The Cleric Beast is probably the first boss you’ll face in Bloodborne. Due to the way leveling works in the game, you’ll probably not have leveled up any stats when you face this thing for the first time. Also, it’s huge. Far bigger than anything you’ll face before it, the Cleric Beast is a terrifying first boss.

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But, don’t worry, it really isn’t as hard to beat as it may first seem. It’s here to teach you about some of the more hideous monstrosities you’ll be facing as you cleave your way through Yharnam. So pay attention, good hunter, and you just might survive the night.

Cleric Beast

Cleric Beast offers a relatively simple fight. The arena is a bridge, there are no phases, just hunter versus beast. Cleric Beast’s attacks are wide, so trying to get behind it is your best bet. Staying in front can get you punished by a sweeping grab that sees you picked up and slammed into the ground for huge damage.

If you stray too far in an attempt to give yourself room to heal, the Beast will jump high into the air and come crashing down on you. If this happens, keep dashing as this should break its lock on you. A word of warning, if you’re locked on to Cleric Beast when it does this attack, your camera will swing upwards and you’ll be very disoriented, so do not use lock-on for this fight.

Bloodborne Castle Cainhurst Weapons and Armor

Any weapon will work well against the Cleric Beast. The faster weapons like the saw cleaver and threaded cane will be good for getting in loads of quick hits to its legs and rear, while heavier weapons such as the kirkhammer and hunter axe will stagger it more easily. The quicker weapons will stagger it too, just less often. This is because all of its limbs are able to be crippled, so try to focus on one at a time. Cleric Beast can regenerate its crippled limbs by going into a sort of healing mode. A red aura will surround it and all limbs will be healed, though it will gain no health.

cleric beast

If you want to try and set up a visceral attack, you’ll need to target its head by locking on and flicking your right stick up. Shoot it three times with the blunderbuss or twice with the pistol and it should drop giving you a very short window to jam your fist into its guts and do some heavy damage. Don’t lock-on to the beast unless you’re doing this though. This only works once, unless the Cleric Beast regenerates, as crippling the head is what enables the visceral attack.

As with any other beast enemy, Cleric Beast is weak to fire, so douse it in oil and throw some molotovs at it if you get the chance. Other than that, just stick to its rear and keep hammering away at it.

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