Bloodborne Walkthrough: Boss Strategies and Tips

Developed by From Software and Japan Studio, and published by Sony exclusively on the PlayStation 4, Bloodborne is the newest rendition of Dark Souls to hit the market. Boasting a new combat system, as well the return of several Dark Souls-like UI, and controls, Bloodborne is basically Dark Souls reborn. Don’t let that fool you though, the game still has plenty to offer in terms of challenge and frustration to Dark Souls fans everywhere. We won’t bore you with the details, after all, you’re here for a reason. So let’s get down to business.

Bloodborne, like any good challenging and unforgiving game, features quite a few boss fights, but don’t worry, we’re going to make sure you’re well prepared before stepping into the arena.

The Cleric Beast

The first boss of the game is the Cleric Beast, and it’s an ugly one. Don’t worry though, at the start of this boss fight you’ll want to move in and stand close to it until it pulls an arm back to attack. Once you see this quickly dodge behind it and starting slamming your weapon into its back. You’ll want to stay behind this boss as much as possible, otherwise you’ll end up taking damage from its bigger and more powerful attacks. Once the beast turns to look at you, repeat the process above, and then go to town with your weapon of choice.

Be careful if you somehow find yourself a good distance from the Cleric Beast as it has a very powerful jumping attack which allows it to jump into the air and land on your current position. If you see it jump, wait a moment, and then dodge continually until it lands. It’s important to wait that extra moment before dodging, otherwise, the beast will land on top of you and damage you still.

After you’ve worn the Cleric Beast down to a certain point it will begin to rage. Now you should move away, steering clear of the creature while it thrashes. The beast favors long-distance swipe attacks during this phase, so be ready to dodge and keep away from the attacks. Also watch out for the ground slams that the Cleric Beast uses at this point in the battle, as being too close to them will damage you.

Once the rage subsides you’ll need to head back to your previous position, wait until the creature swings back, and then dodge behind it and once more work on putting your weapon continually into its back. Be careful, however, as now the Cleric Beast will make use of a new attack where it picks you up with one hand and deals massive damage to your character. Continue your attacks until the beast perishes, or another rage ensues.

Boss Fight Reward: Sword Hunter Badge

Father Gascoigne

The second boss of Bloodborne is a bit tougher. He’s a Hunter, like your character, so you’re going to be dealing with many attacks which are similar to your own. We highly suggest picking up the Tiny Music Box item before you head into this fight, as it will help greatly, however it is not a requirement to beating this boss.

The first thing to keep in mind when fighting Father Gascoigne is that he is a hunter, and like you he has access to a pistol which is will try to use to interrupt your combos. To avoid taking damage and being stunned you should hit him with two normal quick attacks and then dodge away from him before he can shoot you.

As we mentioned earlier, this boss battle becomes significantly easier if you manage to pick up the Tiny Music Box on the way. With it you can stun Father Gascoigne, causing him to writhe in pain, which will give you time to move behind him and execute a powerful Charge Attack into his back. You can use the box about three times before Father Gascoigne transforms into his secondary form. He’ll transform no matter what happens after he reaches fifty percent of his health. Once he transforms you can only use the Tiny Music Box one time before he becomes ineffective, so make each time count, and get in as much damage as possible while he is stunned.

No matter how you fight this battle, keep dodging, attacking quickly, and hitting Father Gascoigne with your pistol shots as they will temporarily stun him in either of his forms. Once he transforms, however, you’ll want to stick close to him and wait until he starts to attack with a succession of claw strikes. When you see him winding up, either, hit him with your pistol to stun him, or back away and let him strike empty air. His attacks inflict massive amounts of damage, so be careful if you get hit by any of his combinations.

If you’re too far away from him, Father Gascoigne will use a jumping attack similar to the Cleric Beast. He will jump into the air, however, he won’t pause for a moment like the previous boss, and instead he’ll simply drop down on top of you. If you see him make a leap, begin to dodge and continue to dodge until he lands again somewhere behind you. Stay behind him when he’s in beast mode and you shouldn’t have much to worry about. Remember that range is one of his specialties in his final form, so you’ll want to avoid any kind of movement barriers, like the tombstones around the arena, and instead steer for open areas where you can dodge behind and attack him. Continue to dodge, attack, and stun him with your pistol until he falls.

Boss Fight Reward: Oedon Tomb Key

Blood-starved Beast

Before heading into your third boss battle you’ll want to make sure you’re fully stocked up on Antidotes as well as Blood Vials. This may seem like a simple fight, however, it’s going to be the toughest fight you’ve faced so far in Bloodborne. We also suggest switching your weapon to the long-form as this boss is very quick, agile, and leaps around quite a lot. Having your weapon in long-form will make it easier to hit.

When you first enter the battle move forward to the beast and wait for it to attack first. As soon as its arms move, get ready to dodge behind it or off to the side. In many cases you’ll only need to dodge once, but you’ll want to try to get behind it more often than not.

This boss features a few different attack patterns. Standing in front of it will lead to it grabbing you and biting your character, which will poison you and inflict a considerable amount of damage over time. Avoid this attack as much as you can. From a medium range the Blood-starved Beast will leap towards you with a barrage of rapid slashing moves. You’ll want to dodge a couple of times to the side of avoid these attacks. It also uses a swiping attack which is fairly easy to avoid, and will leave you just close enough to pull off a couple of hits with your weapon.

If you’re fast enough you can dodge the incoming leap attacks and still manage to hit the beast with a Charged Attack, which you can then quickly follow up with a critical strike. The timing isn’t really the hard part, as that actually comes in trying to line up your dodge perfectly so that you end up behind the beast and not off to the side.

Truthfully we suggest ignoring the critical strikes, as landing three normal strikes inflict just as much damage and is far easier to pull off. In summary, you’ll want to stick close to the beast and hit it with a couple of long-form attacks after you’ve dodge its incoming strikes.

Once the Blood-starved Beast reaches fifty percent health, however, its attack style changes up and it enters into Phase Two of the battle. At this point the creature will stop for a moment and lift up on two legs. When you see this, move away quickly as it will follow your movement and try to hit you with a glob of poison. Dodge this as best you can, as getting hit by it will knock you back and possibly poison you.

This is where the fight becomes more complex, as now the beast is leaking poison from its body. Anytime you get close to it your character will slowly be poisoned and lose health, so you’re going to need to pay careful attention to your health bars throughout the remained of this fight. You may also notice a new bar above your health bar whenever you get close to the boss. This bar dictates your poison levels, and as it rises your character will lose health more rapidly. Do not use an antidote unless your health is low. They are limited items, and you only have 10, so make every single one of them count. If for some reason you do use all of your Antidotes, there are three hidden behind the statue on the far side of the room. Only use these as a last resort.

Anytime the poison bar shows up, it’s a good idea to back down and step back from the boss. If your health is low, pop a Blood Vial, or use an antidote to get the bar to vanish. Also make sure to always keep your character locked onto the Blood-starved Beast as you’ll always want to be aware of its position since it is always moving. At this point you’ll just want to continue avoiding the boss’s attacks and hit him with your long-form weapon when you can. We understand you’re probably ready to get this fight out of the way, but be patient and continue to take your time depleting the beast’s health as you go. This will ensure you’re still standing when it falls.

Boss Fight Reward: Pthumeru Chalice

Vicar Amelia

The next boss that players should encounter has a wide variety of attacks and can be devastating if she manages to get hits off on you. Fortunately, all the attacks are frontal based, so sticking close to her and dodging behind her as much as possible should remove most of the threat she has. This makes it extremely important to steer clear of Vicar’s frontal area, as any movement into this region can result in serious damage or death. During the first phase of battle she’ll use wide sweeping attacks which cover a large area in front of her, and can even hit you if you’re standing too far forward. She’ll also attempt to grab you, and since this attack deals massive amounts of damage over a short period you’ll want to avoid it at all costs.

Keeping your distance may seem like a good idea, however, doing so will result in Vicar Amelia using a long-range attack which involves slamming her fists into the ground and creating a shockwave along the floor. She might also simply jump towards you to attack. That makes staying close to her an important tactic when dealing with this boss, as you won’t have to worry about any of these harder to dodge attacks.

As the battle progresses she will pause momentarily sometimes to grab the talisman in her hand. When this happens you’ll want to turn and hit her with everything you can while she’s just standing there. She’ll also glow as this point, so just stick to her backside to avoid the coming AOE attack.

As long as you stick to the area behind her you won’t have to worry about much unless she turns around. If you’re paying attention you can easily dodge to the side and then head back around behind her to continue your attacks. Keep continuing this tactic until she falls.

Boss Fight Reward: Gold Pendant

The Witch of Hemwick

This battle is trickier than the rest, and depending on how good you are at moving around quickly you’ll either face the hardest or the easiest boss of the game so far.

When this battle first begins you’ll be faced down by a Soot Monster which spawns in the middle of the room. This isn’t the boss, however, so don’t get your hopes up just yet. Ignore the Soot Monster and instead focus on the frail looking creature to your left. Immediately move to it and begin attacking it. This is the Witch of Hemwick, and you’ll want to hit her with all of your attacks until she vanishes.

The most important thing to keep in mind during this battle is finding the witch. Each time she vanishes she will reappear somewhere else in the room, and you’ll need to spot her and move over to her as fast as possible to lay down more damage. If you notice a glowing under her, move away, as she is preparing a circular attack which will inflict a significant amount of damage.

Once you have knocked the witch down to fifty percent of her health another witch will appear with a full health bar. This time, however, the new witch will begin to shoot projectiles at you. Dodge them as they come, and take the witch out. If you take too long a third witch will appear, and if you do not kill all three witches within one minute of killing the first they will respawn with less health.

On top of the respawning witch problem there is also the problem of the annoying Soot Monster which is busy patrolling the room. Sure, you can kill him if you need to, however, if you’re quick enough to find the witches and take them out simply ignore him and do that. Again, if you take too long more Soot Monsters will spawn making this battle even harder than it has to be. Move as fast as possible to take down the Witch of Hemwick and once she falls you’re good to go.

Boss Fight Reward: Four Bloodshot Eyeballs

More Coming Soon…

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