While there is no absolute right way to progress in Elden Ring, there are routes players can take to ensure they don’t make the game too difficult. Furthermore, if you’re replaying the game, you’ll need to know which bosses are mandatory to take down to complete a successful fresh of New Game Plus run.
Most of the areas players can progress into will feature a main boss, and certain bosses are easier than others. The backend of the game also features a noticeable hike in the number of mandatory bosses you’ll be encountering.
Of course, determining the order in which you kill the bosses in Elden Ring is completely reliant on what kind of experience you want to have; you don’t even need to beat every single main demigod boss you come across. To gain access to Leyndell, Royal Capital—which is where the bulk of the game’s major story progression and boss encounters can be found—you only need to defeat two demigods and acquire two Great Runes. Still, we recommend doing everything Elden Ring has to offer, especially its world-class boss fights.
Here’s our recommended boss order for Elden Ring. This list features every major boss that you absolutely should not skip, especially on your first playthrough. These boss fights are not only needed to beat Elden Ring, but each of them are the “greatest hits” of this game. You don’t want to miss out on them.
Best Elden Ring boss order: What order should you fight bosses in Elden Ring?
- Margit, the Fell Omen
- Godrick the Grafted
- 3) Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
- Starscourge Radahn
- Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
- Godfrey, First Elden Lord (Golden Shade)
- Morgott the Omen King
- Fire Giant
- Godskin Duo
- Beast Clergyman / Maliketh, the Black Blade
- Sir Gideon Ofnir
- Godfrey, First Elden Lord / Hoarah Loux
- Radagon of the Golden Order
- Elden Beast
- Mohg, Lord of Blood
- Malenia, Blade of Miquella
To break it down, players can beat Godrick, Rennala, Radahn, and Rykard all before accessing Leyndell to face the Golden Shade and Morgott. Once you’ve defeated Morgott, you can run the gauntlet between the Fire Giant and Crumbling Farum Azula, where Maliketh will be the last obstacle before you re-enter Leyndell one last time.
Once Maliketh is defeated, players will go to Leyndell, Ashen Capital, and go through the final section of the game, where Gideon, Godfrey, Radagon, and the Elden Beast will be waiting for you to close things out.
We recommend saving Mohg and Malenia for after you beat the Elden Beast, as they can be two of the most time-consuming and skill-demanding bosses in Elden Ring.
Of course, several of these bosses are not required. Only some combination of two of the first four bosses is mandatory. We took down Godrick the Grafted and Rennala to gain access to Leyndell, but any combination of Godrick, Rennala, Radahn, and Rykard will suffice.
The only required boss in the northern regions is the Fire Giant, as it guards a location to progress the main story. Malenia and Mohg are optional bosses that are accessed via a different area. Maliketh and the final three bosses are not optional, as all are needed to progress the story and complete the game.
How many main and mandatory bosses are in Elden Ring?
You can get through Elden Ring by defeating the minimum amount of bosses. This is especially useful for players who want to run through New Game Plus runs and achieve all of the different endings Elden Ring has to offer quickly.
To breeze through Elden Ring‘s bosses in a quick and timely manner, we recommend completing the game by only taking down these 10 mandatory bosses:
- Godrick the Grafted
- Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
- Godfrey, First Elden Lord (Golden Shade)
- Morgott the Omen King
- Fire Giant
- Godskin Duo
- Maliketh, the Black Blade
- Sir Gideon Ofnir
- Godfrey, First Elden Lord / Horah Loux
- Radagon / Elden Beast
Once you get through Leyndell the first time and start to progress through the Mountaintops of the Giants (and eventually, Crumbling Farum Azula), you’ll notice the game gets much faster. Bosses come in waves, and downtime between mandatory fights decreases.
The list we put together allows players to access most of Elden Ring’s content, while still allowing you to achieve whatever goals you might have. Keep in mind if you want the Ranni ending or Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, you’ll need to defeat the bosses associated with those endings, in addition to the mandatory fights above.
