The trials you face in the Dark Souls 3 DLC are some of the most intimidating and spectacular of the series. Both the Ashes Of Ariandel and Ringed City expansions have contributed greatly to the game's infamous, intense difficulty. Chief among these vicious additions are the new boss battles.
These bosses are brutal, being specifically designed as late-game content for players who have already done a significant amount of exploring and level grinding. Our challenge, though, is a little easier; ranking these trials, for you. Enjoy!
Updated March 7, 2023, by Axel Bosso: Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring's expansion, has been recently announced. That's why we are going over some older articles about FromSoftware titles, updating their format and style to keep them fresh and in line with TheGamer's changes. Let's go over all the bosses you'll battle in Dark Souls 3's DLCs in this list.
7 Halflight, Spear of the Church
To our minds, Halflight is a comparatively easy boss battle. Its strength varies more widely than other opponents found in the Dark Souls series because Halflight, alongside bosses like Judicator Argo, will take the form of a human PVP opponent belonging to Ringed City's new covenant, the Spears of the Church.
PVP battles are dangerous, particularly against players who are still playing online for a game that could be considered "older" by internet standards. Also, consider the potential for bandwidth discrepancies that may lead to action latency. One slip up, accidental or technical, could end in your unfortunate demise. On the other end of the spectrum, should online play be disabled, Halflight will be a standard NPC PVP variant and be far more easily dispatched.
6 Sister Friede
Despite being the final boss of the Ashes of Ariandel DLC, Sister Friede’s fight is surprisingly straightforward. The largest challenge is its length, as the battle goes through three stages that additionally feature Father Ariandel before the two combine forces into one powerful scythe master.
None of the three consecutive stages are particularly egregious, as they all follow fairly predictable, slow striking patterns. Once you internalize the aforementioned patterns, it becomes a simple matter of dodging. This fight is even easier with the Slave Knight Gale summon sign, which arrives during the second stage to split up the two opponents.
5 Demon Prince
Balancing two opponents is usually more challenging than handling a one-on-one, which is why The Demon Prince is less engaging in a fight than its earlier incarnation (The Demon In Pain and The Demon Below, we'll get to them later). Sure, the molten behemoth comes equipped with powerful ranged attacks that often limit the available terrain, but it's far more manageable as a single foe.
Like Sister Friede, many of The Demon Prince's attacks are slow and blatantly telegraphed. These strikes can usually be avoided by rolling into its body just like the strategy for Vordt of the Boreal Valley earlier on in the game. It's still a fierce battle, though, so don't get cocky.
4 Darkeater Midir
It's possible to miss Darkeater Midir entirely. Being almost a traditionally designed dragon, this optional boss in the Ringed City is almost bland by Dark Souls' usual standards for boss imagery. In comparison to other Wyverns in the series, however, Darkeater Midir is horrifically speedy, with AoE attacks that test the limits of even the best stamina bars.
A common Dark Souls strategy for draconic foes is to circle around behind the creature to exploit the hitboxes attached to their tails. Attempting this will probably get you killed. As we mentioned earlier, Darkeater Midir is fast, so prepare for a ceaseless sprint between its sweeping fire attacks and lightning-quick claws.
3 Demon In Pain And Demon From Below
Before they meld together into the singular Demon Prince, The Demon In Pain and The Demon From Below are a pair of heavy hitters who deal fire and poison damage to anyone foolish enough to test them. The only marked weakness these two possess is a special stab to the head, but that's only viable if they're sufficiently staggered, which is not easy to achieve. To make things even worse, bringing an ally hardly makes up the difference here.
There's more time to maneuver than it feels like, so be wary of overusing the dodge as you could very easily dodge into an attack with a slow windup. Physical damage is really the only way to go here, so take your time and look for the pauses.
2 Champion's Gravetender And Gravetender Greatwolf
This duo is met early on in the Ashes Of Ariandel DLC, and though they lack the multiple forms that later boss combinations possess, Champion Gravetender and Gravetender Greatwolf come packaged with a hoard of winter wolf minions to make things that much more difficult.
Champion Gravetender can block and parry, and Gravetender Greatwolf is mercilessly fast, so getting stuck between them is basically a death sentence. Don't get caught without an ally, take out the fodder wolves first, then focus on Champion while dodging Greatwolf, until it's just you versus the beast. Then, maybe you'll have a chance.
1 Slave Knight Gael
The final boss of the Ringed City DLC, and arguably the final boss of the entire Dark Souls series, is Slave Knight Gael. He appears early on as the warrior who lets you into Ariandel in the first DLC and can later be summoned to aid in the efforts against Sister Friede. In this battle, though, the powerful knight is corrupted, rabid, and terrifyingly unpredictable.
The first stage (he's the final boss... of course, there's more than one phase) is relatively straightforward; Slave Knight Gael follows a pattern that offers steady opportunities to inflict damage. The second and third stages, however, are designed to catch you off guard. His attacks patterns and animations become visually erratic, forcing you to stay alert. He can be riposted, if you time the parry perfectly.