Bloodborne is a game full of tough bosses, and you might be wondering just what order you’re supposed to take them on in. This guide will break down the ideal boss order for Bloodborne, pointing out where and when to take on the game’s various challenges.
There are a few different ways we can do this list, as it’s not mandatory to beat every boss in Bloodborne to finish the game, though doing so often nets you some pretty good rewards. As such, we highly recommend that you beat as many bosses as possible in your playthrough. As such, I’m going to give you the non-optional and complete orders before breaking the logic a bit more later in the article.
In total, there are 17 regular bosses and five DLC bosses via The Old Hunters. This guide does not include the Chalice Dungeon bosses. Theoretically, you can start the DLC at any point after beating Vicar Amelia. However, most players, myself included, do recommend waiting until closer to the end of the game to actually do it. Some people recommend playing the DLC before fighting Mergo’s Wet Nurse, and others recommend after, but that can affect some dialogue.
Here’s the order you’ll want to do for the non-optional bosses in Bloodborne.
Here’s the order you’ll want to do all the bosses in Bloodborne.
Area: Central Yharnam
The Cleric Beast is one of the first bosses you’ll face in Bloodborne, and is located in the Central Yharnam area. This boss is fast, aggressive, and can deal a lot of damage if you’re not careful. Try to stay behind it and attack its hind legs to trip it up. Once it’s down, go for its head.
Area: Central Yharnam
Father Gascoigne is a crazed hunter. He’s not too difficult once you get the hang of things, but he’s definitely one of the first major challenges you’ll face in the game. He moves quickly and uses his gun often. The best way to get through him is to really get the parry timing down, since it’ll help you shred him quickly.
Area: Old Yharnam
The Blood-Starved Beast is located in Old Yharnam’s Church of the Good Chalice. This fight can be tough, as the beast hits hard and has a lot of health. However, if you keep your distance and use fire/explosive weapons, you should be able to take it down relatively easily.
Area: Cathedral Ward
A massive animal-like creature, Vicar Amelia has a melee attack style and a self-healing power. When using the latter, she is rendered immobile, giving you the perfect chance to strike. Watch out for her glowing body when self-healing before you move in for the kill.
Area: Hemwick Charnel Lane
When you stumble upon the Witch of Hemwick, you should be prepared to fight her henchmen as well. She will be invisible at a distance, but you can see her when you go nearer. Her favorite spots are in the corners of the room, so plan your strategy around that. When you finally see her, be sure to use your firearm.
Area: Forbidden Woods
Shadow of Yharnam is a hunched-over creature wielding a large club. This boss is easy to beat if you have a good strategy. First, wait for the boss to swing its weapon and then dodge out of the way. When it does this, it will leave itself open for an attack. Second, use your gun to shoot at the beast’s head. Be sure to dodge its attacks when it tries to headbutt you. Third, use your knife to slash at the beast’s legs. This will cause it to stumble and fall, giving you an opportunity to attack its weak spot — its underbelly.
Area: Moonside Lake
This boss is located in the Moonside Lake at Byrgenwerth. To defeat Rom, you need to be careful of his poisonous attacks and his powerful physical attacks. He will also summon spiders to help him in battle. When he summons these spiders, try to kill them as quickly as possible and hit Rom for as much as you can before he moves.
Please note that beating Rom will change some things in the game world, resulting in certain things getting missed if you haven’t already done them, so keep that in mind!
Area: Hypogean Gaol
The Darkbeast Paarl lives in Yahar’gul, the Unseen Village, specifically in The Graveyard of the Darkbeast. It’s a large, hulking brute of a creature that’s part of the reason the village is so named. In constructing the best boss fight order forBloodborne, it’s recommended you take this beast on after defeating Rom, the Vacuous Spider.
Area: Yahar’gul Unseen Village
The One Reborn is also found at the Yahar’gul Unseen Village. He sends physical and magical attacks your way, so be sure to keep your distance and roll out of the way when you see him raise his arms. When he’s down on the ground, that’s your chance to run in and get a few quick hits in. He will also summon smaller enemies throughout the fight, so take them out first before focusing on The One Reborn himself.
Area: Forsaken Castle Cainhurst
Martyr Logarius is one of the tougher bosses in Bloodborne, and there’s a real chance you might struggle with him. He’s able to deal Arcane damage, and he’s not at all conservative about absolutely wrecking you. A good strategy is to try and parry Logarius, as that’s going to let you do a lot of damage to him. The timing will take a bit to get down, though.
Area: Nightmare Frontier
Amygdala is a giant mass of writhing tentacles with a single eye. This behemoth is one of the most difficult bosses in the game, due to her large size and long reach. She also has a number of different attacks that can quickly deplete your health. This is certainly one of the more harrowing encounters in your quest to fight every boss in Bloodborne in the best order.
Area: Upper Cathedral Ward
The Celestial Emissary moves really fast and swing their arms to damage you. Try rolling towards their legs to avoid their attacks and then retaliate. Even when they’re on the ground, the Celestial Emissary is still quite dangerous as they can grab you with their long arms and pull you in for a damaging attack. Be sure to stay on your toes when fighting these creatures.
Area: Nightmare of Mensis
Micolash is a non-optional boss in Bloodborne that can sometimes be difficult if you don’t really get his shtick. You’ll have to chase Micolash around his arena and deal with him both hiding in magical fog and summoning underlings. After a run or two, you’ll get the order of operations down pretty easily. Once you finally corner Micolash, watch out for his attacks, which can be super potent, and proceed to beat him up. Alternatively, a common strategy for taking him down is just to spam poison knives
Although I’ve broken out the different bosses in Bloodborne up until this point, there’s really no need to do that with the Old Hunters bosses, as the order you face them in is pretty linear. After beating Ludwig, take Laurence’s Skull back to where you got the Eye Pendant to fight Laurence, who is the only optional boss in the area. From there, take on Living Failures, Lady Maria, and the Orphan of Kos. All of them are tough, so get ready to rumble.
Area: Altar of Despair
Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos has tentacles that cause damage, and she also uses magical attacks. You want to watch out whenever she launches her head on the ground since it can deal huge damage.
Area: Nightmare of Mensis
The battle against Mergo’s Wet Nurse can be pretty tough, but it’s actually easier than some of the fights before her, at least in my opinion. She’ll attempt to attack you with tentacles and also has a fast-moving water projectile. Eventually, she’ll use fog to obscure your vision. When that happens, just focus on avoiding damage.
As a note, after you beat Mergo, you’ll want to do whatever else you need to in Bloodborne, as you’re very near to the end of the game. If you haven’t done the DLC bosses that we mentioned earlier, do them now.
Area: Hunter’s Dream
Gehrman is the last non-optional boss in Bloodborne, as once you beat him, it’s possible to roll credits on the game. He uses a long scythe, as well as different firearms. He can be difficult, but if you’re good enough at parrying, you shouldn’t have too much trouble against him once you get the timings down.
Area: Hunter’s Dream
The true final boss of Bloodborne, you’ve got to get three of the four One Third of Umbilical Cords and use them before fighting gehrman. You can get them from Mergo’s Wet Nurse, exploring the Abandoned Workship, from the Arianna questline, or grabbing one from Iosefka if you wait until after beating Rom. From there, refuse Gehrman’s offer and defeat him.
The Moon Presence uses her tails and claws to attack. She’s also able to use orbs of darkness. She’s actually not as hard as Gehrman, at least by my estimation, so as long as you’re being cautious and using what you’ve learned throughout the game, you shouldn’t have much trouble.
And that’s the best Bloodborne boss order!
For more news on Bloodborne, check out our Bloodborne PSX, a brutal fan-made PS1 demake. For cool FromSoftware stuff in general, check out Armored Core VI.
Related: How to Access the Hunter’s Nightmare for Bloodborne DLC on Attack of the Fanboy
Update: This article was updated on 2/3/2025 by Escapist Editorial to include more information about the various bosses, provide a high-level summary of the boss order, and to include the bosses from the Old Hunters DLC.
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