I think the combined ranking is better

my next boss I have to fight is kid and sallee this is also my first play through

You forgot the hardest boss in the game. NG+ dual buffed pursuer. Puts midir and gael to shame in difficulty. Prolly only rivaled by dual guardians from ds1. Some of the game's bosses, become far easier with a UGS. Graverobber and ivory king come to mind. Why? Because you can knock down the NPC's with it. And a UGS can stagger and lead to riposting the burnt knights meaning you can 1 shot them. That can be achieved with a 2h heavy/running attack. I'd also rank executioner's chariot much higher. He does give you multiple ways to beat him, you can dodge his wheel spikes (gotta time it right and have enough AGL), the run up to him can be trivialized by jumping to the platform, etc. Like the fume knight you can skip his phase 1. I'm all in for bosses who give you choices to beat them. I'd also put elena above looking glass knight and velsdat. Because her fight is more about environmental awareness.

bro built his castle on top of the entrance to hell just so he could beat them up more easily, cool ass character

Too bad he’s a shit boss

@@Cytonox Sounds like dark souls version of doom guy. I believe by ds3 its said he's the main reason the demons were near extinction.

​@@siyzerixActually it's because the chaos flame was going out with the first flame. The chaos flame couldn't sustain all the demons at once so it started abandoning them, turning them into mere husks, then eventually empty statues. Then, when there is only one demon left, that demon becomes the Demon Prince who could keep the chaos flame alive by combining it within them. You see the Demon in Pain and the Demon from Below near the end of their rope when you find them. Constantly having their flame go out and intermittently reigniting. Then, when you slay one, the other gets the full Chaos Flame, the full Lord Soul of Life more accurately, and becomes the Demon Prince and its flame never goes out. The one last beacon of hope for the demon race, where he could have eventually revived his species should the Chaos Flame eventually regain its strength. Then you slay him too and dash all hope. All because you were scared of one another. If that sounds like the exact situation that humanity and its collective Dark Soul and Gwyn are in, that's very much an intentional comparison I think. The Ivory King's fight against the demons was pointless and misguided. All he did was keep them in the ruins of Lost Izalith. Likely out of fear.

@@dutchvanderlinde248 At this point, I think its best to treat ds2 sotfs lore as a separate timeline because almost nothing makes sense with ds3's lore regarding ds2 sotfs. Cause the Ivory King had kept them at bay for so long, that demons were basically forgotten and basically extinct in the overworld. So it wasn't misguided or pointless. Otherwise you'd be seeing a lot more monstrosities and demons in ds2 sotfs. Alsana has simply been keeping up the defenses in his absence.

Jack here, glad you enjoyed the ranking and thanks so much for watching! Darklurker is a great boss, and props for fighting him 43 times, that’s warrior level determination. For the most part this games bosses are average but i think they’re enjoyable nonetheless. Royal Rat Authority over Flexile Sentry is news to me however, that might be the hottest take I’ve seen! Once again thank you for watching, it means a lot. Have you checked out our Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls boss rankings?

@@Cytonox want a hot take? to me the gank fights are all fun except for the gargoyles and lud and zallen is my favorite boss, it's all about positioning and making them block each other.

@@Ghorda9 I'll concede that if the run up wasn't a problem Lud and Zallen are far from horrible imo, I just can't separate them mentally from the ghastly area preceding them -Alex

@@Cytonox it would be better if people would separate the boss run from the boss it self otherwise people could confuse the ranking, they are separate challenges after all.

Yeah, I am pretty sure Darklurker is my most attempted Soulsborne boss at this point. More attempts than Malenia, Ishin, and Orphan of Kos... I don't know why, but this fight kicked my butt, and I would probably have ranked it higher in my personal list if I didn't have to farm for SO much human effigy. I had to put like 10 bonfire aesthetics at majula to farm the skellies so I could attempt the boss. Plus, having to fight all the enemies in one of the 3 chasms was annoying, but I died enough to the boss that the enemies stopped spawning eventually, making the experience much more bearable. Really cool boss tho, and one of the few ganks I do not mind.

fr? I think it's overhated but still alright - hurt severely by the run up - Jack

@@Cytonox true but Blue Smelters run up wasn't even mentioned

jack here, ds2 is the best!

How can you like that fight?

@@lewispooper3138 No different then Rom the Spider fight in Bloodbourne. Almost all souls games have gank fights, some are more annoying then others, but all are beatable.

@@bearwooden660 ok? 3 npcs all that follow you The fight is literally run around, turn around, smack once, keep running forward At least rom isn’t a basic enemy in a boring arena There is no “tactic” for the three gankers

​@@lewispooper3138ok and artorias is dodge and hit, does that mean it's a bad fight? You can easily make anything sound dumb like that

Its such a damn shame he was not even mentioned in dark souls 3

He's in the original too, he was added in an update.

​@@ORCA1739He is, just not by name. He's implied to be the one who swayed Lorian to not be a Lord of Cinder and thus jumpstart the whole game. Then when you get to the end, if you choose the ending where you summon the firekeeper to snuff the flame, whether you kill her or not, you're essentially doing what Aldia would want. That being, to snuff the fire to stop the degradation of the world. Whether you chose to allow it to eventually catch alight once more or leave the world in darkness is thus just as alright of a choice since there's no way to know what would happen either way. As Aldia said: "There is no path, yet we seek it insatiably." Implying really that there is no definitive correct answer past getting to an ending. Whatever an ending happens to mean and entail.

We'll do em all EXCEPT Sekiro, which we both dislike actually (We know this is a very unpopular opinion but it's just not our thing). Bloodborne is coming in the near future and souls 3 not long after.

@@Cytonox *Cries in Ashina*

@@scrimmybingus9279 Neither of us think the bosses were too noteworthy is a big reason, save for some like Genichiro and the Guardian Ape. Most of them were just throwaway minibosses that blended together so neither of us really feel like talking about "General Yoshiwazakarusuzakiwaru of the seven centipede dicks" or whatever other guys there were. I personally didn't care for the areas either, and the soundtrack is not at all memorable which is something we care a lot about. I won't say it's a bad game myself, but it's one that neither Jack nor I want to revisit.

@@Cytonox I think there are a lot more really memorable bosses then that. You got Demon of Hatred, True Corrupted Monk, Devine Dragon, Owl Father, Isshin the Sword Saint and Emma the Gentil blade. Although the Mini-bosses are mostly re-fights, and annoying after the first re-skin. You’re right absolutely about the sound-track, although do like the battle theme for Sen-Po temple. The areas, although not very plentiful, a very hit and miss for me. I think Fountain-head palace, Sen-Po temple and Ashina Castle are all really cool, and I really like Mibu Village. I think the bosses and Combat are the game’s main attraction though, and it’s why it’s my personal favorite. I also really like the game’s story and cutscenes.

@@Cytonox serious question, did you Betray Kuro? Doing that Blocks out the best part of the game.

OMG dude wrote an entire essay on this video and Dark Souls 2 bosses. Kudos to you for being able to write this!

@@Aquiteprolificcommenter Thanks! I tend to go on and on about topics that interest me, and this here is a prime example of it. Lol.

Thanks so much for watching! Bloodborne is next then Dark Souls III, both are coming up soon however.

@@Cytonox That's good to hear! Both of them are some of my favourite games which is why I can't wait!

@@alexandrejust4771 Stay tuned and thanks once again!

Glad ya liked it!

What soulsborne ranking are you doing next?

@@PolarPig109 Bloodborne boss ranking

Can’t wait

Wonder if some if this stuff was ideas that they had on paper but just couldn't get the right words out. Such as Vanguard, Najka, or Nashandra.

most of elden ring dragon designs are horrid

#19: Nashandra. I liked this fight pretty much equally as much as Throne Watcher/Defender. Not a very dynamic fight, nor a very difficult one, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find it fun reading her attacks and predicting when her little curse orbs show up so I could go destroy them. Fine fight, but not the best final boss. #18: The Lost Sinner. Somehow beat this boss first try, which was actually a bit disappointing cuz she was really fun. The reduced lock-on range forced me to adapt to a new playstyle that I found surprisingly fun, and I think the fact that I used a dex build helped negate the issue of her jumping away before I could land an attack. Not the best boss in a the game, but a fun one for sure. #17: Old Dragonslayer. I've never fought Super Ornstein in DS1, so I guess this is the next best thing? For an early game boss, he's a little tough, but I didn't find it frustrating at all. I liked the callback to the first game as well. Not too shabby for an optional boss. #16: Flexile Sentry. Definitely an underrated fight. Wish it was harder, since I like the gimmick of it being two conjoined enemies and the water rising, but neither one was much of a problem because he dies too quickly. I am glad this thing reappears as a normal enemy later, at least. #15: Ruin Sentinels. Hated these guys until I figured out how to fight them one at a time. Once I stopped being dumb, this fight was kinda neat but not one I really cared for that much. Some attacks have really shitty hitboxes, which is always fun. Not the worst gank fight, but I wouldn't place them this high. #14: The Duke's Dear Freja. How fun this fight is pretty much comes down to how quickly you beat the small spiders, or if you have a torch. Once the little spiders are taken care of, Freja herself is pretty damn easy. I kinda like it though, the moveset is interesting for sure. #13: The Rotten. My favorite boss design in DS2. Fighting a boss literally made of a bunch of undead is super creative and cool to look at. The fight itself is pretty easy since his attacks are very telegraphed, though the fire around the arena can throw a wrench in your dodging sometimes. Good fight, but I'm not sure if it beats Lost Sinner as my favorite Great Soul boss. #12: Skeleton Lords. Bring Alluring Skulls to this fight and it becomes trivial. Otherwise, it's skeleton gank city, which wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for those fucking bonewheels (which, admittedly, aren't NEARLY as bad as they are in DS1). Outside of them, this fight is nothing special imo. Wouldn't rank it this high personally. #11: Elana, The Squalid Queen. Cool gimmick which makes up for a kinda lame moveset imo. Having Velstadt summoned in the middle of the fight is hilarious but also makes the fight a lot more interesting. Not my favorite DLC boss, but certainly not the worst. #10: The Pursuer. Such a cool concept for a reoccurring enemy, and the ballistas in the arena open up the opportunity for a really sick boss kill. Even without the ballistas, this guy is pretty fun to fight early on. Cool fight, no complaints here. #9: Smelter Demon (Red). If it weren't for the runback, I would have no complaints about this guy (the runback is not as bad in vanilla thankfully. Fuck SotFS). Really fun moveset and a shockingly balanced arena despite it being really small. The small DOT he deals when you're near him also adds a neat element of health management to the fight. I didn't expect to enjoy this fight as much as I did. He might be my favorite boss in the base game. #8: Sinh, the Slumber Dragon. This would be a lot higher for me if the fucker didn't keep flying away. When he's on the ground, he's a surprisingly manageable and fun boss (way moreso than Kalameet, Guardian Dragon, Ancient Dragon, and even Midir. Yes, I like this guy more than Midir. Fight me.). The one thing holding him back is that HE KEEPS FLYING AWAY. COME BACK, FUCKER. It drags the fight out way too much and makes an otherwise great fight kinda tedious. At least his health pool isn't massive, and the increased weapon degradation is easy to mitigate. #7. Smelter Demon (Blue). Yeah, this one was unexpected. A much worse runback for a copy-paste boss. As much as I love the Red Smelter Demon, the blue raspberry flavor feels much worse to fight. A lot of people say his hitboxes are way bigger than the red one's, and tbh I think that could be the case. I felt like I was taking cheap or outright bullshit hits quite a bit. It's still a fun fight since the moveset and arena are the same, but I don't care for this one nearly as much as the one in the base game. #6: Looking Glass Knight. Very climactic fight, and one of the coolest looking bosses in the series to boot. Really cool gimmick while also just having really fun and balanced mechanics. If Red Smelter Demon is not my favorite boss in the base game, then the award definitely goes to this guy. #5. Velstadt, The Royal Aegis. Pretty cool fight, though the moveset leaves a bit to be desired in my opinion, even in the second phase. Not much to say, it's just a decent late-game Souls boss. #4: Darklurker. Easily the placement I disagree with the most. This would be my second lowest-ranked fight (and lowest in the base game), probably cuz I did a dexterity build and this fucker basically says "LOL eat a dick, melee builds". Getting to him is very annoying since the NPCs you're forced to kill can be tanky or super fast or can just never aggro while you're trying to lure them away to fight them one at a time, and you have to use a Human Effigy every time you wanna attempt the boss. To be honest, he wouldn't be so bad even with all that if he didn't split in two. The moveset is interesting but easy to deal with when fighting one, but adding a second one to the equation sucks every last drop of fun out of this fight for me. I actually ended up leveling up a Pyromancy Flame and using fireballs + flame swathe just to kill this fucker. Bastard cost me hours of my life. Never fighting him again. #3: Sir Alonne. Awesome design and a very cool arena, but his moveset is a bit lacking in my opinion. He only ever used about 4 or 5 unique moves on me, and none of them were particularly difficult to deal with. Beat this guy first try, probably with some luck, but I had also just fought Fume Knight and Blue Smelter Demon, two bosses I found much harder. Great fight, but I wish it was a bit harder or threw more unique moves at you. His moves look fucking badass though. In fact, I think design-wise he's the second best in the game behind The Rotten. #2: Fume Knight. My personal favorite boss in the whole game and top 5 fight in the trilogy. Took me an hour to beat this guy, but the whole time it felt incredibly fair despite being crushingly difficult and very intense (and that bonfire being right next to the arena is so nice. Why did DS2 not do this more?). Awesome spectacle as well, especially when he pulls out that giant flaming sword. The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is the arena. It's a little uninteresting. But truthfully, when that's the only critique I can muster, that's how I know I have a masterpiece on my hands. #1: Burnt Ivory King. Best boss lore-wise, hands-down. Also a very fun and thrilling fight with a fantastic arena and introduction. Didn't find it quite as fun as the Fume Knight fight, but his moveset was still pretty awesome. Unfortunately, the knights you have to deal with before the fight make it very tedious after the initial awe of watching the Loyce Knights fight alongside you, and sometimes they just decide not to freeze the portals. Remove this blemish and this would probably be in the top 3 for me in this game and maybe even top 10 in the trilogy. If you read all this, I hope you get a million dollars and a free burger.

@@nintendude6477 great list, man! Thanks for that comment, and we're glad that you watched the whole thing (+ our lists are similar so you got good taste). Thanks! - Jack

For me personally, the most annoying part of this DLC is not the stinky knights with huge poise or ghosts, who have a huge amount of hp until you find their bodies but the whole location in general. Like, I'm the type of person who wouldn't leave a location until I found every item and explored every corner. But I also get lost easily. Because of this combo, it was annoying af to explore and I postponed getting the OP Flynn's ring until late game just because I didn't want to deal with this place

Probably the runback. I thought the gimmick itself was actually pretty neat.

@@maxburrill6192 the wardens aren't too bad to run past.

if not overdone to death

@@sodafromteacups4029 its the 2nd boss does that in the series chronologically speaking

best fight in game

yeah lowkey they aren’t as horrible as i remembered on my recent replay lol -alex

Why wouldn't it

it's actually not that hard to run to blue smelter, just go down the hole instead of trying the gauntlet.

Im definitely grateful that it ends with an easy chump of a boss and not some Fume Knight level guy, that would be pretty evil

Jack here, personally the variety in playstyles through weapons, stats, magics and such make it so charming, and it’s bad moments are so bad i find them funny. just my take though. thanks for watching!

I think the Fume Ultra Greatsword looks cooler and has a better moveset personally both are baller weapons tho

@@Cytonox true

It’s my favorite in the series it may not have better gameplay than 3 but the vibe hits different and I like how the lore here is separate than 1 and 3

The BEST LMAO . Yeah, if you like tired shitty games, yeah, sure

Bad rng can definitely make Sinh much more annoying, but in my experience he doesn't do this too horribly often. I'd hate him if he pulled that on me all the time also -Alex

i have more fun with this games bosses than i do with most of ds1s but bosses like nashandra and covetous demon could of been harder.

it sure doesnt help that whenever you kick the bucket you need to run through the entire area again, lol

Ancient*

Pisses*

all gameplay is our own, we credit all footage used from other channels. I can see how itd look similar though, since the trick to make Dragonrider suicide himself needs you to move in a very specific way -Alex

yeah people hate on it for no reason lol, I like it also

we as in the two of us

only 33% of bosses in ds1 are good.

@@Ghorda9 Oh I didn't mean it that way.

i agree with the explosion for sure the AoE is fucked up

The ruin sentinels are just really funny to us for some reason, it's sort of an inside joke thing at this point. I do genuinely like em tho that aside

​@@Cytonox Yeah, alright, I just do not enjoy multi-fights nine times out of ten, especially when it's just two or more of the same exact enemy.

The Dark Souls series has just stockholmed me into enjoying stupid bullshit half the time I think lol. Most gank fights are lazy and kinda dumb but I just embrace it now

@@Cytonox Huh, maybe I should try that.

The worst runs are Nito, Dirty Colossus and Ludd and Zallen. Alonne doesn't come even close.

that's a valid point, but from our perspective if making it back to a fight is obnoxious it makes the fight inherently less enjoyable because you're forced to go through poorly designed arenas and such instead of just being right outside the fog gate

they'd understand