Bosses

Bosses are larger, more challenging enemies, typically with a large health pool and special mechanics. Each location contains various boss expeditions whose objective is to confront and defeat a boss enemy. For each difficulty level, there are two bosses in each of the game's four main locations. There are also special bosses in the Courtyard, the Farmstead, and the Darkest Dungeon; as well as event bosses that may appear once certain triggers are met.

In addition to expedition bosses, there are also various wandering bosses, or mini-bosses, that may be encountered in the course of an expedition. There are two wandering bosses in the base game (the Shambler and Collector), and two others added with DLC: the Fanatic, and Thing From The Stars.

List of Bosses

Ruins Bosses

Necromancer	Prophet

Weald Bosses

Hag	Brigand Cannon

Cove Bosses

Siren	Drowned Crew

Warrens Bosses

Swine Prince	Flesh

Wandering Bosses

Shambler	The Collector	The Fanatic	Thing From the Stars

Event Bosses

Brigand Vvulf	Shrieker

Courtyard Bosses

Crocodilian	Baron	Viscount	Countess	Garden Guardian

Farmstead Bosses

Miller	The Sleeper

Darkest Dungeon Bosses

This article or section may contain spoilers about the final boss. You might want to avoid reading further if you don't want to spoil the surprise for yourself!

Shuffling Horror	Templar Impaler	Templar Warlord	Mammoth Cyst	Heart of Darkness

Unlocking Bosses

Bosses are unlocked by successfully completing expeditions in the relevant location. The longer the expedition, the more progress is made towards unlocking the boss.

• For Apprentice bosses, successful short expeditions will increase the unlocking progress by 50%, medium by 75%, long by 100%.
• For Veteran bosses, successful short expeditions will increase the unlocking progress by 33%, medium by 50%, long by 67%.
• For Champion bosses, successful short expeditions will increase the unlocking progress by 25%, medium by 30%, long by *40%. *(source: ingame observation from July 8th, 2018, Bloodmoon difficulty).
• Excess unlock progression from expeditions which unlock the boss DO appear to carry over to the next boss. (egs. at 50% progression to unlock apprentice Hag, a medium mission will unlock the boss AND progress to unlocking the apprentice Brigand Pounder by 25%)

Boss Room Location

• In boss expeditions, the boss is almost always located in the room farthest away from the entrance, counted by the number of rooms. Corridor length does not matter, only the number of rooms traversed.
• If two rooms are equally far away, it's the room furthest down.
• If there is still a tie, it's the one further on the right.

Encountering Wandering Bosses

Once certain conditions are met, wandering bosses may ambush the party during a hallway battle, replacing a normal encounter. Wandering bosses will only appear in one of the base game locations, and will not appear in the Courtyard, Farmstead, or Darkest Dungeon.

• The Collector may ambush the party when at least 13 slots are occupied in the inventory.

• The Shambler may ambush the party when the Torch level is at 0. The Shambler may also be summoned using a Shambler's Altar.

• The Fanatic may ambush the party if at least two heroes are infected with the Crimson Curse. A special loading screen will occur at the beginning of the mission if the Fanatic is present; and in particular, the Fanatic cannot appear during a normal boss expedition.

• Once the first mission to the Farmstead has been completed, the Thing from the Stars has 50% chance to appear in a mission in a different area each week, marked on the map with a special icon.

Strategy

• Try to trigger the Town Event that gives 15% damage before going on a boss quest. It can help you finish the quest more easily.