These DLC Bosses Completely Outshine Any In The Base Game

Boss encounters are always an exhilarating and monumental moment in any game, especially one that is heavily focused on combat, making you commit their entire attack pattern to memory, as you will likely be locked into a fierce battle with them for hours on end until you finally take them down. And that’s just the base version of the game, as the expansion always offers more formidable foes.

You can always count on the likes of FromSoftware to offer rage-inducing bosses, in addition to their surprisingly easy ones, which are only elevated in their expansions. And this isn’t exclusive to them, as many other fantastic titles have introduced their best encounters yet via DLC and expansions, making them a must-fight if you’re a fan of the series!

Samur Maykr

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part One

While fighting the Maurader for what seems like a million times in the base version of Doom Eternal can get extremely old, it actually has some pretty solid encounters, but feels a bit underwhelming overall. That is, until we received The Ancient Gods – Part One expansion, which gave us the blood-pumping and exhilarating encounter against Samur Maykr (AKA Seraphim).

Your battle against Seraphim is epic from start to finish, taking you through multiple stages, each getting more complex and hectic than the last, putting your movement and shooting skills to the test, and pushing your limits. This boss encounter is easily the best one in the game, and it makes you prove if you’re worthy to pilot the Doom Slayer!

Fume Knight

Dark Souls 2: Crown Of The Old Iron King

Let’s face the facts: Dark Souls 2 only has a small handful of decent to good bosses in its base version, so clearing that bar isn’t necessarily hard. Even so, they absolutely cooked with the Fume Knight in the Crown of the Old Iron King expansion, offering one of the best encounters in the series, let alone the game.

Fume Knight feels like a proper Soulsborne boss, which is something pretty much every boss in the base game lacked. His design, attack patterns, and arena all come together perfectly, offering an incredibly epic and rewarding fight. We love everything about this encounter!

Knight Artorias, The Abysswalker

Dark Souls: Artorias Of The Abyss

Speaking of perfect Soulsborne expansion bosses, we wouldn’t dare leave Knight Artorias, the Abysswalker, off this list, as he is one of the most iconic fights of the entire series, and even outshines the likes of Ornstein and Smough from the base game, which is saying something, as that encounter is picture-perfect as well.

The first Dark Souls has some banger boss encounters, and so does the rest of the Artorias of the Abyss expansion. Still, there’s something so visceral and powerful about the Artorias encounter that makes it clear everything else in the game. The lore, arena, music, and encounter itself are something special. They went IN on this encounter, and it shows!

Demi-Fiend

Shin Megami Tensei 5: Return Of The True Demon

A bit of a technicality, the Demi-Fiend boss encounter was added into Shin Megami Tensei 5 via a quest DLC titled Return of the True Demon, rather than a full-on expansion as the other entries. Still, since it wasn’t part of the base version of the game, it counts, and it’s a doozie of a fight, and deserves its place on the list.

Demi-Fiend is, by and large, the most challenging encounter in the entire game, even when pitting him up against the bosses found in the Vengeance expansion. The whole encounter is tense, forcing you to use everything at your disposal to come out on top. One misstep and you’re likely toast. We wish there were more encounters like this one in the game!

Markiona, Puppeteer Of Death

Lies Of P: Overture

Fresh off the presses, we have the Markiona, Puppeteer of Death, encounter from the new Overture expansion that Lies of P received earlier this year. If you thought the base game had some remarkable battles, you’d be correct, but you haven’t seen anything quite like this one. This fight is everything you want in a Lies of P boss battle and then some.

Not only are you battling against Markiona herself, but you will also be tasked with taking on the Queen’s Arche Puppet, one of her creations, which will likely mess you up more than you can count on your first few attempts. Everything about this battle hits the mark, making it not only rival everything before it, but surpass it quite convincingly!

Sister Friede

Dark Souls 3: Ashes Of Ariandel

Dark Souls 3 is a solid experience from start to finish, but it does feel oddly easy at times, with most of the bosses not offering much of a challenge unless you go off the beaten path and fight the Nameless King. And, FromSoftware heard our cries loud and clear, dropping Sister Friede on us in the game’s first expansion, Ashes of Ariandel.

With three phases, a stunning arena of fire and ice, and a mesmerizing onslaught of attacks, Sister Friede is one of the best encounters FromSoftware ever conceived. From the fake-out victory, her regenerating her entire health bar several times, and Father Ariandel joining the battle, this is easily some of the most hype-moments ever!

Ludwig, The Holy Blade

Bloodborne: The Old Hunters

Want another FromSoftware expansion boss fight? We hope you answered ‘yes,’ as that’s what you’re getting, as there is no way we were leaving Ludwig, the Holy Blade, off this list, as he’s arguably one of the most cinematic and emotional boss fights they’ve created, serving as our favorite in Bloodborne, thanks to the excellent Old Hunters expansion.

Is Ludwig the most challenging fight in the game? Absolutely not. But he is arguably the best overall, as the lore does an excellent job at setting him up in the base game, then seeing him in this state in the expansion, and seeing that stunning and devastating cutscene for the first time will ingrain it into your brain forever. It also helps that the battle itself is a ten out of ten, as they never miss!

Weiss

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade

A bit of a curveball for you, we have the secret boss encounter from Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, which has Yuffie’s Intermission expansion. Weiss is the boss in question, who is as deep-cut as it gets, as they were the primary antagonist of the Dirge of Cerberus, Vincent’s standalone game that was likely long forgotten by the masses by now.

But thanks to Chadley’s Combat Simulator, you can battle against Weiss on Hard Mode for one of the most intense and immensely challenging encounters the game has to offer. Is it as emotional as the encounters from the base game? No. However, with the slightly improved combat that Intergrade brings to the table, and how you must play nearly perfectly to defeat him, it’s by far the most satisfying and demanding in the game!

Promised Consort Radahn

Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree

Mhmm, you guessed it, another FromSoftware Soulsborne expansion boss has arrived, bringing Promised Consort Radahn into the mix, serving as the final boss in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion of Elden Ring. Again, they never miss, and this encounter is arguably the most brutal and downright vicious boss fight in their library. Yes, even passing Sekiro’s Isshin fight.

It’s visually striking, saturated in lore, and has two phases that will more than test your patience and limits. Shadow of the Erdtree is undoubtedly the most demanding thing FromSoftware has made since Sekiro, and this encounter feels even too much for that. This has to be revenge for making them nerf the OG Radahn, right?

Hades

Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers

Lastly, we have Hades from one of the best expansions of all time in Shadowbringers, from the critically acclaimed MMORPG, which has a free trial, and incl- *ahem* anyways, where were we? Oh, yes, the Hades encounter from Final Fantasy 14’s Shadowbringers expansion. On a more serious note, this encounter will have you sobbing your eyes out by the end of it.

Shadowbringers does a perfect job at building everything up and giving you some of the most cathartic and emotionally devastating payoffs that you wouldn’t expect from an MMORPG. Emet-Selch is one of the best antagonists in all of gaming, and your fight against him after he transforms into Hades overshadows everything from the base game and the expansions before it!