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[SweetJohnnyCage]

1) Castle Cainhurst
2) Threaded Cane
3) a) Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower (Artorias 2.0), b) Ebreitas, c) The First Hunter
4) a) Orphan of Kos, b) Laurence the First Vicar, c) Ebreitas - my first playthrough of the DLC was on NG+4, so those bosses whooped my fucking ass
5) Bone Ash or Crow
6) Old Hunter's Bone
7) Bloodlickers or the fucked up werewolf things in Yahar'gul
8) The First Hunter

 

[Matsukaze]

1. Best location(s): Best is Cainhurst, Second best is Fishing Hamlet

2. Best weapon(s): Burial Blade, Rakuyo, Whirligig Saw

3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Gehrman
2. Martyr Logarius
3. Father Gascoigne

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Ludwig
2. Orphan of Kos
3. Ebrietas

4. Best outfit(s): Executioner, Yahar'Gul, Harrowed
5. Best item(s): Molotov, Shaman Bone Blade
6. Best enemy(s): Kidnappers, Bloodlickers, Cramped Caskets
7. Best soundtrack(s): Gehrman Battle

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Haven't played The Old Hunters (yet) but I'll give this a try:


1. Best location(s): Forsaken Cainhurst Castle


2. Best weapon(s): Loved the Rifle Spear (which made the game quite easy to be honest).


3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Mergo's Wet Nurse
2. Cleric Beast
3.

Spoiler

Gehrman

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Cleric Beast
2. Martyr Logarius (because I'm a fucking idiot and didn't realize I could stop his flying swords attack until later)
3. Father Gascoigne

4. Best outfit(s): Yharnam Hunter Set
5. Best item(s): Cainhurst Summons (an item addressed to your character by name... the first time they do something like that in a Souls game)
6. Best enemy(s): Dog headed crows (because I like how that sounds)
7. Best soundtrack(s): Cleric Beast's theme

 

[Eiderann]

1. Best location(s): Fishing Hamlet. Absolutely love the atmosphere and layout--made me think of Innsmouth from the start. Yahar'gul, the Unseen Village was increasingly unnerving along with the Upper Cathedral Ward.

2. Best weapon(s): Threaded Cane

3. Top 3 coolest bosses:
1. Father Gascoigne
2. Ludwig, the Holy Blade
3. Martyr Logarius/Gerhman, the First Hunter

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Orphan of Kos
2. Ebretias
3. Laurence, the First Vicar

4. Best outfit(s): Big fan of the Executioner outfit. Less so the hat, but it's a pretty nice hat.

5. Best item(s): Madaras Whistle
6. Best enemy(s): The Hunter NPCs.
7. Best soundtrack(s): Ludwig, the Holy Blade, Gascoigne's theme, and Laurence's music. Love how they interwove the Cleric Beast music with his.

 

[StrawberryJam]

1. Best location(s): Cainhurst Castle, Yahar'gul Unseen Village, Astral Clocktower
2. Best weapon(s): Tonitrus, Moonlight Greatsword, Hunter's Axe
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Lady Maria
2. Gehrman
3. Ebrietas
And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Orphan of Kos
2. Ebrietas
3. Laurence
4. Best outfit(s): Crowfeather, Constable, Yamamura
5. Best item(s): Blood Vial
6. Best enemy(s): Hunters in the Hunters Nightmare
7. Best soundtrack(s): German, Father Gascoigne

 

[KRaZyAmmo]

1. Best location(s): Hunter's Nightmare, Cainhurst Castle, Cathedral Ward, Research Hall, Astral Clocktower
2. Best weapon(s): Whirigig Saw, Ludwig Holy Blade, Holy Moonlight Sword, Rakuyo, Chikage
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Lady Maria
2. Gerhman, The First Hunter
3. Ludwig, the accursed and holy blade
And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Martyr Logarius
2. Ebrietas
3. Orphan of Kos
4. Best outfit(s): Crowfeather, Gehrman, Lady Maria, Standard hunter set
5. Best item(s): Blood Vitals
6. Best enemy(s): Cramped Baskets, hunters in hunter's nightmare
7. Best soundtrack(s): Gerhman, Lady Maria, Ludwig, Father Gascoigne

 

[BrokenIcarus]

1. Best location(s): Research Hall and Ya'har'ghul the first time, with the super creepy male choir. So damn good.

2. Best weapon(s): Moonlight Great sword or Pizza Cutter

3. Top 3 coolest bosses:
1. Ludwig, the Holy Blade
2. Gehrman, the first Hunter
3. Lady Maria

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Defiled Watchdogs of The Old Lords
2. Ludwig, the Holy Blade
3. Bloodletting Beast

4. Best outfit(s): Charred Hunter

5. Best item(s): Madaras Whistle
6. Best enemy(s): The Hunter NPCs
7. Best soundtrack(s): Ludwig, the Holy Blade, Gascoigne, the Yahargul chant, Cleric Beast/Vicar/Laurence, The One Reborn, Lady Maria, Gehrman, it's all so good

 

[Morrigan Stark]

1. Best location(s):
That's a tough one. My favourites combine artistic quality and atmosphere with level and encounter design, usually. I'll go with:
- OId Yharnam
- Nightmare Frontier
- Upper Cathedral Ward
- Fishing Hamlet

2. Best weapon(s):
- Whirligig Saw
- Chikage
- Burial Blade
- Blades of Mercy
- Ludwig's Holy Blade

Note: I have not tried the Rakuyo and Simon's Bowblade yet!

3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Vicar Amelia
2. Lady Maria tied with Gehrman, the First Hunter
3. Shadows of Yharnam (easy, but always fun IMO)
4. Amygdala
5. Ebrietas, Daughter of Cosmos

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
Those I retried the most initially, are:
1. Abhorrent Beast
2. Amygdala (Defiled Dungeon version)
3. Watchdog of the Old Lords (Defiled Dungeon version)

However, the Watchdog doesn't scare me as much anymore, and I'd probably rank Ludwig and Laurence above him now (at least their NG+ and above versions) despite having gotten then NG versions on my second try each, but Defiled Amy can still frustrate me in the last phase.

4. Best outfit(s):
Gascoigne's garb, Cainhurst armour, Old Yharnam Hunter garb (male version).

I tend to go hatless to show my character's face, but I do like Gascoigne's hat, looks like an old west pilgrim or gunslinger or something.

5. Best item(s):
lol? Blood vials? If those don't count... IDK, kinda depends on the build. Bone Marrow Ash is amazing on a bloodtinge build, kinda worthless otherwise. Fire/bolt paper can be nice but useless if you use an unbuffable weapon like Blades of Mercy. Augur of Ebrietas is amazing but only on a high arcane build. Etc.

So I'll go with the HP buffing runes. Those are universally useful.

6. Best enemy(s):
The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst. Fuck that guy. But damn if he's not badass.

And the singing brains of course. Hate them but they're amazing at the same time. Same for the Black Metal Guys in Chalice Dungeons.

7. Best soundtrack(s):
Cleric Beast/Vicar Amelia
Father Gascoigne
Ludwig, the Holy Blade

And the background music playing during pre-Rom Yahar'gul and Upper Cathedral Ward. Soooo creepy.

 

[Melchiah]

1. Best location(s): Central and Old Yharnam
2. Best weapon(s): Threaded Cane
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Micolash
2. Father Gascoigne
3. Blood-starved Beast
And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. The Pthumerian Descendant in Ihyll
2. Defiled Amygdala
3. Defiled Watchdog of the Old Lords
4. Best outfit(s): Crowfeather
5. Best item(s): Bone Marrow Ash, saved my ass in the chalices
6. Best enemy(s): Chalice Forgotten Madman
7. Best soundtrack(s): Omen and Queen of the Vilebloods

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

1. Best location(s):cainuest castle, Upper Cartharl ward,
2. Best weapon(s):Ludwig's Holy Blade, Rakuyo, Wirly gig saw
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1.Lady Maria
2.Marty laguris
3. Shadows of Yhaman
And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1.Ludwig, the Holy Blade
2. Orphan or Kos
3. That daughter of something
4. Best outfit(s): Lady maria's, Crow's one, knights garb.
5. Best item(s): Old hunters bone, Fire paper, Call beyond.
6. Best enemy(s): Church Giants, Hunters
7. Best soundtrack(s): all of them

 

[jjonez18]

Best Location: Yarhnam (Nothing beats going through this winding death trap for the first time.)
Best Boss: Ludwig (Setting is amazing, he's aggressive, forces you to learn or die. The music multiplies the experience x10)
Best Weapon: Threaded Cane (Best PVE weapon at least. It's range+strength are unmatched among non-dlc weapons. Made easy work of every boss. Especially those whose heads are weak spots like Ebitrus, Cleric Beast, Lawrence, and Ludwig)
Best Hunter Tool: Old Hunter Bone (Teaches the art of quickening. I just love the animation)
Best Hunter Attire: Choir Outfit + Crown of Illusions (Fits perfectly with my character, Sin. A whithered, aging old man, dressed in all white, with a crown pried from the cold dead hands of a martyr.)
Best Soundtrack: Lawrence Boss Fight (Got some Skyrim vibes from it. Especially the second phase ramp up)
Hardest Boss: Ebitrus (Due to the undodgeable head charges. Comes down to luck. Is she gonna give you 20 head smashes in a row or head ariel/ground charge you x3 in a row?)

Random:
NPC I want to see duke it out:
Gherman vs Lady Maria
BSB vs Shadows
Ludwig vs Amygdala
Orphan vs Abhorrent Beast

 

[Sub_Level]

1. Best location(s): Research Hall and Castle Cainhurst
2. Best weapon(s): Hunter Axe and Rakuyo
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Maria
2. Gehrman
3. Ludwig
And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Orphan
2. Laurence
3. Logarius
4. Best outfit(s): Maria's set, Bone Ash set, Knight Cainhurst set
5. Best item(s): Beast Roar. Makes Micolash deader than dead.
6. Best enemy(s): Those blobs in Lecture Hall for providing easy farming. The best enemies are enemy Hunters, of course.
7. Best soundtrack(s): Maria's and Ludwig's boss themes. Also Orphan's.

 

[Alo0oy]

Why does everybody keep forgetting Abhorrent Beast? He has Paarl's music as well, which was the best boss music in the game, making up for how disappointing Paarl's boss fight was.

EDIT: I guess I didn't put my picks.

1. Best location(s):
1- Forsaken Cainhurst Castle.
2- Yahar'ghul before the palemoon phase.
3- Research Hall.

2. Best weapon(s):
1- Rakuya
2- Blade of Mercy
3- Burial Blade
4- Chikage


3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1- Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.
2- Gehrman, The First Hunter
3- Abhorrent Beast

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1- Laurance, The First Vicar
2- Orphan of Kos
3- Watch Dog of the Old Lords (Defiled Chalice)

4. Best outfit(s):
1- Knight's Set
2- Lady Maria's Set
3- Crowfeather Set.

5. Best item(s):
1- Old Hunter Bone
2- Beast Roar
3- Shaman Bone Blade

6. Best enemy(s):
1- Birds with dog heads
2- Dogs with bird heads
3- Patients

7. Best soundtrack(s):
1- Darkbeast Paarl/Abhorrent Beast theme
2- The First Hunter Theme
3- Yahar'ghul pre-Palemoon phase

 

[Imperfected]

1. Best location(s): Research Hall, Castle Cainhurst
2. Best weapon(s): Threaded Cane, Chikage, Burial Blade
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):

1. Gehrman the First Hunter
2. Maria of the Astral Clocktower
3. Cleric Beast

And Top 3 hardest bosses:

1. Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade
2. Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos
3. Blood-Letting Beast

4. Best outfit(s): Old Hunter Garb
5. Best item(s): Pebble. Quite thrilling, really.
6. Best enemy(s): NPC Hunters; Spidereye Pig WTF
7. Best soundtrack(s): Cleric Beast, Vicar Amelia, Gehrman

 

[CoyoteSpitfire]

1. Best location(s): Hemwick Charnel Lane, The Fishing Hamlet, Cathedral Ward
2. Best weapon(s): Stake Driver, Chikage
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):

• Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower
• Gehrman, the First Hunter
• Vicar Amelia

And Top 3 hardest bosses:

• Ludwig, the Holy Blade
• The Orphan of Kos
• Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos

4. Best outfit(s): Brador's Set, Old Hunter Set, Henryk's Set.
5. Best item(s): Beast Blood Pellet, Queenly Flesh
6. Best enemy(s): Old Hunters
7. Best soundtrack(s): The One Reborn, Gehrman, The Hunter's Dream

 

[poodaddy]

1. Best location(s): Byrgenwerth; it's too short but the atmosphere is absolutely spot on.
2. Best weapon(s): Simon's Bowblade; it's literally perfect for PVP.
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Lady Maria
2. Gehrman
3. Orphan of Kos
And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Ludwig
2. Ebrietas
3. Laurence
4. Best outfit(s): Bone Ash Armor all day
5. Best item(s): hmmmm.... hand lantern? (I don't use items)
6. Best enemy(s): PVP/hunters
7. Best soundtrack(s): Main Theme, goddammit dude....I play that shit before a work out cause it makes me feel fucking evil!!!

 

[poodaddy]

How can anyone who has played the game not say that the Crow of Cainhurst is the hardest "boss" in the game?

Luckily you can more or less cheese him/her because killing him/her in a fair one on one is almost impossible.

I swear I burned around 200 blood vials the last time I fought this fucker and then just said fuck it and cheesed him.

I don't wanna argue about it, but I just wanted to let you know that she's really not that bad. Just play her like you would if you were fighting someone PVP man; riposte all day. That's basically my method for killing all hunters and I've never had trouble with any of them. I understand if you think she was hard, but there's no reason to go telling other people that they cheesed her for using a wooden shield or that they were obviously overleveled or some such nonsense. I hate to say it but....it is possible that they were simply doing better at the fight than you :/. Just sayin man. Always remember that all of the NPC hunters in the game have incredibly simplistic A.I. and that they're all relatively simple if you bait out their attacks and don't "overdodge" as you could be making yourself vulnerable by dodging too much. That's my wife's biggest problem with progressing through the game and I've advised her to stop dodging so much, as it's probably the number one thing that I see getting players killed. Dodging is great when you've got the timing down, but a proper riposte or a simple back step can be more effective and less risky more often than a dodge that could place you right in the middle of the opponent's combo. Also, one should sometimes dodge forward into the attacks rather than backwards or side ways as they could easily set the A.I. hunter up for a simple charge attack into visceral or pistol shot into visceral if timed properly. The hunter fights are simple if you approach them calmly and keep in mind that it's not a real person; they're just an A.I. and that means they're all predictable. It's like when you get really good at Street Fighter or Soul Calibur and you start decimating the highest difficulties on a regular with no effort; it doesn't necessarily mean you're good at fighting games, just that you've gotten used to baiting out the A.I. and taking advantage of it's predictability and patterns. Just for reference, I beat The Crow on NG+ and ++ and I only lost once on NG+ because I got a bit cocky with the backstabby's ,(her blades are incredibly fast with that combo and I was punished for my arrogance). Overall though, she's not that bad.

Spoiler

I didn't use a wooden shield though at all, and I honestly had no idea it was so effective against guns......I guess we're always learning lol

 

[Melchiah]

How can anyone who has played the game not say that the Crow of Cainhurst is the hardest "boss" in the game?

Luckily you can more or less cheese him/her because killing him/her in a fair one on one is almost impossible.

I swear I burned around 200 blood vials the last time I fought this fucker and then just said fuck it and cheesed him.

I take it you haven't played through the chalices and the DLC. The Crow of Cainhurst is easy compared to many enemies in those. I beat him fair and square with my 80-85 level character on the first try.

 

[Manmademan]

Spoiler

I didn't use a wooden shield though at all, and I honestly had no idea it was so effective against guns......I guess we're always learning lol

Yep. That's the hilarious thing about that particular piece of equipment. It looks like junk, and the description outright says it's useless...against beasts. That leads most players to discard or ignore it completely.

NPC Hunters however, aren't beasts. Most guns are totally useless against it- though I admit I haven't tried tanking a gatling gun with it. From the Bloodborne Wiki:

Actually useful to a degree....
(guest) Dec 16, 2015
For the Bloody Crow, the Wooden Shield nearly negates all the damage from his gun shots. I don't know what made to test it, but when I did he turned into one of the easiest fights in the game.... for a npc hunter that is.


B3hr Dec 17, 2015
The problem with this argument is that in order for the shield to be useful, you have to be shot by the Bloody Crow. Considering that he uses a handgun (which is dodgeable and he has a specific movement that warns he's about to shoot you if you observe carefully), you shouldn't be getting hit at all. Simply learn how to dodge the shots and you'll free up a left handed weapon of some sort.

IMO, it's good training for people looking to try their hand at PVP. Instead of depending on a flimsy piece of wood to save you, learn to dodge the shots and you'll gain some valuable experience when dealing with Bloodtinge users online.

B3hr Dec 17, 2015
I will concede however that the wooden shield is the best thing since PB & J on a sandwich when dealing with that one Yahar'gual hunter who uses a rifle spear and shotgun

http://bloodborne.wiki.fextralife.com/Wooden+Shield

If you're good, you can simply time your dodges and predict when they're going to fire. I don't think I've used it at all since that fight, haven't needed it. But when you're learning though? or up against hunters that spam shotgun shells? it's VERY useful. Joke's on you!

I take it you haven't played through the chalices and the DLC. The Crow of Cainhurst is easy compared to many enemies in those. I beat him fair and square with my 80-85 level character on the first try.

I was no higher than level 110 or so when I finished the game, and that was after grinding a bit to get through some chalice dungeons. I couldn't have been higher than level 60 when taking that guy out.

 

[Zyrox]

I haven't played the old hunters, but I just played through the main game with my brother who visted over the holidays (he owns the PS4, so had to basically play through the thing in 4 days, thankfully that was enough for the Platinum).

Best location;
Byrgenwerth
Cathedral Ward

Best weapon:
Tonitrus

Best Bosses:
Vicar Amelia
Gehrman, the First Hunter
Moon Presence
Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos
Amygdala

Hardest Bosses:
Defiled Watchdog of the Old Lords
Undead Giant
Headless Bloodletting Beast
Dhalsim, Scorpion and Doctor Octopus (Shadows of Yharnam) (Yes that took us so long that we started giving these guys nicknames)


Best enemies:
Dudes with sacks
That super fast dual blade dude in the chalice dungeons
Werewolves (quadrupedal)
Enemy Hunters

Hardest enemies:
The things outside of Cainhurst Castle
The brain people
The thinks that spawn snakes when they die
Summoners. Fuck summoners. Esp. spider summoners. Fuck spiders too.

Best Items:
The Magic spells
Fire/Lightning paper
Molotovs

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I take it you haven't played through the chalices and the DLC. The Crow of Cainhurst is easy compared to many enemies in those. I beat him fair and square with my 80-85 level character on the first try.

That's really high level to fight him though...

 

[Melchiah]

That's really high level to fight him though...

The point is, that the hardest enemies are hard no matter how high your level is.


EDIT: I still haven't been able to beat the Pthumerian Descendant in Ihyll solo at level 211. Now, that's a hard fight.

 

[Manmademan]

The point is, that the hardest enemies are hard no matter how high your level is.


EDIT: I still haven't been able to beat the Pthumerian Descendant in Ihyll solo at level 211. Now, that's a hard fight.

come on man, really

edit: I do agree about level being kind of a useless metric though. If you were the type to dump a bunch of points in arcane or endurance, or didn't upgrade your weapons properly you're going to struggle against hard enemies regardless.

 

[Melchiah]

come on man, really

It varies from one player to another. For example, some find Rom easy, whereas some say she's frustratingly hard. I didn't find the bosses in Defiled chalice as hard as Pthumerian Descendant in Ihyll.

 

[Gbraga]

come on man, really

edit: I do agree about level being kind of a useless metric though. If you were the type to dump a bunch of points in arcane or endurance, or didn't upgrade your weapons properly you're going to struggle against hard enemies regardless.

Agreed. I think it's useless to only ask someone's level when talking about how under or overleveled they are.

You get more defense and more visceral damage, I guess, but a Miliraty Veteran with 25 on everything (level 100) is most definitely weaker than a Miliraty Veteran with 50 VIT, 50 SKL and everything else default (lvl 89)

 

[neoemonk]

I haven't played the old hunters, but I just played through the main game with my brother who visted over the holidays (he owns the PS4, so had to basically play through the thing in 4 days, thankfully that was enough for the Platinum).

Best location;
Byrgenwerth
Cathedral Ward

Best weapon:
Tonitrus

Best Bosses:
Vicar Amelia
Gehrman, the First Hunter
Moon Presence
Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos
Amygdala

Hardest Bosses:
Defiled Watchdog of the Old Lords
Undead Giant
Headless Bloodletting Beast
Dhalsim, Scorpion and Doctor Octopus (Shadows of Yharnam) (Yes that took us so long that we started giving these guys nicknames)


Best enemies:
Dudes with sacks
That super fast dual blade dude in the chalice dungeons
Werewolves (quadrupedal)
Enemy Hunters

Hardest enemies:
The things outside of Cainhurst Castle
The brain people
The thinks that spawn snakes when they die
Summoners. Fuck summoners. Esp. spider summoners. Fuck spiders too.

Best Items:
The Magic spells
Fire/Lightning paper
Molotovs

You played this game to platinum in four days? I'm impressed.

 

[Naite]

Best location(s):
Cainhurst castle

Best weapon(s):
Stake driver, Beasthunter saif

Top 3 coolest bosses:
1. Abhorrent Beast
2. Lady Maria
3. Darkbeast Paarl

Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Defiled Watchdog
2. Abhorrent Beast
3. Ludwig

Best outfit(s):
Charred Hunter Set

Best item(s):
Beast Roar, Executioner's Gloves

Best enemy(s):
Wheelchair guys. I can't get mad at these guys if they ever get the drop on me, especially that one near the boom hammer.

 

[Manmademan]

Thinking about getting into this game. Any starter tips?

Whats this i hear about remapping buttons or whatever?

don't know what you've heard, but the default buttons are fine. changing it won't help you.

Should i be grinding out my shit before trying to progress or....?

From what i understand the game doesn't really hold your hand, at all, and just throws you right into it.

Bloodborne doesn't allow you to grind until you've met the first boss, or found a madman's knowledge item somewhere in the first stage. It pretty much forces you to learn the mechanics of how to play the game either way- there are some very nasty things in between the start of the game and both of those things that trip up new players.

I just wanna be good right off the bat. Halp.

Sorry buddy- you can't. You're going to have to learn the hard way like everyone else. Don't let dying discourage you- its part of the game.

 

[Zyrox]

You played this game to platinum in four days? I'm impressed.

Yea, this was not my first Souls game, played all the other ones for hundreds of hours before, so the main story was smooth sailing for the most part. For the Chalice Dungeon grind to Yharnam we looked up a guide. Because honestly, the Chalice dungeons aren't all that great. The less time spent wandering around in there the better. At least from my point of view.

 

[Endo Punk]

Best locations(s)

1. Yahargul (before blood moon): Getting kidnapped and locked up in a brand new area and with the foreboding music playing. One of the most horrifying gameplay experiences ever.

2. Hemwick Charnel Lane: Love the design of this area. The moment you enter and you see the crazed women prancing around, perfectly sets the mood of the place. The twisted trees and foes lurking around corners, I was constantly on edge here.

3. Research hall: The maze design and the patients that were experimented on coming in droves, not to mention the traps. This is my fav area in the old hunters expansion.

Top coolest bosses:

1. Ebrietas: Goddamn this boss looks equally menacing and beautiful. Fantastic design.
2. Ludwig: Same as above, and dat second phase. So damn cool.
3. Dark Beast Paarl: Love how it moves and the lightening coming off it.

Top hardest bosses:

1. Abhorrent beast: FUCK THIS GUY!
2. Loran Dark beast: Ugh the area of effect attack always gets me.
3. Rom: Let me attack you goddamn it!

Favourite weaponsYet to play with all weapons)

1. Beast hunter saif. Love the combos and the extended version with great crowd control.

2. Chikage: It's a katana, and love the trick slash. coolest look with the blood dripping off it.

3. Blades of mercy: slash slash slash slash slash slash. It's fast damnit!

 

[Alo0oy]

Yea, this was not my first Souls game, played all the other ones for hundreds of hours before, so the main story was smooth sailing for the most part. For the Chalice Dungeon grind to Yharnam we looked up a guide. Because honestly, the Chalice dungeons aren't all that great. The less time spent wandering around in there the better. At least from my point of view.

It's a shame some of the best Souls bosses ever are gated behind the dungeons. They could have at least made them NG+ exclusive.

 

[KiteGr]

Haven't played the expansion yet. So...

Coolest bosses:
1. Micolas Cage...head.
2. Gherman
3. Vicar Amelia.

Hardest bosses:
1. Martyr Logarious
2. Ebrietas
3. Gherman.

Best location (torn between them):
Upper Cathedral Ward
Mergo's Loft.

Best item:
Music box.

Best weapon:
Kirk Hammer

Best Soundtrack:
The first hunter.
Honorable mentions:
Father Gaskoin
Bloodstarved beast
Mikolash.

 

[Gbraga]

It's a shame some of the best Souls bosses ever are gated behind the dungeons. They could have at least made them NG+ exclusive.

Now that they're selling materials, it definitely helps a bit.

Today I rushed through the Lower Hintertombs and Lower Loran to get the Madman's Set and fight the Lower Loran bosses that I never did because I didn't need more red jelly on my first time through them, and I hate chalice dungeons, so I decided I'd rather miss on the bosses, but I just bought all the stuff I needed and ran like an idiot to the levers and then back to the boss door. Worked like a charm, took me just a few minutes to go through both of them.

The bosses were stupid though, not worth it.

 

[Alo0oy]

Now that they're selling materials, it definitely helps a bit.

Today I rushed through the Lower Hintertombs and Lower Loran to get the Madman's Set and fight the Lower Loran bosses that I never did because I didn't need more red jelly on my first time through them, and I hate chalice dungeons, so I decided I'd rather miss on the bosses, but I just bought all the stuff I needed and ran like an idiot to the levers and then back to the boss door. Worked like a charm, took me just a few minutes to go through both of them.

The bosses were stupid though, not worth it.

The issue is that the dungeons are terribly balanced, depths 1-3 are beyond boring, & the game forces you to do them for progression & for some materials that you cannot buy until you don't need to buy them anymore. the dungeons should have at least been end-game only (as in, depth 5 only, unlocked after beating Mergo's Wet Nurse, no offerings either).

It would have been so much better and less tedious, without repeat and/or reskinned bosses, two dungeons containing Watch Dog of the Old Lords, Bloodletting Beast, Abhorrent Beast, Keeper of the Old Lords, Pthumerian Descendant, & Yharnam. I bet the dungeons would be far better received if the journey wasn't so boring.

I like their lore significance, but the execution was awful.

 

[Gbraga]

The issue is that the dungeons are terribly balanced, depths 1-3 are beyond boring, & the game forces you to do them for progression & for some materials that you cannot buy until you don't need to buy them anymore. the dungeons should have at least been end-game only (as in, depth 5 only, unlocked after beating Mergo's Wet Nurse, no offerings either).

It would have been so much better and less tedious, without repeat and/or reskinned bosses, two dungeons containing Watch Dog of the Old Lords, Bloodletting Beast, Abhorrent Beast, Keeper of the Old Lords, Pthumerian Descendant, & Yharnam. I bet the dungeons would be far better received if the journey wasn't so boring.

I like their lore significance, but the execution was awful.

You're completely right. That still wouldn't fix the boring level design, but at least it would most likely be over before we would be REALLY bored of it, so the good memories of the lore and bosses would remain.

Even making them carry through characters would help a lot. There's no way in hell I'm ever doing chalice dungeons on a new character ever again. I'm glad I decided to keep my first character in this game for whatever reason. I'm not usually attached to my Souls characters and constantly delete and create new ones.

 

[Imperfected]

It's a shame some of the best Souls bosses ever are gated behind the dungeons. They could have at least made them NG+ exclusive.

I mean, those bosses were probably all shoved into the Chalice Dungeons because they had significant issues that kept them from being "prime time" bosses, anyway. The Chalice Dungeons are mostly a (blessed) dumping ground for content that was either tonally inappropriate, didn't meet the game design goals, or just wasn't quite polished enough for the main game.

I'm hoping DS3 has something similar, just for the sake of making the directors feel more comfortable cutting mediocre content from the main game.

 

[Mman235]

I've tried to keep to as few entries as possible for simplicity, but some categories need more.

1. Best location(s): This is hard because of how consistent Bloodborne is vs the other games, but I guess I'll choose Cathedral Ward for being a fleshed out level in itself while also being a semi-hub for most of the game at the same time.
2. Best weapon(s): Whirlygig Saw, Rakuyo, Blades of Mercy, Ludwig's Holy Blade, Amydala Arm (I still need to explore more weapons post-DLC, but these are the ones where almost every attack or mode is useful in some way)
Edit: crap I forgot Simon's Bowblade; that's thing's god-tier in bow mode and even it's normal mode is pretty good.
3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Ludwig
2. Orphan of Kos
3. Queen Yarnham (too bad she's pretty easy)
And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Orphan of Kos
2. Laurence
3. Loran Darkbeast

(Last two are unfortunately mostly hardest for the wrong reasons)

Not listing defiled bosses because that's cheating

Edit: Adding Pthumerian Descendant as a bonus hardest pick too, because his second phase is brutal if you fight head-on.

4. Best outfit(s): Constable gear for male characters. I haven't decided on a favourite for female characters yet.
5. Best item(s): Blood Vials, element paper and Beast Blood Pellets
6. Best enemy(s): This one's too hard for me with so many intersecting elements that makes enemies good, and I could put almost anything here depending on what I was judging for.
7. Best soundtrack(s): Ludwig and Cleric Beast/Amelia

The issue is that the dungeons are terribly balanced, depths 1-3 are beyond boring, & the game forces you to do them for progression & for some materials that you cannot buy until you don't need to buy them anymore. the dungeons should have at least been end-game only (as in, depth 5 only, unlocked after beating Mergo's Wet Nurse, no offerings either).

The dungeons are odd for me because I thought their problem would be the randomness removing meaningful level design, but my number 1 issue turned out to be too much forced non-random stuff. If you could get to random depth 5 dungeons much faster I'd probably do way more, at least those have actual tension and the potential for awesome rewards.

 

[unity of the void]

Best Locations:
Hunter's Nightmare (especially the Cave), Cathedral Ward/Upper Cathedral Ward, Fishing Hamlet, Hypogean Gaol, Forsaken Cainhurst Castle, Isz/Loran Chalices

Best Weapons:
Beast Claw
Blade of Mercy
Chikage
Simon's Bowblade
Hunter's Axe
Threaded Cane

Coolest Bosses:
Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen
Lady Maria (I actually let out a "gwhoooa" sound when she first did her spinning blood-attack)
Vicar Amelia
Ludwig and/or Orphan of Kos

Hardest Bosses:
Laurence
Defiled Amygdala/Defiled Watchdog
Abhorrent Beast

Best Outfits:
Knight Set, Madman's Set, Tomb Prospector Boots (dat heel)

Best Items:
Beast Roar, Empty Phantasm Shell, Red Jelly

Best Enemies:
Crows, Bloodlicker, Bell Maiden, Beast-Possessed Soul, Keeper of the Old Lords

Best Soundtracks:
Witch of Hemwick (the ending part which sounds like The Omen is awesome), Hail to the Nightmare, Ludwig's Theme

 

[avrophantasm]

1. Best location(s): Hunter's Dream, Castle Cainhurst, Research Hall, OoK's and Gehrman's fight arenas

2. Best weapon(s): Am I the only one in love with Logarius' Wheel? Also Kos Parasite and Holy Moonlight Blade

3. Top 3 coolest bosses:
1. Holy Blade Ludwig...even in this darkest of nights, he sees the moonlight ;_;
2. Martyr Logarius is my favourite irate mall santa in all of Soulsborne
3. Vicar Amelia. If only I could be so grossly velutinous.

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. She's not a deity for nothing.
2. Lawrence, the First Vicar. He gives me the sads. And the floor is lava.
3. Orphan of Kos. Scariest baby having a tantrum I ever did see.

4. Best outfit(s): Female Knight Set, Choir Set, Bone Ash Set, Crowfeather Set

5. Best item(s): Old Hunter's Bone, Messenger's Gift, Executioner's Gloves, and practically all the Chalice Materials. They're so macabre and grisly.

6. Best enemy(s): Hunter NPCs, Mad Ones, Church Servants

7. Best soundtrack(s): Cleric Beast, Moonlit Melody, Bloodborne, The First Hunter, Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade

 

[CelticVegas]

I mean, those bosses were probably all shoved into the Chalice Dungeons because they had significant issues that kept them from being "prime time" bosses, anyway. The Chalice Dungeons are mostly a (blessed) dumping ground for content that was either tonally inappropriate, didn't meet the game design goals, or just wasn't quite polished enough for the main game.

I'm hoping DS3 has something similar, just for the sake of making the directors feel more comfortable cutting mediocre content from the main game.

Yes i'm with you. And i actually liked the CD. Yes they're a bit boring in level design, but the random items and layouts felt challenging to me. And the bosses too.

 

[True Fire]

1. Best location(s): Cainhurst. I wish more of the game was that unique.

2. Best weapon(s): Hunter's Axe is actually the best

3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Ludwig
2. Maria
3. Gehrman

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Martyr Logarius
2. Father Gasciogne
3. Ludwig

4. Best outfit(s):
The outfit you get from Djura. I think it's the Ashen gear?

5. Best item(s):
Molotov cocktails

6. Best enemy(s):
Hunters, Cainhurst ghosts, and the snake heads

7. Best soundtrack(s):
The First Hunter
Lady Maria
Holy Ludwig

 

[taco543]

Best boss: Vicar Amelia and Vicar Laurence

Best location: Hunters nightmare and Cainhurst castle

Best weapons: Saw Cleaver and Moonlight Holy Blade

 

[KiteGr]

Gehrman the First Hunter. Master versus student. Awesome setting. And like Ludwig, he's such a tragic figure too. When the choir chants "Free me from the sleep, I beg", in Latin, I got genuine chills.

YOU sir just gave me Goosebumps!
Now I need the Lyrics of the Game's OST badly!
Take responsibility and give them to me!

 

[Alo0oy]

I mean, those bosses were probably all shoved into the Chalice Dungeons because they had significant issues that kept them from being "prime time" bosses, anyway. The Chalice Dungeons are mostly a (blessed) dumping ground for content that was either tonally inappropriate, didn't meet the game design goals, or just wasn't quite polished enough for the main game.

I'm hoping DS3 has something similar, just for the sake of making the directors feel more comfortable cutting mediocre content from the main game.

I completely disagree that the CD bosses had "issues", most of the CD-exclusive bosses are better than the main game ones, I think they just didn't want to shove the mediocre bosses into the CD as an incentive to make you try out the CD, four bosses in particular deserve to be in the main game (Watch Dog, Abhorrent Beast, Pthumerian Descendant, & Yharnam), & yes I know Abhorrent Beast is technically an enemy in the main game, but he has reduced health & isn't fought in a real boss arena where the boss fight shines.

it's silly to call bosses like Celestial Emissary, Darkbeast Paarl, & Witch of Hemwick "prime time" while the aforementioned CD bosses aren't, not only are they better than those bosses, but they're better than most of the bosses in the main game.

 

[Imperfected]

I completely disagree that the CD bosses had "issues", most of the CD-exclusive bosses are better than the main game ones, I think they just didn't want to shove the mediocre bosses into the CD as an incentive to make you try out the CD, four bosses in particular deserve to be in the main game (Watch Dog, Abhorrent Beast, Pthumerian Descendant, & Yharnam), & yes I know Abhorrent Beast is technically an enemy in the main game, but he has reduced health & isn't fought in a real boss arena where the boss fight shines.

The Watch Dog is the only one of those that feels polished and complete. I get the feeling that boss simply didn't match the design theme and tone they wanted for the game; he's very much a cool "Dark Souls" bleak fantasy design, but not particularly in-line with the Victorian/Lovecraftian horror themes of the rest of the game. The only place I can really think of you could put him in is in place of Paarl, and Paarl fits the theme of the game better. (Watch Dog would be fantastic for DS3, though, he fits the "dying embers" dark fantasy motif perfectly.)

Abhorrent Beast they obviously never quite "solved" the problem of finding a way to introduce delay and variety into his AI without making him become trivial. He basically just rushes and spams attacks nonstop, which is something they've generally tried to avoid in boss design.

Yharnam has significant balancing problems; the fight is hilariously trivial if you're using certain weapons, and ridiculously difficult if you're using others. Again, this is something they've clearly tried to move away from in boss design since Demon's Souls. The boss's primary gimmick is... well, it's just that, a gimmick. Maybe you find it interesting, but personally I find it completely tedious, and there's just not much going on there outside of it.

I have no idea why you like the Descendant at all. Seriously.

it's silly to call bosses like Celestial Emissary, Darkbeast Paarl, & Witch of Hemwick "prime time" while the aforementioned CD bosses aren't, not only are they better than those bosses, but they're better than most of the bosses in the main game.

The Celestial Emissary (and to a lesser extent Living Failures and Micolash) are "warm-up" fights for the actual bosses of their respective areas. They're basically just there to manage the intensity curve/pacing of the level, with the side benefit of providing some thematic and lore utility. You couldn't really insert any of those bosses in their place.

The Witch of Hemwick does feel like the most "incomplete" of the main game boss fights. My best guess would be that they really liked Hemwick Charnel Lane and felt the Witch was integral, even though the boss fight itself was doesn't seem to have been polished to the same degree as the rest of the zone. (I feel the same way about Shadows of Yharnam. At the point they appear you sort of need a "snake boss" to cap off the Woods, and unfortunately the Shadows was the best they managed in the time available.)

There's nothing terribly wrong with Paarl. He's not a spectacular boss, but he's perfectly acceptable and obviously more polished (if only in terms of hitboxes and AI patterns) than any of the Chalice Dungeon bosses except maybe the Watch Dog.

It's also worth noting that all three of those bosses are also completely optional, and only the Witch is even particularly beneficial to kill. They obviously aren't "prime time", they just didn't get swept as far under the rug as the Pthumerian bosses and Blood-Letting Beast.

 

[Darth_Caedus]

I have yet to play the DLC. So this is a non DLC version.

1. Best location(s): Upper Cathedral Ward. Loved it. Short, sweet, and creepy as all hell.

2. Best weapon(s): Threaded Cane. Badass weapon combination.

3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1. Gehrman
2. Mergo's Wet Nurse
3. Martyr Logarius

Top 3 hardest bosses:
1. Blood Starved Bast- I mean Beast
2. Father Gascoigne
3. Gehrman

4. Best outfit(s):
Crowfeather Set. My main at all times.

5. Best item(s):
Bone Marrow Ash

6. Best enemy(s):
Brainsucker

7. Best soundtrack(s):
I honestly can't remember the music lol

 

[Any Questions]

How can anyone who has played the game not say that the Crow of Cainhurst is the hardest "boss" in the game?

Luckily you can more or less cheese him/her because killing him/her in a fair one on one is almost impossible.

I swear I burned around 200 blood vials the last time I fought this fucker and then just said fuck it and cheesed him.

I agree and I cheesed too

 

[Apollo Cree]

1. Best location(s): Cainhurst Castle

2. Best weapon(s): Threaded cane. Took me through two complete playthroughs.

3. Top 3 coolest bosses (you can select more):
1.Gehrman
2.Logarius
3.Ludwig

And Top 3 hardest bosses:
1.Orphan of Kos
2.Logarius
3.Gherman

4. Best outfit(s):Charred Hunter Set

5. Best item(s): Shaman Blade. The only reason I have the Rakuyo

6. Best enemy(s): Fishing Hamlet people because of their sweet sweet blood vials.

7. Best soundtrack(s): Gherman's music

 

[FaintColt388301]

So weird to hear all of this crow of cainhurst talk. I had no problem with that enemy. I barely remembered it as a result.

My favorite boss was Martyr Logarius. I missed him my first playthrough so that whole area and fight was so cool to see such a big thing I missed. Also really liked Bloodstarved Beast and Vicar Amelia for how quick and aggressive they are.

Shout out to Father G too for being an awesome first boss to run in to. Really set the stage for the game.

I think this thread would be better if it wasn't in list format. Really hinders discussion.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

YOU sir just gave me Goosebumps!
Now I need the Lyrics of the Game's OST badly!
Take responsibility and give them to me!

I'm not well-versed in Latin myself unfortuantely, I just saw the translation from someone. Really cool though.

Hardest Boss: Ebitrus (Due to the undodgeable head charges. Comes down to luck. Is she gonna give you 20 head smashes in a row or head ariel/ground charge you x3 in a row?)

They're perfectly dodgeable, you just need to get that timing right.

Anyway, I'm now pretty much done with the DLC, except for the optional boss.

Loved Orphan of Kos. Good fight, nice intro and cool lore. Challenging, but I generally don't have too many problems with bosses I can parry.

Fishing hamlet in general might be my new favorite location. It's the most Lovecraftian of the bunch, the lore is awesome and as stated above, I really dig the boss.

Those massive sharks creatures are a pain in the ass though. That fight in the well was a challenge. Did it the hard way too, without the shaman blade.

So it's just Laurence who remains now. He hits hard, but pretty much anything does on NG++. He might make the list. Strangely enough, I didn't have too many problems with most of the Chalice Dungeon ones, including Abhorrent Beast and the Defiled ones.