Dark Souls 3 Bosses: All 25 Fights, Order and Locations

Dark Souls III has 19 bosses in the base game, 13 of them required and 6 optional, and the two expansions add 6 more for a total of 25. The required path runs from Iudex Gundyr in the Cemetery of Ash to the Soul of Cinder in the Kiln of the First Flame, with the four Lords of Cinder as the real milestones in between. This rundown lists every fight, where it is, which ones you can skip, and how to reach the hidden and DLC bosses that many players never find.

We checked every boss, location and requirement here against the Fextralife Dark Souls III wiki pages for bosses, areas and endings, plus current reporting on the game's online services, in November 2026.

How Many Bosses Are in Dark Souls III

The wiki's count is 19 base-game bosses, with 6 of them optional. The optional six are the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, the Old Demon King, Oceiros (the Consumed King), Champion Gundyr, the Ancient Wyvern and the Nameless King. Everything else stands on the critical path. The expansions add Sister Friede and the Champion's Gravetender in Ashes of Ariandel, and the Demon Prince, Halflight, Darkeater Midir and Slave Knight Gael in The Ringed City.

"Optional" in Dark Souls III carries more weight than in the first game. Oceiros is technically skippable but sits on the route to Champion Gundyr and the Untended Graves, and he is required if you want the End of Fire ending. The Nameless King is optional too, yet many players single him out as the hardest fight in the base game. Skipping the optional half means skipping much of the game's best design.

Each boss drops a unique Boss Soul, such as the Soul of Vordt. You can keep it for Soul Transposition, which turns boss souls into special gear. To unlock transposition you need the Transposing Kiln, which only the optional Curse-Rotted Greatwood drops, so that "optional" fight is worth doing on every character.

The Required Path, Boss by Boss

This is the critical path in the order most players meet it. Locations come from the wiki's boss table.

1. Iudex Gundyr, Cemetery of Ash. The first boss, guarding the way to Firelink Shrine.
2. Vordt of the Boreal Valley, High Wall of Lothric.
3. Crystal Sage, Road of Sacrifices.
4. Abyss Watchers, Farron Keep. The first Lord of Cinder.
5. Deacons of the Deep, Cathedral of the Deep.
6. High Lord Wolnir, Catacombs of Carthus.
7. Pontiff Sulyvahn, Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.
8. Yhorm the Giant, Profaned Capital.
9. Aldrich, Devourer of Gods, Anor Londo.
10. Dancer of the Boreal Valley, High Wall of Lothric.
11. Dragonslayer Armour, Lothric Castle.
12. Lothric, Younger Prince, at the top of Lothric Castle.
13. Soul of Cinder, Kiln of the First Flame.

Treat the list as the typical order rather than a script, since the optional areas branch off at several points along the way. The general rule is to follow the bonfire trail that feels least punishing, and to come back if an area's regular enemies are taking huge chunks of your health. A boss that feels impossible at one level often becomes a fair fight after another upgrade or two on your main weapon, which is cheaper than grinding levels.

Notice that the Dancer is listed in the High Wall, the very first area, yet she sits late in the list. She belongs to the second half of the game even though her arena is near the start, so do not worry if you cannot find her early.

The Lords of Cinder and Why They Matter

The main goal of Dark Souls III is to bring the Lords of Cinder back to their thrones in Firelink Shrine. Ludleth of Courland is also counted among the Lords, but the four you must hunt are the Abyss Watchers, Aldrich, Yhorm the Giant and Lothric, Younger Prince. Each one leaves ashes behind, and those go on the matching empty throne.

Killing the third of the Abyss Watchers, Yhorm or Aldrich triggers a scripted event. You are teleported to High Priestess Emma in Lothric Castle, and the world changes: the sun is replaced by the Darksign and the light turns pale. If the sky suddenly looks wrong after a boss, that is why.

Yhorm deserves a specific warning. The Storm Ruler, a sword that lies in his own arena, is absurdly effective against him. Charge the weapon art until the blade glows, then release it at his head during his recovery windows. If you completed Siegward's questline, he shows up during the fight with his own Storm Ruler and can even solo the boss, though he does not recover health and dies easily. Either way, the fight becomes mostly a matter of dodging.

Once all four Lords are dead, you place their ashes on the thrones, talk to the Fire Keeper and activate the Firelink bonfire. A cutscene carries you to the Kiln of the First Flame, which the wiki recommends at levels 60 to 100, and the Soul of Cinder waits at the end. What happens after you beat him depends on choices you made much earlier, and our Dark Souls endings breakdown explains each outcome.

The Optional Bosses and How to Find Them

Three of the six optional fights are hidden well enough that first-time players walk past them.

• Curse-Rotted Greatwood in the Undead Settlement. Easy to find, and the source of the Transposing Kiln.
• Old Demon King in Smouldering Lake. Collapse the wooden bridge in the Catacombs of Carthus to drop into the lake, then find his room to the left of the entrance, behind the Carthus Sandworm. He pays 25,000 souls solo on New Game and drops the Soul of the Old Demon King.
• Oceiros, the Consumed King in the Consumed King's Garden, off Lothric Castle.
• Champion Gundyr in the Untended Graves. The entrance is an illusory wall behind a chest after Oceiros's boss room. The wiki suggests levels 70 to 85 for this area.
• Ancient Wyvern and Nameless King on Archdragon Peak. To get there, take the Path of the Dragon gesture from the Consumed King's Garden, travel to Irithyll Dungeon and perform it on the rug beside the petrified dragon acolyte. The wiki recommends levels 95 to 120.

Soul rewards are worth knowing if you plan to farm levels from bosses. The Old Demon King, for example, pays 25,000 souls to a solo player on New Game, but in co-op each participant receives only a quarter of that, 6,250. With summons unavailable for now, every player is getting the solo payout anyway.

The Untended Graves also hold the Eyes of a Fire Keeper, found behind an illusory wall in the dark version of Firelink Shrine. That item is the key to one of the alternate endings, so even if you skip Champion Gundyr, make the trip.

Reaching the DLC Bosses

Ashes of Ariandel begins in the Cathedral of the Deep. Warp to the bonfire beside the altar between the church's large doors, talk to Slave Knight Gael until his dialogue runs out, and a cutscene hands you a piece of a painting that pulls you into the Painted World of Ariandel. The wiki recommends at least level 60 to 70. Sister Friede is the required boss there; the Champion's Gravetender and his greatwolf are optional.

The Ringed City is reached through the Dreg Heap, and there are two doors in: a bonfire in the Kiln of the First Flame before the Soul of Cinder fight, or one in the Painted World chapel near Sister Friede. The suggested level range is 80 to 100. The Demon Prince fight in the Dreg Heap comes first, then Halflight and Slave Knight Gael in the Ringed City itself, with Darkeater Midir as the optional dragon that many players save for last.

One practical note for November 2026: summoning help, being summoned, invasions and player messages all depend on online services, and FromSoftware suspended Dark Souls III's servers on all platforms on 30 October, citing security vulnerabilities. Until they return, every boss here is a solo fight. Our Dark Souls 3 server status update tracks what still works offline. If you are new to the series and wondering whether to start here, our Dark Souls games in order guide compares the three entries.

All Base-Game Bosses at a Glance

Dark Souls III base-game bosses (Fextralife Bosses page)

Boss	Location	Status
Iudex Gundyr	Cemetery of Ash	Required
Vordt of the Boreal Valley	High Wall of Lothric	Required
Curse-Rotted Greatwood	Undead Settlement	Optional
Crystal Sage	Road of Sacrifices	Required
Abyss Watchers	Farron Keep	Required
Deacons of the Deep	Cathedral of the Deep	Required
High Lord Wolnir	Catacombs of Carthus	Required
Old Demon King	Smouldering Lake	Optional
Pontiff Sulyvahn	Irithyll of the Boreal Valley	Required
Yhorm the Giant	Profaned Capital	Required
Aldrich, Devourer of Gods	Anor Londo	Required
Dancer of the Boreal Valley	High Wall of Lothric	Required
Dragonslayer Armour	Lothric Castle	Required
Oceiros, the Consumed King	Consumed King's Garden	Optional
Champion Gundyr	Untended Graves	Optional
Lothric, Younger Prince	Lothric Castle	Required
Ancient Wyvern	Archdragon Peak	Optional
Nameless King	Archdragon Peak	Optional
Soul of Cinder	Kiln of the First Flame	Required

A sensible way to use the table: tick off the 13 required fights on a first run, then come back for the hidden six once you have a feel for the combat. The Nameless King and Midir are the two fights most worth saving for when you are confident, because each one teaches you more about Dark Souls III's timing than any guide can.

Want to Skip Straight to the Boss Fights?

If you have already cleared the game and want to try new builds against these bosses without farming upgrade materials again, the store offers a Dark Souls III Ultimate Starter Save. Its product page lists all weapons twice over, all armor sets, all arrows, all upgrade items and 987,654,321 souls on a starter character.

It works on PS4 and PS5 only, and you need your own copy of Dark Souls III, since only the save file is sold. See the Dark Souls III starter save page, or browse the rest of the Dark Souls store section for the other games in the trilogy.

Frequently Asked Questions