These enemies prove that being a Witcher is very dangerous work.
The Witcher 1
- Azar Javed is easily the hardest fight in the game. Not only he hits hard, he constantly spams his stuns and Knockbacks where there is no discernible pattern to predict them. There are potions that counter knockback, but God help you if you don't have any potions prior to the fight. And the worst part? You are instantly teleported to his arena after killing his two Elite Mooks (which are relatively easy to deal with), where there is an unusable fireplace in the room where you fight them. Berengar will aid you during the fight if you spare him, but he does little damage and will go down after taking a few hits. Good luck.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
- Draug can be a very brutal boss since you will not have any time to drink any potions before the battle. His melee attacks hit very hard and he can block and counter most of your attacks. He also calls in archers and trebuchets to fire upon you.
- The first fight with Letho, the murderer of King Foltest. Not only he is tanky, has a couple unblockable attacks, blocks perfectly and doesn't flinch from most physical attacks - he's also a witcher like you employing bombs and sign spells of a much higher level than you'll have access to at this point in the game.
- The Kayran. To the point that its fight causes many players to Rage Quit. Hit by its tentacle is a One-Hit Kill and you have to stand still until the last possible moment to trap the tentacle and cut it off. Not all tentacles can be trapped either, only the ones with red tumors which added another layer of pain; the tentacle at the right edge of the screen is trapped between two normal ones so you have to stand at just the right spot to trap it. After a tentacle is cut off, the Kayran flails around in pain and you have to unintuitively stand still to avoid being hit. After cutting off three tentacles, it's just a matter of several more QTEs and a run toward its head all the while avoiding One-Hit Kill to finish it off.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- The racist half-elf from the high-stakes Gwent tournament quest manages to be more difficult than most of the storyline bosses thanks to being a forced fistfight in a crowded arena against a very talented opponent. Infuriatingly losing to him will give Geralt a game over as well, despite there being zero logical justification and almost every other fight simply penalizing him some crowns for losing. That a quest ostensibly about playing cards has an oddly high suggested level provides the only warning of what the player is in for.
- Imlerith is widely considered to be the hardest enemy in the base game, tougher than even the final boss. He hits hard and shrugs off whatever blows you deliver when he's not blocking with his shield. And when he ditches that, he becomes a lot more aggressive and constantly teleports around the battlefield, becoming a full-on Lightning Bruiser who you just cannot get a safe distance from.
- Dettlaff is considered the most challenging boss in the entire game and DLC, as most methods of cheesing enemies (overly-relying on Signs like Quen) will not work on him. He has three phases, each more difficult than the last, with no checkpoints in between. Detlaff also has several attacks that can easily one-shot Geralt, and has an annoying habit of flying and attacking from a distance.
- "Iris's Worst Nightmare" involves fighting several apparitions of Olgierd, each one is more difficult than the last. He blocks most of your attacks while dealing heavy amounts of damage towards you. He has one attack that could kill you in one hit if you fail to dodge or parry. If you are careless enough to attack more than one apparition of him, you are practically screwed.
- The Toad Prince is a very deadly boss. He is resistant to most melee attacks while his attacks do significant damage towards you. If you get too close to him he will use powerful AO Es that are difficult to dodge. If you go to far to him, he will attack you with his tongue and launch several gas bombs at you.
- The optional battle against Olgierd is incredibly tough. Signs are practically useless against him and he's a Damage-Sponge Boss that will take a long time to whittle down his health bar.
