Elden Ring boss order – What order should you kill the main bosses in?

Want to know the boss order in Elden Ring? With many optional bosses in the game, you only need to fight a select few to actually complete the main story.

If you don’t want to bother with every boss, you don’t have to. The likes of Malenia don’t need to be trifled with, and this list includes the best boss order path to get to the end of the game easily.

For more Elden Ring guides, read our guides covering Milicent’s questline and how to get the Great Runes. Now, on to the Elden Ring boss order.

Elden Ring – best boss order

Elden Ring bosses are scattered throughout the Lands Between. Where some have ties to the main story and are essential for getting through the game, others drop important items and gear.

Main story bosses reward you with their souls, which they can then use to either get the boss’s weapon or armour. They often also unlock locked areas that are vital for progressing through the game’s storyline. If you want to get through the game as fast as possible, you won’t need to beat every boss.

To reach Leyndell, the Royal Capital, you need to have beaten at least two main Shardbearer bosses. There are five, so pick two of these: Godrick the Grafted, Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, Starscourge Radahn, Mohg, Lord of Blood, and Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. With two dead, you can ignore the rest and run to Leyndell.

Margit, the Fell Omen

Margit blocks the way into Stormveil Castle, and he can be a real jerk early in the game. Before facing him, you should have ideally cleared most of Limgrave alongside optional bosses before they encounter Margit, the first tough boss in the game.

There is no specific strategy here, other than to summon Rogier to help and try parrying his attacks if you’re feeling fancy. Mages should keep their distance whereas melee builds should stay up and close to learn the patterns of Margit. 

Godrick the Grafted

After you clear out Stormveil Castle, you will need to be Godrick the Grafted to finish the dungeon. Godrick is the first Shardbearer boss you will fight, so prepare for a bit of a battle. You can summon Nepheli Loux for this fight, who will make things considerably easier. Avoid AOE attacks and learn Godrick’s pattern to ensure you smoothly get through the battle.

Renalla, Queen of the Full Moon

After beating Godrick, the game naturally leads you to your second Shardbearer, Renalla, in Raya Lucaria. As you head into Liurnia of the Lakes and get access to the Academy, you will have to beat the Red Wolf of Radagon to get to Renalla.

Renalla is the second shardbearer you encounter. There are two phases to the fight, and you need to watch out for falling obstacles from above. During the first phase, keep moving and try to get Renalla’s health down without getting hit. The second phase is where Renalla uses spells, so try not to panic and keep your eye on all that is going on. With two shardbearers down, you go to Leyndel and attempt to blast through the rest of the game.

Starscourge Radahn

After you Renalla, there are plenty of places for you to explore. The next main area you should go to is Caelid, a notoriously difficult region in Elden Ring. You can come here whenever you want, but you will be woefully under-levelled. If you’ve already beaten Renalla and Godrick, Radahn is an optional boss you don’t need to mess with if you don’t want to.

His fight is something of a gimmick, letting you summon a host of NPCs to help fight and take place in a massive arena. The fight is fairly easy, you just need enough NPCs there to distract him and keep yourself moving.

Draconic Tree Sentinel

This boss is technically required to enter Leyndell, but there are several ways to enter the city. If you happen to fight this boss, it is simply a reskin of the Tree Sentinel. Take your time and stay close to it, most of its swings should go over your head if you glue yourself super close.

Morgott, the Omen King

It wouldn’t be Elden Ring without re-using yet another boss fight, and Morgott is essentially the same fight as Margitt. Morgott is an unavoidable fight in Leyndell, and you will need to beat him to get access to the Mountaintop of the Giants.

Fire Giant

The Fire Giant is another main boss you cannot avoid. You can find it waiting at the very end of the Mountaintop of the Giants, blocking your way to a key story moment. The Fire Giant is nothing scary at this point in the game, it’s mostly just an HP sponge. Stay close and dodge its slow attacks. With the Fire Giant defeated you can continue to Crumbling Farum Azula.

Godskin Duo

Yet another re-used boss fight in Elden Ring, the Godskin Duo must be beaten to continue progress through Farum Azula. There’s nothing special to note about this fight. Focus on taking down one of the enemies at a time, and try to separate them as best you can.

Beast Clergyman / Maliketh, The Black Blade

The Beast Clergyman is the final boss of Farum Azula, and he is a two-phase fight that ends in you facing Maliketh. This fight can be a bit frantic due to all the multi-hit combos. Once you get the Beast Clergyman down to 50% HP, he will transition into Maliketh.

Sir Gideon-Ofnir, the All-Knowing

A fairly straightforward fight, Gideon blocks your path through the final stages of Leyndell. As such, he must be fought and removed. As a human NPC enemy, he can be a bit cheap with his attacks, but it’s simply a matter of whittling his HP down. He doesn’t pose much of a threat at this stage.

Godfrey, First Elden Lord

With Gideon dead, you can now challenge the final three bosses of the game. Godfrey has two phases, and he’ll recall beef himself up through the fight. Dodge his attacks instead of blocking, and bring any NPC summons you can for this fight.

Radagon of the Golden Order

Radagon is arguably a much easier experience than fighting Godfrey, it slightly depends on your build. At this point in the game, you can pretty much steamroll everything with a Rivers of Blood build. The best party? Radagon can be parried, so just wait for the timing and put him in his place.

Elden Beast

This is the final Elden Ring boss for real, this time. While overly unnecessary and annoying, the fight can be a simple experience. It has a lot of massive attacks but you can keep close to it as best you can and keep hitting away at it. As always, take your time and try to see how the enemy is attacking. If you lose to the Elden Beast, you will have to fight Radagon again.

Naturally, there are several more bosses to fight in Elden Ring. If you simply went from main boss to main boss, you might struggle to keep up in terms of levels and surviving hits. With that said, you can simply rush through the game like this if you want to get to area in the Altus Plateau, Leyndell, and the Mountaintops of the Giants.

That’s all you need to know about the Elden Ring boss order. For more, make sure you read our guides covering all Incantations in Elden Ring and the latest about the Shadow of the Erdtree release date.

Elden Ring boss order FAQs

Is Malenia an optional boss?

Yes, Malenia and the Haligtree area are all optional.

How many bosses are there in Elden Ring?

There are 123 bosses in Elden Ring, but many of them are re-used fights or simple re-skins.