Getting Past the Tougher Bosses in Elden Ring
Most players hit a wall somewhere around Rennala or Morgott. The game does not hold your hand, and some encounters just require a systematic approach to figure out. I have spent more hours than I care to admit running through boss patterns and building mental checklists for when things go wrong. Before you throw another death counter at a boss, go through this list in order. It is not about being perfect from frame one. It is about removing variables until the fight becomes manageable. 1. Check your build setup
I used to walk into Maliketh thinking my 80/80 spread would handle both physical and holy damage. It did not. Holy resistance gear and a few Flame, Protect talismans changed everything. Look at the boss damage types before you invest in a build. If they are dealing mostly physical damage, stacking poise and armor matter more than raw DPS. If they are a magic boss, you need different considerations entirely. 2. Learn the opening 30 seconds Every boss in Elden Ring has a distinct pattern in their first moveset. Radahn pulls his bow immediately. Margit summons those stickmen within five seconds. If you know what comes first, you can position yourself correctly without wasting flasks. I learned this the hard way fighting Starscourge Radahn when I tried to aggression my way through his pull phase and took three hits before I even drew my weapon.
3. Manage your FP and flask ratios Too many players max out their combat arts and then cannot afford Basic Heal when they need it. Keep at least two flask slots for healing. If you are using spellcasting extensively, make sure you have enough FP to cast at least two spells during the entire encounter. I once fought Malenia without realizing I had zero FP left, which meant no Spirit Ashes summon and no healing incantations when she opened up with her waterfowl dance. 4. Test your defenses against their signature move
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Some bosses have attacks that can stagger you even at high poise. Malenia's waterfowl dance ignores poise checks entirely in certain conditions. Radahn's asteroid barrage can overwhelm you if you do not position behind columns. Run through the boss arena memorizing where safe spots exist. I found that fighting Godfrey, First Eld Lord, was completely different once I realized I could bait his golden swipe into walls. 5. Know when to roll versus when to guard
I used to roll through everything until I encountered Mohg, Lord of Blood. His bloodflame blade creates a status effect that reduces my health regeneration if I do not have the proper resistances. Learning to block certain attacks instead of rolling saved me dozens of attempts. Some moves are better parried. Others require precise dodge timing. Test which works by watching the boss animation carefully. 6. Prepare for phase transitions
Many bosses change their moveset at half health. Rykard grows larger and gains new attacks. Malenia enters her second phase and deals more damage. I learned this fighting Godrick the Grafted when his dragon head appeared and I had no answer for the flame breath. Keep your weapon upgraded and make sure you have the right ashes of war for each phase. 7. Use spirit ashes strategically Spirit ashes are not a crutch. They are a tool. I use Black Knife Tiche against bosses with large health pools. Miquella's Knight works well against bosses that rely on fast attacks. Test different summons to see which one helps most in your specific situation. Some bosses ignore summons entirely. Others become easier when you have a distraction.
8. Track your damage output If you are dealing less than 5% of the boss health per minute, something is wrong. I used to fight Margit for hours without realizing I was building up status effects that reduced my damage. Switching to a weapon with bleed buildup cut the fight down from 20 minutes to about 3 minutes. 9. Have a backup plan
Every encounter should have at least one fallback strategy. If your primary build fails, switch to a different weapon or spell. I keep a couple of weapon arts ready for each boss. If Combustion does not work, try Frost or Poison instead. Test which status effect affects the boss most. 10. Review your mistakes After each death, note what went wrong. Did you waste a flask? Did you get caught in a combo? I found that reviewing my footage helped me identify patterns I missed while playing. Watching replays is slow but effective.
This approach has worked for me through every major boss in the game. It is not about being the best player. It is about being prepared and learning from each failure. The checklist is not rigid. Adjust it based on your playstyle and the specific boss you are facing.
