Road to Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Part 1 – 10 Areas that should have boss Fights
Elden Ring has a lot of bosses, 165 to be exact. It feels like sometimes you can’t go two steps without stumbling upon another dungeon or field boss. Yet, there are certain areas in the game without bosses that I believe could really benefit from having one. Here’s my list:
Night’s Sacred Grounds, Nokron
This area marks the end of the second major part of Ranni’s Questline, if you consider part 1 beating Radahn and part 3 reaching the Church of Manus Celese. Here in the Night’s Sacred Ground, you retrieve the prize of the Nox people – the Fingerslayer Blade, a weapon capable of freeing Ranni from the whims of the Elden Ring. You’d think such an important item would be guarded, despite the fact that the Eternal cities aren’t doing too well. Instead there’s a couple of Mimics and a Mimic Troll. You fought 10 odd trolls in Stormhill back near the start of the game
You don’t even necessarily need a boss. Instead you could call back to Demon’s Souls and Old King Doran – have a Nox monk test you to see if you are worthy to take the blade. That’d be cool.
Guardian’s Garrison, Mountaintops of the Giants
Back in the prerelease of the game, we had a screenshot or brief shot from a trailer of one of the Fire Prelates either as a boss or guarding the fog gate to a boss. Neither of those things came to be in the actual game. With the mountaintops being as sparse as they are, turning the Guardian’s Garrison into a minor legacy dungeon like Caria Manor could have been cool. Maybe even make it mandatory to access Flame Peak.
As for the boss, the Fire Prelate’s only appear in the Mountaintops, save for the one in Fort Laiedd on Mt Gelmir (which honestly could have been a boss himself). This version could have been the leader of the Fire Monks or even Birac, the monk who severed his head for the Cranial Vessel Candlestand. This decapitation could have been part of the fight as the phase transition or something. Certainly not a remembrance boss but defintely on tier with other trophy/achievement fights.
Inverted Carian Study Hall, Liurnia of the Lakes
I really like the concept behind the Carian Study Hall, with it being fully explorable when you find it but only unlocking its secrets when Ranni gives you the Inverted Carian Statue. It’s a bit disappointing however that the main difference in terms of enemy is having Preceptor Miriam invade or be there as a hostile NPC.
Have Miriam be there as an NPC in the normal variation, put a Carian Knight boss in the flip world. I think this would work well as it becomes a boss in Fia’s questline rather than bloating up Ranni’s questline.
Weeping Peninsula Western Coastline
There’s a huge beach on the West Coast of the Weeping Peninsula which is occupied entirely by Putrid Corpse enemies. Besides from the merchant, that’s all that’s there. It’s a really odd boss. Cut content hints at the existence of some kind of Sea Monster boss that could have been here (or in any water really).
My solution? Put a Dark Souls Hydra here. 1:1 copy. Imagine the reactions of returning players.
Mistwood, Limgrave
Much like the above section, the Mistwood of Limgrave is a large area with nothing really going on. You can start Blaidd’s quest here, just beyond it is Fort Haight with the Dectus Medallion half and where the meteor strikes after the Radahn Festival ends. I could put that the Demi-Human Queen in the Demi Human Ruins of the Weeping Peninsula should be a boss (Considering it’s the only Demi-Human Queen who isn’t a boss), but I have a better idea.
Mimicking the sounds of Bears and Wolves in the Mistwood, a rogue Demi Human who mourns the death of the Queen in Fort Haight who fights more savagely than the rest. It could really evoke the vibes that Blaidd gave off in the original trailers as a potential Wolf Man boss.
Leyndell Coliseum
While they weren’t open until the Coliseum Update, I always thought having a gladiator like boss would be a really cool use for this location. There’s duelists outside, but imagine a Pumpkin Head sized or even Troll sized warrior, complete with more traditional Gladiator gear like the trident and net. They could even ride one of the Lion Guardians, but perhaps that might be a step too far.
Having a boss inaccessible after a certain point (Like Ashen Capital) might be a bit of a no no though.
Apostate Derilect, Consecrated Snowfields
Despite the Wandering Mausoleum outside having a laser turret and the games final Death-Rite Bird being just down the way, there’s not much of anything in the Apostate Derilect. This location marks the end of Latenna the Albinaurics quest and the somewhat underwhelming discovery of Phillia. I feel like maybe even a small boss here could be cool.
An Albinauric Hunter of some description - I’m not sure who or what they could be as it seems just about everyone in the Lands Between hates the Albinauric people. The boss fight for the Village of the Albinaurics was an Omenkiller but I think that would be lazy to have again. Admittedly not got much idea for this one beyond believing there should be something here.
Four Belfries – Crumbling Farum Azula and Nokron
‘The Four Belfries’ in an interesting concept for an area with a strange execution. There are three portals to three areas - returning to the Chapel of Anticipation and a rematch with the Grafted Scion, then there’s the portal to both Nokron and Crumbling Farum Azula. I understand having a preview of Farum, but we can get to Nokron earlier than the Four Belfries.
Regardless, having a boss fight in each of the portals, not just the Grafted Scion, would have been really cool. For Farum, you could have another undead Beast man. For Nokron, you could use the Crucible Knight that is already there (the only CK that doesn’t drop anything) and make him a super Crucible Knight - give him access to all of the Crucible spells rather than the one each they usually use.
Lower Volcano Manor, Mt Gelmir
As the player progresses through the Legacy Dungeon, they can find themselves back in the main manor section where they can navigate down hanging cages and old boards to reach the bottom and rap back around to the foyer. I think it would be cool if there was a hidden boss down here.
I think something like a Man-Snake Torturer could be cool, make it a different sort of snake to the rest of them but equip him with some heavy poisoning and bleed like weapons. A glass cannon like the Cemetary Shade’s with a touch more mobility (Walking not teleporting) to keep things fresh.
Ordina, Liturgical Town, Consecrated Snowfield
Locking the player out of Miquella’s Haligtree is the Evergaol in Ordina, Liturgical Town. Instead of the usual boss found in Evergoals, this one has a candle puzzle - the same as the one seen in Sellia. While this is fine, I think it would be cool to see a main figure in the gaol.
A variation of the Haligtree Knights found in the Haligtree could be cool, but I wouldnt want it to be another enemy with boss healthbar, so it would have to be more advanced. A Halig Knight with rot spells and a cool combination of Cleanrot Knight weaponry and Halig Knight stuff.
These areas would then be the following:
Keeper of the Night’s Treasure
Fire Prelate Birac
Carian Protector
Weeping Hydra
Savage Demi-Human Prince
Sercit, Champion of the Arena
Albinauric Hunter
Skeletal Beastman
Wandering Crucible Knight
Man-Serpent Torturer
Halig Knight Commander Firenz
What could have been, eh?
This part 1 of 5 articles in the Road to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Check in tomorrow for another piece as we eagerly await the DLC’s release.