Bloodborne - Byrgenwerth: Defeat Rom, the Vacuous Spider

Head down the hill to engage another Tree Mutant, then continue down the path to the left. Make sure not to let the Tree Mutants jump on you more than once in a fight or you will become frenzied and almost certainly die. It's best to let them jump toward you first (dodge this), then when they land, attack immediately. With a faster weapon you can continuously attack them without fear of interruption. If you have a slower weapon, make sure you're far enough away to avoid getting interrupted.

In the open area ahead there's a Tree Mutant to the far left and another one patrolling back and forth up the stairs to the right. Continue up the stairs, then straight ahead up the next small flight of stairs. Sneak up behind the Infected in the area above and hit him with a critical strike (visceral attack). Search the corpse by the wall to find an Arcane Lake rune (seven percent arcane damage reduction), then head back down the stairs and into the lower area to the left.

Continue down the next flight of stairs straight ahead and slowly move to the right. As you approach the item on the left wall two Tree Mutants drop down from above. Back away if you need more room to work with. It's difficult to separate them, but wait for at least one of them to jump before attacking.

Once both enemies are down, search the corpse on the railing to the left to find a Madman's Knowledge. Straight ahead is a Giant Insect Mutant. These are formidable enemies. From a distance they shoot two fireballs that inflict significant damage (at least 50 percent health). At close range they have multiple slashing and grab attacks. To effectively fight them, you want to get close and stay behind them by their tails. They'll continue to circle around trying to see you, but won't attack unless you get around to their sides or in front of them. Attacking from behind is relatively safe, but stunning this enemy is difficult so you'll have to use normal attacks.

There's another corpse opposite the stairs just ahead (to the left). Search it to find a Great One's Wisdom (gain Insight), then head to the far end to find another Tree Mutant and a corpse holding five Sedatives (cures frenzy).

Turn around and head into the area to the left. Access the lever in front of the gate ahead to gain access to the shortcut, then head through the doorway to the right. There's a Hunter patrolling the stairs here. When she sees you, head down to the bottom floor where you have plenty of room to fight. Alternately if you can squeeze her into one of the narrow areas of the top floor, you can keep her locked in by attacking until you're almost out of stamina, dodging away while she counterattacks, then attacking again before she can move out of the confined area.

This hunter uses a tentacle arm, Threaded Cane weapon and a mist spray that briefly stuns you and inflicts a small amount of damage. Her main attack is a magic blast that send rays of light towards you. Wait until the beams start to move towards you, then dodge multiple times to escape. If you dodge too soon they will still track your character. If she attacks with a three-hit sword combo, wait until the final attack before you counterattack to avoid getting interrupted.

Kill her and then look in the corner near the entrance to find a chest. Open the chest to obtain a Pearl Slug (Holy Chalice ritual item). Go to the opposite side and open the door there to access the shortcut, then head upstairs and look to the right to find another chest that holds a Student Uniform (chest attire) and Student Trousers (leg attire). There's also a note on the couch nearby.

Head to the far side of the room to find another note on the bookshelf. Circle around to the far side and climb up the ladder. Grab the item to the left to obtain a Lunarium Key (key item), then head up the next flight of stairs. Another Tree Mutant waits at the top. Kill it, then open the chest to obtain an Empty Phantasm Shell (adds arcane power to weapons).

The Lunarium Key allows you to open the door on the second floor. Head back down and open the door on the far side. Talk to the person in the chair and they point toward the ledge at the end of the balcony. Jump off the ledge to end up on Moonside Lake for a boss battle against Rom, the Vacuous Spider.

Moonside Lake Boss Battle: Rom, the Vacuous Spider

Reward: Kin Coldblood (12)

This can be one of the most challenging bosses in the game if you try to make it more complex than it really is. Rom, the Vacuous Spider sits just ahead in a dormant position. When you attack it, a large group of spiders spawn and serve as Rom's bodyguards. The spiders are overly difficult to kill, but killing them doesn't do much for you. Yes, it's easier to reach Rom, but if you ignore the spiders it's just as easy to reach the boss.

The spiders have a close range multi-hit attack with their front legs, a dive bomb attack that inflicts a lot of damage, a more basic jumping attack that hurts less and a projectile spit attack. The only attack you should be concerned with is the dive bomb attack because it inflicts so much damage.

Your ideal strategy should be to race past the spiders and attack Rom. When you get close enough do not lock-on to Rom. Instead, move around to its side and attack where it doesn't have armor protecting it. Attacks to the side or back inflict far more damage than attacking Rom's head.

The idea is to run (hold O) straight through the spider bodyguards and directly to Rom's side, then attack as much as you can before the spiders turn on you. Sometimes you'll only be able to get two swings in before needing to dodge repeatedly until you reach a safe distance. Other times you'll be able to get in a lot more attacks. The trick is to watch where the spiders are and then determine how much time you have to attack before they can close in on you.

After you've inflicted a moderate amount of damage, a white light engulfs Rom and it disappears. If you can attack Rom during this time it takes a lot of damage, so try to stay close when you see this happen. As soon as Rom has completely disappeared get clear of the spiders and quickly look around to see where Rom has reappeared.

Every time Rom disappears, another group of spiders spawns. In addition, after the first disappearance Rom starts attacking you. If Rom rolls over onto its back, get away from it because magical boulders fly up from the area surrounding Rom and shoot into the sky. If you're hit by these you will take damage.

If Rom points its head toward the sky, the boulders it just summoned are about to rain down on you. The best way to dodge these is to walk away from Rom and dodge repeatedly in the direction opposite Rom until the bombardment ceases. You can dodge in any direction, but the safest direction is to dodge away from Rom. He may perform this attack multiple times in a row, but try to run toward him as much as you can between attacks to keep yourself close enough to move in for an attack after the bombardment.

Rom also becomes engulfed in blue light. When you see this move away as quickly as possible to avoid the small area attack that follows. If you're too close and get hit by the attack you will take considerable damage, so run away as soon as you see the blue light.

At this point, when you get close to Rom it goes into a frenzy and swings its body about. This will also hurt you. Move in close enough to start the frenzy, then quickly back away but don't go too far. As soon as the frenzy comes to an end Rom is vulnerable. It won't try again for another few seconds, long enough for you to close in for several attacks depending on the proximity of the spider bodyguards.

There are times when you may only be able to run in, hit Rom's side one time and have to run right back out. That's OK. As long as you inflicted damage you're doing fine. This isn't about killing Rom as quickly as possible. This is about staying alive long enough to kill Rom. Once Rom goes, so do the spiders, but Rom won't heal itself at all during the battle so any damage you can inflict is good.

Once Rom is defeated, approach the woman in the white dress to watch a cut-scene. You're then notified that the ritual secret is broken and you should seek the nightmare newborn. You appear near the Unseen Village. Head toward the entrance (opposite the stairs) and quickly move through the doorway. If you're not fast, the portal will take you elsewhere. Go down the stairs ahead to enter Yahar'gul, Unseen Village.

Yahar'gul, Unseen Village

Kill the two Henchmen ahead then go down the first set of stairs and immediately look behind you to the right to see a corpse holding a Frenzied Coldblood (8). Continue down the stairs and activate the Yahar'gul, Unseen Village lamp at the bottom.

If you're ready to continue the journey, be sure to visit the best Bloodborne walkthrough and boss guide on the Internet. Of course, if you're looking to push forward and take on The One Reborn and Darkbeast Paarl right away, you jump to the next part of our walkthough.