There are a lot of bosses in the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, including some secret ones. It’s not always easy to know when you should be fighting someone, as sneaky game design can have you taking on a much bigger challenge than you need to.
In this article, I’ll talk about my preferred boss order, but it will be filled with spoilers, so keep that in mind.
Best Boss Order for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
This list will be of the major bosses rather than every single boss in the game. There are over 70 major and minor bosses all over the game, so it will take me some time to come up with a list that covers them all and at least one more playthrough of the DLC before I have my mind made up on a complete boss order.
- Divine Beast Dancing Lion (Belurat Tower)
- Rellana, Twin Moon Knight (Castle Ensis)
- Putrescent Knight (Stone Coffin Fissure)
- Golden Hippopotamus (Shadow Keep)
- Messmer the Impaler (Shadow Keep)
- Commander Gaius (Shadow Keep)
- Midra, Lord Of Frenzied Flame (Midra’s Manse in the Abyssal Woods)
- Metyr, Mother of Fingers (Fingers Ruins of Miyr)
- Romina, Saint of the Bud (Church of the Bud)
- Needle Knight Leda (Enir llim)
- Bayle the Dread (Jagged Peak)
- Scadutree Avatar (Scudatree Base)
- The Final Boss
Remember, you only need to fight a handful of enemies to finish the DLC, a huge amount of this is optional. Once you take on Messmer, Romina, Needle Knight Leda, and the Final Boss in that order, you’ll be good.
The Divine Beast Dancing Lion might be two guys in a funny suit, but they will kick you around the arena if you try to take them on too early. It’s a good idea to fully explore most of the Gravesite Plain before you try that fight to get your hands on as many Scudatree Blessings as you can. When you do decide to get stuck in, it’s Fire and Bleed you should invest in to help you win the day.
After that, making your way to Castle Ensis and Rellana is a good idea. Holy and Frostbite damage will help to get the job done here, so bring the appropriate supplies. You can also summon the Needle Knight Leda if you need some extra help.
This is likely a little early to fight the Putrescent Knight, but you should have learned the most important thing by now, which is that staying close to any enemy who is a little bit bigger than you but not giant in size is a solid defensive strategy. You also want to do Holy damage. Finally, jumping in the air to dodge certain attacks, like his flame attacks, is a solid move.
Waiting to welcome you to the Shadow Keep is the Golden Hippopotamus. He falls into the “large charger” category of Soulsbrone bosses and will spend a lot of time trying to smash into you. This is bait and designed for you to chase him so that you expose yourself to sudden, swift attacks and pattern changes. Instead, hug walls and cut off his angles, dodge the charges, and then turn and hack away while you can.
Despite being a bit of a big deal in the trailers, Messmer at the Shadow Keep arrives much earlier than you might think in the DLC. Bleed and Cold will be helpful here, and you can summon both Hornsent and Jolan if you need to.
Seeing as we are in the Shadow Keep area, head out the back of it and take on Commander Gaius. He is a bit of a handful because he rides a freaking boar. Definitely cool points for that, and he seems to hit like a tank no matter what your level. The best move with this guy is to fight from horseback.
Midra can be found in Midra’s Manse in the Abyssal Woods. You’ll recognize him from the trailer, and he is a big fan of trying to set you on fire. He has some hard-hitting beam attacks and some huge area of effect damage, but he is also made out of paper and should be an easy win.
Metyr, Mother of Fingers is a very interesting one for me as I had always wondered what the source of all those hand enemies would be like. Well, turns out, this is it. Cold and Bleed damage is the way to go, along with magic defense.
Romina, Saint of the Bud, can be found at the Church of the Bud in the Rauh Ruins. Bleed and Piece is a good choice for damage here, and make sure you bring something that helps you against the effect of Scarlet Rot. You have to fight this boss, which is a shame as I found them to be one of the most frustrating in the whole game, frankly.
Not a lot to say about the next one as there are too many variables for what the Needle Knight Leda fight might be like. It depends on a bunch of quests for other characters, but you will need to prepare for some kind of group battle. Anything that puts you in a slow animation is likely death, so stay fast and stay mobile.
After you beat Leda, teleport to the Jagged Peak and do that various fights here that ends with Bayle the Dread. Why? Because they are super hard. There is another boss fight on the way to Bayle that is a nightmare, and I honestly feel like Bayle is the toughest fight in the whole DLC.
Now it’s time to make your way to deep beneath Shadow Keep to the Scudatree Base. You will want to kill the Scudatree Avatar to get Miquella’s Great Rune. I’ve left this fight till second last as it is more frustrating than difficult. A multi-stage boss who will do a lot of charging in a big arena is always a bit of a pain. You can, if you wish, completely ignore it, but the Great Rune is very useful for the final fight.
After that, make your way to the final boss of the game, which I do not want to spoil even in this article. Enjoy the ruckus!
