Summary
FromSoft’s Soulsborne games have awell-earned reputation for intense difficulty. Games likeElden Ring,Dark Souls, andBloodborneoffer players brutal, nearly insurmountable challenges in the form of bosses like Ornstein & Smough and Malenia, as well as cruel dungeons like Blighttown.
But as cruel as these games can be, FromSoft also has a reputation for cranking up the intensity in DLC. Most of the developer’s major Soulsbornes have received DLC, and these expansions are known to contain some of the hardest bosses the developer has ever created. Here are the toughest DLCs in Soulsborne’s history.
The originalDark Soulsmight not technically be the first Soulsborne game FromSoft ever made, but it is the first to receive DLC. The game’sArtorias of the Abyssexpansion is still renowned to this day, with four demanding bosses to overcome during a twisted journey through Lordran’s grim past.
The DLC is most fondly remembered for itstitular boss, Artorias the Abysswalker. This legendary knight has lost the use of one of his arms and has been driven feral by the time he encounters the player, but he’s still a terrifying adversary. Between his acrobatic leaps and lunges and the unrelenting aggression of the DLC’s final boss, Manus,Artorias of the Abyssis not for the faint of heart.
Dark Souls 2made some significant changes to theDark Soulsformula that have left fans divided on the title to this day. But regardless of one’s opinions on the quality of the game, none can deny that it lives up to its predecessor in terms of difficulty. This is especially true for the game’s three DLC expansions, which feature some of the Soulsborne franchise’s most brutal encounters.
Crown of the Sunken Kingis the first DLC released for the game, and it brings players to the ancient realm of Shulva, the Sanctum City. This subterranean ruin contains legions of undead soldiers and a massive ziggurat full of traps and tricks. This culminates in abattle with Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon, a true test of endurance that forces players to plan ahead if they want any chance of victory.
Dark Souls 3is arguably a much more accessible game than its older counterparts, but it’s far from an easy one. It poses some truly intense challenges like the Twin Princes and Pontiff Sulyvahn. The game’s first DLC expansion,Ashes of Ariandel, turns up the heat significantly.
The DLC takes players on a frozen quest through the decaying painted world of Ariandel. There are some truly menacing foes lying in wait in this snowy realm, but things take a considerable turn when players reach the final boss. Sister Friede and Father Ariandel make for a truly deadly duo, and this punishing three-part boss battle will test the skills and the patience of even the most hardened Soulsborne fan.
The third DLC forDark Souls 2takes players to the cursed frozen city of Eleum Loyce. This DLC offers a unique challenge in the form of a permanent blizzard obscuring sight throughout the kingdom. Slaying Aava, the King’s Pet clears up this blizzard, but the boss is completely invisible until players venture through the storm in search of a holy medallion to reveal her.
This DLC is remembered most fondly for its climactic battle with the Burnt Ivory King, an intense battle where the player leads soldiers that they recruit themselves from throughout the map. However, it’s alsoinfamous for the Frigid Outskirts, an optional side area where players must navigate an immense stretch of snowy wasteland blanketed by sleet and full of infinitely respawning horses.
TheDark Soulstrilogy depicts an endless cycle of rebirth and decay, andDark Souls 3depicts a dying world struggling through the consequences of this infinite loop. InThe Ringed CityDLC, players are flung forward in time to see the ultimate end of this doomed struggle for survival.The Ringed Cityis the ultimate end of theDark Soulstrilogy, and it has the difficulty level to back it up.
This DLC packs some of the hardest enemies in the game around every corner, to the point that merely navigating the titular city is more of a challenge than some of the bosses in the base game. The DLC is best remembered, however, for its final boss. Slave Knight Gael, the bearer of the Dark Soul, waits at the end of the road to challenge players to a fearsome duel in the ashes of a dying world. It is a brutal fight andone of the best FromSoft has to offer.
The second DLC released forDark Souls 2takes players into the past of one of its most prominent bosses, the titular Old Iron King himself. Here players will discover a twisted world of ash, smoke, and metal, with a distinctive industrial aesthetic and an army of fiery foes to take down.
At the very bottom of Brume Tower, the DLC’s central setting, players will encounter the Fume Knight, arguably the hardest boss in all ofDark Souls 2. The boss’s unrelenting aggression and staggering damage output make him a force to be reckoned with, and he’s just one of the many dangers to be found in Brume Tower.
Bloodborne’s unique setting of Yharnam plays host to a terrifying cosmic horror mystery that unfolds inexorably over the course of a single blood-soaked night. The brutally difficultOld Huntersexpansion offers players answers that the base game doesn’t provide but at the cost of being sucked into a cruel and twisted nightmare realm.
Monsters like Nightmare Executioners and vicious Shark-Giants are waiting to punish any hunter foolish enough to enter the nightmare unprepared, and legendary bosses like Laurence and Lady Maria will likely claim victory countless times before a hunter is able to vanquish them. The true challenge of theOld HuntersDLC, however, comes fromthe final boss, the Orphan of Kos. This malformed child is a strong contender for the position of the hardest boss FromSoft has ever designed. Its ruthless aggression and unrelenting combos are nearly impossible to outlast.
The uniquely open-world nature ofElden Ringdrew many first-time Soulsborne fans to it when it launched in 2022, but this open world hid many lethal dangers as well. While the base game already boasted some of the hardest Soulsborne bosses on record, the recent expansion,Shadow of the Erdtree, has completely changed the game.
The myriad bosses introduced inShadow of the Erdtreehave had fans and journalists alike wondering if FromSoft has finally crossed the line and made a game too hard.Bosses like the Divine Beast Dancing Lionand the infamous Messmer the Impaler will likely see many controllers thrown in rage before the DLC is even a month old.
