The 12 Hardest Bosses In 'Dark Souls 2' That Will Always Crush Our Souls

Arguably one of the hardest bosses in the entire Dark Souls series, The Fume Knight is as iconic as he is infamous. His massive stature and dual-wielding capabilities help him stand out from his contemporaries, but one of the most challenging and differentiating aspects of The Fume Knight is the fact that his attacks aren't telegraphed like other bosses. The Fume Knight instead uses attacks that have little to no wind-up, or in some cases completely slows down his thrusts to throw off the rhythm and timing of the players. This tactic cause dodges to happen at either the most inopportune time, or in some cases, right into his grasp and to the players' demise. 

Setting aside his bizarre attack pattern, The Fume Knight also has a strong resistance to all magic-based attacks, causing players to focus on a more physical-based strategy. Throw on top of this the fact that his second phase incorporates dark and fire magic potent enough to deal damage to players, even if they have full 100 percent damage negation, and you have a receipt for one major pain in the neck.

The Burnt Ivory King is undoubtedly one of the most unique bosses in all of Dark Souls II thanks to one trait, his action of bringing an entire fleet of charred knights and pyromancers with him to obliterate players even before the boss fight officially starts. When players enter the boss room, instead of beginning a boss fight in the traditional Soulsborne fashion, players alternatively get bombarded by a massive swarm of enemies. The only way to proceed to the actual boss fight from this point is to kill them all, close the gates that are allowing them in, and then finally have The Burt Ivory Knight grace them with their presence. Once he shows his face, the fight doesn't get any easier.

Wielding a magic javelin, The Burnt Ivory Knight attacks with a flurry of slashing and jumping attacks that force players to keep their distance. His resistance to poison and fire makes this distance a massive challenge, however with some expertly timed dodges and lightning attacks, this fight goes from egregious, to just plain miserable.

Widely considered as one of the most fun and entertaining bosses in all of Dark Souls II, the Sir Alonne boss fight is sublime in its simplicity. Featuring no cheap tricks or chicanery, this boss fight requires nothing but skill, timing, and practice to perfect. While he may seem like just another massive knight in armor, Sir Alonne comes prepared for battle with an abundance of attacks from his enormous katana. Ranging from lunges and jump stabs to parries and life drains, it takes numerous battles just to see everything that he has to offer in this fight. With no true weakness to exploit, players need to focus simply on memorizing patterns and learn the varying timing of his attacks to succeed.

The only downside to this boss is the fact that he is a force behind an annoying timed trek to the boss room and if the player were to die, which is very likely, they need to complete this journey all over again just to simply see the boss again. 

An incredibly infuriating and frustrating boss, the Blue Smelter Demon appears to be simply a re-skin of the Smelter Demon boss at first glance, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. While he still has the same move set as the regular Smelter Demon, he also comes fully equipped with alternate variations of every single attack and often rotates the speed at which he attacks, making players second guess their every move once they see him. Powered by magic as opposed to fire like his twisted brethren, the Blue Smelter Demon also deals massive AOE damage, this alone makes the entire arena unsafe and terrifying.

Once he gets to around 70% health, suddenly the demon stabs himself with his sword, resulting in all of his attacks receiving a magic damage buff in addition to all of the other elemental damage he has going. The Blue Smelter Demon is widely considered one of the most troll-y bosses in all of Dark Souls, and after just a few rounds with him, it isn't difficult to see why. 

A secret boss that is devastating to nearly all builds in Dark Souls II, Darklurker is a heavy-spellcasting angel of death that will make you undoubtedly understand his place as a secret boss. Featuring a wide range of dark and soul attacks, the flying monstrosity is more than adept in nearly all combat, both ranged and melee. While it may be well versed in both previously mentioned, it is undoubtedly an expert in magic damage, featuring one of the most devastating attacks in the entire game, a dark soul bomb that summons smaller dark orbs that can devastate both enemies and the environment around them with a massive AOE attack. 

Just when players think they've had enough, however, Darklurker then begins its second phase, splitting itself into two identical versions of itself. Suddenly the struggle of fighting this winged beast just doubles in trouble, and now that catastrophic dark soul bomb doubles in frequency, making this boss a menace to anyone who dares face him.

Similar to Avaa's fight earlier in Dark Souls II, the biggest differentiating factor between Avaa's fight and Lud & Zallens' fights is that now instead of fighting 1 tiger, you have to go up against 2 at the same time. Bouncing around the battlefield at lightning pace, the dodge button is the player's best friend in this fight, as the King's Pets are going to be flying around like a whirlwind, slashing at players, and casting homing magic missiles just in case players try to attack from a distance. 

Once you finally defeat one of these two enemies, the other will then activate a life gem, slowly helping them regain HP for the rest of the fight. Many times, this will cause panic as now a life bar that had just a sliver of life left in it begins to rise, causing players to often times become too aggressive, and inevitable lost and have to start the fight all over.