sulyvahn, dude was sooo hard at my first playthrough.
Friedes side stepping is pure bloodborne
Some notes on a couple of the mid tiers I thought would be interesting to add.
It's not actually really known if Oceiros is actually hallucinating. You can't see Ocelotte, sure, but even you can hear that baby wailing. Plus, it's already been established with Priscilla that crossbreeds with scaleless dragons like Seath and the mutated King can turn invisible... so he may have actually just killed his baby! Neat?
Also something I like about Yhorm is while his health bar seems daunting, the Storm Ruler isn't necessary for the fight, since headshots deal massive damage. This can be achieved with both ranged damage and staggering him. He's actually really well thought out, it's super interesting that he can't be brute forced, but he can be solved in two ways.
49:49 another awesome thing about Midir is the "Head Openings" make sense in the context of the story as well. Because he's both blind and probably rabid from the abyss eating away at him, it makes total sense that he would leave his head exposed like this. S tier boss still, and I think Midir still stands above Bayle, mainly because Bayle's flame lightning has some pretty awkward jank to it.
1 champion gundyr
2 nameless king
3 Gael
4 soul of cinder
5 dragonslayer armor
Watching my friends play DS3 is what got me into the series and it all started because I saw them fight GreatWood
My strongest memory of pontiff was learning that sully can just be shrecked in phase 2 by great club for some reason.
Warcry will cleave through both sully and his clone, and you can pretty regularly just charged heavy as he summons the clone, chain heavy trade, kill the clone due to damage and stance break sully, repost him, drink off any trades. Do it again as soon as he tries to summon again.
I love your videos and I'm happy to finally be able to comment on one at the release !
I think this is the first time that I agree so much with a ranking of this game's bosses. I just want to say that the Dragonslayer Armor is so mutch underrated in my opinion, I find its moveset just perfect, everything is incredibly satisfying to dodge, and like Lorian and Gael, it feels like dancing when you master it. But obviously Gael is unbeatable ! Aside from Isshin maybe, I don't see any boss in the entire series that can compare to him.
Oh so that's why Madir remains the one boss I never beat in DS 1 to 3. I haven't revisited the game since around the time the DLC dropped. I saw a lot of strategies that were like Sinh's strategy. I never could beat Madir and I had no idea you should fight it from the front.
Am watching this on my first play through and before this I didn't even know that wolnir had a sword 😭
I only had nameless king at my number 1 spot cuz it took me 3 hrs to defeat him for the 1st time. Rest all took me like an hour at most, but each and every boss of game is great and i do agree with your rankings.
Great to see the praise for Sister Friede fight, it's one of my favorite FromSoft fights, but it's probably the one I see the most salty comments about lol. Your top 5 is exactly the same as mine with the exception that my 5th is the Twin princes
Halflight is unironically one of my top 5 favorites. Having a boss punish R1 spam is great and helps teach players to play more diverse.
Yorn the giant is such a good fight in my opinion cause i didnt know about the sword behind the throne and his attack are very easy to read so it feel like a dance
Right its just a test of endurance without the sword, how long can u dodge
Soul of cinder was best ds boss for me, the emotions, music, how he stares at Dying sun at last breath it was damn perfection.
fighting dragon slayer armor with nothing but wrath of the gods has made the fight one of my favorites of all time
something else that ive found about the crystal sage is that they always spawn on the opposite end of the area from you
The wispy dragon thing is the one controlling dragonslayer armor
BRO COOKED 🗣🔥
NOW THE HOUSE IS BURNED DOWN 🗣🗣🔥🔥
I think we should start ranking bosses in 2 different ways , one based on your first playthrough and one based after multiple playthrough cuz some bosses are just made to wow you in your first time or became pretty easy after you understand it or master it
@@Nello_angelo That’s actually a neat idea
Absolutely goated list, just finished my SL1 run and this is almost the exact rankings i would put for all the bosses, personally i prefer Friede and Midir over Gael tho but its close. I feel like Demon Prince and Friede are the hardest bosses in the game they both took me over 5 hours to learn at SL1 because they are SO hard to do hitless
I also agree with what you said about dancer i did her hitless but i genuinely think i got lucky as i really struggle with seeing what attack she is going to do next
@@Finlay343 I beat Friede at SL1 yesterday, it was one of the coolest battles I ever had.
I even uploaded it it on UA-cam
@Lord-of-Gaming-007 nice, I just watched it, it was really good👌👌
@@Finlay343 thanks, I somehow managed to kill Slave Knight Gael too, and lemme tell you, that was the craziest and best fight I ever had
I was in a call with my friends when I fought aldrich, beat him 2nd try and was shocked to find out he was a lord of Cinder
I absolutly love the agresivnes of champion gundyr. He really makes you fill like hes the one who came to kill you, not the other way
Glad I'm not alone thinking this.
Him not finishing most of the bosses really provoked me
Nice list, for me top 10 would be slightly different:
10. Dancer
9. SoC
8. Abyss Watcher
7. Demon Prince
6. Dragonslayer Armour
5. Twin Princes
4. Nameless King
3. Friede
2. Midir
1. Gael
“Bro lives and breathes for the smoke” ☝️🤓
Seeing Gael S tier i just knew it was gonna be a good list
Bro, who in the right mind wouldn't put Gael in the S tier ?????
@@fishgiovaana8441Idk bro but just seeing him s tier makes me happy
If there's one thing I dislike? It's gimmick bosses, from wolnirs bracelets, to the ancient wyverns drop attack, to storm ruler
Random trivia about boss from place no. 1 (place well deserved) can be riposted, but how you do it makes it very unique. Normally he can be stunned which breaks his animation, but if you stagger him with the headshot, he has a unique animation (akin to headshoted Troll in Elden Ring) - if you approach him VERY fast and press regular attack, you will get the riposte (best for it are Claws and Oniriki & Ubadachi)
However, for some reason he has no unique animation, if riposte kills him. He just gets up and dies, which looks weird to say the least.
I hate when youtuber says: this music is so good and then they don't play it. Just add 5-10 seconds it won't hurt you, you can skip it and not everyone remembers every boss ost
@@solaireofcatarina44 Ideally that’s actually how I’d like to do it, but I got the feeling that a lot of people would find it redundant since basically the entire upper half of the list would need a dedicated music segment
You know, I kinda agree with it being redundant, but maybe the music can be amped up in the background when you talk about it so it doesn’t take extra time off the video.
@@chadofastora idk maybe pley most of the theme in the background as you talk as rhe other comment suggested and then omay the most epic part at the end of the boss opinion for like 5 seconds
Isn’t the boss music playing in the background of each section, though?
You said you feel that placing Dancer at #12 might be controversial ...To me, the fact that Dancer is "only" #12 speaks for the quality of the bosses in this game.
You know, sometimes I kinda dunk on the crappy early game bosses and Yhorm, but you’re right that the top 12 in this game are actually incredible bosses. Damn I need to do some reassessment here
47:11 bro was Bayle before bayle😂
It's funny that you make a Dark Souls 3 video of all bosses while i'm finally playing this game for the first time, what timing is that 😅
@@marlons.7840 Hope you enjoy it
@@chadofastoraAt the moment, Lothric and Lorian are giving me nightmares, they are so damn hard 😡
2:02 funnily enough, every time i play I ALWAYS get a real player, to the point I have to go offline just for the halflight fight
A few days ago I finished my first sl1 run of ds3 and the 2nd worst part of the run was fact that I beat Gael on my third try.
Like, I was so excited to get my ass handed to me by my favorite boss in the game and really learn the fight but apparently I’ve already “gotten good” at the fight which kinda pisses me off.
If only I could forget the fight and relearn it all over again😔
Also, if you were wondering, the worst part of the run was Halflight. Fuck that boss.
Also, also, great video. Very much enjoyed👍
@@1eyedmate271 It’s almost sad how Gael is so fair that he’s easy once you known him well 😭
What’s crazy is every boss in your top 12 is an S tier in my books. That’s how good this game is. Soul of cinder is fromsofts best boss in their history though I’d say
@@firstorderblade4432 Yeah, the boss quality is pretty peak. Presentation-wise I agree soul of cinder is one of the best, I just think he’s outshined by others in terms of gameplay
@@chadofastora I disagree. I can see why you wouldn't have as much fun dodging him, but he does have the largest moveset in the entire fromsoft series, and his music, presentation, arena, and lore all make up for any small flaws with him. I recommend playing armored core 6 if you haven't, because I'd say that game has the only final bosses that can beat isshin and rival soul of cinder and gael for me
@@firstorderblade4432 Well said
42:35 same here. I had beaten Sekiro but DS3 was my first souls game. I reached Pontiff and was obliviously using a raw infused small axe two handed without even unlocking the fastest shortcut (had to take the elevator down every time) and thought "well I had fun this far but these games are just too hard for me so I guess this is where my journey ends" then I finally beat him and new I could beat the game eventually.
Still used a raw axe the entire playthrough though
i agree with a lot of this! personally not a huge fan of midir but being completely honest it’s just a massive skill issue (i hate fighting dragons cause i suck at them). i ended up embering up for him in pure rage. i really liked danger though, i think she’s really tricky because of her fight style but it’s pretty fun.
Caraio cê é muito foda parceiro! Muito bons seus vídeos 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Legit just beat Pontiff. Top 5 Souls boss for me. The mechanic of him duplicating the duplicate's attack is inspired and really feels gratifying when you figure out that keeping them both alive is key to victory.
Slave Knight Gael in my opinion became my favorite boss ever like his ost the "blood of the dark soul" 2nd phase and the lore of the character himself.
Gael is the unsung hero who outlasted the very gods whose age has long since passed, Gael helped make a better world with his sacrifice or in other words HE'S AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
I felt the same overcoming feeling about nameless king that you do about pontiff. Pontiff with summons is a murder-fest, and solo he is a challenge, but not half the challenge, nor the memorable spectacle that nameless is personally. A clear #3 in my own book.
Gael is actually pretty easy when you know how to fight him, way less bullshit than Midir
Agree with pretty much everything. I'd put the gravetenders lower but that's about it. It's a fight i hate because first phase is a big time waster (for 0 engagement, the wolves like to keep the distance and do nothing) while the second is chaotic in the bad way. You must keep the great wolf in sight because the dashes come out from anywhere, like the guy rushes you costantly at his slow pace, it's like having a pebble in your shoes. Sometimes the great wolf ai breaks and he starts spamming the charges 4-5 times, the arena and the music are great but nothing more.
Remember that dragon has 8000 enemies behind him ;)
The best time I had with the game was my SL1 run. And my god Halflight was hell! Because he’s a parry god everytime he brought the shield out I pretty much had to stay away until he swapped. Which gave the painting guardians enough chance to heal him in between. It was so painful. On my 13th attempt, by some miracle another lvl 1 player came in as the boss instead and I just went ham on him! I wasn’t letting that opportunity get away 🤣
Ok putting wolnir below rotted Greatwood and crystal sage is CRAZY
For Halflight you can use unparriable weapon like the whip or throw bombs. Not super effective but at least you save yourself an estus or 2. They could have given bro a more thematic shield. The one he uses is more fit of a knight instead of a scholar/sorcerer.
2 handed greatsword users: yall had problems?
Iudex gundyr is actually favorite and his armor looks so cool
My idea is ariandels death being he falls back in the chair and the pot pours the fire all over him with him screaming
17:42 I that it was LUDEX gundyr but it’s actually Iudex wow, I feel really embarrassed. I’ve been calling him Ludex Gundyr my entire life
I played Elden Ring before any Dark Souls, and now I've played through ds3 twice. Midir may be one of my top 3 From Soft bosses (that I've fought yet)
I ve played all of the fromshoft souls series games and I ve got to admit that no boss has ever given me that feeling that Gael gave me. By far my favourite boss. People tend to think that the harder the boss, the greater it is but I totally disagree. Gael is very difficult but totally fair and feels very smooth to fight him while having an excellent design and backstory and obviously that music combined with the fact that you fight him in the end of all things... It's just to poetic... Nothing will ever give me the feeling of fighting him again.
I recently beat the main game but i didn’t do the dlc yet but i gotta say nameless king is my favorite along with pontiff and also hot take vordt is a good boss to me personally he’s not top 10 material but he’s a personal favorite
agree with most of the list and the Dragonslayer Armour, my favourite boss altough I don't think it's the best
@@Defileros Understandable, it’s so damn good
I can’t believe I just watched an hour long video ranking a game I’ve already played to death 💀 Gael solos #1 spot obviously but Ludwig from Bloodborne will always have the best soundtrack
@@Frozenstone72 It’s a close call on the soundtracks for me, they’re both so good
Excellent list, thank you for giving respect to Demon Prince.
Ngl my personal issue with some of those bosses (abyss watchers, dragonslayer's armor, soul of cinder, pontyff) is just how damn little hp they have. Replayed the game like a week ago and man. I really feel like they should have from 30% to 50% more HP.
Not gonna lie, i had a way easier time fighting Midir by attacking his legs and tail instead of his head despite it dealing less damage.
I tried the head strat a few times but it never ended well.
Hot take: The Spear of the Church fight is one of the best in the series. I love everything about it (Not Halflight himself) the player being the boss has always been super fun imo, and since you can't use Estus or Divine Blessings as the Spear it's wayyyy more fair for the Host unlike in DeS where the player boss can still use grass for example.
I pretty much agree with most of this tier list except for everything after Twin Princes lmao. I am such a diehard fangirl of them it’s crazy, I have to put them in 2nd right behind Gael
but I wanna talk about Aldrich. I think as an individual boss he’s meh, but the context of his lore makes me really have to put him higher. fanservice be damned he’s an emotional fight (for me)
he’s the culmination of what happens after you link the fire in DS1. Priscilla is presumedly driven out of her home and killed by the Devourer of Gods. Gwyndolin takes off his ring as a way to break out of the shell his father forced him in, and still gets killed all the same. Gwynevere has long abandoned Lordran and Lothric. all of the original divinity of DS1 has been shattered. Aldrich is the ultimate conclusion to DS1’s lore relevant characters- you even fight him in a broken version of O&S’s room. you know, O&S, the bosses that defended the illusion of Gwynevere. and the twisted version of Gwyndolin’s theme seriously drives home the tragic fate of all gods who lived for too long.
it shows, to me, that the fire needs to stop being linked. it’s the message the games have showed us time and time again.
@@kaiser9598 Well said, and ya I probably would’ve had Aldrich and the princes higher if I placed more of an emphasis on lore.
@@chadofastora thanks! I really enjoyed watching the video, you kept my attention for an entire hour!
@@kaiser9598 Glad to entertain
I don't like how people are split on the Crystal Sage
"He's bad because he's easy"
"He's bad because he's hard"
"He's boring"
Imo, the sage is just cheap. Every time I hear how easy the fight was, I just retort with "You got lucky". Sometimes, you really just blaze through the guy with no problem, and sometimes you get pelted with a flurry of spells that true combo you and there was literally nothing you could've done. The sage is one of the bosses where if you don't have the means to kill him asap, he's going to be more and more of a problem.... So like Wolnir, except worse in every way.
Damn, I might replay DS3 after this. I remember struggling a lot against Midir compared to Friede.
@@anon3631 Always a good idea
For me, Midir and Friede is easier than Demon Prince lmao
I never solo Demon Prince and never will but I always solo Midir 😂
My biggest problem with Pontiff is the fact that when you use prarry shield he is such a pushover
@@DariuszHerma Sadly true
My top 5
5.Midir
4.Demon Prince
3.Pontiff
2.Gael
1.Soul of cinder