Bloodborne is one of FromSoftware's best titles, and that's an opinion held by most of the Soulslike fanbase. There's just something about how incredibly creepy and otherworldly all the designs and mechanics in Bloodborne are, especially the bosses. But fans forget about the Chalice Dungeon aspect of the game a lot of the time, which is a shame considering it also has a ton of unique bosses exclusive to it.
And with the Demon's Souls remake on the horizon, and fans still thirsting for a Bloodborne sequel, it seems like an apt moment to talk about some of the hardest bosses throughout all these dungeons.
10 The Merciless Watchers
First and foremost are the Merciless Watchers who we almost considered not including since they're just repurposed monsters made into bosses. Chalice Dungeons do this a lot, where they'll just take a boss from the main game (such as the Blood-Starved Beast), or a difficult enemy type and ramp up their health a bit. We wanted to talk about designs exclusive to the Chalice Dungeons so most of those are out. That said, the only difficulty here with the Watchers is getting swarmed by all three of them or getting shot from behind while focusing on the melee one. But they're all so slow that it's honestly pretty difficult to even get swarmed in the first place.
9 Beast-Possessed Soul
Next up is the Beast Possessed Soul, another boss that almost didn't make the cut considering players can encounter it in the main story as well, but it's off the beaten path, so it's a bit more unique. That said, while the BPS is super creepy (like most bosses in BB) with its gangly limbs and bestial face, it's a pretty simplistic boss. It swipes at the hunter and uses Fire "spells" at mid-range. That's honestly it. Its over-aggressive patterns can seem overwhelming to new players, but anyone who has previous experience with Bloodborne will find this encounter more than easy enough.
8 Undead Giant
There are actually three variations of this Boss that are all slightly different. There's a cannon giant, the dual blades giant, and the scythe & club giant. All three versions fight mostly there same, but each one has one or two attacks completely unique to that variation. Personally, the club & scythe variation gave us the most trouble with its high damage, but again, this is dependent on the player. That said, these bosses are slow and telegraph their attacks incredibly obviously, so they shouldn't pose much challenge at all. Wait for an attack, dodge, attack a couple of times, wait again, break the "lump" each one has for massive damage, then repeat.
7 Watchdog Of The Old Lords
The Watchdog Of The Old Lords is one of the best boss-designs in Bloodborne's Chalice Dungeons, perhaps in the entire game overall. It's obviously inspired (like much of the Souls games are) by Kentaro Miura's beloved ultra-dark manga Berserk. In particular, the Watchdog takes inspiration from the "Beast of Darkness" in Berserk, which checks out considering that the Watchdog is highly aggressive like a savage beast would be. That said, as long as the player avoids certain key attacks and is careful of the quicker combos, the Watchdog is pretty easy.
Just boop it on the nose until its skull breaks, then break each leg for free stuns, and by that point it should basically be dead. It's really just that simple.
6 Pthumerian Descendant
The Pthumerian Descendant is like if the developers took the aggressiveness of the Beast-Possessed Soul and turned it up to 11. This guy will constantly come at the player, dodging around, swiping a couple of times, jumping back, then going back in for a flurry of combos. He can seem pretty relentless and while it may not look like there are a ton of opportunities to attack, but there are, the window is just small. Plus, this horrifyingly creepy creature staggers easily so being fully-aggressive back at him actually pays off. His second phase can be a pain, but otherwise, the Descendant is pretty cut and dry, especially compared to the Pthumerian Elder.
5 Pthumerian Elder
Oh hey look it's the Pthumerian Elder, a clone of the Descendant visually, but a completely different boss fight mechanically. The Pthumerian Elder is like if FromSoftware actually gave the Witches of Hemlock (one of the easiest boss fights) some spells to cast other than invisibility or summoning. This Elder is constantly changing the shape of his "staff" into many different weapons using Fire Magic, such as a spear, crossbow, a scythe, mace, and many other variations. Overall, because of his arena surrounded by a pit of death, his constant teleporting, and his wide range of moves, the Elder can be a tough encounter. But, once the player gets a feel for all his weapons, they'll find him a lot easier than he first appeared to be.
4 Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen
Some people might be surprised that the Queen isn't near the top of this list, given how she's basically the final boss of the Chalice Dungeons. But, while the Queen has an incredible boss fight with some truly interesting mechanics, her moves are pretty easy to read and most of the fight actually centers around chasing the "real" version of her around. Overall Yharnam just staggers quite easily and the only real annoying part of her fight is the Poison build-up and the Baby crying, other than that she's pretty manageable and enjoyable overall.
3 Bloodletting Beast
Next up is a boss that is likely at the top of many other players lists, but not this one. The worst part about this boss by far is the camera, which is a reoccurring annoying problem for other bosses in BB as well as other From Soft titles. We can't go into all the Bloodletting Beasts mechanics but the generally accepted strategy is to never lock-on to him and to try and just stay underneath/slightly behind his left leg the entire fight, no matter which version.
Serrated Weapons are insanely good so it might be worth upgrading the Cleaver or Saw just for this encounter, as it cuts down the fight significantly. Just play it safe, watch out for slams, and focus on surviving.
2 Abhorrent Beast
The Abhorrent Beast is a real monster in terms of damage and aggressiveness. He's constantly attacking and only gives the player enough time for a single attack between most combos, making the fight feel like a real struggle for survival. Luckily, if players caught on to the Suspicious Beggar and fought his true form in the main story, they'll have a bit of practice with the timing of this creature's attacks in general, which can be helpful. Overall, this fight is a test of patience and dodge timing, and will likely take a fair number of tries to beat. The best tip we can give players, in general, is just to dodge to his side to attack, as his flank is by far the area he leaves most open after an attack string.
1 Defiled Amygdala
Unlike the other reused CD boss fights, this one quickly became the bane of most players journeys through the Defiled Chalice Dungeons, unless they happened to have a fully upgraded Moonlight Sword or other OP weapon. The Defiled category of Chalice Dungeons is special because it forces the player down to 50% health while they journey through it, and this is the main reason why the Defiled Amygdala is so awful. First off, this version of the boss has an absurd amount of health. Secondly, most of its attacks can kill the hunter in one shot. And third, it has an obscene amount of arms that it moves around constantly and becomes highly aggressive at 30% health making a difficult fight even harder. This fight just takes forever, is unfairly punishing, and isn't showing off anything new, making it insanely difficult, but not at all enjoyable.