Bloodborne: The Old Hunters Bosses Guide

Bosses in Bloodborne are tricky and require a little something extra if you wish to kill them quickly, as usually it takes 10 to 15 tries before you manage to learn all their moves. This guide will give you a few very important hints on how to approach all five bosses in The Old Hunters expansion, saving your time.

Each of the five bosses requires a different approach, as they’re all quite diverse. The final bossfight is especially difficult and is exactly what you would expect from the very last Bloodborne boss, as The Old Hunters expansion is the only DLC planned by the developers.

Be sure to enter the new content at level 65 with enough Strength and Skill points. If you’re playing on new game plus, then you need to be at least level 115, otherwise you need to go back to the main game and gather some more blood echoes. Additionally, in order to prepare yourself for the battles with the gruesome beasts, gather as many new weapons as you can by using our weapons guide for the DLC.

Ludwig, The Accursed

Ludwig is the first boss in The Old Hunters DLC. He was the first hunter of the Healing Church and holds a special weapon you can obtain after killing him – Holy Moonlight Sword. Ludwig is quite menacing, so be very careful when fighting him. Also, it is recommended that you summon Old Hunter Henriett in the Hunter’s Nightmare who can distract Ludwig for some time.

Ludwig’s bossfight consists of two phases:

Phase 1.

• He will use his right hand sweep against you, so stay to his left and dodge underneath him.
• Ludwig will try to jump on you, so as soon as he gets up in the air – run away in the opposite direction.
• Ludwig is a beast, it means that saw weapon, such as Whirligig Saw, with fire applied to it will be extremely effective against him.

Phase 2.

• As you drop his life below 50%, he will start using his Holy Blade.
• The sword sends waves of energy that hurt really bad, so dodge them as well as you can.
• It also emits a massive charge of circular energy when he sticks his sword in the ground, so don’t stay too close to him.
• Run away as soon as he raises the blade and use an opportunity for a quick return to backstab him a few times, after the energy blast is gone.

Laurence, The First Vicar

You can fight Laurence immediately after you beat Ludwig and find his skull on the lower altar of the Research Hall elevator. Take his skull, then bring it to the Nightmare Cathedral and Laurence will wake up to fight you. Laurence deals a lot of fire damage, but because he is a beast your Whirligig Saw should be just as effective as it has been against Ludwig.

Laurence’s bossfight consists of two phases:

Phase 1.

• His left hand is his main weapon here, so it is wise to stay to his right side and dodge the sweeps by rolling beneath him.
• If you stay too close to him, he will smash his left hand against the ground creating a blast of fire. Thus, if you see him raising his hand – run away!

Phase 2.

• When you deal enough damage and put him below 50% of health, Laurence will enter the 2nd phase.
• He starts spitting lava, which covers a pretty large area. This, unfortunately, doesn’t allow you to get too close to him.
• When the lava disappears you should still be very careful when trying to approach him, as he does a massive left-hand sweep that can instantly kill you.

Living Failures

This is not a typical bossfight consisting of one on one battle, here you fight against a number of spawning creatures – the Living Failures. They reside in the Lumenwood Garden located between the Research Hall and the Astral Clocktower.

Living Failures’ bossfight consists of two phases:

Phase 1.

• At first, the creatures will appear one by one and it won’t be too hard to deal with them, as they’re pretty slow.
• Focus on each creature until you kill all of them.
• Sometimes they will throw magic projectiles at you, so just avoid them as well as you can.

Phase 2.

• As they spawn in more numbers they will create a starry abyss, which will sporadically shoot flying projectiles at you.
• Additionally, you will have to deal with more than one creature at a time.
• The second phase can be really hard, as you need to dodge a lot and at the same time kill the creatures, so use your stamina well.

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower

After defeating the Living Failures, you will receive the key to the Astral Clocktower. Inside the tower you will meet Lady Maria, one of the main students of Gherman, The First Hunter. Lady Maria is a very fast and agile enemy, especially fierce in the second and third phases of the fight.

Lady Maria’s bossfight consists of three phases:

Phase 1.

• She wields two swords, a longer one in her right hand, and a short one in her left hand.
• She can move extremely fast, to the point that she becomes invisible.
• Her long and short swords transform into one double-sword, which she will use for some devastating combos.
• She also does a fast charge with the sword and this is a perfect opportunity for staggering her.

Phase 2.

• Now, Lady Maria starts using blood to increase her damage by injuring herself.
• Both of her swords also get larger and the charges become harder and faster, as well.

Phase 3.

• As she goes below 30% of her health, Lady Maria enters the third phase.
• She goes up in the air and by spinning around she emits splashes of blood that hurt a lot.
• There is a great opportunity for you to deal a lot of damage, while she prepares for the attack.

Orphan of Kos

This is the final bossfight in The Old Hunters DLC. As you clear the Fishing Hamlet area you will reach the ocean shore with a strange being lying on the surface. The Orphan of Kos emerges from this being carrying a huge piece of meat in its hands. Prepare for the wildest boss battle in Bloodborne.

Orphan of Kos’ bossfight consists of two phases:

Phase 1.

• The Orphan holds a large piece of red meat in his hands and uses it as a hammer.
• He will also tear off smaller pieces of meat that explode and throw them at you, so avoid them well, as they can deal a lot of damage.
• He is already extremely aggressive and unrelenting in the first phase, and gets even crazier in the second one.

Phase 2.

• He grows some sort of wings, which let him jump even higher and throw multiple explosive pieces of meat at the same time.
• He also screams and emits bursts of electricity all around, so when you see him raising his head – run away.
• As he transitions into phase two, you have a great opportunity to do one or two strong charges with your weapon of choice.

All other bosses are a walk in the park in comparison to the Orphan of Kos. After you finish him, slaughter The Nightmare, the strange creature on the shore the Orphan was born from – as a result, you will receive the Kos Parasite, a weapon of sorts. When you equip the Parasite, your hands will transform into a pair of tentacles. It’s definitely a strange way to finish the game, but From Software always chooses unpredictable conclusions for their stories.

Who are your favorite bosses in The Old Hunters? What tactics did you use to kill them? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.