It’s no secret thatElden Ringis filled with challenging Main Bosses like that of Mohg, Lord of Blood, or Starscourge Radahn (even though players always find a way of cheesing the most difficult of Main Bosses like that of Radagon). But,FromSoftwaregames always feature a wide variety of Boss Catagories from Main Bosses to World Bosses, each bringing a different array of difficulties.
Related:Elden Ring: Hardest World Bosses, Ranked
But, even the so-called Mini-Bosses can still put even the most skilled player to shame, whether because the Mini-Boss has a powerful arsenal of abilities or annoying mechanics. And while some Mini-Bosses inElden Ringcan be cheesed, others will need careful planning and lots of “Gitting Gud.”
Updated Jun 23, 2025, by Daniel Dilena:Even though FromSoftware explicitly designed Elden Ring to accommodate newcomers to the Soulsbourne, Elden Ring is still one of the most challenging Soulsbourne games in the entire series. And that’s because Elden Ring features dozens of unique enemies and bosses that force players to rethink their builds and strategies.
Bus, as with previous Soulsbourne entries, players manage to discover unique ways (through glitches) to defeat certain enemies or bosses, forcing Fromsoftware to tweak them. And due to these minor tweaks, some mini-bosses now deserve a place asElden Ring’s hardest mini-bosses.
13Borealis, the Freezing Fog
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Even thoughMountaintop of the Giants is full of unique and beautiful sceneries, it’s also the home of several bosses that can make even hardcoreElden Ringplayers look like they just started the game. One of such bosses is Borealis the Freezing Fog, a mighty dragon with several attacks that can cause Frostbite, which will cause players to have reduced stamina recovery and decrease Max HP by 10%.
But, to make matters worse, the location whereBorealis, the Freezing Fogis located is covered with a thick fog, making it extremely difficult to see, not to mention there are cliffs near its spawn location. So, thanks to its unrelenting frost-ridden attacks and being located in an area with thick fog, this dragon earns its place as one ofElden Ring’shardest bosses.
12Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble (Spiritcaller Variant)
The Godskin Duo have already proven their place as the hardest mini-bosses inElden Ring, so it’s no surprise that theGodskin Apostle (Dominula, Windmill Village)andGodskin Noble (Solo)are also some ofElden Ring’shardest bossesplayers can have the unfortunate experience of facing. Fortunately, players will not have to fight them together like the ones found in Crumbling Farum Azula, which makes the fight a little easier.
But, players will need to fight them one after the other, leaving little to no time to recover from the previous encounter. And to make matters worse, they’re immune to Scarlet Rot, Hemmorage, and Frost. So, players will need to come prepared with either Poison or Sleep greases if they want to defeat them effectively.
11Dragonkin Soldier of Lake Rot
Players will undoubtedly avoid enemies or locations with the Scarlet Rot status effect since it’s among the most potent effects in Elden Ring. And that’s why Dragonkin Soldier merits a place as one of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring since it’s located in the middle of Lake Rot, among the worse areas in the entire game. That means players will need to survive the onslaught of the Dragonkin Soldier and ensure they don’t perish due to the Scarlet Rot effect.
The good news is that there’s a way to avoid the Scarlet Rot status effect, making it a little easier to fight Dragonkin Soldier. And that’s by activating four pillars scattered around the area where the Dragonkin Soldier spawns. So, players should first activate all pillars, then travel back to the Lake of Rot Shoreside or Grand Cloister Site of Grace, and return to the boss. But, of course, players should also carry plenty of Preserving Boluses as completely avoiding the Scarlet Rot is nearly impossible.
10Cemetery Shade
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The Cemetery Shade is among the hardest Catacomb Mini-Bosses to fight since it deals massive Blood Loss Build Up. And as players that are well aware of this Status Effect, once the meter reaches 250, it deals a percentage of HP damage.
And to make matters worse, theBlack Knife Catacombsversion of Cemetery Shade is slightly stronger than the rest, which means a player will have to kill it within seconds of passing the fog or be killed by it. Fortunately, players can use Spirit Ash Summons, which makes the fight a little easier (and why it’s not ranked higher).
9Glintstone Dragon Adula
FromSoftwarewent above and beyond when introducing new combat mechanics inElden Ring. And one gameplay feature that stands out is Horseback combat, which is crucial when fighting the ill-omened Dragons of Lands Between. AndGlintstone Dragon Adulatests a player’s finesse when it comes to horseback combat since they’ll need to use Torrent to evade many of its powerful AOE magic attacks.
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Moreover, Glintstone Dragon Adula’s primary attackAdula’s Moonbladesummons a giant magic Greatsword that it uses to swing at the player, followed up with multiple cold shard projectiles. But, players that want to stack up on Dragon Incantations will want to kill this Dragon since it drops 3 Dragon Hearts that players can use at theDragon Communion Altar.
8Red Wolf of Radagon
Even though Red Wolf of Radagon has lower HP than the other Mini-Bosses inElden Ring, it has a near-infinite amount of stamina that it uses (or abuses) to dodge nearly every attack players try to make. On top of that, most of its abilities are wide-range attacks, which means players will need to time their dodges perfectly.
But, what makes this Mini-Boss difficult is that there’s no Site of Grace near the fight, which means players will need to fight several enemies before reaching him again. And players that already have visitedRaya Lucaria Academyknow that it’s filled with Pendulum Statues and Lazuli Sorcerers.
7Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella
Many players are fooled when they first faceDragonkin Soldier of Nokstellasince most of its attacks are slow and predictable. However, Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella’s second phase is where players quickly notice that it’s no longer a sluggish beast but rather a powerful speed demon.
And that’s because it gains several new Frost-based attacks that cause severe Frost Build Up. Fortunately, players don’t have to face this horrid creature until they are well into Ranni’s questline since it involvestraveling to Nokstella, Eternal City.
6Decaying Ekzykes
As many veteran Souls players know, Caelid is the Blighttown ofElden Ringsince it’s full of annoying enemies, most of which cause Scarlet Rot. So, as players can expect, most bosses in this region of the Lands Between will abuse Scarlet Rot, andDecaying Ekzykesis one of them.
Related:Elden Ring: Crafting Items You Should Always Have Ready
This Mini-Boss Dragon has a whole arsenal of Scarlet Rot abilities, to the point even its basic stomp attack causes Scarlet Rot. And to top it all off, his Rot Breath has a large spread radius that’ll instakill most players. But, killing him is worth the risk since he’ll drop a Dragon Heart, so players should come prepared onhow to cure Scarlet Rot.
5Flying Dragon Agheel
It seems thatFromSoftwarewent all out when they added Dragons sinceFlying Dragon Agheel is yet another powerful Mini-Boss players can fight. And while this Mini-Boss has similar move sets to the previous entries, it’s the location of the fight that makes it tedious.
Related:Elden Ring: How To Cure Poison
And that’s because it’s located since there are dozens of Poison Pods surrounding the area, so players must also avoid them if they want to survive the battle. But, players aiming to have a Dragon Incantation build will need to kill him to unlock Agheel’s Flame, which is a strong fiery attack.
4Leonine Misbegotten
Leonine Misbegottenis one of the few Mini-Bosses that’ll punish a player for panic rolling. And that’s because it unleashes a flurry of attacks that are quick and near-impossible to block (unless the player uses the Ash of War: Barricade Shield). Moreover, Leonine Misbegotten uses a lot of jump attacks that deal Pierce Damage.
Fortunately, beating Leonine Misbegotten rewards the player withone of the best Strength Weapons in the game:Grafted Blade Greatsword. And after defeating Edgar the Revenger (part of Irina’s questline), players will receive a Banished Knight’s Halberd (+8).
