The Witch of Hemwick is arguably the most pathetic boss in Bloodborne or even all of Soulsborne series. This boss is completely optional and we would have skimmed over her if she wasn’t hiding one of the more important items in the game.
With the help of this guide, you will breeze through this already uncomplicated and optional boss fight in Bloodborne.
Fighting Witch of Hemwick
The Witch of Hemwick shouldn’t even be considered the boss when placed against the real horrors of Bloodborne. It’s not even a direct fight since her minions do all her dirty work for her.
Additionally, despite what the name suggests, there are two witches in the arena and only one boss health bar active. The other’s health bar is separate and remains hidden. It only becomes visible after you have defeated the first one.
She sits in the corners of the arena, camouflaged, summoning Mad Ones to take you out. If you kill them, she’ll continue to spawn them infinitely so it is best to leave them be.
You only have to run around the arena and try to spot and attack her. She’ll teleport to other areas for you to resume the game of hide and seek. Keep up this dumb game of cat and mouse chase and the fight will be over before you know it.
Here are some tips you can use when facing the Witch of Hemwick in Bloodborne:
- Only one Witch attacks you when you come close to her. It is the one with the visible health bar. The other one just takes the punishment and vanishes.
- It might seem like you are not dealing any damage to the boss as reflected by no change in the boss’s health bar. This is because you are hurting the second hidden health bar witch.
- One witch will revive the other if you take too long to defeat them. Best to take turns and deal damage to both of them.
- More Mad Ones will start spawning as you deal damage to the boss.
- She/They are weak to almost every kind of damage type other than Bolt.
- If you have 0 Insight, Mad Ones won’t even spawn during the fight.
Boss Strategy
As soon as the fight commences, ignore the Mad One and start to locate the Witch. To spot the Witch, look for a red aura in the arena, usually in the corners or on top of the platform in the middle. As soon as you reach the location, the witch will reveal herself. Repeat the spotting process once she teleports.
To make this fight even more trivial, hit her with a charged R2 attack and perform a Visceral Attack when you get the window. When she starts recovering from the massive attack continue to attack her with the charged R2 attack even when she tries to teleport.
If you do it right in time, she will be staggered again, leading to another Visceral Attack. This way she won’t be able to dot around the arena and die without any breaks.
Do the same with the next witch. Watch out for the Mad Ones closing in on you, as their interference can ruin this sweet strategy.
There is nothing more to this fight than the continuous chase of this extremely wimpy hag.
Moveset
Here are all the attacks you have to look out for:
- Stab/Slash: When you get close to her, the witch will try to chain a couple of stabs from her dagger. This attack can catch you off guard and might even kill you.
- Reaction: Roll to the side and let the attack animation play out. Attack her once she is done.
- Binding Spell: She will send an orb that holds you in place for a few seconds. She can then either stab you or let the Mad Ones finish the job.
- Reaction: Start mashing all the buttons to get out of this trap if you are stuck. Dodge right before it’s about to land to bypass the spell.
Rewards for Defeating Witch of Hemwick
Defeating The Witch of Hemwick in Bloodborne will reward you with 11,800 Blood Echoes and 4x Bloodshot Eyeball, an ingredient for creating Chalice Dungeons. Opening the door at the back of the arena will lead you to the Rune Worksop Tool.
This item is used to equip Caryll Runes to your character from the main altar in the shack in Hunter’s Dream.