Bloodborne: 10 Hardest Bosses, Ranked By Difficulty

The Soulsborne series is well known for its difficulty. In fact, it’s one of the reasons the series has become so popular. Bloodborne bosses are no exception. The gothic Victorian setting is horrifying, but the one thing more frightening still is the array of gruesome bosses Hunters will tangle with.

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Bloodborne has its share of some of the best and hardest bosses in the entire series. The game boasts seventeen bosses across the course of the main adventure, with another 5 fearsome encounters added with the DLC expansion, The Old Hunters. The Chalice Dungeons host a mixture of all-new encounters and some familiar faces, making for a total of 21 bosses to fight down in those labyrinthine depths.

15 The One Reborn

Like many of the enemies and bosses of Bloodborne, this one starts out as pure nightmare fuel, especially if you understand the lore behind it. For the most part, this boss is nothing tricky to figure out; it’s pretty big and slow but hits like a truck if you don’t time your dodges correctly.

This boss is only made more difficult as the walls surrounding the arena are full of smaller enemies with ranged attacks, requiring you to deal with them first before moving on to the actual boss. Between these extra enemies and the boss’s large health pool, this fight will be going on for a while.

14 Shadow Of Yharnam

Any Soulsborne boss fight is made much more difficult when you’re required to fight multiple enemies at once. Each shadow is the same size as the player, giving them small hit boxes and nimble movements just like the player.

Each ghost has its own strengths, and while focusing and killing one would seemingly give you the upper hand, it only strengthens those that remain. These bosses also have a range of ranged or melee attacks, all of which can be easily combined with the other shadows to send you to a quick death.

13 Micolash: Host Of The Nightmare

This is a boss that, on paper, wouldn’t seem like anything difficult to deal with. He’s fought in small arenas and has access to a few different spells, and just needs to be changed after a certain amount of damage is done.

While this may sound easy, you’ll quickly find yourself in hallways of unkillable enemies or getting blasted by an incredibly powerful spell with the ability to damage anything within a room for a massive amount of magic damage.

12 Darkbeast Paarl

Darkbeast Paarl can be incredibly difficult to overcome, depending on when this towering Beast is fought. Paarl is an optional boss and can 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 as early as possible).

Defeating Darkbeast Paarl in the early game is not an easy task. This boss deals a lot of damage and is fast, with its Lighting damage being used at a medium range. Its movement is erratic and unpredictable, and it’s an intimidating foe all around. Fighting Paarl at the earliest chance possible will challenge the Hunter to their limits, but there is the argument that the battle will be more manageable at around the “intended” level.

11 Blood-starved Beast

The blood-starved Beast is a horrific-looking creature that is relentless. Its big swiping attack from its right claws will certainly hurt, and if the Hunter gets greedy, its combo of vicious swipes can be difficult to escape from. Not only that, but this boss also deals lingering Poison damage. Blood-starved Beast is an early boss fight and is among the first to really test players’ patience, especially for beginners.

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The arena itself actively works against the player too, 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 will be very effective against this Beast.

10 Father Gascoigne

Father Gascoigne proves to be an early-game roadblock for many players. He is a mandatory boss and an opponent unlike any the player had faced up to this point: a fast, mobile, dual-wielding fellow Hunter, able to transform his weapon right along with the player.

Hunters who aren’t adept at parrying with a pistol and scoring Visceral Attack opportunities will have an even harder time here, as will those who don’t find the Tiny Music Box item (the sound of which will temporarily stun Gascoigne, in reference to his tragic backstory). On transformation, Gascoigne becomes incredibly aggressive, and compounding the difficulty further, the arena is small, and there are plenty of tight spaces in the graveyard. This can help Gascoigne catch the Hunter out. Sneaky players will find that they can turn this to their own advantage too, shielding themselves from Gascoigne’s attacks.

9 Amygdala (Defiled Dungeon)

Amygdala in the Nightmare Frontier doesn’t tend to be too challenging at the stage the player reaches the optional fight if they’re wary around its long limbs and can strike its vulnerable head consistently. The Defiled Chalice variant of Amygdala, however, is regarded by some as among the most frustrating battles in the game.

The Hunter’s health is halved in this Chalice Dungeon, and the arena is tiny, which makes dodging extremely awkward: Amygdala can just thrust the player into another attack. As before, striking the head wherever possible will deal optimal damage, and this foe has attacks that will leave openings, but it will require patience and well-timed dodges.

8 Gehrman, The First Hunter

Gehrman, The First Hunter, is deceptively agile, and his Burial Blade has surprising range and power. He can get from one side of the arena to the other in a second and take you down and also uses swift combos that are hard to stop. It’s a fast-paced battle for certain.

Gehrman has a few moves that can one-shot with extreme pace, his leaping attack being a particular threat. However, The First Hunter has one big weakness, which is parries. If the player has mastered this mechanic, Gehrman can be dealt with a lot easier. However, he still poses a tremendous threat.

7 Martyr Logarius

Martyr Logarius is a secret boss that many are lucky they never found. This boss is fought on a massive rooftop, and he has the ability to travel the entire distance of the area in seconds to deal massive amounts of damage in seconds.

This boss’s wide pool of attacks makes him very difficult to predict, and he will often be catching players in his devastating combos. He also has a ranged spell at his disposal, making him just as dangerous at a range as up close.

6 Moon Presence

The Moon Presence is the secret final boss of the game that many players may not even knows to exist. After a tedious hunt for the secret items for this ending, this boss spawns directly after German is defeated, putting you in a back-to-back boss fight.

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The Moon Presence has a powerful attack that sets your HP to 1, but the rest can be restored by attacking the boss quickly. This is a high gamble for the player, and will often see them dying in an attempt to save a few blood vials.

5 Lady Maria Of The Astral Clocktower

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower is found in the Bloodborne DLC. In essence, she’s a fast and unpredictable opponent, extremely similar to Gehrman, but slightly harder. Lady Maria is quick and has ferocious combos that will kill the Hunter in one go. She has two blades and can use Blood to her advantage, a transformation that gives her swords unprecedented range.

She attacks with style and ferocity, her attacks leaving elaborate trails that make it difficult to read where the impact will come from. Her combat style is almost like a dance, and the deceptiveness of her moves make it difficult to get a read on her. Seasoned Yharnam-dwellers, however, will be able to parry her at the right moments, which at least blunts her edge slightly.

4 Ebrietas, Daughter Of The Cosmos

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos, is an awkward fight due to her humongous size and her ability to fly. The goal is to get behind Ebrietas and send a storm of attacks her way. Ebrietas uses magic which will force the Hunter to keep running and moving, which often makes it a struggle to get close to her.

She has a big pool of health and can escape players’ attacks easily by flying away, leaving them in danger as they attempt to reposition. Also, when Ebrietas performs her crushing attack from the air, it can be extremely hard to dodge, which will often one-shot the player. Ebrietas may be the hardest boss that Bloodborne’s main game has to offer.

3 Laurence, The First Vicar

Laurence, The First Vicar, is the Cleric Beast on hard mode. This monstrous foe wields fire to his advantage, and when he punches the ground, flames will burst from it. It’s his final phase that makes him such an infamously difficult boss. He will crawl around the arena, spurting flames from his mouth, leaving lava in his wake. This fight requires a lot of running away and a ton of patience because if players keep wailing away at Laurence, the lava will take down the Hunter’s health rapidly. Laurence may not do the highest damage, but the cramped space in which he’s fought limits a Hunter’s primary defense: their evasion.

2 Ludwig The Accursed/Holy Blade

Most formidable enemies that have two phases generally become more aggressive and gain an extra attack. Ludwig changes his entire attack style, meaning that the Hunter has two entirely different deadly enemies to content with. He begins as a beast that charges at full speed, unleashing a flurry of attacks that cover a wide area and are hard to avoid.

Then, once Ludwig gets the Holy Moonlight Sword, he becomes Ludwig, The Holy Blade, a whole new entity. His attacks are precise and sweeping, and his beautiful, ethereal blade does a lot of damage. This fight essentially requires a few deaths to learn Ludwig’s two very different move sets, but it can be mastered. This infamous boss battle is among the hardest in the series, and in Bloodborne, only one final boss is more challenging.

1 Orphan Of Kos

Without a doubt the toughest fight in Bloodborne, and perhaps in the entirety of the Soulsborne series. Orphan of Kos is the final boss of expansion The Old Hunters and is worth the wait. The creature has a tremendous amount of health and all manner of tricks up its sleeve. Not only is it super aggressive, but it can fight both at close range and at range. The Hunter has to find a sort of middle ground to be able to strike quickly and retreat from danger.

When phase two begins, predictably, the fight becomes much harder. The Orphan of Kos is enraged and begins slamming on the ground chaotically. It will let off a scream, and waves of lightning will come from the sea. There is no other option but to wait for the perfect opportunity to hit Kos, and in the meantime, nowhere is safe in its small beach arena. This nightmare battle is the reason why some Hunters never see the end of the DLC.

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