The 10 HARDEST Bosses With Three Phases

The 10 Hardest Bosses With Three Phases

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at 10 bosses that just don’t know when to quit, hitting you with a whopping 3 different phases! Big spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.

Simon

“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” (2025)

As the final, secret hidden boss in “Expedition 33,” Simon is an extreme test of your party’s synergy, and your endurance as a player. His fight unfolds across 3 grueling phases, and he has a move that reduces your party’s hp to 1. The first phase introduces relatively telegraphed but extremely hard hitting attacks. In phase 2, he already turns things up, as Simon starts to unleash longer, faster combos, and he will quickly remove your party members from the canvas if you aren’t careful. But the 3rd phase is where things get out of hand, and Simon pretty much goes crazy with his combo speed and length. His attacks hit hard enough to instantly kill you, so if you don’t have ‘Second Chance,’ this fight is gonna be near-impossible.

Akechi

“Persona 5” (2016)

Goro Akechi’s boss fight was built up from a pretty complex and lengthy narrative in “Persona 5.” In his first phase, he wields his Persona, ‘Robin Hood,’ using bless and physical damage attacks. But as his true nature is revealed, his second phase transforms him into Loki, now using tons of magic and physical resistance as well as a hefty Megidolaon attack. As you get into his final phase at around a third of his health, Akechi is pushed to his limits and disregards all previous patterns. Furthermore, now he’ll use Laevateinn, which will decimate you if you’re not ready to block it, so either set up your ace for the third phase, or get ready to tank his burst damage!

Shadows of Yharnam

“Bloodborne” (2015)

Remember this iconic hooded trio? They’re essentially a masterclass in crowd control. It’s not one boss with 3 phases, instead they’ll power up one another each time you kill one . All three of them are different respectively, with one wielding a sword, one that breathes fire, and one that mostly throws ranged spells. As their health collectively drops, snakes will sprout from their bodies, and when two of them go down, the last one seems to at least somewhat gain similar powers to the other two, along with more snakes. While you can play most of the fight slow and relaxed, the tempo gets vastly turned up in that last phase!

Lady Yunalesca

“Final Fantasy X” (2001)

In a pivotal moment in “Final Fantasy X’s” narrative, Lady Yunalesca challenges Tidus and his companions to break the cycle of sacrifice. In her first form, she mainly uses offensive spells and counters attacks with status ailments like Blind and Silence. As you reach her second phase, it introduces Hellbiter, which inflicts the Zombie status, making healing spells like Curaga deal damage to your now zombified party members instead of healing them. As you finally reach her third phase, she throws a Mega Death on your party, which will instantly kill any non-zombified character, so you’ve gotta be smart about keeping the Zombie status if you want to beat her.

Scadutree Avatar

“Elden Ring” (2022)

‘FromSoftware’ has this tendency to bump up the difficulty in their games to the extremes with their DLCs, and “Shadow of the Erdtree” is no different. This colossal, sunflower-headed monstrosity is no ordinary Erdtree Avatar. It starts out seemingly predictable, with big AOE attacks and sweeping strikes. But each time you kill it, it comes back, needing you to kill it three times total, and with every return, it changes up its moveset to be more aggressive with new combos. Gardening has never been so nightmarish.

Sister Friede

“Dark Souls III” (2016)

Sister Friede’s fight in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC is notoriously difficult. As you approach in an effort to take out Father Ariandel, Sister Friede will attempt to stop and fight you with her deadly frost scythe. She deals hefty damage and is actually pretty fast! Take her down, and Father Ariandel erupts into a rage as you must now fight both of them, which is pretty damn difficult to navigate. Friede continues on with her fast scythe shenanigans, but you now have to also deal with Father Ariandel covering most of the arena with giant AOE attacks. Pass this phase, and you’ll reach the true challenge of the fight; Blackflame Friede. This fight is just her, but she now dual wields her frost scythe together with a blackflame scythe, and goes berserk on us. Each hit is closing in on 1-shot territory, she becomes ultra-fast, and can even go invisible. It’s things like this that made Sister Friede one of the most infamous video game bosses!

Vahram

“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” (2024)

Vahram attempts to stop us multiple times after betraying us in “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown,” but most people seem to have more trouble with the first one on the bridge. It’s a brutal wake-up call and skill check. In his first phase, Vahram uses swift sword combos and basic teleportation. If you manage to whittle him down to phase 2, he immediately teleports behind you and goes for a 3-hit combo, while also occasionally reverse time! If you live through his onslaught of shockwaves and combos into phase 3, he’ll literally explode. In this phase, he switches up his patterns, becomes lightning fast, and turns up every other power he has to eleven!

Shriek

“Ori and the Will of the Wisps” (2020)

The last boss of “Ori and the Will of the Wisps,” Shriek demands you to keep precise, and light on your feet if you want to avoid dying over and over. The first phase, you should be spending on trying to learn Shriek’s grounded attack patterns which consist of various shockwave-type slams, while also dealing with its spread shot projectiles that can be bashed back. In the second phase, you’ll be thrown into a chase sequence through the crumbling environment, with Shriek pursuing you relentlessly. In the third and last phase, the intensity ramps up tenfold with constant barrages of projectiles and slams, forcing you to flawlessly dodge while Shriek also breaks the platforms you stand on.

Ozma

“The First Berserker: Khazan” (2025)

Ozma is the hardest boss you’ll face throughout the entirety of “The First Berserker: Khazan.” He’s a highly technical opponent to deal with, and it’s gonna be tough fighting him without first trying to understand some of his moveset. His first phase focuses on a variety of ranged magic javelins, but also attacking you with pretty fast melee combos so you’ve gotta stay light on your feet. Upon draining his first health bar, he transforms and becomes way more aggressive with insane wing combos, and if you’re not careful he’ll even parry you. If you didn’t pick revenge in the final mission, he’ll lastly enter a third phase, now spamming purple death rays on you. It’s an incredibly dynamic boss fight where you’ve gotta be careful with your dodges and parries to avoid being killed in a single interaction!

Isshin, the Sword Saint

“Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” (2019)

Considered by millions of gamers to be FromSoftware’s hardest skill check, Isshin, the Sword Saint, is an extremely brutal gauntlet of sheer attrition and willpower. We’ve already got to beat Genichiro right before him, although at this point you’ve likely mastered the fight against him… only for Isshin to bring the most brutal fight in the game when all your resources are already drained! He engages you in phase one with just his katana, and is already near-impossible to fight, yet brings a massive spear in his second phase in order to dual wield. This is also the phase that earned him the nickname, “The Glock Saint,” as he’ll pull out an actual gun in your sword-fight and one-shot you if you miss any parries. If you somehow defy all odds and reach the final phase, he’ll max out his aggression and employ lightning attacks alongside the most tough combos in the game. Expect your combat mastery and reflexes to be pushed to their utmost limits!

Do you agree with our picks, or do you have some that you think should’ve been on this list? Tell us below and let’s discuss!