Demon’s Soulsis a game that we reckon many Souls players will inevitably be hopping into more than ever at the time of writing in an attempt to fill the void thatShadow of the Erdtree,Elden Ring’snew DLC expansion, has inevitably caused in their lives. However,if you do make the leap to the remake of the 2009 classic, you’ll find that things work a lot differently in this Souls game, such as the ever-confusing World Tendency, the fact that there is item weight in this game, and most importantly, that all the bosses tend to be puzzles to solve rather than fights to overcome.
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A lot of the bosses inDemon’s Soulsrely on gimmicks to provide a challenge to new players, and let’s just say this results in bosses as a whole being a bit of a mixed bag. Some are laughably easy, whereas others have fun gimmicks to overcome and provide a stern test. So, if you’re new toDemon’s Soulsand want to know which bosses will provide the toughest tests, we’ve got you covered!
We kick things off with a boss that I consider to be one of the easiest Souls bosses of all time, and one that really sets the tone for the lower quality of bosses on offer throughDemons Soulscompared to the games that would come later. Phalanx is basically a boss that mimics the Spartan war formation of the same name. You’ll battle against a swarm of Hoplite enemies huddled around a massive blob with a soft nougaty center, and you just need to pick off a few, create a hole in the formation, and hack away.
This is made even easier if you make use of Pine Resin and Firebombs, which are readily available in the area near the fog gate via enemy drops, as this boss is very weak to fire. There’s little to no threat of actually dying to this boss, and if you do, well, you’ll be in for a tough time moving forward.
15Fool’s Idol
Here’s another boss battle that is ridiculously easy once you learn how their gimmick works. The Fool’s Idol appears in the church at the end of the Prison of Hope area. This is a boss that seems impossible, as even if you kill them, they seem to keep reviving themselves. But once you realize that this is because of an NPC in the upper area of the church that must be killed first, you make this fight a fair one.
The fight itself sees you fight against duplicates of the Fool’s Idol, which will cast magic projectiles to stagger you and chip away at your HP. But these are easily avoided via pillars in the church, and you can also decipher which Idol is real rather easily, as the real one will not have a health bar when you lock onto them. With this knowledge, they go down pretty fast as they are relatively flimsy and have no answer to you from close quarters.
14Dirty Colossus
By default, when you enter a boss fight for the first time, you’ll probably try to get behind the boss and attempt to stay there and hack away in relative safety for as long as you possibly can. Usually, bosses will have a counter to this and force you out from behind them, and as a strategy, this usually won’t work on its own. However, in the case of the Dirty Colossus, this simple tactic will work just fine, as they don’t really have any attacks that will stop you from hanging out behind them for the entire fight.
Throw in that they are very weak to fire damage, and you have a strategy that is as rudimentary as it gets but works a treat. The only time you’ll need to move away from their rear is when they do their explosive AOE attack, but this is telegraphed with plenty of time for you to clear out and then charge back into position. It’s a boss that looks a lot harder than they actually are, so when you reach them, don’t sweat it; just get in behind and light them up.
13Adjudicator
Next up, we have the Adjudicator, a boss who really is only as tough as you make it for yourself. If you go in as a pure melee build, this can be quite tough, as the Adjudicator can one-shot you if you reach them early in the game, which you likely will. You can head to the lower level of this boss area and attack his cleaver, which will cause them to fall to the ground and allow you to attack their weak spot, which is the bird’s nest on their head. However, there is a much easier way.
If you have access to magic or have some arrows and a decent bow, you can take up a spot near the fog gate, which is out of range of his long-range tongue attack, and pop in and out of safety to take potshots at him. This effectively means that as long as you have enough resources, you can guarantee a win without taking any damage, and with the Thief’s Ring equipped, there are even more little nooks around the arena that you can hide. So, unless you’re a reluctant melee user, this boss is a piece of cake.
12Armor Spider
The Armor Spider is a boss that finds itself low in the pecking order for the same reason that the Adjudicator is down here. This boss can be a pain if you fight fair and take them on head-on with a melee strategy. However, if you run along the opening tunnel, zigzagging to avoid their web and fire attacks, you can then get to an area where you can hide behind aspects of the environment, popping out to cast a few spells before tucking into your safe zone. Do this long enough, and you’ll beat the Spider, taking no damage in the process.
Then, if you have access to the Thief’s Ring and the Cloak spell, you can cast this at the fog gate, avoid their initial wave of attacks, and then they will completely de-aggro, allowing you to shoot arrows from a distance until they go down. Again, it’s another fight that’s only as hard as you make it for yourself.
11Old Hero
When you first encounter the Old Hero, you may go in all guns blazing. Which you’ll immediately find out is a huge mistake as this thing hits like a ton of bricks, so taking it on in a slobber knocker is a death wish. However, if you sit back and examine the old fella, you’ll realize that they are completely blind and work off sound to find you. So, if you equip the Thief’s Ring, you’re able to run in, do a melee combo, and then change your position before you get clipped. Then rinse and repeat; it’ll be over before you know it.
you may use a ranged method to take the guy down, but this gives away your position and makes him infinitely more dangerous, so it’s much better to creep around and use the sneaky melee method to take down this guy. If he had 20-20 vision, he’d probably top this list, but thankfully, he doesn’t so use that to your advantage.
10Leechmonger
The Leechmonger fight and the Dirty Colossus fight are actually pretty similar in terms of how they play out, with the important caveat that the Leechmonger is more difficult. But only a little. The Leechmonger is also very weak to fire damage, so Pine Resin will serve you well in this fight, and the tactic of getting in behind the Leechmonger and swinging your blade with careless abandon works a treat here.
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There are only two factors that make this fight slightly harder than the Dirty Colossus, bumping it up this list a little. Firstly, this boss has a swinging arms attack that can hit you even if you are behind them, which means you will need to be on your toes when hanging behind them to avoid getting slapped. Plus, this boss can be hard to take down for low-level players because they have a Leech Life ability that will allow them to heal, which can make this fight go on indefinitely if they heal faster than you can damage them. However, if you’ve leveled appropriately and have some fire items, you’ll breeze through this one.
9Maiden Aestrea
In mostDemon’s Soulsboss fights, there tends to be a hard and easy way to win most encounters. However, Maiden Aestrea is a rare example of a boss who offers various methods of success that are relatively easy to pull off. The easier of the two is definitely navigating the plagued pool that leads up to her resting point, and then standing on a raised area, allowing you to take shots at her with arrows until she goes down.
However, even if you choose to take on Garl Vinland, you’ll find that he’s a bit of a pushover, too, as he’s not all that aggressive, allowing you to bait him to attack and then use piercing attacks when his guard is down. Or failing that, you may parry him to break his stance. Then, when he falls, you can simply walk up to the Maiden, talk to her, and she’ll commit suicide there and then. It’s not often that a Souls boss will literally kill themselves, so you don’t have to, which makes Aestrea one of the most thoughtful Souls bosses around.
8Storm King
Storm King is a boss where knowledge is key, because if you don’t do something very particular during this fight, you stand no chance of killing Storm King. This battle will have you dodging the annoying projectiles from Storm Beasts that have plagued you all the way through World 4. But you can take them down if you explore the area and find Storm Ruler upon a corpse. Once you equip this weapon, suddenly, it becomes crystal clear how to win this fight.
This sword has a special ability that can cast huge shockwaves that can reach into the sky and take down Storm Beasts and Storm King with ease. So you just need to take out all the mob enemies floating around, and then this frees you up to focus on Storm King. This can be a little tricky as there are a lot of projectiles flying around throughout this fight, but as long as you stay mobile and keep an eye on the sky, you’ll be okay as long as you have Storm Ruler in hand.
The Old Monk is a hard boss to place on this list because the difficulty is relative to the player that you happen to get assigned via the game’s matchmaking system. There is a chance that the game will not assign you a real-life player, and you’ll need to find the AI-controlled invader, who is a pretty tough challenge due to their bleed build-up and their homing magic attacks. However, despite this AI boss being a reasonable test, we simply can’t place this boss any higher because if you do get a human invader, it changes everything.
They could be even tougher, or they could be insanely weak, or better still, someone who is willing to let you beat them to a pulp as a noble deed, allowing you to beat the Old Monk with minimal fuss. It’s a boss that can be made very easy with some co-op planning, so it’s really down to the luck of the draw whether this one is a true test or not.
