- Shadow of the Erdtree features around 10 main bosses, all of which have proven to be more difficult than Malenia.
- Divine Beast, Rellana, Mesmer, and others make her look easy by comparison.
- She is no longer the standard for tough Elden Ring bosses.
Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC I have been most excited about this year, is finally out. After clearing out every boss and spending hundreds of hours in the base content, I can’t tell you how excited I was for this expansion.
In just two days, I have encountered most of the expansion’s main bosses, and they are all extremely challenging. Since the beginning, I said the DLC would be more difficult than the base game, and I haven’t been let down.
After encountering many main and optional bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, I can say that they make Malenia, the hardest boss in Elden Ring, seem like a cakewalk.
Why it matters: It took many players hundreds of tries to defeat Malenia, as she was very challenging for various reasons.
Malenia, Blade of Miquella, Who?
I have fought Malenia many times, and she doesn’t seem that hard to me anymore. Of course, practice is the key, but I struggled way too much at the start. I had to beat her with a bleed build.
While that bleed build wasn’t exactly busted, it still helped me beat many bosses easily. So, one would think Malenia would be the same; however, she still posed a challenge, a challenge that left me hopeless.
So, for someone who can now beat Malenia without much trouble, the DLC should not be that challenging, right? As soon as I stepped into the Realm of Shadows, I was faced with a grim reality.
Instantly falling in love with the visuals, I was mesmerized by the beauty of Elden Ring once more. Little did I know that I was in for a rude awakening. I soon reached the first skill check: Divine Beast, Dancing Lion.
The first boss many people encounter in the DLC is already harder than Malenia, so what do you think happens next? This boss has four phases, and it shifts between them through the fight.
The frostbite and lightning phase almost seemed impossible to dodge at first. I have no idea how I managed to beat the boss in just over 20 tries.
The Difficulty Keeps Climbing
After beating the Divine Beast and exploring the whole graveyard area, I went straight to Rellana, Twin Moon Knight. Many players in the previews talked about how difficult the Dancing Lion was, which is an early game skill check.
So, I was expecting the other bosses to be a little forgiving. However, after fighting Rellana, I was quickly proven wrong. This boss was literally 10 times harder than the Dancing Lion, and it took me over four hours just to beat her.
I lost count of how many times she killed me, but it was brutal, yet I enjoyed the fight way too much. Now, onto the next main boss, Mesmer The Impaler. Mesmer is the boss that I was the most excited about.
Mesmer will show you the true terror, but fighting him is the most fun I have ever had in the Elden Ring. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Mesmer would be more enjoyable than Godfrey.
His soundtrack and moves were basically perfect. Malenia looks like a baby in front of this fight. At one point, I hated the boss because it was too overwhelming. However, I decided to take a break, which was much needed, and things were back to normal.
The Last Boss Isn’t For Everyone
If you don’t like fighting a boss 100 times, do not fight the last boss. A familiar face is back with more might to crush your ambitions. While the boss was a little disappointing for me, I have never fought someone this challenging.
I had to change my build 10 times in this fight to find the right build to defeat this monster. I would say fighting him was 100 times harder than fighting Malenia, at least for me.
Whatever the case, I enjoyed the DLC way too much, as FromSoftware exceeded my expectations by a mile. As per the developer, these are the hardest bosses it has ever made, and I completely agree.
Also, I am a little relieved that FromSoftware has slightly buffed the players instead of nerfing the enemies. This was a common fear after people complained about the DLC’s difficulty.
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[News Editor]
Obaid is pursuing a Law degree while working as a content writer. He has worked as a gaming writer for over three years because of his passion for the medium and reporting the latest updates in the industry. Having played hundreds of games, Obaid finds himself coming back to Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and Red Dead Redemption 2, with these games being among his favorites. He has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as Wccftech, Metro UK, PS Lifestyle, GamePressure, VGC, and Gamespot.
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