It’s not a surprise to anyone that Dark Souls is a hard game. When the games’ “You Died” screen is popular enough to become a meme, it’s pretty obvious. Whether looting your way through Lordran, dragging yourself through Drangleic, or lolloping across Lothric, the games present you with challenge after challenge. It’s also, however, an exceptionally fair video game. When you die, it’s down to you. There’s almost always something you could have done to save yourself, be it equipping yourself with better gear, dodging faster, or simply developing a coherent strategy for dealing with each enemy. This is a fact that the games’ community’s favored warcry of “get good” will hammer into you.
That is, it’s fair most of the time. Sometimes the idea of fairness is stretched almost to breaking point, other times, it can be genuinely cheap. In this list, I’ve gathered together a list of some of my own and the community’s biggest sources of frustration (whether for fair or unfair reasons), as well as some of the most powerful bosses you’ll encounter in any video game, let alone Dark Souls. Whether being turned to stone by frog-faced freaks caused you to throw your controller out of the window, being hammered into the ground by a giant gave you palpitations, or suffering against one particular enemy’s seemingly endless stamina ended with nightmares, you’ll find it on here. We all know we’re going to keep playing Dark Souls. There’s no feeling of unfairness that doesn’t fade into the rich tapestry of our love/hate relationship with the game. But sometimes you’ve just gotta vent.
15 Enemy: Taurus Demon
The first boss you encounter, the Taurus Demon is pushier than a waiter who really wants you to pay the damn check. The enemy versions of him that you encounter later in the Demon Ruins aren’t as big, but god damn, they still love to push you around. If you don’t stand up to them like a kid in an after-school special, it’s exceptionally easy to find yourself thrown off the area’s narrow walkways. Their aggro range is intense, and if you fight more than one at a time, you’ll be buffeted around like a pinball. High stability is recommended, and if you want a more exploity way to do it, you can still get in the blind spot between their legs and hack yourself to victory that way.
14 Enemy: Basilisk
Okay, so maybe you’re gonna think less of me for including the humble Basilisk on this list. Before you get your pitchforks, let me explain my reasoning. Few enemies caused me as much trouble as these little guys and their cursed breath (seriously guys, get that checked.) It’s fine that they can’t cause any direct damage, it’s copacetic that they’re deaf, but the amount of times getting cursed nearly made me quit the game within a couple of hours of starting it has left me with a burning hatred for the frog-faced fiends. When I started getting gear with good curse resistance, I’m pretty sure I went down in their scrambled history as being the worst enemy of their people. Easy as they might be compared to other enemies, they thoroughly deserve this ranking.
13 Boss: Pinwheel
Pinwheel, a name that lives in infamy among Dark Souls players. He seems easy enough at the outset. If you hit him, you’ll notice he’s pretty damn weak. “This is great,” you think. “I can shred this guy quicker than an NSA document!” Leave him alone for too long, you’ll find he pulls out his other ability. Like the Republic from Star Wars, he just loves to clone, and will copy himself as many times as you let him. The kicker? There’s no way to tell them apart from the real, genuine Pinwheel, until you hit him. If you run up to the real one, he might just teleport away, too. If you’re the cautious type, and don’t approach him quickly enough, you’ll find yourself in Clone City, population: boned. He exemplifies everything that is so right/wrong about Dark Souls.
12 Enemy: Skeleton Wheel
Skeletons, start your engines! When these guys roll out, you’d better hope the Chosen Undead isn’t patrolling. Dodging is the order of the day when dealing with these guys, blocking is a nightmare. Your best strat is to dodge their rolls, and then when they hit a wall like some cheap remote control car, you go and put them down. Also, for the love of all that is holy (or unholy, as the case may be,) don’t try and take on more than one at once. Multi-wheel collisions with you at the center are not good times. You find these guys in Dark Souls 3 too, but they’re not nearly as much as a threat. Their attack is shorter, giving experienced players some rare relief.
11 Enemy: Drakekeepers
Dark Souls 2’s Drakekeepers are an extraordinarily annoying enemy when you first meet them at the Dragon Shrine. Wielding heavy swords and hammers, blocking too many hits is a great way to find The Bearer of the Curse out of stamina. That, however, is not something they’re lacking. They are blessed with seemingly infinite stamina, swinging rapidly and easily at you, and can seemingly leave you punch drunk stunned for several seconds. Many players have resorted to, pretty understandably, just cheesing their way past them with poison arrows or throwing knives, one of the few effects they’re not resistant to. If you choose not to do this, and instead go mano-a-mano with them, expect a fight full of shield bashes, crazed swings, intense stamina disparity, and much cursing.
10 Boss: Bed Of Chaos
The Bed of Chaos is one of the most frustrating bosses in any Dark Souls game. It’s an incredible looking boss, with cool ideas behind it, that turns into a luck-based platforming nightmare. Dying to a boss that is hard but fair is satisfying. This one, however, it is genuinely cheap. It wants to knock you into holes in the arena, so you can die. The floor in the arena crumbles, so you can die. Blocking attacks takes a ridiculous amount of stamina, and then will also burn you later in the fight, so you can die. The upside is that the actual ‘boss’ character is exceptionally easy to defeat, composed of a small glowing bug, whose only strength is immunity to fire damage. Kind of a shame, as this whole boss fight should’ve been burned down.
9 Enemy: Rupturing Hollow/Undead Citizen
Dammit. Like less funny versions of the Kamikazes from Serious Sam, these guys charge at you, exploding before either you or they can say "AAAAAARGH!" The only sign that they’re coming, before you see them, is the sound of their chains rattling. Worse than this, is their love of hunting (exploding?) in packs, running at you and flopping onto their stomach before detonating. The explosion not only deals a bunch of damage if you get caught in the blast zone, but blocking the blast takes a huge amount of stamina, leaving you with a tough decision to make, especially thanks to their predilection for group bombing. Stick around the Aerie too long, and you’ll leave with broken gear, frustration, and the newfound flashback trigger of rattling chains.
8 Enemy: Jailers
Equipped —like a shop class teacher who’s had just about enough of your shit— with a lantern and a soldering iron, the Jailer’s persistent attack is straight up impossible to dodge or block. Holding up its lantern, it’ll drain your maximum health, and leave it low for a good while. What’s more, an attack from their soldering irons will leave you unable to drink from an estus flask, aaaand you can find them in groups. The Irithyll Dungeon is bad enough, playing host to basilisks and rats, but a group of these guys will drain you down like a barrelful of leeches. The best strategy is simply to knock them down, and if spotted in a group, lure them out one by one with a ranged weapon.
7 Boss: Smough And Ornstein
After getting riled up about the Bed Of Chaos, I’m glad to be back with a boss that’s hard, but fantastically well-done. These twin ten-ton terrors are a joyous nightmare to fight through, with Smough attempting to fee-fi-fo-fum you into bonemeal with a massive hammer, and Ornstein wanting to fry you up with thunder. Whichever you kill first brings the other back to full-health, and augments their abilities — no matter how much you play Dark Souls, it seems like you’re never ready for this. Killing Ornstein first gives Smough an electrified ass and more lightning damage, killing Smough first will leave you alone with an ultrafast knight who desperately wants to demonstrate to you how well all that metal you’re wearing conducts electricity. Don’t try and rely on the only summon, either. It’s your friend and mine, Soltaire, and Ornstein makes short work of him.
6 Enemy: Consumed King's Knight
The Consumed King’s Knight would be hard, but not nearly so bad, in another environment. However, fate vomits upon you in normal Dark Souls fashion, and you end up fighting them in the Consumed King’s Garden, where most of the ground is poison, leading you to perhaps the most treacherous version of “The Floor Is Lava” that you’ve ever encountered. It’s best to lure them out of the garden before engaging them. In combat, they fight like upgraded versions of the Cathedral Knights, with notably stronger attacks. It’s pretty easy to backstab them for tremendous damage, however, and presuming you’re going through the game without attempts at cheese, this is the soundest way to deal with them. Either way, these temperamental gardeners have, and will continue to cause players a scary amount of deaths: either through the environment, or their weapons.
5 Enemy: Cathedral Grave Wardens
These guys look the opposite of tough: skinny, frail, and lanky, but they pack a punch. They boast decent health, but the biggest problem they pose is their ability to bleed you more than a medieval doctor. Their attacks are exceptionally fast, making them difficult to block, but this is paired with a massive stamina hit if you DO block them, leaving you open to getting slashed. If they hit you, the bleeding starts to stack, with their curved swords causing bleeding of 33. They do have a couple of easily exploitable weak spots, however. They really, really don’t like fire. Like Sandor Clegane levels of pyrophobia. They’re also pretty easy to backstab, provided you endure their powerful combo. The opposite of a stereotypical hulking enemy, they prove that looks can be deceiving.
4 Boss: Looking Glass Knight
Getting invaded can be a huge irritation in the Dark Souls games, so how do you feel about a boss that does the videogame equivalent of rolling deep? The Looking Glass Knight is an unusual opponent, using his mirrored shield to bring NPCs and other players into the fight against you, unless you decide that seven years’ bad luck is still seven years of life, and manage to smash the shield. Said shield is also so huge that it can block your attacks even when the boss isn’t actually blocking, and deals enough recoil that he has ample opportunity to put you down. It’s probably advised to use the ultimate power you have, that is, go offline, before you start this fight. NPCs you can deal with — players? That’s more of a coin toss.
3 Enemy: Darkwraiths
These former knights appear to have forgotten whatever honor code they swore to uphold. Found in Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3, they’re exceedingly aggressive, happy to boot your guard down before killing you in a single combo. Not only are they aggressive physically, but they can also use lifedrain on you to a ridiculously efficient degree. They’re also exceptionally poised, so trying to stagger them is a hollow fool’s errand. Don’t. Instead, learn their attacks, as they don’t vary much, and dodge for all that you’re worth. It’s also not advisable to take on more than one at a time — those lifedrains will add up, believe me. Two wait for you outside the Abyss Watchers’ room, but lure them away with a ranged weapon and take them on one at a time.
2 Enemy: Monstrosity Of Sin
Never was a monster more accurately named than the Monstrosity of Sin. Found in Dark Souls 3’s Profaned Capital, these hand-headed horrors boast a ton of health, and a drunken master fighting style, rolling, jiving and butt-stomping you into the dirt. They’re slow, which is a plus, but that is counterbalanced by their grab attack, which can result in an extremely easy death, and also causes you to lose souls. Luckily, they’re also Lovecraftian hemophiliacs, with bleeding damage doing very costly damage to them. Attempting to cheese past them with poisoned items, like you would a Drakekeeper won’t work, so your safest bet is to dodge, dodge, and dodge again, and make ‘em bleed. A firm handshake won't dissuade them, but cold steel and some luck most certainly will.
1 Boss: The Nameless King
This guy, presumably driven by the hatred of parents who couldn’t be bothered to name him, is the toughest fight in Dark Souls 3 by a mile. Boasting resistances to bleed, frost, and lightning, coupled with an immunity to poison, The Nameless King and his wyvern buddy are ready to bring the pain, regardless of how well prepared you think you are. Your best strategy is to bring some lightning resistant gear, and simply try and avoid the King’s attacks while taking down his Wyvern. It’s the second phase of the fight where the fun really starts, with The Ashen One now alone with a God of War. You can’t parry him, and his fast, erratic movements make the fight a nightmare. Aim for a riposte, time your attacks expertly, and pray.