Bosses With The Highest HP In Dark Souls Games (2024)

The HP stat has always been one of the most important things in gaming, be that of the players or any enemies they face. The Dark Souls games spawned the subgenre of soulslikes, in which a main defining feature is the array of bosses available for the player to vanquish.

As was the case, these enemies would need more HP than usual adversaries due to their status as unique and powerful creatures. Across the trilogy of Dark Souls games, players have seen numerous bosses, all with differing amounts of health. Some health bars have been on the smaller side, thus trivializing the fight, while others have enormous HP, making fights very difficult.

10 Sir Alonne - Dark Souls 2

10,140 HP

Dark Souls 2 was an experimental game for FromSoftware as they developed the souls subgenre, and Sir Alonne represents both good and bad design choices. Alonne is undoubtedly a great fight, often ranked as so, with mechanics that pushed the boundaries of gameplay, such as mixed durations of delayed attacks to keep players on edge, as would be expected of a character so powerful.

However, the area before Alonne, and the path to get to him, is regarded as one of the worst in the series, with a high HP stat further compounding any frustration, as players will have to endure a long boss fight again if they die. That's assuming, of course, they can even make it into his arena without getting killed beforehand.

9 Soul of Cinder - Dark Souls 3

10,766 HP

The final boss of the base games of the Dark Souls series, the Soul of Cinder concluded the trilogy with an epic finale that saw the boss utilize unique gameplay mechanics along with arguably the strongest emotional moment FromSoft ever developed in a boss fight.

A combination of the lore of the Soul of Cinder, being a collective of all those who previously linked the First Flame, including the player characters from the first two Dark Souls titles, and the boss cycling through various playstyles made for one of the best final bosses in a FromSoft game. All without mentioning the wordless storytelling FromSoft has become all too renowned for doing.

8 Vendrick - Dark Souls 2

11,450 HP

Dark Souls 2, as is natural for a sequel, attempted to try new things, which the game has now become infamous for. Vendrick is one of the biggest examples of FromSoft doing so in a boss fight.

Many players have criticized this fight for simultaneously being both boring and frustrating, with Vendrick only having a few attacks, an incredibly large health pool, and the ability to kill players in a couple of hits. Ideally, FromSoft wanted players to obtain all Giant Souls to face him, which reduces the damage dealt, but not all Giant Souls are required to advance the game, leading Vendrick to decimate players.

7 Slave Knight Gael - Dark Souls 3

15,037 HP

Chronologically speaking, Slave Knight Gael is the final boss of the Dark Souls trilogy, released in The Ringed City DLC. Almost universally considered one of the best bosses FromSoft has ever graced players with, he is also one of the most challenging.

Gael holds one of the highest HP stats of a non-gimmick boss fight in Dark Souls 3, primarily designed to be an endurance fight, with multiple phases that each increase in difficulty and intensiveness. One of the most respected bosses as well, due to his lore, Gael solidified Dark Souls 3, and the Dark Souls franchise as one of the most prestigious via his explosive ending of the series.

6 High Lord Wolnir - Dark Souls 3

15,041 HP

High Lord Wolnir, despite having a tragic lore backstory, is one of the more disliked bosses in Dark Souls 3 for a multitude of reasons. He one of the easier bosses in the game, with players simply having to destroy his bracelets to defeat him instead of fighting him head-on like a regular boss.

Additionally, his attacks, particularly his breathing attack, can very quickly damage players. Combined with Wolnir's lower body dealing constant AoE damage when players get close, and his boss battle involving him moving up an incline, it becomes clear why he is such a disliked fight.

5 Darkeater Midir - Dark Souls 3

15,850 HP

In terms of a non-gimmick boss fight who doesn't recover HP with new health bars, Darkeater Midir possesses the highest amount in Dark Souls 3. Often regarded as one of the hardest bosses ever created by FromSoft, and also one of the best dragon bosses, Midir truly tested the limits of players.

Dark Souls 3's endgame bosses saw a number of them adopt an endurance battle strategy, where players will win the fight not by being stronger, but by learning the encounter and slowly whittling down the HP of the enemy. Midir is one of the best examples of this, having a ridiculous health bar, and dealing devastating damage capable of ending the fight instantly.

4 Sister Friede - Dark Souls 3

18,877 HP

Sister Friede was the first main boss fight in a Dark Souls 3 DLC, namely the Ashes of Ariandel, and is largely considered as one of FromSoft's best fights. Before Elden Ring's Malenia, Friede was regarded as the hardest female boss, and is still argued as the best female boss.

Notably, her second phase brought another enemy, Father Ariandel, into the battle, giving way to a great dual boss fight. Much like other endgame bosses, Friede is an endurance fight, with three phases, all of which refill her health bar. Her first phase sees her with 4,863 HP, her second phase with 7,150 HP, and her third phase with 6,864 HP, for a total of 18,877 HP.

3 Ancient Dragon - Dark Souls 2

19,840 HP

In FromSoft's games, dragons usually have some of the highest HP stats, with the Ancient Dragon from Dark Souls 2 being no different. Except, while most dragon bosses FromSoft design are almost always regarded as incredibly well-made, the Ancient Dragon is not.

A highly criticized boss, the Ancient Dragon, on top of its very high HP stat, also has a tendency to fly away out of players' reach, in which he will breathe fire with a generous damage output, to say the least. To add on to these annoyances, the runback to the boss can be frustrating, with large distances and enemies needed to get through before the dragon can be challenged again.

2 Demon In Pain, Demon From Below, & Demon Prince - Dark Souls 3

21,169 HP

The first boss fight of The Ringed City DLC in Dark Souls 3, the Demon In Pain and Demon From Below are one of the few occasions where a dual battle is balanced.

While each of the demons don't have a huge amount of HP on their own, possessing 7,062 health individually, equaling a total of 14,124 HP, it's when the boss transitions into the second phase where the stat really reaches an absurdly large portion. The Demon Prince has a HP stat of 7,045 health, which, when added on top of the 14,124 amount the previous two demons possessed, equals a total of 21,169 HP players must fight through before they can defeat the combat encounter.

1 Yhorm The Giant - Dark Souls 3

27,822 HP

The largest amount of health in Dark Souls goes to Yhorm the Giant, a gimmick boss where players aren't supposed to directly attack him in the typical way.

Yhorm's boss fight requires players to pick up the Storm Ruler sword and use the Weapon Art to deal damage to him, similar to Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy in Elden Ring. Yhorm's high HP also relates to another Elden Ring boss, the Fire Giant, as giving Yhorm too little health would make his presence as a giant underwhelming.