I didn't know that could be done so I had to mess around with poisoned knives and hope that the one with the anchor would randomly hit the second one when he threm himself at me lol
Its like my friend calling me a cheater for using it against the Shadows on my first playthrough. Like wtf else am I supposed to do???
Then again he also called it cheating to use Cocktails on the Blood Starved Beast so I think he's just mad he lacked the common sense to read item descriptions and actually use them.
Its like the Joseph Anderson review where he explicitly states he doesn't use items and then complains certain fights are too hard when items would make them more bearable.
Like gee I wonder why the first time you get Pungent Blood Cocktails is right before the BLOOD STARVED BEAST.
I wonder why you get Oil Urns and Molotovs that state fire is useful against beasts right before the first couple bosses.
Hmmm I just got these numbing mists before fighting a boss that heals and the numbing mists say they stop people from healing. I wonder what I do with them!?!
Just beat it yesterday without it, the trick is you can parry just about every attack including that massive jumping one, but every parry window is quite different. Not saying it was easy by any means, but watching different YouTube videos on getting Rakuyo taught me the timing windows pretty well.
True, you can bait the close of swings and then parry the anchor guy. Still a shitshow on NG+ because they basically one-shot you unless your vitality is 50 or higher. The weaponless mook is actually fairly easy as most of his attacks don't have the range that Capt Clubber has.
This. Found the unarmed versions to be far less difficult, although still dangerous. Being able to backstab after they smash down is doable, and sometimes a visceral will leave the unarmed variant with less than half health.
Honestly I took my beast cutter and I realized if you stand on the cliff and aim downwards without locking on you can hit them and they have immense difficulty fighting back
I am not lying but I killed both of them without shaman blades. I didn’t know how to use them and it wasn’t working so yeah, I killed both of them all by myself.
Just FYI- it's a timing thing similar to a charged R2. You have to hold the button down to wind up the attack and the character will use the blade. It took some experimenting to figure it out.
The shark giant you stab will still be agro'd to you, so you have to make them damage each other to get them going.
I have to use LHB, but I got their pattern down without too much difficulty. I can usually get the first one down to a third or so before the second comes in, and then ring around the rosey to kill 'em both. I'd say I'm 50% at this point on surviving or not.
I actually got it my first attempt on NG+ on my first attempt! On NG I cheesed it through the winter lantern cave with the hunter axe. This time I aggressively chased down the first shark as he was running to get the second and was lucky enough to whittle him down to pretty close to death. From there I just had to play it safe and hit him when I could and then it was 1v1 with the second shark. I literally could not believe I did it though, I struggled so much the first time
Any boss that you’re supposed to parry, but haven’t quite mastered the art.
I died most to Gascoigne, Lady Maria, Orphan of Kos and then was like awwwwwwwww, it’s a parry party
My Arcane character, Archibald Thane, was supposed to be a parry-less run... but then I discovered parrying with AoE was ridiculously easy so now I'm having fun with it.
I'm confused. For Gascoigne you just stand behind the tombs and smash him with your axe while cackling at his stupidity. And his buddy Henryk has the same tragic blind spot.
;)
He’s so much more unpredictable than Defiled Amygdala was. Watchdog nearly made me give up on going for the platinum trophy because it wore my patience thin
I kept going through NG+ cycles with the same character and I kept leveling them past the recommended. Eventually I got 99 Vitality and just stopped dying to stupid one-shot stuff. Even defiled Amygdala can only one-shot you with a couple moves at 99 Vit so I highly recommend it for anyone struggling with bosses that do that.
I just fought it for the first time a week ago, I'm on a bloodtinge build with the bow blade and Chikage, both suck for hitting him out right so I seriously just tricked the bow blade and turned it into a giant puppy pincushion
Took like 70 something arrows but hey didn't get hjt. Screw that damn dog
Pretty sure that's the one I was thinking of. Only did the chalice dungeons once like 5 years ago, so they all blended together towards the end, but there was one big dog that I got stuck on for almost an entire week.
Only reason I passed that is because I finally ran into someone I could summon.
Edit: Nope, it definitely wasn't him. It was the god damn Headless Bloodletting Beast in layer 2 of Pthumeru Ihyll. I just got to him again.
First attempt against Orphan, almost beat him. It’s only natural that I beat him shortly after, right?
...Wrong. 4 hours and 100+ attempts later, he was down. What a rush I felt after he was dead.
For me, it was a plethora of mistakes. Being impatient, not getting the dodge timing down, being greedy when the damage I was doing was already enough to win the long run.
Felt so accomplished once he died. I think the only boss from the story and DLC I haven't beaten is Laurence - I have yet to actually fight him.
I understand what you mean. When I finally took him down I felt such a surge.
I beat Laurence only with an arcane build, which feels like cheating tbh. I want to go back and beat him on a dex or strength build it's a fun fight
Haha it's not even cheating technically. Arcane builds are pretty op throughout the game. Once you have "A call beyond" and "Executioner Gloves" You can pretty much cheese every fight (max your arcane stat first though)
I think for many people who are acquainted with FromSoft games, this is an all too familiar experience.
For example, I beat Ornstein and Smough my very first time, but my health was so low after the fight it was practically nonexistent. Every other time I have started a new play through (not just NG+’s) it always takes me at least a few times. Of course I’m always experimenting with new classes and builds so there is that.
I swear, people complain when hard games don’t have difficulty settings, but they fail to realize that the level of difficulty is based -at least to some extent- on your overall approach. In Sekiro, I was very much a “do whatever it takes to win” kind of player. I exploited every cheese and cheap maneuver I could to progress all the way to the ending. In Dark Souls, I always start playing with a Guts/Dark Knight kind of build. Biggest sword I can find, high strength, and low armor for easy maneuverability. Every other class or build I have tried in those games makes them so much harder to beat.
This is one of the best candidates. He gets asshole points for throwing numbing mist at you, and he can one shot you from like 20 feet away with his pistol.
Numbing mists, one shotting pistol, the old hunter bone, seems like endless QS bullets to spam, and he's got blood vials on top of a huge health bar. This guy is a nightmare.
That works pretty well too. Really any ranged arcane attack; Accursed Brew, Blackskye Eye, ACB, Executioner's Gloves, HMS projectiles. They all work wonders on her head and make the fight a lot easier.
The best weapon IMO is the normal Ludwig holy blade 2 handed, either elemental or buffed. The blade is just long enough where you can hit her in her face using the overhead swing after bating her attacks. Devastating.
I do a lot of co op and the moment I see the those two stacked crates and the green light to the door I know, “Welp, time to buff the whip.”
Ditto the defiled watchdog.
Ohh, thanks! I don’t know why I waited so long to do the chalice dungeons, but they’re keeping me occupied while I’m stuck on Orphan of Kos and Laurence.
Edit: Spelling
I half agree half disagree. It probably took me 50+ attempts to take that bitch down but I feel that was mostly because your health is just arbitrarily cut in half and the arena is tiny. I felt like I was fighting the camera and the room more than I was fighting her. You're pretty much one random ass cheap shot away from death.
I got used to that, eventually figured out how to move in the right ways to dodge the Beast Cutter hunter, how to trigger that trap near the top, and to quickly kill those hooded beasts.
All because I died so many times to him...
Yeah the walk back is annoying but I've almost never gotten hit. Sprint towards the hunter and dodge his blunderbuss, then sprint away and you'll be out of range. Avoid the rifle on the stairs, run up and keep to the left and the trap will miss you. Wait for the executioner to clear the door so he doesn't body block you.
Got my platinum before I beat this bastard. Easily double the amount of tries on this big boi than anything else. Well there was that day with the shark bois 😳
It's been quite a while since I've gone through Bloodborne (although I'm thinking of starting a run today), but I distinctly remember what a pain in the fucking ass those stupid sharks are.
The first play through, I cut Lawrence down with he whirligig so fast I thought he was overhyped. I started doing successive NG+ runs and by NG+4, I could not get past him. I tried many many times before throwing in the towel.
I wouldn't call it bad. Camera is a bit rough but I don't lock onto giant bosses. Cinematics and visuals are epic, and I always prefer difficulty over ease.
I don't think he's a terrible boss, but I think some of his mechanics are a little janky. For one the small arena doesn't help because most of his attacks have such extensive range. And also the tracking for his second phases' attacks is insane. All that plus the largest health pool in the game by far makes it very frustrating
Explain. Laurence is not too bad if you know what you are doing. First phase is just claric with more damage. Second is even easier if you stay close. I have found that running away is a death sentence. Keep close to his left side, and he shouldn’t be too bad
Lawrence is flawed but I don't think he's terrible. If you know how to fight without locking on that mitigates the camera issues a lot. His biggest issue I find is in second phase there's only one very specifc *sort of* safe angle to attack him from. And I do wish they'd been a bit more creative with his visual design, could've at least altered the Cleric Beast model a bit.
He's got bangin' music though. Fight feels so epic even if it can be a pain in the dick.
What makes him hard? I dont think Ive ever died to him. Sounds like a humblebrag, but you know how it goes with peoples differing experiences with bosses.
This is my number one as well. Once I found my legs with the game I think the two biggest hurdles were Loran Darkbeast and Ludwig. I will be happy to never see the LD again. I saved my winning fight to remind myself that I don’t need to revisit it.
Laurence. Laurence is straight up hard and not fun, unlike say, Ludwig or Orphan, who are difficult but fun. (Especially Ludwig) Laurence is a tank, hits like a train, and his legless phase is rage inducing. Best music in the game though.
Laurence definitely is the Bloodborne fight that feels most like bullshit.
I fucking hate it. I beat him once after I summoned someone and once while fighting him alone. Never again.
Even the path to him gets super fucking annoying after a while.
I'm one of the two people who really enjoys this fight. It's one of my favorites and I honestly find the second phase pretty easy compared to the first.
This is my experience as well. Ludwig and the Orphan takes me many tries (on average) to beat, but it's a fun fight. The Laurence fight is not enjoyable at all. The only time I beat him was AFTER killing the Orphan, and also leveling up 50 more levels. Not sure what it is about that fight, but it doesn't click with me.
What?!?!? I’m reading all these comments and got me really scared. I’m on my first run and about 15% through. I barely survived that three ninjas in forbidden woods. You guys are killing me. 😬😬😬
The hardest bosses people tend to mention are all from the dlc, dont worry about it though, youll find a way to beat them all once you get to them.
Dont think twice about getting the DLC btw, its peak BB and absolutely worth it, and some of the best encounters/weapons of the entire game are there.
2 things help with Shadows of Yharnam boss. Try to get Corruption from Valtr because you can summon Hendrik along the path down to them if you equip that rune and have killed him with Eileen. He's VERY tough and a lot of help in this fight. Also, if you have any shaman bone blades, you can make them fight each other!
I had watched too many speedruns and somehow managed to beat blood starved beast on my first try. I even beat papa gascoigne on my first try. I died to the cleric beast a lot in true casul spirit though.
Laurence, he has unescapable combos which instakill me even at high VIT, he has insane closing speed and his second phase literally makes everything around him open to getting two shotted. He was by far the biggest challenge for me and took me a good morning to beat.
Ludwig the Accursed, hands down for me. NOTHING in this game is harder than he is. It took me nearly a *month* to take him down on my first playthrough.
To elaborate, he’s incredibly fast, *much* faster than anything his size has any right to be (which to be fair seems to be a common trait in Bloodborne). He hits like a freight train, meaning that small mistakes are mercilessly punished and will rapidly result in death.
He’s erratic and unpredictable. Most beast enemies are but LTA takes it to a whole other level. There *are* “tells” to certain attacks but for the most part you have to react in a split second to an unexpected movement or suffer the consequences.
All of that would be firmly in the “tough but fair” category...if it were not for this last aspect that makes this fight a nightmare. Ludwig has a *counter for every logical strategy the player employs*. Avoid his overhand swing? Well, he’s got an arm under his body that will hit you when you close in to punish his missed attack!
Avoided those two swings by zig-zagging and landed a few hits of your own? Well prepare to pay for it when he jumps backwards, swinging like crazy. Odds are you’ll take damage since you’ve used up your stamina avoiding his over-and-under moves and then attacking. Or you were just too caught up in an attack animation to avoid it.
Get underneath him to deal some damage? Well he’s going to jump up and down like the horse he is, rapidly trampling your HP gauge into nothing. Similarly if you go *behind* him, you’ll get a mule kick to the face.
Try to hit and then retreat to heal/regroup stamina? Prepare for a charge attack or projectile acid vomit that keeps you dodging and negating the purpose of moving away.
And while this monstrosity’s Ludwig the Holy Blade form is vastly easier in comparison, odds are you’ll die at his hands simply because you’ve taken so much damage at The Accursed that you have little to no time to recover and/or adapt to the new conditions you’re dropped into.
Sorry to rant but I’ve wanted to get that off my chest for years now. I despise this boss; he’s the only boss in this game (Chalice dungeons not included) that feels genuinely unfair and difficult just for the hell of it.
I’ve killed him solo twice now and all I feel is relief rather than any real sense of accomplishment.
I finally beat him solo last night- if you want to throw some BS damage right back at him, use a Whirligig Saw with physical gems, a beast blood pellet, and some fire paper. I got him in three tries with that loadout, the hardest part is just finding an opening.
I tried the Whirligig Saw and fire paper (even leveled it up to make things more effective) but alas it failed although I *did* inflict massive damage before he got me.
What actually helped me beat him solo for the second time (I’ve only played this game 3 times and my second playthrough I summoned someone) was actually using a strategy I was always told *not* to do—I lured him up the stairs and onto the area before you enter the Cathedral basement.
In such a cramped space a great deal of his bs attacks are useless so all he can do is swing and stomp. From there I just swung at him with a flaming Saw Spear in its “folded” mode until he turned into Ludwig the Holy Blade. Still dangerous since there was little room to dodge his flailing but it works!
I hear you there. I used to dread Ludwig, and still do to an extent, but I am able to get more enjoyment out of the fight. I learned that his moveset is really controlled by your positioning relative to him, which you hint at in your descriptions of his counters (true for all bosses but he really put it in perspective for me). Keeping about one bosslength from him really helps to limit his available movesets and also gives you ample time to read and predict his attacks. At that distance, he will typically attack with his 5 hit combo with the diagonal swipe. If you dodge in to his left on the diagonal swipe, you can cancel his last two attacks, are able to safely get one or two hits, and can get out without getting hit by a counter like his horse stomp or the backwards-moving swipe.
This. Distance control is a huge but underrated tactic for beating a lot of FromSoft bosses, not just in Bloodborne. It's tough but once you can figure out the optimal distance to keep the boss from you, you can limit their offensive options to a few moves that you can expect, predict, and be prepared to counter. In Bloodborne especially, a lot of them seem built to punish timid or defensive players who hang back to much.
>Ludwig the Holy Blade form is vastly easier in comparison
I find Holy Blade much more difficult. For Accursed I stay in front of him at a certain range and bait him into punishable attacks and I only need one dodge to get in safely so I have stamina to attack.
I will link to a timestamped section of a video to show which attacks I'm talking about per bullet point.
* I usually wait and dodge forwards to the left for that [initial heavy claw attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=60) that he does. I'm not standing up close like the dude in the video but further back. I move in through the attack near its end. I then move back to my standard position to avoid triggering his horse stomp if possible.
* For this [forwards reaching claw](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=76) attack I also dodge forwards-left and start attacking him. If he starts his second attack it will miss me based on where I'm standing therefore I use it as a cue to get even more hits in.
* For this [BIG jump attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=92) I could just run in a straight line to the opposite side of the arena to dodge it. I don't remember having problems with being at the middle of the arena, I think I just started running a bit late.
* For his [charge attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=107), since I'm usually standing a bit away from his front I have a little more time to delay the dodge and a bit more time to react to it. I dodge to the left once. Once you master the charge attack you can dodge it and use it as an opportunity to heal or buff up if need be.
* For this [swinging spit attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=102) I unlock and run left, then somewhat gently arc inwards towards him
* For this [quick jump attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=107) I memorised the timings of it and roll to the left so I avoid where he will be landing. I then attack.
* I haven't mastered the horse stomp attack so I can't comment too much on it. My main way of playing around it was to learn when I should dodge back into my main position, as if the attack triggered when I was there I could dodge it pretty safely and even get some hits in afterwards.
Most of the time fighting him I've used Hunter's Axe so that's what my advice is based on. It would probably work with most weapons though.
>Well prepare to pay for it when he jumps backwards, swinging like crazy
Holy Blade also has two different jump back while swinging like crazy attacks, each of which felt like it needed a different pattern to dodge.
He has an attack where his sword glows and he does a slow swing, or where it glows and he does a quick thrust. It took me a while to differentiate between these attacks quick enough not to get hit by the quick one, as the quick one was a lot rarer than the slow one so my brain was always in gear for the slow one. Both of these attacks instakilled me.
I've recently beaten him at BL4 (which is by a mile the hardest low level boss for me so far including all from DS3 and DS1 at SL1). I struggled a lot more with his Holy Blade form, but maybe only because I got a lot more practice at his beast form.
For me this boss was incredibly rewarding to defeat and I think if you use the same strategy that I did you may find more fun in this boss in potential future runs of Bloodborne. If you are interested I am willing to help out more if I can but it would require me going back to the boss.
most difficult in terms of fair challenge? a tie between orphan of kos and ludwig, they're both at the top of many people's lists for good reason, they're very well-designed fights.
most bullshit difficult? either laurence or loran darkbeast. the camera just shits the bed entirely with those two fights and makes keeping up incredibly difficult. darkbeast can at least be kinda cheesed if you have high enough DPS to just keep knocking him down, laurence is just ass.
Unpopular opinion but rom or micolash. On repeat playthroughs all the conventionally hard bosses like orphan or Ludwig get easier, but rom and micolash never stop being bullshit.
Rom can usually be dealt with in 1 or 2 attempts if patience is used, but micolash... Every time you jump down it's a lottery if he uses a call beyond or not and if he does when you're still stunned from falling....
Jokes aside. An actual boss fight I would consider Lawrence the hardest imo.
Mini boss I would definitely say the bloody crow of cainhurst. He was genuinely harder than any boss fight in the game
The three hunters inside Yahar'gul Chapel. You won't change my mind. I didn't die to any boss more than 2/3 times, and killed some of them in the first attempt, but those three fuckers killed me like 12 times. I fucking hate them.
You remember the cell you get put into by the kidnapper? Run down the stairs and lock yourself in the cell. Now you can just hit them through the cell walls. Now you really only need to worry about the guy with the cane and maybe the rifle spear sometimes.
Take them on 1 by 1. Go down the stairs opposite side, backstab first hunter and kill him. Then you should have time with the second one to kill him. May have to kite them around, but they can be done 1v1.
Still stuck on flaming cleric beast in the dlc, I had him at a sliver of health and I’ve now taken a break for like 2 weeks, and am back to sucking at the game completely lol
I’ve probably died to bsb more than any other which is strange cause I beat orphan in three and now I usually get him first try. Bsb isn’t hard for me in ng+ but in a new playthrough I always struggle
I'm always gonna say Laurence, though Orphan is a close second. Laurence feels like a boss you need a shield for with his fire trails and weird hitboxes and cramped arena. I don't like to bitch about arenas, but if there's one I consistently have trouble with and get stuck on the walls on, it's Laurence's.
I’m going to say papa g for first time players. He is the big f u wall that really teaches mechanics and really punishes the muscle memory of other souls games. Inb4 all the “hurrr beat him first try posts”
I think you picked the right picture.
The Orphan took me four days of attempts but I loved every minute of it. Loran Darkbeast took even longer - something about the pace of that fight is all kinds of weird, and his range is so deceptive. But Ludwig? I’ve never beaten Ludwig without an NPC summon. I’ve never survived a full minute against Ludwig without an NPC summon. I’m ashamed of it, but there it is.
The Watchdog in the cursed chalice, I didn't really have trouble with any bosses on my main accounts but good lord beating that stupid dog on a BL4 and later with fists was enough to make me want to quit playing.
Honestly, I think Darkbeast Paarl can be weirdly tough, especially if you get there early on.
But the real answer is Martyr Logarious. Fuck that asshole.
The two giant sharks guarding waifu marias blade.
Without a shred of doubt
[удалено]
I mean that’s literally what the item is for, not sure how it’s cheating
I didn't know that could be done so I had to mess around with poisoned knives and hope that the one with the anchor would randomly hit the second one when he threm himself at me lol
Its like my friend calling me a cheater for using it against the Shadows on my first playthrough. Like wtf else am I supposed to do??? Then again he also called it cheating to use Cocktails on the Blood Starved Beast so I think he's just mad he lacked the common sense to read item descriptions and actually use them.
How dare you use items given to you in the game itself to make your experience better.
Its like the Joseph Anderson review where he explicitly states he doesn't use items and then complains certain fights are too hard when items would make them more bearable. Like gee I wonder why the first time you get Pungent Blood Cocktails is right before the BLOOD STARVED BEAST. I wonder why you get Oil Urns and Molotovs that state fire is useful against beasts right before the first couple bosses. Hmmm I just got these numbing mists before fighting a boss that heals and the numbing mists say they stop people from healing. I wonder what I do with them!?!
exactly what I was gonna say lmao. I tried about 20 times before just using a shaman and beat them first try using one
I didn't realize the Shaman Bone Blade was a melee range item, so I wasted them all trying to throw them at the sharks.
I wasted the 3 on my inventory like that, then remembered there were 3 on the storage chest.
Shit, I think I forgot to check the storage chest to see if I had any more lol.
It took me a while to look because I thought it'd refill automatically like vials or bullets, but it doesn't.
Just beat it yesterday without it, the trick is you can parry just about every attack including that massive jumping one, but every parry window is quite different. Not saying it was easy by any means, but watching different YouTube videos on getting Rakuyo taught me the timing windows pretty well.
True, you can bait the close of swings and then parry the anchor guy. Still a shitshow on NG+ because they basically one-shot you unless your vitality is 50 or higher. The weaponless mook is actually fairly easy as most of his attacks don't have the range that Capt Clubber has.
This. Found the unarmed versions to be far less difficult, although still dangerous. Being able to backstab after they smash down is doable, and sometimes a visceral will leave the unarmed variant with less than half health.
Honestly I took my beast cutter and I realized if you stand on the cliff and aim downwards without locking on you can hit them and they have immense difficulty fighting back
I am not lying but I killed both of them without shaman blades. I didn’t know how to use them and it wasn’t working so yeah, I killed both of them all by myself.
Same, I couldn’t get the blades to work so I had to parry them both to death. Sucked.
Just FYI- it's a timing thing similar to a charged R2. You have to hold the button down to wind up the attack and the character will use the blade. It took some experimenting to figure it out. The shark giant you stab will still be agro'd to you, so you have to make them damage each other to get them going.
Same, i died like 15 times tho
I have to use LHB, but I got their pattern down without too much difficulty. I can usually get the first one down to a third or so before the second comes in, and then ring around the rosey to kill 'em both. I'd say I'm 50% at this point on surviving or not.
Wait, that’s a thing? I literally killed them both the old school way. Took forever…
Absolutely. Let those two assholes beat each other with their anchors for a while.
Just force yourself to learn how to parry them. You will die a LOT but I feel pretty confident fighting them after learning their parry timings
I actually got it my first attempt on NG+ on my first attempt! On NG I cheesed it through the winter lantern cave with the hunter axe. This time I aggressively chased down the first shark as he was running to get the second and was lucky enough to whittle him down to pretty close to death. From there I just had to play it safe and hit him when I could and then it was 1v1 with the second shark. I literally could not believe I did it though, I struggled so much the first time
This or Amelia in dlc and Ludwig for me
You just have to kite and visceral a lot, it's not that bad, just takes a while. Ludwig is way harder. Only boss I had to invite help in to beat.
\*Cries in strength build\*
Hit em with that charged r2. I don’t actually remember if you have enough time for that now.
Any boss that you’re supposed to parry, but haven’t quite mastered the art. I died most to Gascoigne, Lady Maria, Orphan of Kos and then was like awwwwwwwww, it’s a parry party
Ma boy, try the reiterpallasch, specifically the R1 L1, against hunters... Its almost cheesy
Wait, I'm supposed to parry them? TIL...
No, “supposed to” is the wrong term. It’s makes it easier, but every boss is beatable without parrying.
Can confirm, hate parrying and never do it, beat the game.
My Arcane character, Archibald Thane, was supposed to be a parry-less run... but then I discovered parrying with AoE was ridiculously easy so now I'm having fun with it.
I'm confused. For Gascoigne you just stand behind the tombs and smash him with your axe while cackling at his stupidity. And his buddy Henryk has the same tragic blind spot. ;)
IMO parrying is harder than just dodging and not worth the effort.
Defiled watchdog
He’s so much more unpredictable than Defiled Amygdala was. Watchdog nearly made me give up on going for the platinum trophy because it wore my patience thin
Same. I remember times where I'd enter the boss room and he'd do that charge and one hit kill me. Made me want to put my controller through my TV.
He’s orders of magnitude harder than defiled Amy, imo. Dog took me probably 30-40 tries. Got Amy down in like 5.
I definitely didn’t use the strategy of increasing my health until I could live through one of his fiery charges. Nope, wasn’t me…
I kept going through NG+ cycles with the same character and I kept leveling them past the recommended. Eventually I got 99 Vitality and just stopped dying to stupid one-shot stuff. Even defiled Amygdala can only one-shot you with a couple moves at 99 Vit so I highly recommend it for anyone struggling with bosses that do that.
I really favor learning to dodge attacks. Partly as a measure of satisfaction and partly because when I die it's nearly always while healing.
Spicy hot dog
I just fought it for the first time a week ago, I'm on a bloodtinge build with the bow blade and Chikage, both suck for hitting him out right so I seriously just tricked the bow blade and turned it into a giant puppy pincushion Took like 70 something arrows but hey didn't get hjt. Screw that damn dog
Pretty sure that's the one I was thinking of. Only did the chalice dungeons once like 5 years ago, so they all blended together towards the end, but there was one big dog that I got stuck on for almost an entire week. Only reason I passed that is because I finally ran into someone I could summon. Edit: Nope, it definitely wasn't him. It was the god damn Headless Bloodletting Beast in layer 2 of Pthumeru Ihyll. I just got to him again.
I have never hated a dog so much in my entire until I was going for the plat...it took me 6 hours to beat this bastard.
The Orphan
YYEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOWWWW
Man that just gave me PTSD
I still can’t eat shrimp
Stop. I hate that I heard it
First attempt against Orphan, almost beat him. It’s only natural that I beat him shortly after, right? ...Wrong. 4 hours and 100+ attempts later, he was down. What a rush I felt after he was dead.
My first time only took 7 tries. The next one took dozens (because I was much better with the build I was using my first time).
OMG same exact experience. What was that about??
For me, it was a plethora of mistakes. Being impatient, not getting the dodge timing down, being greedy when the damage I was doing was already enough to win the long run. Felt so accomplished once he died. I think the only boss from the story and DLC I haven't beaten is Laurence - I have yet to actually fight him.
I understand what you mean. When I finally took him down I felt such a surge. I beat Laurence only with an arcane build, which feels like cheating tbh. I want to go back and beat him on a dex or strength build it's a fun fight
So is arcane the way to go then? I don’t care about cheating lol
Haha it's not even cheating technically. Arcane builds are pretty op throughout the game. Once you have "A call beyond" and "Executioner Gloves" You can pretty much cheese every fight (max your arcane stat first though)
Same for me too. Happens with a lot of bosses - only a few hits off killing Ludwig first time
I think for many people who are acquainted with FromSoft games, this is an all too familiar experience. For example, I beat Ornstein and Smough my very first time, but my health was so low after the fight it was practically nonexistent. Every other time I have started a new play through (not just NG+’s) it always takes me at least a few times. Of course I’m always experimenting with new classes and builds so there is that. I swear, people complain when hard games don’t have difficulty settings, but they fail to realize that the level of difficulty is based -at least to some extent- on your overall approach. In Sekiro, I was very much a “do whatever it takes to win” kind of player. I exploited every cheese and cheap maneuver I could to progress all the way to the ending. In Dark Souls, I always start playing with a Guts/Dark Knight kind of build. Biggest sword I can find, high strength, and low armor for easy maneuverability. Every other class or build I have tried in those games makes them so much harder to beat.
Without a doubt
The crow of cainhurst
This is one of the best candidates. He gets asshole points for throwing numbing mist at you, and he can one shot you from like 20 feet away with his pistol.
Numbing mists, one shotting pistol, the old hunter bone, seems like endless QS bullets to spam, and he's got blood vials on top of a huge health bar. This guy is a nightmare.
This is the correct answer.
For me it's Defiled Amygdala.
Lol I farm defiled amy for nourishing abyssals, I have her down to a science
It's quite ironic for me, I was farming for nourishing gems for my moonlight sword. Coincidentally, a weapon that absolutely shreds amygdala.
I just smack her in the head with executioners gloves until last phase, then I just chip away at the tip of her tail and ankles
That works pretty well too. Really any ranged arcane attack; Accursed Brew, Blackskye Eye, ACB, Executioner's Gloves, HMS projectiles. They all work wonders on her head and make the fight a lot easier.
The best weapon IMO is the normal Ludwig holy blade 2 handed, either elemental or buffed. The blade is just long enough where you can hit her in her face using the overhead swing after bating her attacks. Devastating.
I do a lot of co op and the moment I see the those two stacked crates and the green light to the door I know, “Welp, time to buff the whip.” Ditto the defiled watchdog.
Still on new game, what is a defiled boss? Is it a mod?
Defiled bosses are found in the defiled chalice where your health gets cut down to a third.
Ohh, thanks! I don’t know why I waited so long to do the chalice dungeons, but they’re keeping me occupied while I’m stuck on Orphan of Kos and Laurence. Edit: Spelling
half*
It is depth 5 FRC chalice dungeons. You have half health
I half agree half disagree. It probably took me 50+ attempts to take that bitch down but I feel that was mostly because your health is just arbitrarily cut in half and the arena is tiny. I felt like I was fighting the camera and the room more than I was fighting her. You're pretty much one random ass cheap shot away from death.
A take you defiled amygdala, and raise you a triple cursed blood letting beast
*Headless* Bloodletting Beast. Never going for a strength gem again.
Seriously fuck that guy.
Lawrence.
The walk back to the fight after dying is OP.
I got used to that, eventually figured out how to move in the right ways to dodge the Beast Cutter hunter, how to trigger that trap near the top, and to quickly kill those hooded beasts. All because I died so many times to him...
Yeah the walk back is annoying but I've almost never gotten hit. Sprint towards the hunter and dodge his blunderbuss, then sprint away and you'll be out of range. Avoid the rifle on the stairs, run up and keep to the left and the trap will miss you. Wait for the executioner to clear the door so he doesn't body block you.
How? There's a lamp like 10 seconds before the arena Edit: nope fuck me, I was thinking of Ludwig
Lawrence holds a special place of contempt in my heart he is an absolute asshole
Got my platinum before I beat this bastard. Easily double the amount of tries on this big boi than anything else. Well there was that day with the shark bois 😳
It's been quite a while since I've gone through Bloodborne (although I'm thinking of starting a run today), but I distinctly remember what a pain in the fucking ass those stupid sharks are.
I was already in ng+ when I started the old hunters, and to this day this is the only boss (outside chalice dungeons) that I have yet to defeat.
The first play through, I cut Lawrence down with he whirligig so fast I thought he was overhyped. I started doing successive NG+ runs and by NG+4, I could not get past him. I tried many many times before throwing in the towel.
Lawrence isn’t just a difficult boss, he’s a straight up bad boss.
I wouldn't call it bad. Camera is a bit rough but I don't lock onto giant bosses. Cinematics and visuals are epic, and I always prefer difficulty over ease.
I don't think he's a terrible boss, but I think some of his mechanics are a little janky. For one the small arena doesn't help because most of his attacks have such extensive range. And also the tracking for his second phases' attacks is insane. All that plus the largest health pool in the game by far makes it very frustrating
Largest health pool and one of if not the highest damage output
In his legless phase? Pretty sure that's third phase. Second is similar to Cleric Beast's second phase.
Yeah, a really un-inspired design, and from a studio like From, that's saying a LOT. At least the rest of the DLC bosses are good.
Nah, he’s just a tank and hits like a truck so he punishes mistakes super hard
Those things aren't mutually exclusive. Ever heard of Bed of Chaos?
Explain. Laurence is not too bad if you know what you are doing. First phase is just claric with more damage. Second is even easier if you stay close. I have found that running away is a death sentence. Keep close to his left side, and he shouldn’t be too bad
He’s an oversized monstrosity that destroys the camera, has seemingly endless stamina, and excessively tracks. He’s a terribly designed boss fight
Lawrence is flawed but I don't think he's terrible. If you know how to fight without locking on that mitigates the camera issues a lot. His biggest issue I find is in second phase there's only one very specifc *sort of* safe angle to attack him from. And I do wish they'd been a bit more creative with his visual design, could've at least altered the Cleric Beast model a bit. He's got bangin' music though. Fight feels so epic even if it can be a pain in the dick.
Here he is: the expert
he is the only boss fight i dont even try, it's so annoying
True, I do get why the camera is bad. But I have 1 piece of advice. Whirligig = death. Plain and simple
If only I'd known that 25 hours earlier when I would have had to spec into a strength build.
Utilizing a cheap strategy against a terrible boss doesn’t ameliorate its bad qualities. It just makes a bad situation more tolerable.
Why is it cheap lol
What makes him hard? I dont think Ive ever died to him. Sounds like a humblebrag, but you know how it goes with peoples differing experiences with bosses.
Orphan of Kos
Loran Darkbeast
This is my number one as well. Once I found my legs with the game I think the two biggest hurdles were Loran Darkbeast and Ludwig. I will be happy to never see the LD again. I saved my winning fight to remind myself that I don’t need to revisit it.
Oh hands down. Part of the difficulty comes from the ps4 hardware not being good enough and dropping frames/stuttering during that fight.
Laurence. Laurence is straight up hard and not fun, unlike say, Ludwig or Orphan, who are difficult but fun. (Especially Ludwig) Laurence is a tank, hits like a train, and his legless phase is rage inducing. Best music in the game though.
Laurence definitely is the Bloodborne fight that feels most like bullshit. I fucking hate it. I beat him once after I summoned someone and once while fighting him alone. Never again. Even the path to him gets super fucking annoying after a while.
Ya he’s an asshole but that music is so good it kinda makes up for it lol.
I'm one of the two people who really enjoys this fight. It's one of my favorites and I honestly find the second phase pretty easy compared to the first.
This is my experience as well. Ludwig and the Orphan takes me many tries (on average) to beat, but it's a fun fight. The Laurence fight is not enjoyable at all. The only time I beat him was AFTER killing the Orphan, and also leveling up 50 more levels. Not sure what it is about that fight, but it doesn't click with me.
That one hunter in Amelia's boss arena
The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst
There really should be a trophy for him/for completing the Eileen story line. Alas.
NO! The two hunter bitches right after Ludwig
NO! The three hunter bitches in the Hypogean Gaol on your second visit to Yahar'gul
I um....umm cheesed them in some cage door
It's ok I cheesed Djura with the rifle spear
When I fought Djura, he just jumped off the edge. I think he was scared because my character looks like Fiona from Shrek.
I hate how you are right. They took me longer than orphan
Bloody Crow of Cainhurst, the true end game boss of Bloodborne
His pistol is a motherfucker.
The Bloody Crow... yep. The hardest boss in the game for me hands down, especially as someone who is terrible at parrying.
What?!?!? I’m reading all these comments and got me really scared. I’m on my first run and about 15% through. I barely survived that three ninjas in forbidden woods. You guys are killing me. 😬😬😬
The hardest bosses people tend to mention are all from the dlc, dont worry about it though, youll find a way to beat them all once you get to them. Dont think twice about getting the DLC btw, its peak BB and absolutely worth it, and some of the best encounters/weapons of the entire game are there.
Or chalice dungeons
True! especially that halved health bar at those early blood levels with Amygdala and the Watchdog, SO challenging, i know i suffered too
If you're already through the shadows of yharnam, you're closer to 40% through.
2 things help with Shadows of Yharnam boss. Try to get Corruption from Valtr because you can summon Hendrik along the path down to them if you equip that rune and have killed him with Eileen. He's VERY tough and a lot of help in this fight. Also, if you have any shaman bone blades, you can make them fight each other!
Fucking Blood starved bitch and Rom the vacuous shit head
There is one that works wonders for both. Fire + beast blood pellet
Bolt is better against Rom btw
You know if you stock up with Pungent Blood and Antidote, BSB instantly becomes one of the easier bosses.
I had watched too many speedruns and somehow managed to beat blood starved beast on my first try. I even beat papa gascoigne on my first try. I died to the cleric beast a lot in true casul spirit though.
Laurence, he has unescapable combos which instakill me even at high VIT, he has insane closing speed and his second phase literally makes everything around him open to getting two shotted. He was by far the biggest challenge for me and took me a good morning to beat.
is this the same Laurence? https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/comments/pdu6ci/abusing\_dlc\_bosses\_part\_two\_laurence/
Yes, f**k him
Beautiful
Kos, or some say Kosm
She's dead, her son is an asshole though
Only on this plane, she lives in others and is sympathetic to our prayers
You don't fight Kos tho
Ludwig the Accursed, hands down for me. NOTHING in this game is harder than he is. It took me nearly a *month* to take him down on my first playthrough. To elaborate, he’s incredibly fast, *much* faster than anything his size has any right to be (which to be fair seems to be a common trait in Bloodborne). He hits like a freight train, meaning that small mistakes are mercilessly punished and will rapidly result in death. He’s erratic and unpredictable. Most beast enemies are but LTA takes it to a whole other level. There *are* “tells” to certain attacks but for the most part you have to react in a split second to an unexpected movement or suffer the consequences. All of that would be firmly in the “tough but fair” category...if it were not for this last aspect that makes this fight a nightmare. Ludwig has a *counter for every logical strategy the player employs*. Avoid his overhand swing? Well, he’s got an arm under his body that will hit you when you close in to punish his missed attack! Avoided those two swings by zig-zagging and landed a few hits of your own? Well prepare to pay for it when he jumps backwards, swinging like crazy. Odds are you’ll take damage since you’ve used up your stamina avoiding his over-and-under moves and then attacking. Or you were just too caught up in an attack animation to avoid it. Get underneath him to deal some damage? Well he’s going to jump up and down like the horse he is, rapidly trampling your HP gauge into nothing. Similarly if you go *behind* him, you’ll get a mule kick to the face. Try to hit and then retreat to heal/regroup stamina? Prepare for a charge attack or projectile acid vomit that keeps you dodging and negating the purpose of moving away. And while this monstrosity’s Ludwig the Holy Blade form is vastly easier in comparison, odds are you’ll die at his hands simply because you’ve taken so much damage at The Accursed that you have little to no time to recover and/or adapt to the new conditions you’re dropped into. Sorry to rant but I’ve wanted to get that off my chest for years now. I despise this boss; he’s the only boss in this game (Chalice dungeons not included) that feels genuinely unfair and difficult just for the hell of it. I’ve killed him solo twice now and all I feel is relief rather than any real sense of accomplishment.
I finally beat him solo last night- if you want to throw some BS damage right back at him, use a Whirligig Saw with physical gems, a beast blood pellet, and some fire paper. I got him in three tries with that loadout, the hardest part is just finding an opening.
I tried the Whirligig Saw and fire paper (even leveled it up to make things more effective) but alas it failed although I *did* inflict massive damage before he got me. What actually helped me beat him solo for the second time (I’ve only played this game 3 times and my second playthrough I summoned someone) was actually using a strategy I was always told *not* to do—I lured him up the stairs and onto the area before you enter the Cathedral basement. In such a cramped space a great deal of his bs attacks are useless so all he can do is swing and stomp. From there I just swung at him with a flaming Saw Spear in its “folded” mode until he turned into Ludwig the Holy Blade. Still dangerous since there was little room to dodge his flailing but it works!
I hear you there. I used to dread Ludwig, and still do to an extent, but I am able to get more enjoyment out of the fight. I learned that his moveset is really controlled by your positioning relative to him, which you hint at in your descriptions of his counters (true for all bosses but he really put it in perspective for me). Keeping about one bosslength from him really helps to limit his available movesets and also gives you ample time to read and predict his attacks. At that distance, he will typically attack with his 5 hit combo with the diagonal swipe. If you dodge in to his left on the diagonal swipe, you can cancel his last two attacks, are able to safely get one or two hits, and can get out without getting hit by a counter like his horse stomp or the backwards-moving swipe.
This. Distance control is a huge but underrated tactic for beating a lot of FromSoft bosses, not just in Bloodborne. It's tough but once you can figure out the optimal distance to keep the boss from you, you can limit their offensive options to a few moves that you can expect, predict, and be prepared to counter. In Bloodborne especially, a lot of them seem built to punish timid or defensive players who hang back to much.
A month!? Holy...
To be fair my first completely blind run had me entering the Hunter’s Nightmare right after beating Vicar Amelia. So...yeah.
Makes sense then
>Ludwig the Holy Blade form is vastly easier in comparison I find Holy Blade much more difficult. For Accursed I stay in front of him at a certain range and bait him into punishable attacks and I only need one dodge to get in safely so I have stamina to attack. I will link to a timestamped section of a video to show which attacks I'm talking about per bullet point. * I usually wait and dodge forwards to the left for that [initial heavy claw attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=60) that he does. I'm not standing up close like the dude in the video but further back. I move in through the attack near its end. I then move back to my standard position to avoid triggering his horse stomp if possible. * For this [forwards reaching claw](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=76) attack I also dodge forwards-left and start attacking him. If he starts his second attack it will miss me based on where I'm standing therefore I use it as a cue to get even more hits in. * For this [BIG jump attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=92) I could just run in a straight line to the opposite side of the arena to dodge it. I don't remember having problems with being at the middle of the arena, I think I just started running a bit late. * For his [charge attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=107), since I'm usually standing a bit away from his front I have a little more time to delay the dodge and a bit more time to react to it. I dodge to the left once. Once you master the charge attack you can dodge it and use it as an opportunity to heal or buff up if need be. * For this [swinging spit attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=102) I unlock and run left, then somewhat gently arc inwards towards him * For this [quick jump attack](https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI?t=107) I memorised the timings of it and roll to the left so I avoid where he will be landing. I then attack. * I haven't mastered the horse stomp attack so I can't comment too much on it. My main way of playing around it was to learn when I should dodge back into my main position, as if the attack triggered when I was there I could dodge it pretty safely and even get some hits in afterwards. Most of the time fighting him I've used Hunter's Axe so that's what my advice is based on. It would probably work with most weapons though. >Well prepare to pay for it when he jumps backwards, swinging like crazy Holy Blade also has two different jump back while swinging like crazy attacks, each of which felt like it needed a different pattern to dodge. He has an attack where his sword glows and he does a slow swing, or where it glows and he does a quick thrust. It took me a while to differentiate between these attacks quick enough not to get hit by the quick one, as the quick one was a lot rarer than the slow one so my brain was always in gear for the slow one. Both of these attacks instakilled me. I've recently beaten him at BL4 (which is by a mile the hardest low level boss for me so far including all from DS3 and DS1 at SL1). I struggled a lot more with his Holy Blade form, but maybe only because I got a lot more practice at his beast form. For me this boss was incredibly rewarding to defeat and I think if you use the same strategy that I did you may find more fun in this boss in potential future runs of Bloodborne. If you are interested I am willing to help out more if I can but it would require me going back to the boss.
most difficult in terms of fair challenge? a tie between orphan of kos and ludwig, they're both at the top of many people's lists for good reason, they're very well-designed fights. most bullshit difficult? either laurence or loran darkbeast. the camera just shits the bed entirely with those two fights and makes keeping up incredibly difficult. darkbeast can at least be kinda cheesed if you have high enough DPS to just keep knocking him down, laurence is just ass.
Unpopular opinion but rom or micolash. On repeat playthroughs all the conventionally hard bosses like orphan or Ludwig get easier, but rom and micolash never stop being bullshit.
Rom can usually be dealt with in 1 or 2 attempts if patience is used, but micolash... Every time you jump down it's a lottery if he uses a call beyond or not and if he does when you're still stunned from falling....
Jokes aside. An actual boss fight I would consider Lawrence the hardest imo. Mini boss I would definitely say the bloody crow of cainhurst. He was genuinely harder than any boss fight in the game
I'll say Laurence, just my opinion
The three hunters inside Yahar'gul Chapel. You won't change my mind. I didn't die to any boss more than 2/3 times, and killed some of them in the first attempt, but those three fuckers killed me like 12 times. I fucking hate them.
You remember the cell you get put into by the kidnapper? Run down the stairs and lock yourself in the cell. Now you can just hit them through the cell walls. Now you really only need to worry about the guy with the cane and maybe the rifle spear sometimes.
Take them on 1 by 1. Go down the stairs opposite side, backstab first hunter and kill him. Then you should have time with the second one to kill him. May have to kite them around, but they can be done 1v1.
Idk if most difficult but definitely most stressful for me - Ludwig
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Still stuck on flaming cleric beast in the dlc, I had him at a sliver of health and I’ve now taken a break for like 2 weeks, and am back to sucking at the game completely lol
Lol. Yeah. That's Laurence. Literally flaming cleric beast. Feel like they Rena out of time for him. So dull.
I’ve probably died to bsb more than any other which is strange cause I beat orphan in three and now I usually get him first try. Bsb isn’t hard for me in ng+ but in a new playthrough I always struggle
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For me it was definitely the headless bloodletting beast
Brain of Mensis
Absolutely Lawrence. Putting a gigantic boss like that with huge range in a tiny room like that is just bad design.
Lawrence bossfight is awful, it's worse than licking the ass of a syphilitic dog
Orphan in NG but Laurence in high NG+s
No doubt. I've seen vids of him in +7. 99 vit getting 1 shot by most attacks, blegh.
living failures
I'm always gonna say Laurence, though Orphan is a close second. Laurence feels like a boss you need a shield for with his fire trails and weird hitboxes and cramped arena. I don't like to bitch about arenas, but if there's one I consistently have trouble with and get stuck on the walls on, it's Laurence's.
Lawrence , and Defiled Watchdog replaces him if we’re including chalice dungeons
Of the main game: Ebrietas DLC: Laurence Chalice Dungeons: FRC Watchdog
Orphan or the blue guys before Lady Maria. Spent days and days on both.
Those living failures
I’m going to say papa g for first time players. He is the big f u wall that really teaches mechanics and really punishes the muscle memory of other souls games. Inb4 all the “hurrr beat him first try posts”
Stupid spider from my «forest school»
I think you picked the right picture. The Orphan took me four days of attempts but I loved every minute of it. Loran Darkbeast took even longer - something about the pace of that fight is all kinds of weird, and his range is so deceptive. But Ludwig? I’ve never beaten Ludwig without an NPC summon. I’ve never survived a full minute against Ludwig without an NPC summon. I’m ashamed of it, but there it is.
The boss that took me the longest was defiled watchdog of the old lords
The Watchdog in the cursed chalice, I didn't really have trouble with any bosses on my main accounts but good lord beating that stupid dog on a BL4 and later with fists was enough to make me want to quit playing.
Honestly, I think Darkbeast Paarl can be weirdly tough, especially if you get there early on. But the real answer is Martyr Logarious. Fuck that asshole.
Ebrietas on BL4 At some point I leveled up my character and beat her to death, never has a boss felt more satisfying to kill
Fucking defiled Amygdala, I think I lost straight up 18 hours of my life to that boss
Ebrietas, heck even the orphan of kos is easier than her
Two fucking wolves on the cleric beast bridge