7 Hardest Dream Warrior Bosses, Ranked

Hollow Knight is one of the best metroidvanias for beginners in the genre. While it poses a significant challenge, it’s a distinguished representative of the formula—master it, and you’ll master any other title like it.

To do so, however, you must overcome many adversities during your journey through Hallownest, including its fearsome bosses, of which there are all kinds.

Among the most iconic, you can find the Dream Warriors, reminiscent of strong bugs that can only be faced once you’ve acquired the Dream Nail.

Fighting these enemies gives you Essence and a challenge that ranges from a walk in the park to a trip to hell, as you can confirm through this ranked list of the seven Hardest Dream Warrior bosses.

7 Xero

The Easiest Boss To No-Hit

Even though I’ve been playing Hollow Knight since its original release, I don’t recall ever losing when fighting Xero.

As the first Dream Warrior you will encounter in your adventure, given he’s right on the screen next to where you get the Dream Nail, its difficulty level is considerably low.

All he does is move sideways while throwing slow spikes at you, which are easy to avoid despite constantly chasing him around.

Since the terrain is linear and the combat speed is reasonable, Xero doesn’t pose a threat at any point in the game.

6 Elder Hu

Just a Matter of Timing

Following Xero’s example, Elder Hu is an extremely accessible boss due to his limited moveset.

However, he has two attacks instead of one, so the complexity increases slightly, forcing you to identify his pattern to know how to position yourself.

He’s also more slippery and faster thanks to his ability to teleport, which often makes the fight longer and increases your propensity to make mistakes, thus demanding more attention.

Regardless, as long as you have the right timing, losing to this ancient warrior is harder than winning, so he’s still among the easiest in the game.

5 Gorb

The Spear Spammer

Gorb is the first Dream Warrior on the list who could pose a problem, as his fight consists of multiple phases.

While all he does is move around and throw dream spears, they increase in number and speed as his health points go down, making for a spectacle of projectiles toward the end.

If you’re not careful and time your distance correctly, you can easily get hit by multiple spears before you reach him, as healing is hardly an option.

He’s still far from a difficult boss, but compared to previous entries, this one at least forces the player to think twice about their moves.

4 No Eyes

An Environmental Fight

No Eyes is a great difficulty spike regarding Dream Warriors, though for reasons unique to this boss fight.

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The enemy itself doesn’t attack, but the danger comes from unstoppable projectiles that fill the screen from side to side and the spikes awaiting you at the bottom.

Consequently, the entire fight consists of chasing No Eyes while evading the endless stream of spirits heading your way, which can be a lot trickier than it first seems.

For those of us who are fans of metroidvanias and platformers, we know how important but complicated it is to be patient, and this is precisely what the fight with No Eyes demands you to win.

3 Galien

Between Orbs and Crashes

One of the constants in Dream Warrior fights is patterns. To a greater or lesser extent, they tend to have a predictable set of moves that follow the same sequence, but this isn’t the case with Galien.

Unlike the rest up to this point, the boss’ orbs are erratic and very difficult to anticipate, including the scythe itself he sends bouncing toward you.

As the fight’s end approaches, you have up to three threatening projectiles looking to harm you while you are focused on chasing the boss to deal damage.

If you are lucky, you can drain Galien’s health quickly through spells while he remains static, but you depend on randomness to know if your fight will be easy or difficult.

2 Marmu

A Fun Bouncing Game

While the other bosses are pattern-based, the fight against Marmu is all about reflexes, taking the challenge to a whole new level.

With increasing speed and unpredictability, the boss lunges at you in a ball-like fashion from angles where it appears after teleporting instantly.

As such, the fight is all about being perfectly alert to Marmu’s appearances and attacks, as there’s no time to think or plan tactics.

The only thing you have at your disposal is the ability to react quickly to the caterpillar’s charges, making the fight intense and over, for better or worse, in the blink of an eye.

1 Markoth

The Devil Incarnate

If you ask me, Hollow Knight is the best metroidvania of all time, it has many of the best bosses ever made and numerous amazing areas.

I feel it’s pertinent to make all these clarifications before I say I hate Markoth with all my heart. He’s a simple, uncreative, and uninspired boss who makes me want to quit the game every time I face him.

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He’s just an abominable fight. Between his shields and projectiles, getting close to him without taking damage is an impossible task. His defense is impenetrable, he attacks from all sides, and the platforms make reaching him difficult in itself.

I’ve met many die-hard Hollow Knight fans so far, but never the first one who didn’t have severe problems facing Morkoth. Ultimately, and by far, the hardest Dream Warrior in the game.

Hollow Knight

The 2017 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania from Team Cherry invites you to control an insectoid warrior, The Knight, and traverse the fallen kingdom of Hallownest that’s consumed by a supernatural disease.

Franchise

Hollow Knight

Released

February 24, 2017

Developer(s)

Team Cherry

Publisher(s)

Team Cherry

Engine

Unity

ESRB

E10+ for Everyone 10+: Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood

How Long To Beat

27 Hours

X|S Optimized

No

File Size Xbox Series

7 GB (November 2023)

PS Plus Availability

Extra & Premium

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

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