Elden Ring: The Hardest Optional Areas Ranked

Elden Ring is famous for its vast open world and dense, interconnected regions. FromSoftware crafted an environment overflowing with danger, discovery, and despair, offering countless paths for Tarnished adventurers to forge their destiny. While the main questline already delivers one of the longest and most punishing experiences in action RPG history, it's merely the surface. Hidden throughout the Lands Between are optional areas that test every ounce of player skill, patience, and determination.

These zones, tucked behind illusions, puzzles, or obscure questline triggers, aren't required to complete the game-but they represent FromSoftware's purest expressions of challenge. Whether through brutal enemy design, deadly terrain, or bosses that break even veteran players, these areas define the game's most nightmarish moments.

Below, we highlight the hardest optional areas in Elden Ring, ranking them not just by boss fights but by overall difficulty-from environmental hazards to enemy placement and emotional endurance.

8. Deeproot Depths - For Fans of Frustrating Root Platforming

The Deeproot Depths initially feel calm, with ethereal music and shimmering roots stretching into a star-filled void. But beneath that serenity lies one of Elden Ring's most aggravating platforming challenges. Accessed through Nokron or a hidden tunnel from the Siofra Aqueduct, the area is a vertical maze where a single misstep sends you tumbling into oblivion.

Enemies like Giant Ants, Basilisks, and undead soldiers make every movement risky. The bosses-Crucible Knight Siluria and Lichdragon Fortissax-aren't the hardest, but getting to them tests your sanity. Though the zone rewards players with valuable Elden Ring Runes, crafting materials, and lore about Godwyn's corruption, most remember Deeproot Depths for its irritation more than its victories.

7. Ordina, Liturgical Town - Feel Like Prey in a Puzzle Cage

Ordina, Liturgical Town, hides deep in the Consecrated Snowfields and guards the path to Miquella's Haligtree. On paper, it's simple: light four flames to unlock a seal. In practice, it's a nightmare.

Invisible Black Knife Assassins stalk the icy streets, killing unprepared players in seconds. Albinauric archers snipe from rooftops while spectral assassins phase through walls. Even with the Sentry's Torch or Concealing Veil Talisman, surviving the onslaught feels like horror.

The area is small, but its relentless tension leaves an impression that lasts long after the snow settles.

6. Lake of Rot - The Ultimate Scarlet Rot Gauntlet

Few zones inspire more dread than the Lake of Rot. This glowing red wasteland turns the infamous Blighttown curse into a full-blown endurance trial. Almost the entire map is submerged in Scarlet Rot, meaning every second spent moving drains your health.

Even with Elden Ring Items like Preserving Boluses, the Immunizing Horn Charm, and gear from buy Elden Ring Items vendors that boost resistance, survival is a race against time. Basilisks and an Ulcerated Tree Spirit prowl the lake, while the Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella boss emerges mid-rot to finish off the weak.

Reaching Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, feels like a triumph-but one soaked in poison and pain.

5. Mohgwyn Palace - Bleed, Blood, and Brutality

Mohgwyn Palace is the blood-soaked jewel of Elden Ring's optional content. Found through a hidden portal in the Consecrated Snowfield, it's a crimson nightmare of Albinaurics, blood swamps, and colossal death birds.

Everything here inflicts Bleed, making it nearly impossible to relax. The area's ruler, Mohg, Lord of Blood, is a legendary boss-his fight is filled with fire, blood magic, and devastating AOE rituals.

Yet, despite the suffering, Mohgwyn Palace remains a fan favorite. It houses the best rune farming spot in the game, making it a pilgrimage site for players seeking power leveling. The duality of agony and reward defines this brutal masterpiece.

4. Hero's Graves - Death by Chariot

Scattered throughout the Lands Between, the five Hero's Graves are mini-dungeons filled with terror:

·Fringefolk Hero's Grave

·Sainted Hero's Grave

·Gelmir Hero's Grave

·Auriza Hero's Grave

·Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave

Each is accessed with Stonesword Keys, and each is a gauntlet of death traps. Massive chariots thunder through narrow tunnels, instantly killing anything in their way. Players must memorize patterns and dash between safe zones-all while battling enemies that seem perfectly placed to knock you into danger.

Clearing even one Hero's Grave is an achievement. Conquering all five? A mark of true Tarnished mastery.

3. Subterranean Shunning-Grounds - The Pipe Maze of Nightmares

Beneath Leyndell lies the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, a twisted labyrinth of pipes, filth, and despair. Navigation alone is a challenge-it's easy to get lost in looping corridors that all look the same.

The enemies-Imps, Omen giants, and Vermin-are relentless. Every step forward feels earned through blood and frustration. And at the end waits Mohg, the Omen, a boss that, while not the hardest, is still exhausting after such a brutal descent.

This area is essential for players chasing the Frenzied Flame ending, but its psychological toll cannot be overstated.

2. Castle Sol - Commander Niall's Fortress of Pain

Tucked in the Mountaintops of the Giants, Castle Sol is a compact nightmare. Its frozen battlements are patrolled by teleporting Spectral Banished Knights, Lion Guardians, and ranged enemies capable of sniping you from across the map.

At the summit stands Commander Niall, a boss notorious for his two summoned knights and unrelenting elemental attacks. His ice and lightning combos devastate even high-Vigor builds, making this encounter one of Elden Ring's hardest fights.

Clearing Castle Sol is required for certain endings, but few will ever call it fun.

1. Miquella's Haligtree & Elphael - The Pinnacle of Optional Suffering

The crown jewel of torment, Miquella's Haligtree and Elphael, is FromSoftware at its cruelest. Unlocking the area requires secret medallions and puzzle-solving, but stepping inside begins Elden Ring's final trial.

Fragile branch platforming, Scarlet Rot swamps, and an army of Cleanrot Knights, Misbegotten, and Revenants stand in your way. At the heart of it all lies Malenia, Blade of Miquella-arguably the hardest boss the studio has ever created.

Her lifesteal mechanics, speed, and second-phase Scarlet Aeonia bloom make this battle infamous. Defeating her is not just victory-it's ascension.

Conclusion - Why Optional Pain Feels So Good

Optional content defines Elden Ring's brilliance. These zones-whether the rot-filled despair of the Lake of Rot or the punishing heights of the Haligtree-embody FromSoftware's philosophy: challenge breeds meaning.

You don't have to suffer through these areas to finish the story. But those who do find richer lore, rarer loot, and deeper satisfaction. They remind us why Elden Ring remains endlessly replayable-every hidden path holds both punishment and glory for the Tarnished bold enough to explore it.

For completionists, these places are the final frontier. For everyone else, they're warnings carved in stone: in the Lands Between, curiosity isn't just rewarded-it's tested to the breaking point.