When playing Elden Ring, it can sometimes help to call an NPC to help fight a boss. But which NPCs are the best to call?
Most players know that you can call on other players to help you fight through the nightmare world that FromSoftware has made for you in Elden Ring and many of their other games. But if you don’t want to rely on other people and just want to follow the story, Elden Ring also lets you call on NPCs.
And while any help against some bosses will be much appreciated, some NPCs will be more useful than others, based on how strong they are and how hard the bosses are. If you’re having trouble, you might want to call on one of these figures.
Blaidd: Bloodhound Knight Darriwil, Starscourge Radahn
Blaidd’s main call, Bloodhound Knight Darriwil, the half-wolf that everyone loves, is inside the Forlorn Hound Evergaol, where you can fight him. Many players don’t need to fight Darriwil right away, and it doesn’t take long to get to a level where they can take him down on their own.
Still, Darriwil does drop Bloodhound’s Fang, which is one of the most powerful weapons in Elden Ring. Blaidd’s help can be very helpful if you want to do it right from the start. To get there, you have to jump through a few hoops, though. First, go to the Mistwood ruins and listen for Blaidd screaming. Then, talk to Merchant Kalé about him to start his questline.
Sorcerer Rogier: Margit, The Fell Omen
Sorcerer Rogier isn’t a very strong ghost, but the fight you call him for, against Margit, the Fell Omen, can be very tough, even if you’ve already played the game a few times. FromSoftware says that he has killed more players than almost any other boss, and that only Malenia has killed more.
Even though Rogier isn’t very strong and doesn’t do a lot of damage, just having him around as a distraction from Margit’s constant attacks is very helpful. The best part is that you don’t have to do anything to bring him to you. Even if you go straight to Rogier at the start of Elden Ring, he can help you fight Margit.
Great Horned Tragoth: Magma Wyrm Makar, Draconic Tree Sentinel, Starscourge Radahn
The Great Horned Tragoth is basically a brick wall that hits enemies with a second, slightly smaller brick wall. He starts the game wearing the Bull-Goat Set and carrying the Giant-Crusher, which are, respectively, the biggest armour set and weapon in the game.
Magma Wyrm Makar, the first boss you can call Tragoth for, isn’t too hard, but it never hurts to have some help. The second boss, however, is a different story. The Draconic Tree Sentinel, who guards the door to Leyndell, the Royal Capital, can be a tough opponent, but if you have this big guy on your side, things will go much more smoothly. You don’t even have to do anything to get Tragoth on your side. He will help you just because he wants to. It’s a shame that you have to kill him later to get his cool armour set.
Millicent: Magma Wyrm Makar, Godskin Apostle, Draconic Tree Sentinel, Black Blade Kindred
Millicent is the only character who can be called in for four different fights, which is more than any other. She can also come inside you, so in theory, you should see her as a ghost a lot. But it’s very easy to miss almost all of her appearances because they depend on you moving along her questline, and many players will have already explored a large part of the Lands Between before you even start it.
For example, if you get through the Altus Plateau before Caelid, you’ll have missed three of her call signs. If you want to see Millicent fight, you’ll need to get to Caelid early and talk to her at each of her spots before taking on different boss fights. And it might be worth the trouble, since Millicent can use the Waterfowl Dance, which Malenia uses to kill you over and over again.
Melina: Morgott, The Omen King
Melina can only be called in to fight one boss, but she makes a big impact. In battle, she uses the Blade of Calling to do Holy-based damage, both up close and from far away. Giant Miranda Sprouts have the same power, and she can also call down pillars of light from the sky. She also has a completely unique Incantation that makes a golden tree with a healing aura.
Her move set is also similar to that of Black Knife Tiche. She jumps around a lot and can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. This means that she is rarely left out of a fight, like some slower NPCs are. It also makes it hard for Morgott to hit her, which lets her live much longer than you might think.
The Dung Eater: Mohg, The Omen, Morgott, The Omen King
The Dung Eater NPC call works the same way as both his Spirit call and his Invading Phantom. He is a powerful fighter who can give and take a lot of damage. He is strong enough to kill Mohg. The Omen (the ghost under Leyndell, not the real thing), pretty much by himself. He is also a great tank against Morgott, the Omen King.
You’ll need to have freed him from his cell in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds before you can use him in either fight. And those aren’t exactly fun places to explore, since they are full of scary enemies and halls that twist and turn.
Nepheli Loux: Godrick The Grafted, Omenkiller, Godfrey, First Elden Lord
Nepheli Loux’s call signs are locked behind different steps in her questline, but most of the steps are pretty easy. Talking to her in the area leading up to Godrick’s boss room is all it takes to get her to help you fight him. However, Godrick is one of the easiest bosses in Elden Ring, so you probably don’t need her help here. In the same way, if you talk to her on the way to the Omenkiller Field Boss, his call sign will appear. And he’s surprisingly hard to beat, with strong blows and a pack of dogs by his side.
Godfrey, First Elden Lord, who is her hardest boss, is the one whose call is the hardest for her to get. Before the sign to call her shows up, you need to finish her questline. And if Godfrey is giving you trouble, you should do that. Nepheli’s Stormhwak Axes can do a lot of damage, and she’s surprisingly hard to kill for a character who doesn’t wear much. Of course, since she seems to be a straight descendant of Godfrey, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
Iron Fist Alexander: Fire Giant, Starscourge Radahn
Iron Fist Alexander can be called to help fight the Fire Giant, but you might have missed him if you haven’t gone far enough in his questline. His summon sign is also inside the arena, which is rare, so you might not have known to look for it.
For such a big enemy, the Fire Giant moves around a lot, and Alexander isn’t exactly a runner because of how fat he is. But once he gets close enough, his huge size helps him. Alexander can take and give a lot of damage, especially with his charged punch techniques.
Recusant Bernahl: Godskin Duo
Recusant Bernahl is an NPC who, like Sorcerer Rogier, can be called on to help with a particularly hard boss. In Bernahl’s case, the boss in question is the Godskin Duo, who may be the boss in the game about whom people complain the most. If you haven’t killed Bernahl yet, you should be able to call him outside the boss room.
But Bernahl is more than just an escape, which Rogier is not. He can take a lot of damage, which keeps one half of the Duo busy and evens the odds in one of the most frustrating fights in Elden Ring. But if you want to use the Sleep approach (the Duo are very weak to this status effect), calling him might not help, since NPCs will just hit sleeping enemies and wake them up.
Everyone In The Radahn Festival (Except Patches): Starscourge Radahn
Starscourge The NPCs summoned by Radahn’s boss fight are the most unique ones in 8 Ball Pool game. Once you enter Radahn’s arena, you’ll be able to call on a small army of NPCs to help you fight the Starscourge. Well, Patches will go home right away by teleporting, but everyone else will work together to fight the giant who has Scarlet Rot.
Some NPCs from earlier on this list, such as Blaidd, Tragoth, and Alexander (if they are still living), are part of this group. It’s easily the most NPCs you can call to help fight a single boss. Most importantly, you can bring them back if they die, which you can’t do with any other boss. Some of them will run out of summons faster than others, but you can kill Radahn with their help without ever fighting him.