In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, you'll be expected to face off against every kind of foe as you unite the clans against English leadership. It proves to be too tall of a task for most, but Eivor appears excited for the challenge.
On the journey, you'll be tasked with defeating some of the most terrifying and violent bosses that video games have to offer. Right next to these monstrosities, you'll also be steamrolling bosses that don't live up to their title. Easy or hard, it's fun to look back on your time throughout the game and think about which bosses made you sweat and which ones made you laugh. Significant spoilers are ahead.
Updated on June 8th, 2021 by Hodey Johns: Wrath of the Druids was a bit lighter on the bosses than many had expected, but they are all worthy of conversation. The new mechanics of several of them merited spots on this list, both because they are laughably easy or staggeringly hard. However, we didn't want to replace anybody, especially for those who only have the base game, so the original hardest bosses in the game are still here, we've just sprinkled in the new bosses.
14 Easiest: Ciara
The final boss in Wrath of the Druids is surprisingly easy to defeat. She's got a couple of stages to her, but even in the story, she readily admits that Eivor is the stronger combatant. The fight plays out as expected from there.
She summons multiple soldiers that are nothing special. They're easy to kill and she does not attack until these soldiers are defeated. On her own, she's even worse, her attacks are pathetically slow and the dodge window is easily exploited.
13 Hardest: Púca
The Púca was once an entire breed of creatures, but the numbers have vastly dwindled. You should be very grateful for that because the one Púca in the game is more than enough to deal with.
His yellow and red attacks are part of a combination; get hit by one swipe and you'll likely be taking on two or three more powerful attacks before getting an opportunity to get back up. His only weakness is when he dashes away to dig up a ranged projectile, but players who use heavy gear won't be able to take advantage of this moment in time and wind up getting smashed by a boulder.
12 Easiest: Galan, Son Of Mordeleg
Pro players have a thing or two to teach about Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but one would hope they don't have to tell you that standing in a pit with firepots and facing a wall during open combat is not a great tactic for victory.
That's exactly what Galan does, setting you up for the easiest stealth attack of your life, followed by a quick firepot shot to damage him for most of his health before the fight really even starts. He will eventually break the floor beneath him, which will send you both down a level, but you'll land without taking any damage and the next area has even more firepots that he'll stand next to. He really wants to die by explosion.
11 Hardest: The Builder
Unless you've decided to complete the game out of order, the first time you run into The Builder, you will be extremely under leveled. Your regular attacks, by design, do nearly no damage to him.
His one weakness is shooting an arrow into the top of his head, but even that's not doable unless you intentionally get hit by an attack that pops you up into the air. And there are only so many arrows in the room. This boss makes a lot of players quit and come back later.
10 Easiest: Tedmund
After a successful assault on Rouecistre Fortress, your last bit of mopping up will be Tedmund, who looks threatening with a one-handed flail and a shield. After a few moments into the fight, though, you'll be much more worried about how to upgrade your settlement than how to deal with this weakling.
Unlike other flail users, Tedmund only uses single swipe attacks with lots of warning ahead of time, even on his attacks that aren't red or orange. And the shield turns out to be his greatest weakness, as smacking it staggers him, allowing you to breeze through this battle.
9 Hardest: Fulke
Fulke is the most memorable antagonist in the game and it makes sense that the fight with her is equally unforgettable. She lures you to a room with a single light source and begins to strike at you from the shadows with a sword.
Then she will extinguish that light and you'll be forced to either fight blind or equip a torch, which is bad news for anyone using a shield or a two-handed weapon. After that, she's got a second sequence where she attacks with a large stone cross for loads of damage.
8 Easiest: Vicelin
Otherwise known as "The Compass," Vicelin's best defense is staying far away across a river of boats. You can sneak up on him or just let him see you, he doesn't have a ranged attack, so it really doesn't matter.
He only has heavy attacks with his two-handed flail and the windows to dodge are massive, meaning you'll never even need the best armor the game has to offer. The developers must have been aware of how easy the fight is because after he gets down to about 20%, Eivor will kill him automatically.
7 Hardest: Balor
Balor is an optional boss and thank goodness for that. He's brutal to the point where many players might prefer to just skip him, especially if they aren't trying to complete any collections.
Balor is likely the hardest boss in the game for players who specifically build for ranged damage. He's got an instantly ranged attack that does damage in a line that he spams and it's hard to dodge. In phase two, he rains fire from the sky both near and far. Oh, and to top it all off, he's the highest-level enemy in the game currently.
6 Easiest: Hogne Sea-Tossed
At first glance, Hogne is extremely intimidating. He's been preparing for a final fight for most of his adult life, he's got the same stance as Ivarr the Bodenless, and he's tied for the highest power level in the game.
But he has absolutely no special moves. Both his yellow and red attacks are slow and do little damage. Worst of all, while his stance is like Ivarr's, he lacks the dodging capability. As the cherry on top, he stands on the edge of a cliff, and crafty gamers will toss him to his doom in just a few seconds.
5 Hardest: Ivarr The Boneless
After spending a good chunk of the game seeing him as a morbid comic relief, it will come as a surprise that Ivarr is more than just competent in battle and fires off attacks faster than any other enemy in the game.
Boneless is not just a euphemism, he dodges attacks with incredible prowess, essentially forcing you to use a weapon that swings with instantaneous speed. And ranged attacks are out of the question since he'll fling axes at you furiously, so you'll have to stay close unless you want to get a combo that costs you your entire health bar.
4 Easiest: Leofrith
There's a lot of sizzle with Leofrith. He's hyped up to be a muscleman for the kind and his loyalty is the only reason the kind can stay in charge. But even without one of the game's best weapons, this guy is a total pushover.
First of all, he doesn't even have a heavy attack unless you make a mistake and attack him when he's parrying. Even if you do, an immediate dodge will still make the attack miss. His regular attacks take forever. He could blame the greatsword weight, but he also has a backhand slap (really?) that does very little damage and is also very slow.
3 Hardest: Basim
You've probably seen a smoke grenade or two in a video game, but nothing like what this guy is packing. He'll be totally obscured and has the chance to fire a ranged attack or slice you with a melee attack — you'll pretty much have to guess which one he's chosen.
The cherry on top is that you have to let him stab you to progress into the fight. No joke, he has to land at least one leaping blade landing, or else you'll fight him forever. With multiple stages in this fight and each one harder than the last, you'll long for the days when you were fighting Zealots at a low level.
2 Easiest: Rikiwulf
It stands to reason that the easiest boss fight is also the first one, and it doubles as a tutorial for players who are new to how fights work in Assassin's Creed games. Some skills should be taken early on, but Rikiwulf is easily dispatched with any skillset (or no skills at all).
Wielding a two-handed axe, the game even goes so far as to slow down time during his heavy and regular attacks, even on the hardest settings. The animations on his red attack start from far away before he charges in, giving you absurd amounts of time to dodge. Kjotve probably should have left somebody more competent in charge of guarding the prisoners.
1 Hardest: Fenrir
Fenrir has everything on his side. We can start with the prophecy, which says his destiny is to kill the character you are playing as, so that's already not a good sign. Even the most overpowered players should be a little bit scared of what Fenrir is ready to do to you.
His attacks would take forever to list, but he's got a lunge, a burrowing ability, a toss, a swing, a sweep, and almost none of it has any audio or visual indicators of when this will happen. The game taunts you with a couple of arrows on the battlefield, but they are ineffective and you'll run out of arrows way before the fight is anywhere close to finished.