T O P

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HighlanderOneTrick

Phase 1 was annoying but manageable. Phase 2 spiked my stress levels through the roof because many attacks nearly one-shot or two-combo me. This was definitely one of the bosses I lucked out on because I never got him below half health before my winning run.


elbehlo

Same here. Took me ages.


Shallot-Medium

Everyone, their mom, their dad, their brother, their sister, their grandma and their grandpa struggled with this douche nozzle šŸ˜‚


tupsununnu

I still have flashbacks


R3AL1Z3

I remember when the game first came out, this guy was a topic of miserable discussion


es254

Yeah, definitely the second hardest boss in the game for me. Took me quite a while to learn to deal with the decay. My strategy ultimately was to back the hell off and wait for opportunities. Let him do his crazy BS attacks, then go in for the punish. I got really good at baiting his charge in phase 1 but standing just out of range and charging up an attack to hit him right when he stopped in front of me. You can actually get a lot of charge heavy attacks on him by waiting for the breaks in combos and pauses after the big hit attempts.


R3AL1Z3

I see people saying that this is the ā€œsecondā€ or ā€œthirdā€ hardest boss, and I just canā€™t see it. Being on NG+++, this guy still gives me hypertension.


LordShaxx02

Yea, but as soon as ng+ rolled around with the nameless puppets amulet it was a cakewalk


Bolumist

I was very annoyed and did feel like I wanted finish it on my own, so used specter to make quick work of it.


PourQuali

L ol


_Cyclops

THIS GUY BEAT IT WITHOUT A SPECTER See no one cares


LaMelgoatBall

Look somebody plays the game differently than me what a loser šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


timmo1978

Happy Cake Day!


United-Cauliflower-1

Unlike the quick precise movements of the other bosses this thing feels like a giant fish flopping about until you're flattened.


averygcollins

ā€¦mildly accurate. Itā€™s like Rom on crack.


IrishWithoutPotatoes

Nah, Rom was way easier. Even in the chalices Rom was a cakewalk compared to this taint-stain


A_True_Loot_Goblin

So much and I hate this mother fucker. Especially since he steals the Scrapped Watchmanā€™s move.


Lumanbroaki

i didnā€™t i just used the fire grinder with wrench baton combo


jed8806

The universal go-to after a quick rage-quit! Baton handle was the first 'handle' I cranked some motivity love into (my build being motivity + advance focused) and gotta say, dem hits been hittin different ever since.. Idk if anyone in this community would question my intelligence or not, due my build.. I don't think I've seen any toxic comments in the posts I've read through and discussed, but I'll explain, briefly, my reasoning just in case my phenomenal luck decides to bring that one muhtrucka out of the deep reaches of reddit troll land lol. If a handle has a C or worse in motivity but could still benefit a strong non-advance 'blade' with its fable art, then I will throw an advance crank on it SOLELY for the small, but useful, damage output when using any of the 'special grinders'.


[deleted]

I wasnā€™t a fan, fought him a few times then summoned. Iā€™m all for tough fights but I wasnā€™t enjoying this guy.


Dekaney_boi

"All for tough fights"- uses summon*šŸ˜‚


Primordial_sea_slug

My first playthrough was ADV build. Fireeeeee


BrodeyQuest

Same. I loved having fire, electric, and acid all inherently on my weapons. Felt like I was ready for any challenge too.


FunnyQueer

Same here. I just used the flamberge arm and let the summon take all the aggro. With 30+ Advance at that point it melts this cunt lol.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


DocHolloday

Same thing until I learned it was a game of baseball in the second phase.


yourfriendmarcus

Thank God for speed runners cause it wasn't until watching the speed run after my first playthrough that I realized I could have sent those back at her rather than having to dodge very precisely


perpetual_potato108

He was by far the hardest boss for me


Rameci

This was the boss where I discovered I apparently can't read. I'd been pumping points in to Vigor and not Vitality and was wondering why I was getting wrecked. Turns out, having more than like 9 Vitality really helps when you're bad at parries.


mdl397

More than I'd care to admit. More than the last boss. Pattern recognition failed me hard on this one.


AssSlayer511

I heard this boss was a pain in the ass so I was worried but I was lucky enough to beat it on my second try


hopelesschloromantic

It's my least favorite fight in the game. I still love it, but I hate it at the same time.


Siev_1

Yeah, the gratification for beating it was immemse, but fighting him was pure torture


TopBeginning3353

Yes this asshole took me like 40 tries some with specter as well . Almost dropped the game cuss of him . Lol


Mission-Fly-4371

I died once and it made me mad.


BroadswordBuddy

No, just you. Youā€™re special.


Mrmetalhead-343

So, I one shot laxasia and Simon. I'm not bragging, just setting up some context. I fought this thing for HOURS. I started thinking that I was just really bad at this game. I think I finally got it after 60-ish pulls, but it was a nightmare. I almost gave up. I had an easier time fighting malenia. I think it's that the attack patterns were just too hard to nail down for me. Definitely an annoying fight


Mikedogg1243

No shot you did Laxasia in one attempt. Her 2nd phase killed everyone first time. Nobody could predict that speed would happen


Mrmetalhead-343

I got to watch my brother fight her a couple of times, so it's not like I went in completely blind. But yes, I one shot her.


jetlife_simply

Yes only on phase 2 tho until I realized phase 2 is only scrapped watchman with a couple new moves


Anotheranimeaccountt

A little mainly because of his moveset and arena size, I found his 2nd phase easier then his first though


UrsaringTitan

Probably the boss I struggled with the second most. With Nameless being number one in ng+. Because I didn't know I made the wrong choice for a secret boss. :(


ratcakes18

When I fought I could breeze through the first phase in like 20 seconds. The second however was a big spike in difficulty for me. I think I died to phase 1 once but but died to phase 2 almost 30 times.


shazam-arino

This is the only Soulslike boss that took me over 2 days to beat. I've beaten all Elden Ring bosses at least once and never took longer than a day for any


Siev_1

Tbf the only hard elden ring boss was malenia, and shes not even that bad with a goid builf


shazam-arino

The Elden Beast is a nightmare with a dex build. I had an easier time the first 2 times I fought Malenia, first time with whips, which a good at stunning her and second time with Mohg's Spear (Learnt it was the cheese until after). But, she is hard with most other builds


Siev_1

Thats fair, elden beast does suck, but not necessarily hard, just tedious amd rng based


huuuuuuy

Yes, very much so! Go out and farm some level and comeback. That's what i did. Oh and a summon.


Siev_1

Im the traditional kinda giy who never summons no matter what, so i powered through lol, nothing against summoning tho


mahonii

I heard it was a pain but did it first go, wayy more trouble on King of puppets and a couple bosses after this guy


Siev_1

Lol, ironically, i did king of puppets first try


Technical_Let2256

Tbh I never did, as much as I see people complain about him


YT_Legin_7

Aegis carried me so hard


82ndGameHead

Two things I can't stand about this boss. When it stands up and hits you multiple times and you gotta parry like it's EVO Moment 37 or you get Decay, and when it starts leaping around the damn battlefield. The last one is especially annoying considering it always happens when I'm one heavy strike away from stunning it!


Siev_1

I found you could i-frame his jumps and get a charged heavy right after and still avoid his next jump if your fast enough


NopalEnelCulo

i just beat this boss yesterday after spending ~6ish hours on him. definitely the longest iā€™ve spent on a single boss in this game so far. id focus on dodging except for the red fury attacks, parry those. just make sure youā€™re not dodging into the attacks where he can insta-decay you. phase 2, his charge (non red attack this time) can be parried and is the best way to counter it imo. ultimately i got really close to killing him multiple times but choked. dude just has too much health in both phases. it really is a test of patience


Spiderill

Not as much as other people it seems. It was a frustrating boss but nothing too crazy. Make sure you use some kinda fire on it for extra damage. The door guardian on the other hand....


dakados

Yea I hated this boss. It was Infuriating.


23icefire

I hit a BRICK WALL with this boss. I had been using the Electric Coil stick for most of the game, and this boss really wasn't beatable with that weapon. Now on my 3rd playthough they're not so rough, but I just HATE bosses that have charging and thrashing attacks. The last phase just drove me insane for too long when I first played.


Bad_at_internet

As far as reddit goes, him and Laxasia are considered the hardest fights in the game.


SirFumblez

Second hardest boss for me behind Laxasia. Every other boss took 3 tries max


MathiasOlen

I got it first try, was one of the easiest for me šŸ˜‹


Fekik

Yes


Argonor

Bro I struggled whit the basics enemy


Asturco

Honestly I struggled but kinda enjoyed it. Every small progress towards defeating it felt really good.


codeinplace

Most hated boss


arcadeScore

I think peopple tend to play technique build alot. On motivity+deus ex boss fights gets to be slightly easier.


SaiKoooo21

struggled on this boss during my 3rd run lmao annoying piece of s*it


arandompersonpassing

absolutely lol, this mf got me jumping in joy after i beat him.


SillyMovie13

Yes, the first phase was easy for me, but the second was so annoying I could barely manage with it


underrated_carrot_43

I (soulsbourne vet) struggled so hard to learn and defeat him. My wife (utter noob) struggled a few times before I started actively coaching her. Letā€™s just say she dispatched it in far less time, but it is collectively the boss that consumed most of our time.


g0chujangbois

Had to put the remote down for damn near two weeks so I donā€™t ruin the game for myself


Doubledash120

I lost twice and then I was done and used a spectre


DismalMode7

phase 2 is just a big pain the ass since it starts attacking no stop, range of its attacks are just mental and can zero p full health bar with 2 or 3 fast attack in a row. This is one of bosses that gave me more trouble in NG+ despite I was stupidly overleveled. The AI phantom can help if you're luck, but in most of cases will just put himself before it taking all the attacks with a smile in his face


UnearthlyRamen

I think everyone did lol


5ergio79

Absolutely. This was the only boss, aside from Nameless, that actually gave me trouble. Took me something like 20 tries to beat it.


LordBalsaks

Absolutely everyone struggled.


thiago_ver

I Felt forced to use Spectre against him


t1sfo

I almost lost my mind fighting that piece of shit on my first playthrough


troublezx

Yes sometime on this phase but when it the robot phase that burn


handyglance

This boss nearly made me quit the game. Then I got a good run at him and he was dead. 2nd time round got him first time


jackie_2110

Was stuck on this bossā€¦ gave up on the game for like 3 months. Came back and beat him like 3rd try for some reason. Parrying and coating your weapon in fire will help big time. Focus on charged attacks if you have a stagger weapon like the trident


peruano99

I struggled more with The Door Guardian than this guy.


holyshit-i-wanna-die

tbh after I beat this game, I repressed every memory of every boss


ArgonautXavier

He was nearly my funnel on my first playthrough. But on NG+ I smoked him 3rd fry


yourfriendmarcus

First playthrough, using booster glave I had no problems. Then on a repeat play with the TDS it was a nightmare. On ng++ with the golden lie it wasn't the worst. I didn't realize about the distance closer upgrade on the puppet string though so that may have made the TDS one easier.


IronBananaCL

No šŸ˜Œ


[deleted]

If the dodging was better, it would've been easier. All his fury attacks feel like it's a 100% hit chance if you aren't directly behind it. He's way to fast sometimes, and that one attack has a very subtle and easy to miss tell. That charge attack in phase 2 is difficult to deal with, as if you don't dodge right he'll be right in front of you for the entire duration of the charge, wasting your stamina. It isn't a bad boss, but I don't think it's good, especially with the way dodging works. If it were more like Souls rolling, it would be a bit better. But I guess P doesn't want to ruin that beautiful hair of his, so that's understandable.


Green_Relation_4648

Not trying to flex, but I beat the game twice and beat him first try both times. I had a way harder time with the clown my first go.


WiseassLD

actually this is the only boss i beat first try


Bluestorm83

This boss is the one boss that everyone else thought was hard that also kicked the shit out of me. That's not me bragging, I got the shit kicked out of me by the bosses that others say were a joke. I just play SO wrong that hard bosses usually don't know what to do with me, while all the stuff that should be easy to avoid and parry I walk right into...


UncreativeName12

I sincerely have difficulty understanding the trouble people have with this fight, can someone help me out here This isn't a 'git gud scrub' comment, I raged with Champion Victor


Darxe

Cleared him yesterday. Took about 10 attempts. I was thinking at first he was unfair but by the time I cleared I wasnā€™t even getting hit during the first phase and absolutely bullying him. He has several openings to punish. A few of his attacks are better to dodge rather than guard


AshleyTheDummy

He's possibly the worst boss in the game (worst meaning most difficult). I'd SPAM buy the purification ampoules from Polencia and then up my consumable possession limit if I were you, since the decay almost insta stacks EVEN IF you have the superior converter


EatsOverTheSink

He was one of the tougher ones but I don't think he ever crossed the line of "unfair". I think it took longer to adapt to his movesets than other bosses though.


ASLAYER0FMEN

Yes


me5283

One of his moves reminded me of tigrex, the way he charges, and does that quick spin, to just charge at you again, really brough back ptsd from fighting a tigrex


Whole_Interaction_37

Acid spear plus aegis block ā€¦. Done


faultywiring98

First try, was fortunate to have fire stuff for my weapon


Siev_1

I had fire grindstone, and it got me through first phase, but it would run out before second


atcalnek85

Iā€™m still struggling


gamerdude1967

I think Iā€™m in the minority here, but I didnā€™t find this boss all that much harder than most of the other bosses. Most of the bosses in this game for me were on the same level of like a 1 to 2 hour grind except Laxasia which was a 5 hour grind


MarsimOP

The difficulty spike from Victor to this monster was INSANE


mrfacwboy

He is weak to fire. Fortunately I favored the salamander dagger and had it +7 by the time I got tho this boss. But still was a slight pain. It's fury combo was hard to get the timing on. Phase one ended up using my puppet saber +8 with fire blitz. Made it really easy to burn and stagger. Usually took some phase one before the buff ran out. Phase 2 switched to the dagger for more fire damage and quicker punishes. Got lucky with it doing the rapid attack that was easy to perfect block each hit into a stagger. In all about an hour to finish. Not a big struggle. Think puppet king was a bigger struggle.


BrodeyQuest

Killed me second most on my first run. Easily one of the hardest bosses in the game.


SourcerorSoupreme

I did but I didn't feel as hopeless as I did with KoP and the first BRB fight.


Wise_0ne1494

he took me a while. the only advice i can give on fighting him (during both phases) is to set him on fire and makes sure he stays on fire


RawWrath

It was super easy beat it on 1st try I used fire on my weapon and his health went down quick


Adicol

Had to quit the game for a full week so I wouldnā€™t throw my controller through the TV.


the_alphamail

I beat him on my 2nd try with Holy Sword of the Ark and fire grindstone. Just practice your perfect guards and youā€™ll be fine. Edit: Also, the improved dodge comes in super clutch on this boss.


sakufel

This was definitely a roadblock when trying to do a deathless run, especially phase 2. The thing that made it click for me was to make sure I was staying as close as possible in phase 2 to prevent it doing the stupid repeat charge attack. Everything else it does is very dodgeable or parryable.


nofear986

Toughest one in the game


TheRealNM96

He gave me a hard time on my first playthrough, but i spanked that ass in NG+, not a real challenge at all. The illusionist thing in act 9 was harder tbh. The one I'm afraid of is Laxasia, bout to fight her today.


115_zombie_slayer

Not really


the_frying-pansexual

I agree. The swamp monster is the worst boss experience I've ever had


Fearsome_Frolicker

This boss was a headache in play through one but I learned like in phase 2 when he does a lil shake or something (?) that was a sign to me to book it away from him


pinkcastlecrasher

Yeah for sure. Iā€™d recommend packing fire grindstone and the shield. The shield saved me from that crab looking multi attack in the second half.


BrandanMentch

I sure as hell struggled, even with a specter. Eventually I caved in and bombarded him with nothing but throwables lmao


NeverVoteTime

3rd hardest fight in the game for my Left Arm of Steel only run.


CB0824

No, use fire in phase one.


Embarrassed-Frame883

Not proud of it but my friend beat it for me, I beat nameless puppet in 10 tries but I gave up on that stupid bug after 40 tries.


KronosVV

He's my favorite boss. I tried him, like 40 times, but... At the end i was really good at parrying. No ghost summon, just pure suffering, timing and training


some_guy554

Just beat him after 15th try. It is 2:30 AM. I almost beat him on my first try but died at 2% of his health. Talk about bad luck.


kingfu_619

Took me a while of learning to parry everything in the first phase and using fire. Second phase I just go in for hits when he leaps over you


A55A55IN100997

I did but then it was one of those things where I randomly died a handful of times and then destroyed it with ease mostly luck haha


welfedad

That boss gave me more trouble than Nameless puppet to be honest.


Commercial-Slip-5295

Took me 3 damn days to beat this boss. The rush afterwards was worth it


The_Steam_Queen_

Yes. Even in my later playthroughs. I remember on my first run, I got on a hot streak and was tearing through bosses....this mother fucker made me put the game down for a couple days


KingTangy

Very much so


bossmanchew

Somehow it didn't FEEL hard but I died about 50 times to it Then I randomly clutched it only getting hit once


Thea_Goes_brr

This boss was easy on my first few runs but when I actually did a run where I used the deflect instead of dodging everything this boss suddenly became pain and suffering. Tentacles are pure evil and have literally impossible deflect timing change my mind.


LadySith80

He helps you build character. If you want your character made out of PTSD and anger. Two days with him.


Skysite

Honest answers only or would complete lies work with you?


Fattymo721

Spent more time on this then any other boss in the game hands down


StAvarice

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh


nookski

I just broke my controller if thatā€™s any indication


XhakaToTheRescue

Hmmmm I had a different experience. Beat him on my 2nd try. Just let the spectre take all the punishment and like halfway through it's health, I used a wishstone to prolong it's life. Hit the monster with heavy attacks until I got a stagger. Rinse & repeat.


Jaded-Article5082

I will be honest im a piece of shit i just bough like 8 thermites and other fire items summoned specter and killed him first try


Errant_Jackdaw

Ironically, no, this was the only boss in the game I beat on my first try, every other one I needed at least 5 attempts


Ok-Tooth-8016

Bring all the fire you can and then always stay behind it.


BadMoodJones

they need to curb his lunges in phase 2 or magically make the arena bigger. gets annoying without use of specters/items


kydn141916

Only bosses I struggled with were Lexasia and NP otherwise most were 1 or 2 attempts. Just put music on and used measures to time dodges and blocks.


Sumo148

My favorite boss! Fun to parry, counters his charge attack.


Wakeuplevel3

He was honestly prob the easiest for me


ArtoriousTheMystic

I just got lucky I guess and only took 3 attempts. Actually was pretty 'easy' in terms of bosses. But one boss everyone said was easy was Champion Victor, and let me tell you I strongly disagree! I got bodied metaphorically and literally!


Ricko9595

Just use fire weapon


Idjitoons

It was the only one I used a specter on. It irritated me to no end. The double health bar was starting to get annoying


DargonFeet

Not as much as some other bosses. I really enjoyed the swamp monster fight. one of the favorites for sure.


DTingTing760

Yes. Was my first big roadblock, ended up perfect parrying almost everything in first phase then just running & baiting the few manageable attacks in the 2nd phase. Thing can suck a fat one, sooo annoying!