While all three Dark Souls games (and all of FromSoftware’s other “Souls-like” titles) place great emphasis on bosses, Dark Souls III (DS3 from here on out for simplicity’s sake) arguably features some of the best fights in the series. Indeed, paired with DS3’s smooth, refined gameplay and the sheer depth of its build customization, many of the boss battles deliver on all fronts and then some.
Let’s cut right to the chase and discuss the cream of the crop: the Top 10.
Spoilers ahead!
10. Champion Gundyr
FromSoftware is no stranger to recycling bosses, but that’s not always a bad thing. Champion Gundyr—a rehash of DS3’s introductory boss, Iudex Gundyr—is among the best examples.
Far more aggressive than his predecessor, Champion Gundyr also lacks Iudex’s corrupted, lizard-like second phase. Instead, get his health low enough and his eyes will glow red, triggering a series of completely new attacks. Whatever confidence first-timers may have had coming in (“I’ve fought this guy before!”) is soundly shattered.
The Untended Graves where you fight Champion Gundyr also make for a striking boss arena. Though technically the same location as the Cemetery of Ash, where you previously fought Iudex, the Graves are shrouded by nightfall, the dark kept at bay by nothing more than eerie candlelight.
9. Abyss Watchers
The first thing you see upon entering the Abyss Watchers’ room is one of them killing another, with the rest of the bodies strewn about the room like so much chopped liver. Strange, then, that the health bar reads “Abyss Watchers” when you’re only fighting one enemy… until you aren’t.
Without warning, another Abyss Watcher rises, and then another. It caps out at three, but it doesn’t stop the fight from devolving into utter chaos: The Abyss Watchers will swing at whoever’s closest, be it you or one of their own.
After all three are put down, a cutscene plays in which the last to fall absorbs the power of his dead comrades, causing him to resurrect and his sword to light aflame. This final, fiery challenge is amped up by several new attacks and a steeper health bar.
8. Twin Princes
Perched atop a tall dais, Prince Lothric declares his lack of interest in “the mantle of lords,” and is happy to sit back while his elder brother, Prince Lorian, dispatches you. Though crippled to the point where he must crawl along the floor, Lorian compensates with the ability to teleport and a massive, flaming greatsword. Those who underestimate him will be sorry.
Lorian’s death doesn’t signify victory, however: Lothric teleports to his brother’s side, bids him rise with a touch of magic, and latches onto his back. Now, in classic Dark Souls fashion, you’re suddenly fighting two bosses at once, contending with both Lorian’s aggression and Lothric’s spells.
In this second phase, each prince gets their own health bar, but Lothric’s is the important one, as he’ll resurrect Lorian again and again. Even so, killing Lorian helps tremendously, as it leaves the frail Lothric vulnerable while he musters his necromancy.
7. Demon in Pain and Demon From Below / Demon Prince
As the first boss encounter of DS3’s final DLC The Ringed City (and thus the final batch of new Dark Souls content ever), the Demon in Pain and the Demon From Below have the tough task of setting the tone. Luckily, they’re as awesome to fight as they are to look at.
While one’s burning up, the other is spewing toxic clouds; when one switches from fire to poison or poison to fire, the other isn’t far behind. It makes it hard to decide what sort of armor you want to prioritize (unless you’re into "Fashion Souls," that is.)
Your reward for defeating them? Why, the Demon Prince, of course! The corpse of whichever of the first two you defeated last sparks to life, sprouting bat-like wings and abandoning poison altogether for enhanced pyromancy. Swooping and slashing his way across the humongous arena, the Demon Prince has no problem closing the distance or retreating as needed, and is armed with some disconcertingly powerful attacks. Welcome to The Ringed City.
6. Pontiff Sulyvahn
Entering the cathedral where Pontiff Sulyvahn stands vigil is one of the most surreal experiences in DS3, if not all of gaming. The accompanying musical track is peaceful, almost dreamlike. Sulyvahn approaches from the end of a long, pew-lined aisle, not a hint of haste in his step. It makes you wary, but all you can do is press forward. When you’re close enough, his greatswords begin to glow—one licked with flame, the other radiating magic. Then… he charges.
Striking fast and hard, mercy is not in Sulyvahn’s vocabulary. That becomes even more true in his second phase, during which he sends out a clone of himself. The clone moves slightly before Sulyvahn, allowing you to anticipate his upcoming movements, but the fact remains that there are four swords to deal with—not to mention magical projectiles flying around. And the way the soundtrack amps up? It’ll send chills up your spine, guaranteed.
5. Darkeater Midir
Despite the countless fantasy stories they’ve appeared in, dragons never seem to lose their appeal. They have a certain aura about them few other fantastical creatures can contend with. Darkeater Midir is no exception to this unspoken rule, inspiring awe the likes of which most other bosses in the series could only dream of.
You cross paths with Midir several times throughout The Ringed City (including a mini-boss battle of sorts), but the real fight is something else entirely. Everything about him, from his deafening roar to his complete and utter disregard for your health bar, is absolutely insane. There’s simply no other word for it.
Midir has all the attacks you’d expect a dragon to have, able to rend you asunder with his claws and light up the cavern like a raging inferno. What sets him apart is the ability to use dark magic and shoot lasers—which, by the way, leave trails of explosions in their wake. Getting yourself to stop quaking in your boots is the first step of many to conquering this great and tragic beast. Good luck, Ashen One.
4. Soul of Cinder
Final bosses are the most difficult of all to get right. How do the developers close things out in a way that makes sense storywise/lorewise, maintains and amplifies the game’s legacy, and, most importantly, is satisfying for the player? That depends on the game, but DS3's Soul of Cinder definitely ticks off all those boxes.
As the embodiment of those who’ve linked the fire across the ages, the Soul of Cinder can call upon a vast array of abilities you yourself may have used. It effortlessly shifts between four different movesets, each showcasing a unique weapon and subset of magic (except the magic-less straight-sword phase).
Just when you think you’ve won, the Soul of Cinder generates an entirely new health bar (happens a lot in this game, doesn’t it?) And then, something amazing happens: It adopts Gwyn’s moveset from Dark Souls, accompanied by his tear-inducing musical theme. With Gwyn being the first Lord of Cinder, there was no better way to show that, here, at the end, everything’s come full circle. Words alone can’t do it justice.
3. Sister Friede
FromSoftware left a message at the very beginning of the Ashes of Ariandel DLC: “Before one faces the painting, one should face the depths of Lothric Castle”—a nicer way of sounding off Dark Souls infamous catchphrase “Prepare to die.” This is especially true of Sister Friede, who, from the moment you meet her (as an NPC), wants you to let Ariandel be—after all, you’d only get in the way of her machinations.
The fight plays out in three stages, each more incredible than the last: The first pits you against Friede and her icy scythe, which—along with invisibility—harkens back to Crossbreed Priscilla from Dark Souls’s Painted World of Ariamis. The second adds Father Ariandel to the mix, the giant keeper of this world who wields a fire-producing bowl the size of a small pool. The third is just Friede again… only now, she gains a second scythe capable of blackflame attacks (which is even scarier than it sounds) and is more agile than ever, leaping about the room as you struggle to keep track of her. A spectacular ending to a spectacular DLC.
2. Slave Knight Gael
The Soul of Cinder may be the final boss of the base game, but as the final boss of DS3’s final DLC, Slave Knight Gael is the final Dark Souls boss ever. And, boy, does he put on quite a finale.
In pursuit of his single-minded mission to obtain the blood of the dark soul, Gael goes to the most extreme lengths imaginable. You find him devouring the Ringed City’s pygmy lords, his humanity—and sanity—all but gone. That becomes even more evident in how he fights: striding about on all fours like some rabid beast, wildly swinging his chipped and charred greatsword about.
Phase two changes things, though. Blood drips from Gael’s face, and upon realizing it’s the blood of the dark soul, he stands up proudly and faces you head on, more manlike now. He adopts a vastly different fighting style, integrating his magical cape into his sword swipes, deploying his rapid-fire crossbow, and casting magic as lightning bolts down from a darkened sky. Phase three hands over control of the lightning to Gael himself, which he's more than happy to use alongside his new combo attacks.
The epic scale, the escalation of the musical track, the sheer size of Gael’s health pool… it all comes together as the best send-off Dark Souls could have hoped for.
1. King of the Storm / Nameless King
Stepping through the fog wall and onto a bed of storm clouds, you gaze up at something descending from a higher set of clouds. It seems to be some sort of cross between a wyvern and a bird… and someone’s riding it. Someone with a weapon bigger than you are. Someone who knows you don’t belong here.
For the whole first portion of the fight, the Nameless King doesn’t dismount the King of the Storm once, but the two work together seamlessly. The latter flies around and breathes fire while the former strikes from above with lightning-infused attacks. You can’t hit the Nameless King during this phase, so the King of the Storm is your target—not an easy one to land blows on despite its size, mind you.
Fell the beast, and the Nameless King will have no choice but to step down from the skies. The intermediary cutscene tells you a lot about the close relationship the two had without saying a single word, but the time for sentiment has passed. Reluctantly, the Nameless King stabs his swordspear into the King of the Storm’s corpse, absorbing its power so that he might inflict a sound thrashing on the person who killed his friend—you.
On foot, the Nameless King is somehow even more formidable than he was from the sky. Overwhelming you with surprising speed, titanic strength, and lightning attacks galore, he’s the perfect combination of a seasoned warrior and a devastating force of nature. The encounter is just too damn cool for this world—which makes the clouds the perfect battlefield.