So you made it through the top layer of Pthumeru. Nice one. You’re doing good. This dungeon is on par with what you just went through. It’s tough, but doable. I can’t say the same for the next one. But we’ll get there.
Beast-Possessed Soul
Preparation
So, in these dungeons, bosses and mini-bosses get recycled. With extra hit points they are immeasurably tougher, but it does mean you can go practice. So, if you haven’t already, go and beat up the Beast-Possessed Soul that’s in the bottom of the Healing Workshop (the one you have to drop down through). He’s facing the door when you first drop down, but let him come at you so you can see what moves he has.
Other than that, two-hand a big axe or sword, get some paper to add spice to your swings, and get ready to get in close.
Tactics
I first-tried this boss, and it was messy, but a few things were very quickly clear. Firstly, his attacks can be interrupted. It’s not safe to keep swinging when he’s stunned, because he quickly recovers, but it does mean you can be bold with your attacks. If he takes a chunk out of you when you’re swinging, he’ll be knocked back and you can get away. On the other hand, if you focus on getting away he’ll pursue with his long combos.
His use of fire gives you a lot of free space. It’s relatively easy to dodge the fireballs and get a swing in, but if you get hit, there’s a pause before he attacks again.
The main assist was the pillars. With very little effort, you can put a pillar between you, and a let him waste melee and fire attacks into the brickwork. I didn’t get it right a lot of the time, but a well placed thrust attack can catch him out as he rounds the pillar. You can also swing at the pillar, and catch him whilst he’s rounding it.
As with all my guidance, it’s not clean, but it works, and gets the fight over quickly. It’s just better with this boss to go in swinging and knock him about, then to be on the backfoot and wait for an opening.
Watch Out For
The grab is the one painful attack. With his melee attacks you can be bopped a few times and still spam-dodge to safety. But the grab will bind you and chew off your health. So be offensive with the Blood-Possessed Soul, but never let health stay below 3/4. Always try and top off when he decides to use ranged attacks or gets pillar-stuck.
If your max health is high enough, the biting won’t end you. The monster takes a moment to enjoy to chunk he took out of you, so healing is ‘easy’. And if his health is low, you might just want to finish him off before he finishes celebrating.
In Other Words
- Get him wrapped around a pillar.
- Swing and stagger is better than back-footing.
- Top off your health in case of grab.
Keeper of the Old Lords
Preparation
So much of Bloodborne and all Fromsoft games are about fighting to learn how to beat the boss several tries later. You might get this guy after only a few goes, but there’s one specific range and timing to learn here that made this fight less than a minute long.
Tactics
At a certain range, this dangerous fencer uses a double fire wave. It at first looks alarming, until you realise that there’s a point where you can move through the second wave of fire without harm. If you can get the timing (shown in the video) you can sprint forward and swing for the Keeper.
If you go early, you get slightly hurt by the fire but you are safely outside of his strikes. If you go a touch late, you’ll swing at each other at the same time, and you’ll likely stagger him so you can get away and heal.
Once you’ve practiced this, it’s a very straightforward method. Wait for flames, sprint, swing, back up. You might get brave and swing multiple times, and he may stagger, but always have some stamina to back away quick.
Watch Out For
There’s no attack that I can point to that’s the one you really need to avoid. Just be aware that melee and fire attacks happen at any range, but getting away from him is always priority, so you can continue the pattern above.
In Other Words
- Wait for the two-fire-wave attack.
- Run under wave two and swing.
- Get away.
- Repeat.
Pthumerian Descendant
Preparation
Like the third boss in the last dungeon, the difficulty spikes. The tempo does not let up, and the Descendant has some cheeky attacks.
Unlike the big fiery doggy, I can’t say for certain if this boss is better or worse by bringing in a companion. The Watcher burns them out too fast and jumps around too much to tag team. Here, they did seem to help distract, but the extra health is always an issue. I beat him with a guest, so that’s the way I’d recommend.
Tactics
The basic tactic here is to attack after the sickle swings. It’s hard to judge whether one or two swings are incoming, but this is another boss that staggers, so it’s okay if you mistime after the first swing.
A dodge back from the Descendant does not mean you are safe. They like to throw their weapon. So let them swing, attack, dodge back, but be ready to be dodge sideways too.
When the health drops enough, the Descendant will split the sickle and the speed increases. That act takes an age, and comes with no big, power up blast, so that time is free time for you to go stab-happy. After this, things get chaotic.
Watch Out For
The second half is a lot easier if you went wild on the Descendant as they split the sickle. Best case is you were right there when it started and carved off a good chunk of health. You don’t want this phase to last long.
The same tactic still applies – let them swing and counter – but the speed and combos are ramped up. So, my best (but unpleasant advise) is be prepared to swing into where you think the attacks will end, staggering them, expecting to get hurt and then getting away to heal. Get right away from them and get ready to go back in only when you’ve fully healed.
It’s unpleasant, but it’s better than trying to dance around a flurry of blows for one safe strike. If you brought in support, and they are still here, their distraction is crucial here.
If you were cautious and timing your dodges in the first half, you should have spare healing. In other words, I won this fight by making sure the second half of this fight started with a short health bar, then I hopped in and out of the meat grinder. It won’t work most of the time, but it worked a few goes in.
In Other Words
- First half – dodge, hit once, back up.
- Beat them up as they start phase 2.
- Swing through attacks, run and fully heal, go back in.
If you’re new here and reading this thinking “wait, that’s the guide??”, then welcome. We don’t promise sophistication here. We get the job done the hard way, because a ‘skill issue’ doesn’t mean you can’t win. The fight with Pthumerian Descendant can probably be handled with style, but I have none… so I walked through the spinning blades with my sword out and eventually the boss stopped moving.
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Gamer Peak 