Witcher 3 Hardest Boss Fights 

That wraith in the graveyard on your first playthrough is the hardest boss in the game 🤣

Hardest boss: The rats in the cave with Keira if you have enemy scaling enabled.

"As long as you don't let it hit you its pretty easy." Such thorough and thoughtful advice for a boss fight

The whole Wandering in the Dark quest with Keira is what I struggled with the most in the entire game because it was so early and I didn't know how to play. My silver sword broke and I had no backup, was locked in that cave and had to load a previous save to get out of it... Looking back at it now it isn't that difficult but it was a chock for me the first time I played it.

I just finished my first Deathrun playthrough and Dettlaff was truly challenging. The bats he summons are ridiculously strong, as well as his annoying Goblin lookalike in the third. Overall the best Boss fight by far tho. Very enjoyable and well made!

Even on just the easier difficulty, the Toad Prince is just irritation incarnate. It has so much hp and, the part I hate most about fighting monsters, the god damn knockback. The poison damage at that point was just minor compared to how annoying this is and how satisfied I was when I finally killed it. It's probably the second most satisfying kill ever in the game. I found it more satisfying than when I killed Eredin or even Imlerith

Olgeid fight was one of the coolest fights I've ever had in a video game. The scene, the dialogue, the music , rain in the background with burning manor. It's awesome I didn't want the fight to end You need to add that goddamn djinn on the wrecked ship in the main story.

That bruxa at corvo bianco killed me more than every other fight combined

Honestly I think the fight with the crones as ciri is the most difficult and frustrating fight especially on death March difficulty. With other fights you can manipulate a few things even if it doesn’t seem apparent at the time like where you’re standing or obstacles between you and them or even if you’re loosing too much you can try new gear and tactics. Not true with that fight with ciri and the crones, everything is all in that small space at the bottom of the tree and Ciris abilities don’t really seem to help much when any of the three crones can 2 shot you from full health. And there’s no other kind of gear you can get with ciri you just get what you get and have to hit and run dodge for like a half an hour of just muscle memory hitting each of them for chip damage. I know I did it eventually after struggling and a lot of the time just getting lucky but never again will I do that fight once was too much.

*The wind is:* A. Humming, a place of power, gotta be B. An Ugly bastard C. Howling D. How do you like that Silver? E. All of the above

the ghost in the painting was one of the toughest - after a while, when it kept healing, I figured out that I needed to break the paintings, but it didn't seem to work - had to google it Sure enough, I had the right idea - but just wasn't close enough to the painting. Still quite hard, as the thing heals very quickly if you don't get to the painting in time - and it can be any one of them

Dettlaff definitely gets my vote.

In my first playthrough, Jenny o the woods whooped me. So did lmlerith. The Elves in the extreme cosplay mission also were extremely hard, that quest had to be bugged.

Remember first time fighting detlaff and dying over and over for an hour had to search a yt tips video than finally beat him and was so relieved. Than on my second play through basically destroyed him and felt so stupid that I had such a hard time the first time

The Djinn that you fight in Yennefer's Quest is (almost) impossible with enemy up-scaling. It is the only boss that I had to turn it off in the entire game.

Doesn't the Toad Prince have a mechanic where you use igni at the right time, he takes massive damage? I vaguely remember doing just that. I think he creates some kind of fumes that you have to ignite.

Bruxae and Alps are my absolute favorite monsters to fight. Black Blood is a fun potion effect, their speed and the way they move makes the fights look absolutely badass, especially when you get good at fighting them. It's so fast paced and it just makes you feel like an absolute boss.

Great list! I found chort decoction and golden oriole help tremendously with The Frog Prince. Many players say golden oriole isn't useful, but this is a rare situation where it makes the fight easier. Chort reduces knockdown and stuns. Both of these make the fight much less annoying.

I got to Detlaff with minimal healing potions or food to restore health. It took me a long time to beat him, I think I screamed in celebration when I beat him. Worthy 1st placed

I never struggled as much with any boss as I did with a group of wraiths........ They always thrashed the soul out of me whenever I tried to mess around.🗿

For me the miss-born child of the bloody baron was one the hardest, i dont even think youre suposed to fight it since the story is way better if you dont. If you try to fight him anyways, the first stage is pretty easy, but in the second stage this thing just heals so much i cant deal more damage than it heals.

The toad prince in death march was a dark souls level boss no cap

Just wanted to thank you for all your hard work on these videos. I love all the lore ones and rewatch them regularly.

I honestly didn't have much trouble with most of these bosses (other than the toad prince), but surprisingly one that I really struggled with was the painting wraith on new game plus death March. I wasn't over leveled when I fought her and it ended up being a never ending battle because I had a health regen mechanic and she- no matter how fast I dodged to her painting- would regen health almost instantly. It wasn't until I over leveled myself to hell that I was able to take her down easy.

Great vid! I completely agree with your list. Dettlaff was so challenging the first time I faced off with him

The warewolf that guards the mother of the Crones. He heals very quickly and it can be quite difficult, considering that we meet him early on. Though once, I don't know why, I went to that tree and the warewolf didn't spawn. It was weird. Another frustrating enemy to deal with is the Jenny ghost. For inexperienced players it's better to give it a try a good few levels higher than recommended.

I watched the show, then read the books, then played the game, and after the game, I became obsessed with learning everything I can about the lore of the Witcher world. I just came across your channel a few weeks ago while I was searching and I just wanna say thank you so much for what you do on this channel!

No one said the Ofieri wizard!? I put him as just below Detlaf.

Nice list, man. I personally felt Iris’ Greatest Fear was the hardest even when super geared out. I also think the werewolf in Wild at Heart is hard on a first playthrough just because of health regen.

Hardest Boss for me was the Oefieri Mage you fight on the beach after Gaunter O Dimm capsizes the ship. I was trying to get that unique dialogue with Vessimir's lover at the auction house and he has to still be alive for you to get it so I had to play that part pretty underleveled, and without armor... on deathmarch. It was really, really annoying... but I got that unique dialogue!

The DLC bosses are much more challenging.

Thanks for taking a break from walking the path to share your knowledge WitcherGeorge. I completely agree with all 5 of your choices in order. The Dettlaff fight is the closest this to a Souls-like boss battle in The Witcher 3 and boy does it show. The Olgierd von Everec fight also could be considered Souls-like in how hard it is. I really enjoyed the Olgierd fight because it pushed me harder than any other boss battle. Died more times than I'd like to mention, but I appreciate how it made me a better gamer because of it.

My most recent Death March play through I mostly only had trouble with the Hearts of Stone bosses, mainly Dettlaff as his bat swarms would melt through my quen.

I actually found the the bloody barrens botchling in my first play through to be very difficult, not having grasped the mechanics and the time, and it was a steep curve from anything up to that point.

Nice vid George. Definitely agree with your picks

Beautiful video! I like! Thanks for sharing!

The difficulty for many of these vary depending on the build you use. Toad Prince becomes really easy with good igni :)

nothing is harder than the elf statues in the blood and wine side quest on death march and enemy upscaling

Agree with the list. Well done!!

Short and sweet 👌 could’ve easily made this 20+ minutes like most youtubers would. awesome video

You should top 5 most annoying enemies. I personally hate fighting those big flower guys in blood and wine

Pretty good list overall, and I agree with most of it. I personally would've put the Toad above Olgierd/Iris' greatest fear. The latter becomes a lot less difficult to deal with (though still by no means easy) once you figure out that parrying the red glowy power attacks stuns him (and how to time it correctly for the various attack animations). I also would've maybe given the #5 spot to Caranthir (specifically when you fight him as Geralt, the first phase as Ciri is almost laughably trivial), because those blue ice orb thingies he throws at you do a lot of damage and the timing window to dodge them is pretty short.

Soulsborne Veteran here I had a few problems with some of the bosses in this but I found them exstreamly fun

Hey WitcherGeorge, I have been binging in your videos regarding witcher lores and you just awoken my nostagia for the game once again even with just the soundtracks that are played on the background. Im wondering if you could cover a topic which I don't know if you already had covered before. Can you discuss about witcher potions?

In general, i agree: Dettlaff is thé hardest boss in the game. I ám kinda missing Imlerith here tbf. If you dont really know what Imlerith is capable of, he can be a real menace on your very first playthrough: The first stage is tricky with him behind protected by that mássive shield he wields, so taking him halfway down, takes good timing! For the second stage of the fight, where he tosses away his shield and goes full tilt on you, his Melee-attacks with his warmace become twohanded, and thus deal a lot more damage, but the worst part is Imlerith just teleporting right behind you; you've got a VERY narrow window to dodge, kinda like with Dettlaff? On the very first playthrough, imho Imlerith définately belongs in the Top3. Kind of a tough call to determine him, or the Toad Prince for P2 imho... But Dettlaff really is the Endboss of Endbosses in the game. Whát a fight!

Personally, Iris greatest fear is my number 1 for the hardest fight, couldnt manage to clear it on DM and enemy upscaling. and i did clear detlaff on those settings.

Fun fact you can beat the frog with one or two hits if u throw a northern wind bomb and while he froze punch him with your bare hands

The hardest boss: The menu screen when blood and wine theme starts playing, you have to be really quick with clicking the "continue" button, or else you could end up just looking at the screen not wanting to load the game

You forgot the cave troll that attack you while looking for missing miners.. I agree with most of the list, playing with DM difficulty without the euphoria mutation skill really gonna get you frustrated,, even with geralt's euphoria, you still have to fight as ciri vs the crones without it 😅

I think my harder boss fights were the Djiin, the Toad and Ciri's fight against the three Crones. Also, I struggled a lot at my first gamethrough against the specters coming for the Baron's dead child (I don't remember the name of this kind of monster in english) : I didn't have the proper gears and nor the level so the cursed child or specters were both tough options.

The whole video I was saying to myself Dettlaff better be number one. Glad to see you didn't disappoint.

The troll fist fight on Death March is its own circle of hell

For me I would remove the Caretaker. I found it very easy to dodge, so even if he healed every now and then, I never felt at risk of dying. I had a hard time with the jinn at the last wish. Got it first time, but I had never used so many Quens and food to heal as with that fight. And funnily enough, when there are more than 1 archespore at the same time, I always struggle. Hate them so much. Of course this only applies at maximum difficulty.

I'd like to add a few thoughts if I may: Nithral - I think the reason this boss can be difficult is because, like you mentioned, it's so early on. Most players by this point have probably been mashing their way through the game, but that won't work on him. He can parry and power through your attacks. He always heals multiple times, making for a longer fight. And Keira, like most sorceresses, isn't very helpful, providing minor stagger but no actual damage. The Caretaker - I still think he's one of the hardest bosses. The healing alone can make him frustrating. Quen is basically a requirement to try and stop him from leeching life from you. But even then, you have to deal with the ghosts, which can be frustrating. Toad Prince - Everyone complains about how hard this boss is, and I get it. However, Golden Oriole alone is enough to make this fight way way easier. If you're running a Griffin build with a beefed up Yrden, this boss is a joke. Olgierd/Ethereal - Agreed with everything you said. This is one of the few fights where you actually have to be skilled with dodging (not rolling!), parrying, swordplay, and patience. Great boss. Dettlaff - Phase 2 is the annoying bit. If you don't have the rolling timing for the bats, you can die over and over. Phase 1 and even 3 aren't as bad.

i need to play this game again, some of these boss i already killed but some bosses i forgot to find them and thanks for the vid!

Gotta say man i love the new thumbnail designs.

I'd like to say that after playing the game 4 times on death run, the toad Prince was hands down the worst boss, detlaff was fine

Great video mate! What was the instrumental at 2:45? I’ve been looking everywhere for it

Every boss on this list kneels for rats in the sewers (on death march and enemy scaling enabled) you can not kill them by igni or hitting by sword but they kills you with 2 bites.

I had the same trouble you described with The Caretaker. I was so focused on trying not to die that I didn't hang back enough to discover its mechanics the first couple of tries. Likewise with a couple of golems, and the same with the Frog Prince, which I would put at number one just for how bullshit hard he is for an initial boss - but again, not taking that moment to learn their mechanics. Of the fights you mentioned, I actually found Detlaff the easiest, and the only one who didn't hand me my arse a few times before I got past him - but I think that whatever my fighting style is, it just suited going up against him more, or maybe I got good between playing the base game and Blood & Wine, because I did generally find those from Heart of Stone more difficult. I actually managed to dies a couple of times and defeat Iris' Biggest Fear before ever realising that engaging any of the others would get them involved at the same time - then I watched a video of yours and felt ironically pretty silly for it! Edit to add: the one I found hardest in Blood & Wine was the Cosplay one in Toussaint - it took me the longest to figure out!

Presentation was really cool on this one :)

Can you do a lore video about Sorel Degerlund or the Rissberg sorceres in general?

I personally believe in the main game this are the hardest I played death march in my first playthrough 5- cat school witcher madman 4-golem in an abandoned mansion 3- the arachnid in a contract about missing brother 2-eredin 1- the witcher possesed by a red miasma ( I think is extra content but is as an adition to the main game rather than a whole DLC, i think )

One of the hardest for me especially in the beginning, was Ciri's fight with the crones on deathmarch. It took me a lot of tries to be able to complete that fight without turning down the difficulty.

I personally think that fighting Imlerith on death march was quite hard. Maybe not as much as Toad Prince, but still he is a formidable opponent.

The Nithral boss fight and the areas leading up to it was tough for me as I was already weakened because my sword is nearly broken by the previous fight with the golem, and I had no idea that I could use the repair kits that I had on me.

I'm currently replaying witcher 3 and for me the hardest boss were these living statues in one of blood and wine side quest, damn elven sorceresses with their range attacks killed me like 5 times.

The fight with Detlaff almost made me give up on the Witcher 3. So I lowered the difficulty level for this one, and thankfully could enjoy the end of the game.

I agree. The toad prince was hard AF for me. I never fought Detlaff, partly because I was legit afraid haha.

I had enemy upscaling on while on Death March and nothing was harder than fighting the djin on “The Last Wish” mission with Yennefer

definetly agree on that list, also played every boss, except Nithral, on Death March the first time I faced them. I really struggled with those, especially with the Prince and Iris' greatest fear. But Detlaff is still to be faced, it'll be on Death March of course.

Dettlaff is definitely the hardest, but the Offiri sorcerer after Gaunter sinks the ship is pretty frustrating. Stupid tornadoes.

Damn, what memories! I SHALL PLAY IT AGAIN!

i agree with all except the first mension in the video i defeated nithral pretty easily and i would change his spot with the botchling or imlerith since the botchling is the second boss in the main story and it is quite difficult even when you play the game again. imlerith in the other hand is the first wild hunt general that u fight and at the begginning u just have to follow a pattern but when the second phase starts u have to spam quen and wait for him to finish all his attacks but overall great video.

Hey @WitcherGeorge you ever do these boss fights on Witcher 3 Enhanced Edition?

The first time I fought Detlaff at the end of b&w on death march I was zoned in and so impressed with how they made that fight you really do have to be quick with him I loved that it really puts Geralt to the test you could say my favorite boss ever

Dude the Tailor you fight in Fists of Novigrad is kicking my ass and I'm at level 33 now. It's driving me to insanity.

I find Northern Wind to be very effective against the Toad Prince. Potion and bomb builds are pretty effective against him in my experience

1:10 not to mention how Keira keeps attacking him while his shield is up, healing him

How did you get your sword to glow in the part where you talked about Dettlaff?

For me the hardest boss fight was Iris' Greatest Fear, just for the fact that each Olgierd gets a new moveset and you need to remember in what order they get them and what to do for them, it's a bit much to keep track of, the boss fight itself took me 12 tries to finish, normal Olgierd was a bit easier, but it was probably the longest boss fight I have ever done, it took me the entire in game night to finish, as for Dettlaff, I've found him disappointingly easy, cool mechanics and all but I don't remember having much difficulty with him, all three fought on deathmarch with level upscaling

Totally agree with Detlaff

There‘s also the one where you reenact that old story and you hear that panting behind that one door. That fight was a nightmare on deathmarch

I'm not sure if you're aware, but you can pretty easily time a parry when Olgierd readies his big red attack. That will stun him for a while, allowing you to do significant damage. And if you stand at about the right distance, that easily-parried attack will be the only attack he does, making the fight extremely easy, without every having to worry about chasing him down or him blocking your attacks.

For me it was actually Olgierd. When I played W III for the first time, I spent like 2 hours trying to beat Detlaff. On death march it actually wasn't as bad. In contrast I spent an hour fighting Olgierd 😅. Cool video!, I'm subscribed now 😁.

The Crones as Ciri on DM with enemy upscaling is a nightmare for me. Even worse b/c the save point includes 30+ seconds of pre-fight+cutscene even skipped. Good list.

I actually agree with your assessment of these bosses by difficulty with the exception of two points: I find the Toad Prince to be more challenging than Olgierd in every way that makes Detlaff the Ultimate Boss of the game. Therefore I would put Olgierd as 3rd most challenging, and the Toad Prince as 2nd most challenging. (Not including Iris' Greatest Fear, It's too easy to make that one a cake walk and I don't include it on my top 5, even though I understand why you do) The Olgierd fight is one of my favorite, but if I'm properly leveled and equipped, I have to throttle myself and draw out the fight just so I can listen to that awesome track. However, Even when I do that he can and does still punish me for lapsing my concentration during the fight. The Toad Prince can be made slightly more trivial if you can manage to get ahold of, and use Superior Golden Oriole for the fight... the poison effect is a nasty thing which kills me if I'm not careful. However, what really makes it more challenging than Olgierd is the combination of multiple attack types, and attack ranges. All of which, when combined with the ability to choose between different retaliations that The Toad Prince can make from the same position (just like with Detlaff) I am guaranteed to die at least 1.8 times, each time I go to fight him. Those are my thoughts at least. Though all are challenging, I only find Immlerith, the Ofeiri Mage, and the Toad Prince to be annoying in any respect. The rest of these are so fun... especially the Detlaff fights he's so challenging and dangerous, and really satisfying to fight because of what gets you there. The Toad Prince also takes the #2 spotfor the same reasons that Detlaff takes #1 in every list of the best Boss fights in TW3. Their setup is phenomenal, both in story and in the challenge they provide. Olgierd takes #3 because he is always easier than the other two, despite matching them for set-up/payoff. The Caretaker is easily #4 because Olgierd edges him out for the enjoyment factor I mentioned previously. Despite The Caretaker being more challenging than Olgierd. As for #5: I choose the Bruxa at Corvo Bianco. With Nidhal, I went in underequipped and one run expecting a particularly challenging fight and wiped the floor with him so easily that he doesn't qualify for this any longer. Plus his setup is more shoddy. With the Bruxa, there is the encounter where you see her before, the dead soldiers and creepy mystery which builds her to be challenging and she doesn't disappoint. Even if I'm perfectly equipped and leveled, she can still kill me easily. Also, She sets the bar and the tone for the entirety of Blood and Wine by giving you a more challenging vampire to face in preparation for the first fight with Detlaff. In short: the Bruxa is #5 because not only is she set up better than Nidhall, but she serves as a setup for the bigger boss to come: Detlaff without her, he might not have quite earned his spot as #1 in every "Best Boss Fight" in TW3.

It honestly surprises me people don't think there's a lot of unique boss fights in this game... maybe not necessarily in the main quest but Geralt's day job is literally hunting monsters

I just recently discovered that when you fight Olgierd & Iris' Greatest Fear, if you parry when they do the super attacks with the glowing red sword, it reverses the damage back onto them and stuns them (good for three free hits). You have to parry just before they land with the glowing red sword. Once you get the timing, it is SOOOOO much easier to defeat them. In fact, as soon as you do this successfully, move far away from them, which will then trigger them using the super attack again. Rinse repeat.

George, I love most of your stuff. You're one of my favorite lore RU-vidrs. While I don't disagree entirely with your boss choices, this video felt a little phoned in. Like you were just going through the motions.

Not sure if it's only because I've done it once, but the olgierd fight outside the burning mansion was the hardest for me. Northern wind and whirl won me the Iris's fear version🤣 never realised you could fight them individually. Toad was pretty bloody hard as well until I worked out a decent strategy. Didn't have much trouble with The Caretaker. Detlaff was a bit tricky, from what I can remember, I think I put bear armour on and changed by build a little and it wasn't too bad.

I did both DLCs on a New Game + on Death March, and the bosses were brutal compared to the main game. I'm currently playing Elden Ring and this experience prepared me for my first from software game.

I personally found olgeird and iris' greatest fear to be quite easy. If you can properly space yourself out you can force them to do one of their powerful moves which you can then parry to get 3 hits in easily.

Totally agree, and I don't touch this game from like 6-7 years but I clearly remember the toad to be kind of a pain and dettlaff ofc, I think I still have to beat him in upscaling whatever is called that thing

I’m streaming the Witcher 3 (I’ve already played it before) and I’m doing Hearts of Stone but I’m genuinely terrified of fighting Detlaff again. That second phase is insane Top 3 for me are 1. Detlaff 2. Bruxa of Corvo Bianco 3. Toad Prince

On harder difficulties, one of the most reliable methods to maintain survivability is to use the protective coating skill (+25% damage resistance against enemies the applied oil is targeting). Having the skill active can mean a night and day difference. I struggled against Iris' greatest fear because I was using the wrong oil. One attack was enough to take out 70% of my health. Also, I think armor and protective coating cannot resist against magic attacks. This makes the Ofieri mage also very challenging. Another fight worth mentioning was the quest in Toussaint where several statues turned into elven mages and swordsmen. The magic attacks of the mages are very devastating.

I've done a few Death March runs (doing one with a sign focus now) but I've only defeated the gatekeeper once in that mode.

Everything in Hearts of Stone on Death March with enemy upscaling on (in NG+). Seriously the Toad, Boat Captain, Olgierd, Iris’ Fear they all whooped me something serious. Also the Djinn pre-patch with enemy upscaling on was un-killable.

Dettlaf on my third death march run was a pain in the arse, because I pretty much forgot how he attacks and those bats got me like 4 times, once I remembered it was easy. The other ones I find difficult are the toad prince and the mage from ofier

About the upscaling thing with enemies. I was playing the witcher since the second playtrough with upscaling on because its way more rewarding in the end game. It does make the game a little harder but never difficult.