When playing Elden Ring Runes, it sometimes can help to summon an NPC for any boss fight - but which summons are the most useful?

As most players know, Elden Ring (and several of FromSoftware’s other games) enables you to summon other players that will help you fight the nightmarish world they've crafted for you personally. But should you don’t seem like relying on others, and wish to stick towards the story beats, the sport provides you with NPCs you are able to summon too.

And while any quantity of help against certain bosses is going to be much appreciated, depending both on their strength and also the difficulty of the bosses you're up against, some NPCs are going to be more useful than others. If you find yourself struggling, consider summoning one of these simple in-game characters.

Blaidd: Bloodhound Knight Darriwil, Starscourge Radahn

Everyone’s favorite half-wolf, Blaidd’s main summon is within the Forlorn Hound Evergaol, where you are able to fight Bloodhound Knight Darriwil. For many players, there’s no real reason to battle Darriwil super early in the sport, also it won’t take very long to level up enough that you are able to take him recorded on your own.

That being said, Darriwil does drop among the strongest weapons within the entire game: Bloodhound’s Fang. And if you would like it immediately, getting Blaidd’s help can be very useful. You have to jump through some hoops to get to that point, though. First, find Blaidd howling in the Mistwood ruins, then speak with Merchant Kalé about him to begin his questline.

Sorcerer Rogier: Margit, The Fell Omen

Sorcerer Rogier isn’t a particularly powerful phantom, however, the fight you summon him for, Margit, the Fell Omen, could be absolutely brutal, even when you’ve already done several playthroughs of the sport. According to FromSoftware’s stats, he's killed more players than just about any boss, second simply to Melania.

Just having Rogier around like a distraction, providing you with a break from Margit’s relentless attacks, is exceptionally useful, even when he is fairly squishy and doesn’t deal massive damage. Best of all, you don’t have to do anything to summon him. Rogier can be obtained to help against Margit even when you rush right to him at the start of the sport.

Great Horned Tragoth: Magma Wyrm Makar, Draconic Tree Sentinel, Starscourge Radahn

Great Horned Tragoth is actually a brick wall that hits enemies having a second, slightly smaller brick wall. He spawns in wearing the Bull-Goat Set and carrying the Giant-Crusher—the heaviest armor set and weapon in the sport, respectively.

The first boss you are able to summon Tragoth for, Magma Wyrm Makar isn’t particularly difficult (even though it never hurts to possess some help), however, the second is really a different story. The Draconic Tree Sentinel, which guards the entrance to Leyndell, Royal Capital, could be a tough fight, and achieving this big boy in your corner will make things much easier. And you don’t even have to do anything to obtain Tragoth in your corner; he can help you out from the goodness of his heart. It’s a genuine shame you need to murder him later if you would like to get his sweet armor set.

Millicent: Magma Wyrm Makar, Godskin Apostle, Draconic Tree Sentinel, Black Blade Kindred

Millicent could be summoned for four different fights, a lot more than any other character. And she can invade you too, so theoretically, you need to see her like a phantom extremely often. But it’s extremely simple to miss basically all her appearances, given that they rely on you progressing her questline, and several players will explore a substantial portion from the Lands Between before you even start it.

For example, if one makes your way with the Altus Plateau before Caelid, one’ll have skipped three of her summon signs. If you would like to see Millicent in combat, you’ll have to head to Caelid early, make sure you speak with her in each and every one of her locations before you take on various boss fights. And it could be worth going with the trouble, since Millicent may use the Waterfowl Dance, the skill Malenia uses to kill you again and again.

Melina: Morgott, The Omen King

Melina is only able to be summoned for just one boss, but she leaves quite the impression. In combat, she uses the Blade of Calling to inflict Holy-based attacks, both at close and long range. She can also call down pillars of light in the sky (Giant Miranda Sprouts make use of the same ability) and it has a completely unique Incantation that can cause a golden tree to have a healing aura.

Additionally, her moveset is comparable to Black Knife Tiche. She jumps around a great deal and may cover large distances quite quickly. This means she rarely gets left out of the fight, as some from the slower NPC summons do. It also causes it to be hard for Morgott to hit her, allowing her to outlive far more than you might expect.

The Dung Eater: Mohg, The Omen, Morgott, The Omen King

The Dung Eater NPC summon functions similarly to both his Spirit Summon and the invading phantom. He’s a remarkable combatant, who is able to deal with and take immense levels of damage. He’s sufficiently strong to defeat Mohg, the Omen (the phantom beneath Leyndell, not the real thing) by himself, and he's a great tank against Morgott, the Omen King too.

Of course, for him to be shown for either fight, you’ll need to possess freed him from his cell within the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds. And those aren’t exactly enjoyable times to explore, filled with twisting hallways and terrifying enemies.

Nepheli Loux: Godrick The Grafted, Omenkiller, Godfrey, First Elden Lord

Nepheli Loux’s summon signs are locked behind various procedures in her questline, but most of the steps are quite simple. Summoning her against Godrick just requires speaking with her within the area prior to his boss room (although Godrick is among the easiest bosses in the sport, which means you probably don’t need her help here). Similarly, her summon sign can look for the Omenkiller Field Boss if you speak with her around the path resulting in him. And he’s surprisingly difficult, with powerful strikes and multiple dogs at his side.

The trickiest of her summons to obtain is for that hardest of her bosses, Godfrey, First Elden Lord. You have to finish her questline prior to the summon sign appearing. And that’s worth doing if Godfrey is providing you with trouble. Nepheli can deal solid damage together with her Stormhwak Axes, and it is surprisingly tough to kill for any character who’s basically not wearing anything - although, considering the fact that she appears to be a direct descendent from Godfrey himself, that probably shouldn’t be an excessive amount of a shock.

Iron Fist Alexander: Fire Giant, Starscourge Radahn

Iron Fist Alexander could be summoned from the Fire Giant, although should you haven’t progressed his questline far enough, you may have missed him. His summon sign is also within the arena, which is quite unusual, so you may not have even recognized to look for it.

The Fire Giant moves around a great deal for this type of massive enemy, and Alexander’s rotund frame means he isn’t exactly a sprinter. However, his massive girth comes in handy once he actually enters range. Alexander is capable of tanking an enormous amount of damage, and he can dish it out too, especially with some of his charged punch attacks.

Recusant Bernahl: Godskin Duo

Like Sorcerer Rogier, Recusant Bernahl is yet another NPC who could be summoned for any particularly difficult boss. In Bernahl’s case, the boss under consideration is the Godskin Duo, arguably probably the most complained about the boss in the sport. Assuming you haven’t killed him, Bernahl ought to be summonable outside their boss's room.

But unlike Rogier, Bernahl is a lot more than just a distraction. He can absorb a lot of damage, keeping one-half of the Duo distracted and evening the chances in what is just one of buy elden ring rune's most frustrating fights. However, if you're going for that Sleep strategy (the Duo is incredibly weak for this status effect) summoning him may be counterproductive, since NPCs will just hit sleeping enemies and wake them up.

Everyone In The Radahn Festival (Except Patches): Starscourge Radahn

Starscourge Radahn’s boss fight contains probably the most unique number of NPC summons in the sport. Once you enter Radahn’s arena, you’ll have the ability to summon a little army of NPCs that will help you take down the Starscourge. Well, Patches will immediately teleport home, but everybody else will team up to battle the Scarlet Rot-afflicted giant.

The group includes several NPCs from earlier on this list, including Blaidd, Tragoth, and Alexander (assuming they're still alive), among several others. It’s easily the greatest number of NPCs you are able to summon for any single boss. Most importantly, unlike every other boss fights, you are able to re-summon them when they die. They will exhaust summons eventually, some faster than the others, however with their help, you are able to kill Radahn without ever attacking him.