Following on from my Bloodborne main game boss ranking it’s time to consider and rank the notoriously difficult Chalice Dungeon bosses. As most of you still reading this will know, accessing the Chalice Dungeons is optional and therefore so is battling the bosses which reside in them. It’s also common knowledge that the chalice dungeons are very tricky and largely disliked within the Bloodborne community. But that’s not going to stop us, right?!… So, in order of difficulty, easiest to hardest, here they come.

 

20 – Maneater Boar – Hindertomb Chalice (Layer One)

Just like its Yharnam counterpart the single Maneater Boar isn’t a challenge at all. With all the same attacks as its standard version this big pig should give you virtually no trouble at all. Stay close to it and its most powerful attack – its charge, won’t be able to affect you. Although it’s found in the first layer of an easy Chalice Dungeon I was still shocked that this was the foe that stood between me and the second layer of the tomb. The only time I had ever had any problems with the Maneater Boars is when they were in groups of three or more so, a fight against one, even with a large amount of health felt disappointingly boring. The quickest way to deal with this oversized piggy is to power up a visceral attack. If pulled off successfully you’ll probably take a majority of its health and shorten the duration of the fight drastically. Personally, I never got to attempt a powerup attack because before I knew it I had slaughtered my prey.

 

19 – Loran Silverbeast – Lower Loran (Layer One)

In the chalice dungeons, there seems to be a trend that the easiest bosses are the ones we’ve already fought many times in the main game. They’re less intimidating than bosses we’ve never seen before because you’re already familiar with move sets and attack patterns. The Loran Silverbeast is no different. The same type of foe as the Silverbeasts found in the Nightmare Frontier and the Nightmare of Mensis this boss is a cakewalk. If you come equipped with fire paper you’ll find this boss extremely easy. Being of beast kind he’s immediately at a disadvantage if you attack him with a fire embellished weapon. This fight may be very simple and not last long enough for you to even consider it to be a true boss fight but it’s the only boss fight that you’ll be able to enjoy in Lower Loran. Because all the other fights in this chalice are horrible.

 

18 –Celestial Emissary –  Great Isz Chalice (Layer Two)

As well as this boss being the easiest in the main game, I also found the Celestial Emissary in the Isz Chalice to be stupidly easy. One of the things that almost makes the Celestial Emissary tough in the Upper Cathedral Ward was her constantly spawning hoard of smaller Emissary’s. Even though they don’t really pose any threats they do at least mean that getting to the actual boss is a challenge, In the Isz Chalice this boss has no irritating army swarming around her feet meaning that it’s very easy to get to her, deal some damage and then avoid her obvious attack windups. She does now have the same arcane abilities that a select few Emissary’s have which can make her a bit of a troublesome boss but stay close to her and she’ll refrain to her stomps and swinging attacks. Do it this way and you’ll kill her in no time with no issues.

 

17-  Beast Possessed Soul – Ailing Loran Chalice (Layer One)

This boss is one that not many people will come across in the main game, and those who did probably took out the sleeping Beast Possessed Soul at the bottom of the Healing Workshop Tower with a single visceral attack. This boss appears twice in the Chalice dungeons, once in the Central Pthumeru Chalice and a slightly trickier one in the Ailing Loran Chalice. Both beasts are the layer one bosses for their respective chalice’s and therefore not too challenging. Although of beast kind the Beast Possessed Soul isn’t weak to fire meaning that he can be quite tricky if you attempt to fight him using this tactic. Serrated weapons work best and if you stay nimble you’ll easily avoid his quick succession of five or six swings which can stunlock you if you get caught amid them. This battle isn’t too tricky as long as you don’t let the beast bite you, if he gets a taste of your blood he’ll grow frenzied and will increase his speed and aggression making the fight more interesting. Overall though not too much of a challenge and I beat both versions of the Beast Possessed Soul on my very first attempt.

 

16 – Brainsucker – Great Isz Chalice (Layer One)

Although not too tricky a boss, this guy gets a higher place on the list because I hate these foes. Not only do they zap your health with their wide move set they also take away your hard-earnt insight. Although he looks intimidating this boss fight isn’t too much of a challenge, even though I did frown when I saw who I would be fighting. This boss battle in the Great Isz Chalice features the standard Brainsucker who uses paralysing attacks to freeze you in place and general swinging attacks to stunlock you. The key to beating this boss is to keep moving. If you stand next to him slashing away the only result you will get is you being grabbed and having your health depleted. Overall though this Brainsucker isn’t really going to give you any hassle, if you have either fire or bolt paper you’ll be fine as these foes are equally weak to both additions to your weapon. Juts keep moving and don’t get greedy.

 

15 –Pthmureian Elder – Lower Hindertomb (Layer Three)

This bosses name gives you a little insight to how he’ll act during the fight. Hobbling around with a walking stick, attacking this boss feels like your facing off against an unarmed senior citizen. To counter his slow walking speed the Pthmureian Elder can teleport to other sections of the arena to try and protect himself from senselessly being beaten to death. He has some strong moves but the wind up for his attacks are so predictable that he’s very easy to either parry or stun. During his second phase, he’ll apply fire paper to his weapon and become a tiny fraction trickier. The reach of his weapon is quite long so it’s always better to dodge either left or right rather than fleeing backwards. This boss is far too slow and weak to really be a threat, however, the two younger Pthmureian warriors you fight are tricky, but we’ll get to that later.

 

14 –Mercliess Watchers x3 – Lower Pthumerian (Layer One)

Although an easy boss I had to give these guys a slightly higher position for being a real irritating group of foes. This group of ugliest consists of two close range attackers who are aggressive and bulky and then one long ranged attacker shooting you anytime that you’re out in the open avoiding the two most threatening Watchers. With so many foes in the arena it becomes so difficult to both deal damage and avoid attacks from the other two. This boss battle flips on its head though once you have one or two of the Watchers down as the third one becomes pitifully easy once he’s alone. A great introductory boss to the chalice dungeons, albeit a little bit of a frustrating one hence its 14th place on this list.

 

13-Bloodstarved Beast – Ailing Loran (Layer Two)

I never found this boss too challenging in the main game which is probably why my fight against the Blood-Starved Beast wasn’t too taxing. In the Chalice dungeons, this boss appears twice once in Hindertomb and once in Ailing Loran I found both version’s simple but the Ailing Loran fight to be a little more exhilarating and challenging. With a larger pool of health and a smaller arena to face him in this fight is my favourite of the two recurring fights. Same as his main game counterpart The Bloodstarved Beast is weak to fire and excretes poison from his vile skeletal body throughout the fight, the smaller arena forces you to be more careful with you dodging as it’s much easier to get stuck against a wall and then be stun locked to death. As fast and aggressive as this boss is in Old Yharnam, the Bloodstarved beast is a deadly threat and if you come to the fight under prepared then expect to be quickly obliterated.

 

12- Rom The Vacuous Spider – Lower Pthumerian (Layer Three)

Ahh Rom, I felt my heart drop when I saw that this boss was one of the foe’s standing in the way of my Platinum trophy. Rom had caused me so much strife in the main game, with her spawning army of spiders and her arcane attacks but for some reason I didn’t have too much trouble with her in this chalice. Her attacks seemed weaker and her army of spiders didn’t seem to be dealing as much damage as they did in the Moonside Lake. Rom’s teleportation is much easier to keep a track of in a smaller arena meaning that you can deal damage to her before she has time to prepare an arcane attack (as you’re no longer running half a mile to catch up with her after she teleports). No mistake, she’s still as frustrating as she was in the main game, but compared to some of the other bosses you’ll come across in the Chalice dungeons she’s really not too challenging. Just annoying.

 

11-  Yharnam Pthumerian Queen – Great Pthumerian Ihyll (Final Layer)

So much anticipation surrounds this boss. Yharman the Pthumerian Queen is the main reason the people decide to traverse the chalice dungeons, she holds the trophy that for most players is the last trophy they need to collect before claiming the platinum. So why is she easy? I beat this final boss on my second attempt after a fun (but not challenging) fight and I was a little disappointed! The fight is certainty unsettling which the eerie cries of Yharnam’s baby Mergo in the background and the Queen herself gets bloodier and bloodier as the fight proceeds. The Queen uses mostly arcane attacks such as blood magic but she also wields a short dagger that she will use on you if you get too close. The arena for this battle helped me out and contributed to my success, the large sculpture in the center of the room helps you safely recover your HP and can block some of Yharnam’s attacks. Yharnam does have some great movesets, her ability to summon clones is something that’s really irritating and can significantly drag the battle out unless you eradicate them as soon as they spawn. Overall those she shouldn’t cause you too many problems and you’ll face more dangerous adversaries on the way to the Queen.

 

That’s all for now! I’ll be back next Tuesday for the second half of the Chalice Bosses Ranking. Stay tuned…