Elden Ring Boss Checklist: What Most Players Actually Miss

You’ve probably stood there, staring at the Erdtree, wondering if you’ve actually "finished" the game. Honestly, Elden Ring is a monster. Between the base game and the massive Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, there are over 270 bosses waiting to turn your Tarnished into a red smear on the pavement. If you think you've cleared everything just because you saw the credits roll, you're almost certainly wrong.

Most players finish their first run hitting maybe 60 or 70 bosses. That leaves nearly 200 encounters tucked away in caves, catacombs, or appearing only when the sun goes down. This isn't just about a completionist itch; many of these hidden fights drop the best talismans and weapons in the game.

Let's break down the Elden Ring boss checklist in a way that actually makes sense for how people play, rather than just a massive, soul-crushing spreadsheet.

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The Bare Minimum: Mandatory Bosses

If you just want to beat the game, the list is surprisingly short. You basically only need to kill about 12 bosses to see an ending. You need two Great Runes to enter Leyndell. Most people grab Godrick and Rennala because they’re the "intended" path, but you could technically skip Stormveil entirely, head to Caelid, and kill Radahn instead.

Here is the "straight line" path:

1. Two Shardbearers (usually Margit/Godrick and Red Wolf/Rennala).
2. Draconic Tree Sentinel (the jerk guarding the capital gate).
3. Godfrey, First Elden Lord (the golden shade version).
4. Morgott, the Omen King.
5. Fire Giant (prepare to hate your horse).
6. Godskin Duo (prepare to hate your life).
7. Maliketh, the Black Blade.
8. Sir Gideon Ofnir.
9. Godfrey / Hoarah Loux.
10. Radagon and the Elden Beast.

That’s it. But playing Elden Ring like that is like going to a 5-star buffet and only eating the bread rolls. You’re missing the actual meat.

The Missable and the Messy

There are bosses in this game that will literally vanish if you progress the story too far. If you kill Maliketh and turn Leyndell into the Capital of Ash, some of the smaller encounters in the city are gone for good.

Take the Lichdragon Fortissax fight. It’s one of the most visualy stunning encounters in the game, but it’s buried at the end of Fia’s questline. If you ignore the "Deathbed Companion" or mess up Ranni’s quest too early, you might never see that dragon.

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Then there are the "Nighttime Only" bosses. This is what trips up most people’s checklist. You can ride across a bridge ten times during the day and see nothing. Come back at midnight, and a Night’s Cavalry or a Deathbird is waiting to wreck you. If you’re hunting for 100% completion, you have to manually pass time at almost every major landmark.

Shadow of the Erdtree: The New Checklist

The DLC added 34 new bosses to the pile. Some people argue the count is higher if you include every named NPC, but in terms of unique "fog wall" or "big health bar" encounters, 34 is the gold standard.

The "Remembrance Bosses" in the Land of Shadow are the ones everyone talks about. These are your Messmers and your Bayles. But the DLC is even more vertical than the base game. There are entire bosses, like Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame, hidden behind "illusory walls" that are hidden behind other secret paths. It's layers of secrets.

If you’re checking off the DLC, don't miss:

• Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Usually your first big roadblock in Belurat.
• Rellana, Twin Moon Knight: The "boss gate" to the rest of the map.
• Messmer the Impaler: You literally can't miss him if you want to finish, but finding his castle’s back entrance is a chore.
• Bayle the Dread: Technically optional, but he’s basically the "Malenia" of the DLC in terms of scale and difficulty.
• Promised Consort Radahn: The final wall.

Why Your Checklist is Probably Incomplete

The sheer density of the Lands Between is why a standard checklist fails. Most players miss the Dragonkin Soldier in the Lake of Rot because, well, it’s the Lake of Rot and nobody wants to stay there. Or they miss the Ulcerated Tree Spirit hiding in the basement of Stormveil Castle because you have to perform a specific, "suicidal" jump off a ledge near the Liftside Chamber.

There’s also the "Godefroy" situation. Yes, there is a second, purple-colored Godrick hiding in an Evergaol in Altus Plateau. It’s weird. It’s lazy. But if you’re doing a full checklist, you have to kill him too.

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How to Actually Track This

Don't try to memorize 238 names. It’s pointless. Instead, categorize your hunt by region.

Limgrave alone has nearly 30 bosses if you count every cave and Evergaol. Liurnia has even more because of the sunken ruins. If you’re looking at a region on your map and there’s a big empty space without a "Site of Grace," there is a 90% chance a boss is living there.

Actionable Steps for Completionists

• Check the Nightly Spawns: Visit the bridges in Limgrave, Liurnia, and Caelid specifically at night.
• Explore the Divine Towers: Don't just activate the runes; some towers, like the one in Caelid, have an entire dungeon and a Godskin Apostle hiding in the basement.
• Finish the Questlines: Ranni, Fia, and Volcano Manor lead to bosses you cannot find by just wandering.
• The Bell Bearing Hunter: He only spawns at specific shacks (like the Warmaster's Shack) at night, and only after you’ve bought something from the merchant there and rested again.

The best way to handle an Elden Ring boss checklist is to treat it like a scavenger hunt. Look for the smoke rising from the Minor Erdtrees—there’s always an Avatar or a Putrid Avatar there. Look for the statues that point blue light toward the ground; they lead to catacombs. Once you’ve cleared the "Legend" bosses, the real game becomes finding the ones FromSoftware tried their hardest to hide from you.

To wrap this up, your next step is to head back to the Roundtable Hold and talk to Gideon Ofnir. If you haven't finished the game, he actually tracks the "missing" Shardbearers for you. If he's gone, your best bet is to cross-reference your "Remembrances" at the Twin Maiden Husks. If you don't have 15 from the base game and 10 from the DLC, you’ve still got work to do.