Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower

Information:
Lady Maria is the second boss in the Research Hall. Gain one Insight for finding her and three for killing her. Activates the Astral Clocktower Lamp when killed.

Special Notes: On your first try, you can not summon a Co-op.

Lore:
Lady Maria, a distant relative of Queen Annalise, grew up in Cainhurst, but unlike the other nobles Maria hated the use of the corrupted blood and even bore a weapon, the Rakuyo, that only required great skill to wield. She left Cainhurst and traveled to Byrgenwerth becoming a student to Gehrman, who became obsessed with her. She in turn was very admiring of him and remained at his side when he traveled to the Fishing Hamlet to investigate the rumors of a dead Great One and later to bring the Orphan of Kos back to Byrgenwerth. In order to bring the Orphan back, Gehrman and Maria had to cut open the sickly Kos; this act caused Maria such revulsion that she threw away her Rakuyo as she left the Fishing Hamlet. Many years later, she and Gehrman left Byrgenwerth to help found the Healing Church and became the first hunters employed with them. Unfortunately, Maria would become the leader of a group of hunters tasked to protect the Research Hall and this also gave her the opportunity to help keep the Fishing Hamlet a secret. She was known for her kindness at the Research Hall but when the Old Hunters were disavowed  her grief became too much for her and she slit her throat. In his grief, Gehrman built a replica doll of Maria, the doll in the Hunter's dream.

References and Dialogue:

-" A corpse...should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now. Liberate you, from your wild curiosity." Lady Maria

-"Hunter weapon wielded by Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower. A trick sword originated in the same country as the Cainhurst Chikage, only this sword feeds not off blood, but instead demands great dexterity. Lady Maria was fond of this aspect of the Rakuyo, as she frowned upon blood blades, despite being a distant relative of the queen.One day, she abandoned her beloved Rakuyo, casting it into a dark well, when she could stomach it no longer." Rakuyo

-"Among the first hunters, all students of Gehrman, was the lady hunter Maria. This was her hunter's garb crafted in Cainhurst. Maria was distantly related to the undead queen, but had great admiration for Gehrman, unaware of his curious mania." Maria's Hunter Set

-"Good hunter, this may sound strange, but...Have I somehow changed? Moments ago, from some place, perhaps deep within, I sensed a liberation from heavy shackles. Not that I would know...How passing strange..." Special dialogue by doll upon Maria's death.

-"Oh, hello. Not a pretty sight, is it? The true face of the blood-worshipping, beast-purging Healing Church. But that's not all. You seek the secrets held by the Nightmare, do you not? Then here's what you must do. Climb the Astral Clocktower, and kill Maria. She hides the real secret." Simon the Harrowed

-"The bone of an old hunter whose name is lost. It is  said that he was an apprentice to old Gehrman, and a practitioner of the art of Quickening, a technique particular to the first hunters. It is most appropriate that hunters, carriers of the torch who are sustained by the dream, would tease an old art from his remains." Old Hunter Bone found on Maria's grave in the Waking World. In the original Japanese the pronoun is gender neutral making it possible for it to be Maria's.

-The doll prays at Maria's grave (the grave used to access the Hunter's Nightmare) and calls her "Flora", most likely a reference to Maria giving Lumenflowers to the Research Hall Patients and leaving one on the grave by the seaside (most likely the Orphan of Kos'). 

-When Lady Maria dies, she dies in the same pose as Gehrman. When she releases your hand she is in the same pose as the doll.
-When she visceral attacks, it looks like she embraces you, and whispers in your ear.

-When the Clocktower opens it opens on the Moon rune, most likely a reference to the Moon Presence.

-Despite her distaste of blood blades, she will use them out of desperation to kill you.

Description:

A tall pale skinned woman with white-blond hair. She is garbed in something similar to the Knight's set and wields a sword and dagger that can be combined into twin blade.

Location:

From the Lumenwood Garden Lamp, walk up to the door and open it.

Combat:

Lady Maria's arena is a large room with cabinets lining the side. There is a chair and a small table at the end of the room. Not many nooks to get stuck on.

First Stage:

Maria can alternate between the different transformations of her weapon: the twin blade with a pistol and a sword dagger. Please note she uses quickening. For the sword and dagger mode, she has a charge attack (h), where she will run towards you with her sword arm straight out to the side. She has an overhead diagonal slash (m), that can be preceded by a regular one handed slash attack (m) or succeeded by another diagonal slash in the other direction as well as a pistol shot. There is a variant of this that is much slower as well where she will hesitate in order to track you better before striking (h). She can thrust (m) quickly up to two times with both blades. She can do a whirling attack (h) where she spins towards you and then can follow it up with the diagonal slash. She can also do a slashing x (m), where she will cross her blades and rush forwards.

For the twin blade mode, she will also employ her pistol (s). She can do a forward and backwards thrust attack (m) that can turn into a slash combo as well as an overhead swipe (m) that can be followed up by a horizontal swipe. She can also use a charge attack (h), where she will hold the Rakuyo to her side as if to sheath it and then run forward.

Second Stage:

At about 60%, she will stab herself in the stomach with her blades and pull them out. When she pulls them out there will be a blood A.O.E. (m). She will only use the two blades now and retain all her previous attacks except now she will use her blood as a way to extend her range and they will hit harder. She can now also do a charged attack (h) where she will sheath her Rakuyo and squat and pull it out in a diagonal slash. She has two more charge attacks or more accurately transform attacks (h). She will transform the Rakuyo back into the twin blade above her head where she will smash it down. When she transforms the Rakuyo to her side, she is doing a thrust attack with almost infinite reach. She can do a leap attack (h), where she will spiral into the air and then crash down with an A.O.E. blast.

Third Stage:

At about 30%, she will hold her swords out to the side and rise up into the air with blood flowing into her and do another blood A.O.E.(h). Her blood is now on fire and her range is greater. She does not gain any new attacks but they do hit harder.

Drops:

-39,000 Blood Echoes

-Celestial Dial

Tips and Tricks:

-Any weapon +9 or higher will do.

-The number one tip to beating Maria is to stay close to her as much as possible. Her long range attacks are devastating and she can close any distance gap between you very quickly so if you need to heal dodge into one of her melees and heal instead of attacking. 

-Dodge through her melee attacks to get off a few hits, if your weapon is heavy it will stunlock her for a few hits. 

-Almost all of her attacks can be parried so shooting her and then visceral attacking is a good way to go for her first stage, equip Clawmark Runes if this is the route you want to go. The only melee attack that can't be parried is the very slow overhead diagonal slash. Just dodge until it lands (not on you) and get off a few hits.

-In the second stage, be wary of the blood A.O.E. if you are going to attack while she's transforming. 

-Use the same strategy as before only be cautious of the transform attacks. The overhead smashing transform is substantially faster than the other two attacks so dodge immediately after the clicking sound. For the other two, wait a second before dodging as they are a little slower.

-She can still be parried in the last two stages but she is faster so the windows are much smaller.
-Be aware in stage two and three, her x-slash attack can put you into a viscerable state.

-The Executioner's Gloves and the Augur of Ebrietas can stagger her.
-If you are interested in cheesing, the most common way is to use Beast Roar and then stunlocking her when she gets up in a cycle.

Glitches:

-Can be glitched through the pillar next to the fog gate. Link

Damage Indicator:
Slight damage (s)
Moderate Damage (m)
Heavy Damage (h)

Stun (st)

The Living Failures

The Living Failures:

Information:
The Living Failures is the only boss in the Research Hall. Gain two Insight for finding them and two for killing them. Activates the Lumenwood Garden Lamp.

Lore:
The Living Failures are one of the first attempts by the Choir to create a Great One to serve as an ambassador. They were preceded by the Research Hall patients and after their creation were ultimately abandoned as the Choir began work on the Celestial Emissary.

References and Dialogue:
-It is possible that these were unsuccessful due to the use of Lumenwood and/or the lack of Iosefka's specially refined blood.

Description:
Tall, humanoid, and slender, the Living Failures bear a close resemblance to the Celestial Emissary and the Research Hall patients. They are bluish in color with six fingers on each hand. Their heads appear as if they have collapsed in.

Location:
From the Research Hall Lamp, go to the room on the left where Adaline is restrained and take the elevator up. From the next room, exit and turn right to go up the set of stairs. Once to the landing turn right up another flight of stairs and open the door.

Summons:
-Old Hunter Yamamura can be summoned at the summoning bell to the right of the fog gate if you have killed him in his cell, the Impurity Rune is equipped, and you haven't killed Valtr. He wields a Chikage.

Combat:
-Weak to Bolt

The Living Failures arena is a circular garden with two balconies on either side. There is a pillar of Lumenwood (flowers) in the middle. The ground is also covered with these flowers.

First Stage:
The Living Failures will constantly spawn around the arena. They each have their own individual health bars (think of them as legs) and will disappear if "killed". Damage will contribute to the overall health bar. There can be up to four Living Failures in the arena at a time. Two melee and two Arcane casters. The two melee will follow you around while the casters will typically just move so that you are in their sights. The two melee ones have a few attacks, a head slam (m), where they will very quickly slam their heads onto you, a swipe (h), where they will slowly swipe their arm across their body, and a swing attack (h), where they will bring their arms back and swing them in a circle. The casters can do the head slam, and three spells, two of them similar to Martyr Logarius, the first is an Arcane hand slam (h), where they will slam both hands into the ground and a small explosion will occur. The other one is a large Arcane ball (h) that can track you, one of them will raise its hands over its head and a blue light will appear; the last attack consists of smaller homing bolts (m), that track quite heavily, they will keep their hands at waist level.

Second Stage:
The Living Failures will gain one attack, another Arcane attack, that consists of all the Failures raising their arms to the sky. Half the sky will turn black and comets will rain down (h).

Drops:
-22,000 Blood Echoes
-Astral Clocktower Key

Special Notes: If the Impurity Rune is equipped, they will drop Vermin as well.

Tips and Tricks:
-Any weapon +9 or higher is fine. Bolt Paper or a Bolt gem are very helpful.
-It is possible to only have to fight one Failure at a time if you constantly kill them at their re-spawn points. If not, it is very easy to have only two in the arena at a time as it is very easy to parry then visceral the melee ones.
-Try to lure the melee ones away from the arcane ones if you can not take them down fast enough. This should put you on the other side of the tree in the middle and thus be safe from projectiles.
-For the Comet attack, there are four methods of avoiding damage from them: run in a circle around the arena, look up at the sky and avoid them by using the pillar in the middle as a barrier, run to the opposite side of the arena from the entrance and stay behind the wall, or use the Loch Shield as protection (you will take a little damage). By far the best and safest method it hiding behind the wall.
-You can attack them during the Comet attack and stagger them with a backstab for a visceral attack.

Glitches:
-A Living Failure can stay around after the fight. Watch 11:10

Damage Indicator:
Slight damage (s)
Moderate Damage (m)
Heavy Damage (h)

Stun (st)

Ludwig, The Accursed and Holy Blade

Ludwig, The Accursed and Holy Blade

Information:
Ludwig is the first boss in the Hunter's Nightmare. Gain one Insight for finding him and three for killing him. Activates the Underground Corpse Pile Lamp.

Special Notes: Ludwig is referenced as two different names in the boss fight, first as Ludwig, the Accursed and then as Ludwig, the Holy Blade hence the title. Also, Ludwig is still alive after the boss fight and will drop the Holy Moonlight Sword if killed or spoken to while wearing Church Garb.

Lore:
Ludwig is the first of the Healing Church Hunters, part of the group that was formed after Gerhman's group was deemed a failure when they were finally revealed to the public after the fall of Old Yharnam. Ludwig then became head of the Church Hunters, and after witnessing the transformation of Clerics into bigger beasts championed a much larger and heavier weapon, Ludwig's Holy Blade. He would become a legend among the people of Yharnam along with his Church Hunters but was forced into recruiting normal civilians when the beasts became too strong. The guilt of their deaths and his early exposure to the old blood brought him to the brink of beast hood many a time until he found the Holy Moonlight Sword and the Guidance Rune that accompanied it. Here he thought he had found his savior, in the form of the sprites he now saw while closing his eyes. Their whispers kept the fears at bay and allowed to him to continue fighting although with a terrible price. Ludwig became something more terrible than other clergyman had ever become and for his sins he was exiled to the Hunter's Nightmare. Despite this betrayal he still listens to the voices of his guiding moonlight in the hopes that they will one day bring him salvation.

References and Dialogue:
-"-"Ahh, ahh, please...help us...ah... An unsightly beast. A great terror looms! Ahh. Ludwig the Accursed is coming. Have mercy...Have mercy upon us..." Skeleton in Ludwig's arena
-"Aah, you were at my side, all along. My true mentor...My guiding moonlight." Ludwig
-Without Church Garb on, "Good hunter, have you seen the thread of light? Just a hair, a fleeting thing, yet I clung to it, steeped as I was in the stench of blood and beasts. I never wanted to know, what it really was. Really, I didn't."
-With Church Garb on, "Tell me, good hunter of the Church. Are my Church hunter the honorable spartans that I hoped they would be?" If prompted yes, "Aah, good...that is a relief. To know I did not suffer such denigration for nothing. Thank you kindly. Now I may sleep in peace. Even in this darkest of nights, I see...the moonlight...". If prompted no, "Oh, my. Just as I feared. Then a beast-possessed degenerate was I, as my detractors made eminently clear. Does the nightmare ever end?!

-"A Caryll rune discovered by the old hunter Ludwig along with the Holy Moonlight Sword. When Ludwig closed his eyes, he saw darkness, or perhaps nothingness, and that is where he discovered the tiny beings of light. Ludwig was certain that these playful dancing sprites offered "guidance" and emptied Ludwig of his fear at least in the midst of the hunt." Guidance Rune

-"An arcane sword discovered long ago by Ludwig. When a blue moonlight dances around the sword, and it channels the abyssal cosmos, its great blade will hurl a shadowy lightwave. The Holy Moonlight Sword is synonymous with Ludwig, the Holy Blade, but few have ever set eyes on the great blade, and whatever guidance it has to offer, it seems to be of a very private, elusive sort." Holy Moonlight Sword
-"Oh, he's well and truly gone, now. A tragic figure. But he will shame himself no longer. He dies with his ideals untarnished. He was a true hero, and earnt that much, at least. Here, this is Ludwig's guiding light. The blinding thread, that lead, and mislead, that consummate hero. The poor brute." Simon the Harrowed

-"A trick weapon typically used by Healing Church Hunters. It is said that the silver sword was employed by Ludwig, the first hunter of the church. When transformed, it combines with its sheath to form a greatsword. It exhibits several departures from the workshop's design, suggesting that the Church anticipated much larger inhuman beasts."  Ludwig's Holy Blade

-"Ludwig was the first of many Healing Church hunters to come, many of Whom were clerics. As it was, clerics transformed into the most hideous of beasts." Sword Hunter Badge
-"The radiant sword indicates the heirs to the will of Ludwig. These hunters, also known as the Holy Blades, are what remains of an ancient line of heroes that date back to a very early age of honor and chivalry." Radiant Sword Hunter Badge
-"Ludwig, the first hunter of the Healing Church, once recruited Yharnamites to serve as hunters. This hunter's attire was made for new recruits, and has excellent straightforward defense. But not nearly enough to allow an ordinary man to stand any real chance against the beasts." Yharnam Hunter's Garb.
-Ludwig is wearing what looks to be a slightly modified version of the Executioner's Garb, which was the known inspiration for the Church Garb, proof that he was the first Healing Church Hunter.
-Ludwig, the Holy Blade is named after Ludwig Van Beethoven, the composer of the Moonlight Sonata.
-The inside of Ludwig's mouths are covered in eyeballs showing a great amount of insight.


Description:
Ludwig is a stunted twisted beast who's malformed body can only be described as an amalgamation of distorted limbs. He has several limbs sticking out from his body, mostly deformed variants of horses legs while his front two arms, the largest, have long claws. He has two "heads" the first more like a growth on his shoulder revealing a mouth with the inside covered in eyes while his other head resembles that of a horse although it is just an extremely elongated face. He is blind in his right eye.

Location:
From the Nightmare Church Lamp, continue out the door and past the gate. There will be a path continue down this and turn right, right next to the gate. There will be an Eye Collector to the right. At the gate, there will be a skeleton tapping that will drop five Blood Vials. Continue past the Carrion Crows and enter the passage.

Summons:
-Old Hunter Henriett wields the Kirk Hammer and Hunter's Pistol and is located down the stairs from the Nightmare Church Lamp.
-Confederate Younger Madaras Twin is available if the Impurity Rune is equipped. He wields a Hunter Blunderbuss and a Hunter's Ax, equipped with Fire Paper. His Summoning Bell is located in the small passage behind and to the right of the ax-wielding Nightmare Executioner.
-Old Hunter Valtr is available for summoning if he is alive and the Impurity Rune is equipped. He wields a Whirligig Saw. His Summoning Bell is located next to the gate with the banging skeleton.

Special Notes: Valtr and the Madaras Twin can be summoned together but Henriett will cancel out their summons.

Combat:
-Weak to Fire, Serration, and Bolt

Ludwig's Arena is a large cavernous room with a bloody pool as the floor. There are patches of skeletal bodies piled on the floor. There are several nooks to get stuck on along the wall and particularly around the staircase area that leads to a small platform with a body.

First Stage:
Ludwig is considered a beast-type in this stage and will stay on all fours throughout the first half of his health.   He also has one charge attack, one that is heralded by a nose poke (m) that can throw you up in the air before the actual charge attack (h). His shorter range attacks include a spin attack (h) where he will utter a scream as he winds up to the left and then swings his whole body in an arc, and a series of three swipes (m), where he will swipe left to right, drag his hand across the ground, and then swipe again. These can also occur after a bite attack (m). He can also leap into the air and slam down with one hand (h). He can also do a series of retreating swipes (m), where he will back up very quickly and swipe at the ground. He also has one drop attack now, a move very similar to the Cleric Beast, where he drops down almost immediately (h).

Second Stage:
At around seventy five percent health, Ludwig becomes more aggressive and gains a few new attacks. The two Arcane attacks are a spew attack (s), where he spews glowing liquid from his mouth in a wide arc from left to right; the other is one quick spit in your direction (m). He also gains another charge attack (h), which can one shot you where he paws at the ground like a bull and charges. The second drop attack (h) he does is where he will stay on the ceiling and blood will drip down three times before he drops. He can also do a bite flurry (m), where he can do up to seven bites in quick succession. If underneath or behind him too long he will buck twice (h) and then swipe once (m).

Third Stage:
At around fifty percent health, a short cutscene will play and Ludwig will gain the Holy Moonlight Sword along with a very powerful A.O.E. He is now on two legs and will slowly plunge the sword into the ground to signal the A.O.E.(h). He will also do several diagonal slashes if in front of him (m), as well as some long range Arcane swipes (m), that will throw arcs of light at the hunter. There is also a alternate version where he will charge for a bit before releasing one long arc of light (h). He will do a single left slash before following it up with another slash and two smashes (h) as well as a retreating slash-slash smash combo (h), which will be two handed. He can thrust at you (m) as well as do something similar to an A.O.E. on his blade (h), where he will hold the sword in front of his face to charge up before slamming it down. Energy will shoot from the blade towards the ceiling as it lands.

Drops:
-34,500 Blood Echoes
-Holy Moonlight Sword
-Guidance Rune

Tips and Tricks:
-Best weapon choices so far include; Saw Cleaver, Beasthunter Saif, Beastcutter, Whirligig (with lots of stamina), Chikage and Church Pick.
-Wear clothing that protects well against physical and Arcane damage.
-Equipping runes that increase stamina are very very helpful. Make sure to have the Impurity rune equipped if you intend to summon.
-The hardest part of this fight is finding time to heal.
-Summoning Younger Madaras Twin and Master Valtr can be very helpful. Attack for a bit, back away when your stamina is out or you need to heal and let them aggro him. Be careful to watch their health bars, especially Master Valtr's as he will survive longer than the Younger Madaras Twin and attack Ludwig to let them heal as well. Keep in mind that this will increase his health.
-For the first stage, try to roll through his swipes and attack him on the sides. They can be damaged in much the same way as other bosses' legs and it will do massive damage to focus on one side. He does not heal them. Do not go behind him as he will kick out and staying under him will elicit the bucking attack.
-He will do the exact same leaping attack every time you enter the arena so use this guaranteed opportunity to get off a couple of hits.
-Ludwig's head is very vulnerable and is a good place to hit although its also very dangerous as most attacks with an overhead swipe are very slow. This is where you visceral attack for the first stage.
-Dodge to the left to avoid the charge attack as it does track slightly and is very fast. He has the large arm on the right side which makes him a bit wider so left is best.
-The arcane spew doesn't do much damage and is an excellent time to get to his side for a few hits.
-Be aware that if you stay in front of him he will bite or head butt you so always be ready to jump to the side. The bite won't do much damage but the head butt can lead into a charge and inflict serious damage.
-During the bite flurry, dodge into him when he bites the fourth time.
-During the swipe combo, dodge in during the drag attack or right before the final two slashes.
-During his spin attack wait for him to begin it and then dodge into it for a few hits. Alternatively you can hang back and wait for him to do the quick jumping swipe after and dodge through that.
-When he does his prolonged drop attack just run in a straight line.
-For the third stage focus on dodging each Arcane attack individually instead of just spamming.
-Do not get hit by his attack with the burst of energy from the blade. Back off to avoid the initial A.O.E. and then get very close to him again. Wait until he is just about to bring the blade down and dodge to the side. This is another good time to heal up if you have dodged the attack.
-The sword smashes will hit the hardest and just dodge to the side to avoid them. He can only do three of them in a row.
-Be aware that he can change the timing of his swings so if you intend on rolling forward right before he swings he will most likely hesitate and hit you when you are right against him. This can also make it seem like he is finishing a combo when he is actually just waiting for you to come closer for the last hit.
-His A.O.E. has a pretty small diameter but still try to back up as he can attack very quickly after that. This can be a great time to heal up though.
-The Old Hunter Bone is very useful in this fight.
-When visceral attacking in stage two be mindful that the place to hit is his crotch.
-A Cannon can be used, although it's not suggested due to Ludwig's speed at least in the first and second stage of the fight.

Glitches:
-In co-op, Ludwig can die right after the cutscene for the second stage. Link
-If the player dies right as the middle cutscene plays their blood echoes will be lost.

Damage Indicator:
Slight damage (s)
Moderate Damage (m)
Heavy Damage (h)

Stun (st)