All main bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree in order

All main bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree in order
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

The Shadow of the Erdtree main bosses in order include seven critical boss fights that you have to beat to complete the Elden Ring DLC expansion. Some can be done in different orders, like two that guard a door and key respectively, so which ones you fight there has little impact on progression. However, in cases like that I'm going to list your options and number them according to ascending difficulty. So if you want to know what lies ahead, here are all the main bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree in order, and where to find them.

Warning: spoilers for Shadow of the Erdtree bosses ahead. If you still want to be surprised, look away now!

All main bosses in order for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

Shadow of the Erdtree Main Boss locations map

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

The 7 main Shadow of the Erdtree bosses you have to beat in the Elden Ring  expansion are, in the following order:

  1. Divine Beast Dancing Lion
  2. Rellana, Twin Moon Knight
  3. Golden Hippopotamus
  4. Romina, Saint of the Bud
  5. Messmer the Impaler
  6. Needle Knight Leda (and allies)
  7. Promised Consort Radahn

Of these seven bosses, there is some variety to the order you can tackle them in, with the ultimate goal to get to the top of the Tower of Shadow. The Shadow of the Erdtree Divine Beast Dancing Lion blocks the entrance to the Tower, but at the same time, the tower itself is blocked by the Sealing Tree, which you need to beat Rellana Twin Moon Knight, the Hippo and ultimately Romina to reach. But the Tree itself can only be destroyed by Messmer's Kindling, which, of course, you need to beat Messmer himself to obtain. So there's some elasticity to how you approach all of this. And then there are still plenty of optional areas, objectives and bosses you can encounter along the way that might help you prepare and power up. 

Whatever order you decide on, make sure you seek out and gather enough Shadow of the Erdtree Scadutree Fragments. This will help you with your Shadow of the Erdtree level and make these encounters (slightly ) easier. 

Still, what's above is certainly the easiest way to do it, with the bosses rising in difficulty without any major leaps - or at least with the leaps minimised as much as possible.

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Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.