Bloodborne bosses were never easy and that remains true in The Old Hunters. You’ll have to be quick on your feet and learn your enemy’s pattern really fast if you want to emerge victorious. This is critical in the boss fight against the Living Failures.
These individuals are similar to the Celestial Emissary boss fight with the main difference of each monster being equally powerful. You’ll start out against only two of these tall, deformed beings, but as the fight goes on more will appear. There is no cutscene preceding the battle either, so you get little warning. Once you open the double doors at the top of the Research Hall, you’ll begin the fight.
To prepare yourself, you’ll want to increase your Arcane Damage Resistance and Physical Resistance. The Living Failures cast many arcane spells, ranging from a simple straight forward blast to a full-on meteor assault. Their physical attacks are nothing to scoff at, either, especially when facing two or more at once. Fire seems to do a moderate increase in damage so bring some Fire Paper if you’ve got it, but don’t stress if you don’t. Use Gems to up your physical attack and you should be able to dish out plenty of damage.
Once you’re prepped, it’s time to fight. The strategy is pretty simple since this is the most straight forward fight of the DLC. The only thing you need to remember at all times is to keep dodging, even if you don’t see anything on screen.
Attack one of the Living Failures, but always make sure to leave a bit of stamina to roll out of the way of a swipe or an errant Arcane spell. The white orbs are easy to dodge, since they only go straight but beware since they have a large blast radius. There are homing bolts, as well. These are also easy to dodge, just keep to the side and you’ll be able to survive the rain of blue blasts.
The one attack that you really need to look out for is when all of the enemies raise their hands into the air and the sky goes dark. This doesn’t start happening until about halfway through the fight, but it can quickly end you. What follows is an Arcane meteor storm that deals massive damage. There are about five volleys, so keep it moving until the sky returns back to normal.
When that’s over, go back to the previous strategy of attacking then rolling around. At around 20% health, no more new enemies will spawn, making the encounter much more manageable. Continue on and you’ll emerge victorious.
There you have it, another boss down. Don’t celebrate too soon, though. There is another boss nearby and it is going to prove to be one of the most difficult ones in the entire game.
So, how did you fair against these weirdos? Was it easy or did the number overwhelm you at first? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.