While playing Dark Souls 2 it is a good idea to know the main bosses in the game. This is because if you are not a completionist you can save quite some time by skipping the optional ones. And you’ll be surprised to know that out of the 30+ bosses in the game only 8 are main. That’s right you can skip the other bosses. So without further ado let us check all the main bosses in Dark Souls 2 and also look at the Optional and DLC bosses.
Main Bosses in Dark Souls 2
There are only 8 main bosses in Dark Souls 2 and they are:
- Twin Dragonriders
- Looking Glass Knight
- Demon of Song
- Velstadt, The Royal Aegis
- Guardian Dragon
- Giant Lord
- Throne Watcher and Throne Defender
- Nashandra
Allow me to explain why only these 8 are the main bosses.
Technically you could add Last Giant to this list but even this boss you can skip. The reason many consider it to be a main boss is that it drops the Soldiers Key that allows you to get to The Place Unbeknownst. But you can also get there by making a tricky jump from the Castle wall to the wooden platform. If you make this jump correctly you can get to Memory of Jeigh without the key.
Now depending on the path, you take to the Shrine of Winter, you will have to fight several optional bosses. And with the correct path, you might just be able to skip them. But you will need 1,000,000 Soul Memory to open the Shrine of Winter if you choose to not light 4 Primordial Bonfires.
After that, the main bosses you have to fight are:
- Twin Dragonriders
- Location: Drangleic Castle
- Looking Glass Knight
- Location: Drangleic Castle
- Demon of Song
- Location: Shrine of Amana
- Velstadt, The Royal Aegis
- Location: Undead Crypt
- Guardian Dragon
- Location: Aldia’s Keep
- Giant Lord
- Location: Memory of Jeigh
- Throne Watcher and Throne Defender
- Location: Throne of Want
- Nashandra
- Location: Throne of Want
Optional Bosses
These are all the optional bosses in Dark Souls 2:
Location: Drangleic Castle
Location: Shrine of Amana
Location: Undead Crypt
Location: Aldia’s Keep
Location: Memory of Jeigh
Location: Throne of Want
The Last Giant
The Pursuer
Dragonrider
Old Dragonslayer
Flexile Sentry
Ruin Sentinels Yahim, Ricce and Alessia
Belfry Gargoyles
Lost Sinner
Royal Rat Vanguard
The Rotten
The Skeleton Lords
Executioner’s Chariot
Covetous Demon
Mytha, the Baneful Queen
Smelter Demon
Old Iron King
Scorpioness Najka
Royal Rat Authority
Prowling Magus and Congregation
The Duke’s Dear Freja
Vendrick
Ancient Dragon
Darklurker
Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin
DLC Bosses
- Elana, Squalid Queen
- Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon
- Afflicted Graverobber, Ancient Soldier Varg, and Cerah the Old Explorer
- Smelter Demon (Blue Flame)
- Fume Knight
- Sir Alonne
- Burnt Ivory King
- Aava, the King’s Pet
- Lud and Zallen, the King’s Pets
That covers this guide on the main bosses in Dark Souls 2 and all other optional & DLC bosses. If this guide was helpful and you need help with other games then check out Gamer Tweak.