The Dark Souls trilogy's overlooked middle-child, Dark Souls II, has the highest Metascore of the trilogy but is considered to be the weakest entry in the entire Soulsborne catalog by most fans. At its core, the game is very similar to its predecessors Dark Souls and Demon's Souls, but there were a few tweaks that irritated fans.

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FromSoftware did redeem itself with Dark Souls II, however, by supplementing the game with some of their best set of DLCs to date. Crown of the Sunken King, Crown of the Old Iron King, and Crown of the Ivory King were all fantastic expansions that offered some of the series' best level designs and, more importantly for this list, a much-needed boost in boss quality.

*Updated on March 7, 2022, by Jack Pursey: Following the recent release of Elden Ring, FromSoftware's Soulsborne series is once again the talk of the gaming industry. The unofficial Souslborne franchise has thrown up some of the best RPG and action-adventure games of the last 13 years, with Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice being notable standouts. It's fair to say that Dark Souls 2 doesn't have a great reputation among Souls fans, though it did provide some excellent boss fights that alone make the game worth playing for fans of the Soulsbrone style. To shine a light on some more of the best Dark Souls 2 bosses, we've updated this list to include a few more entries.

10 Lost Sinner

Lost Sinner in pain

Lost Sinner is located in Sinners' Rise through the Lost Bastille. The boss is unique for initially not allowing the player to lock on from a distance due to the dark arena. However, if players obtain the Bastille Key, they can open a pair of rooms just before the boss arena, which will allow players to light the room with a torch.

Lost Sinner's attacks can be hard to read, and she can hit counter-attacks in a flash, so it's important to keep one eye on the stamina bar at all times during the fight.

9 Velstadt, The Royal Aegis

Dark Souls 2 boss Velstadt

Velstadt, the Royal Aegis, is the first boss in Undead Crypt. The boss has a quintessential Dark Souls design with his towering size, enormous hammer, and heavy armor. Velstadt is believed to be a reference to Garl Vinland from Demon's Souls who, like Velstadt, is determined to be by his king's side at all times.

Defeating Velstadt, the Royal Aegis will let players challenge King Vendrick, who is an optional boss, despite him being central to the game's story.

8 Looking Glass Knight

Dark Souls 2 Looking Glass Knight

The Looking Glass Knight, who was previously known as the Mirror Knight, is one of the most innovative bosses in not just Dark Souls 2 but the entire Soulsborne series.

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The boss initially has fairly standard attack patterns but will soon lay down his giant shield for an NPC to break out of and join the fight against the player. It's not just NPCs that the Looking Glass Knight can summon, however, as players can be summoned as an invader by the knight.

7 Sir Alonne

sir alonne ready to fight

Sir Alonne is the first DLC boss to appear on this list. The optional fight is located in the final hallway of the Memory of the Old Iron King, which is part of the Crown of the Old Iron King DLC.

The boss has a few unique features that make him stand out, as he is one of the only bosses in Dark Souls 2 that can parry the player, and he will stab himself if the player defeats him without taking any damage.

6 Fume Knight

Dark Souls 2 Fume Knight brandishing ultra greatsword and greatsword

Like Sir Alonne, Fume Knight can be found in the Crown of the Old Iron King DLC, at the bottom of the Brume Tower. Fume Knight is one of the toughest bosses in the entire game, largely due to how varied and hard to read his move set is, which can make it difficult to learn his attack patterns and develop strategies.

Fume Knight was once defeated by the aforementioned Velstadt, which led him to explore Brume Tower and find greater strength.

5 The Pursuer

The Pursuer boss from Dark Souls 2

The game's first great boss, regardless of which route players take, has an environmental twist much Mytha.

Two ballista can be fired at the enemy, causing great deals of damage. This is a far better mechanic than Mytha's poison as it rewards the player if they're skilled enough to hit The Pursuer before he destroys the weapons, rather than arbitrarily punishing them with an illogical puzzle.

4 Elana, Squalid Queen

Elana boss from Dark Souls 2

Elana, Squalid Queen is very similar to the base game's final boss Nashandra in both appearance and fighting style. The Squalid Queen has one key differential that makes her far more dangerous, intimidating, and memorable than the underwhelming final boss though, she can summon other enemies.

Elena will summon a similar enemy to Velstadt, the Royal Aegis, or an army of skeletons to significantly ramp up the difficulty. Despite the added challenge, the fight doesn't ever feel unfair from a gameplay perspective, and it's a rare case in the game of multiple enemies working well as a mechanic.

3 Darklurker

Darklurker boss from Dark Souls 2

Similar to Elana, Darklurker is one of the small handful of occasions in Dark Souls II where fighting multiple enemies is well-balanced and enjoyable.

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Although it's undoubtedly a tough boss fight, the real challenge is finding Darklurker, as players must traverse the difficult questline attached to the Pilgrims of Dark covenant.

2 Burnt Ivory King

Ivory King boss from Dark Souls 2

The word epic is often overused in gaming, which is a shame as it should be saved for boss fights like the Burnt Ivory King. The encounter is intense from the word go, as players will take an intimidatingly large drop down onto a platform surrounded by fiery lava.

Players won't have the satisfaction of battling the Ivory King yet though, as they must first take down a plethora of tough enemies. Thankfully, the playing field can be leveled as up to four Loyce Knight can be found in the DLC who will aid the player in their fight, rewarding players who fully explore the Crown of the Ivory King expansion.

1 Sinh, The Slumbering Dragon

Sinh the slumbering dragon boss from Dark Souls 2

The Souslborne series has tried and failed many times to make a boss fight against a dragon work. The many underwhelming attempts like with the Guardian Dragon and the Ancient Wyvern are forgiven though as the series provided an incredible fight against the intimidating Sinh.

Sinh, The Slumbering Dragon does what so many games have tried and failed to do, make a fight against a dragon feel realistic. Granted, making a fight against a fictional creature may sound like an impossible task, but FromSoftware managed it with Sinh and subsequently created one of the best dragon fights in gaming history.

Dark Souls 2 is available now on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

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