My Favorite Darksiders Boss Fights Part I

Welcome to the first edition of my favorite boss fights from the Darksiders games. There are two main things that make Darksiders what it is and that’s puzzles and boss fights: challenging but rewarding. The boss fights in Darksiders are what make the games re-playable in my opinion and defeating a boss is something I always get the most satisfaction from. You know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder the fall!

This article will cover my favorite boss fights from the first game, starting with….

Tiamat

Tiamat is the first boss of the Chosen that you have to defeat and you know right away that she means business right before you fight her. When War rides the angelic beast to the cathedral, Tiamat knocks them out of the sky leaving War to enter alone. When I came to one of the courtyards, Tiamat was seen again beating the shit out of that beast before retreating

I’ll admit, since I was new to the gameplay, I over-prepared for this fight making sure my health was full and I had at least two Life Essences handy in case I needed to heal. The reason for this was not just because I was new to everything, but also because the door I had to pass through to reach the top of the church was a point of no return spot. I’ve played enough games to recognize one of those things as a sign that I should make sure I’m ready before I proceed. Then when I got to the top, Tiamat had killed that beast and was ready to offer me anything, until War would rather just claim her heart for Samael instead.

Despite the first phase being harder with her fireballs capable of doing lots of damage and the second dragging, Tiamat was still enjoyable to brawl with as when I defeated her, it was worth it. I had to use my Crossblade a lot since I didn’t feel confident to get close and do some real damage, but the experience taught me one thing and that’s keep the camera locked on your opponent to dodge better!

Stygian

This boss fight takes place entirely on horseback and my God it is so much fun! I remember the first time I fought the Stygian, I had a warm-up facing another giant worm and then took a week-long break from the game due to work commitments and when I came back I was ready to face that Stygian and beat it in one sitting.

The only really hard part at first is the beginning when I didn’t realize I would have to cut the muzzle off its mouth when it cruised around ignoring me. In the second phase, I never had much trouble with avoiding the smaller worms it spawned. I rode around in circles shooting them and if I fell, I would get back on Ruin as quick as I could. When the Stygian itself pursued me, I would gallop fast and shoot at its mouth. The cutscene when I defeated the Stygian was absolutely badass where War jumps into its mouth as it burrows underground again, then blood bursts and War emerges with its heart. So satisfying.

Silitha

I didn’t think I was going to like this boss fight at first and it started in a way that didn’t require me to take specific steps to deal damage other than use the grappling hook to pull myself towards Silitha. Just like Tiamat, she’s sentient and reveals the truth to War about why Samael wants their hearts.

I actually got stuck at this fight once where it just felt endless in the final phase, but then I realized I was supposed to grapple onto to her from those hooks she created in order to bring her down for good. Once again it was satisfying to see War rip her heart out!

Straga

Straga is a boss you fight twice in this game, in the prologue and then later in the tower and I was looking forward to fighting him a second time. Not only is he a badass but I feel like of all the boss fights, this one was the most satisfying ever. Straga is all brawn and no brains speaking his name in every sentence and he’s obtained by Abaddon from the Abyss.

I winged it with this fight and it didn’t take long for me to learn that I needed to use my Voidwalker to create an access point to Straga’s weak spot on the his back. Just set one point on his giant mace and wait for him to swing it behind his head and then you know what to do from there. I watched gleefully as War burst out of Straga’s face killing him in the end since that was the most brutal and satisfying thing I saw in the game thus far. It’s no wonder the achievement for defeating him is called “Payback’s a Bitch”, even if they have to censor it. Now that was a good fight!

Abaddon the Destroyer

I went with the final boss with everything I had. There are two stages, one on horseback where I had to aim for one of his legs to knock him down while he was in Destroyer form, and then hit him hard. I found myself circling around him at times and then I struck when he charged. Pretty soon, it was enough to turn him back into his angel form.

During that phase of the fight I just dodged constantly and attacked when it looked like it was safe to do so. I fought hard because of the epic score playing in the background. When he falls, it’s clear War has a thing for ripping out wings of his enemies that have them, (He did the same thing with Tiamat too), before stabbing Abaddon with the Armageddon blade! Totally worth it. Not even begging to Uriel could save him from his fate.

Those are my favorite boss fights from the first game, please stayed tuned for part II.

👽Emily