Gehrman, The First Hunter is potentially the final domino you have to tip over to end Bloodborne. If you have not noticed the trend already then let us tell you that the final bosses in any FromSoftware games are terror-inducing monsters. You will need to squeeze out every ounce of souls experience you have to take this one down.
There is a good chance that your first try will end rather quickly, leaving you perplexed and wondering what just happened. Don’t let your resolve waver just yet because, with the help of this guide and a couple more tries, the hunter will become the prey.
Fighting Gehrman, The First Hunter
The fight against Gehrman, The First Hunter in Bloodborne is going to test every bit of skill you have. Being the final foe, he is packed to the brim with attacks that deal ungodly amounts of damage and unpredictable movements that are nearly impossible to track.
The cherry on top is the weapons he uses throughout the fight. Star of the show is the Burial Blade. It is said that this weapon is his own invention.
Under normal conditions, this looks like a Scythe but when he wants to be a bit more aggressive, he will take off the handle and use it as a sword. This gives him the upper hand in both medium and short-range attacks.
Gehrman will also utilize his handy pistol or Blunderbuss to shoot you and possibly stun you. As soon as the fight starts, he will come at you with all his might, and as the fight progresses, his movements will become more aggressive, and there will be an addition to his already vast arsenal of attacks.
All of this might seem daunting but if you learn about the movements and mix them with the following tips about Gehrman, he too will fall like every other boss in Bloodborne:
- Stock up on Blood Vials and keep your HP topped up all the time.
- In our experience, a combination of a pistol and some other weapon works best. Shoot Gehrman to stun him and follow it up with your other weapon and deal tons of damage. Visceral Attacks are the fastest way to end him.
- You can only stun him during the first phase of the fight and he becomes resistant to stuns during the second phase.
- All of his attacks are designed to catch you when you are trying to run away. So instead of rolling backward to dodge the attack, roll forward.
- Being aggressive gets you killed; instead, focus on avoiding taking hits.
Phase 1
Calling the first phase of the fight easy is a completely wrong statement. Instead, we can say that this phase is significantly easier than what is going to come next. As the battle initiates, spend the first couple of minutes, learning about the do’s and don’ts.
Pretty quickly you will find the gaps where you can run forward and attack. Start by exploiting those. When Gehrman two-hands his Burial Blade, there is a small pause after he performs either a heavy attack or a combo. That’s when you have to run, land 2 or 3 hits, and then immediately fall back.
The next step is going to be Visceral Attacks. Use your gun to stun him. It will take a couple of tries to learn when is the right moment to stun him. In general, most of his attacks are parriable and if you catch him during the initial moments, he will get stunned.
If you are using a heavy weapon, we suggest you one-hand it and be more aggressive when he is stunned. There might be a trade-off in damage output but it is much better than getting your attacks dodged.
Stun, attack, fall back, and repeat. This strategy is going to get you through the first phase of the fight.
Moveset
- Scythe Charge: Gehrman will pull back his Scythe and charge at you while doing two swipes. The attack is not linear and he will follow you if you dodge.
- Reaction: Either shoot him with your gun to parry the attack. This will stun him and give you a chance to attack. If you cannot get the timings right, you will have to dodge and we suggest rolling forward.
- Scythe Leap: For this attack, he will start running in your direction while swinging his weapon like a madman.
- Reaction: This one is harder to parry or block so the best course of action is to roll to either side to dodge.
- Gun Blast: The First Hunter wields a gun in his off and will whip it out often to catch you off guard and stun you.
- Reaction: This can be dodged by predicting and rolling at the right time.
- Sword Flurry: He will turn his scythe into a sword and run towards you while swinging his sword quickly. This attack is usually part of a combo.
- Reaction: Can be parried or dodged by rolling forward.
Phase 2
This is where things start to get real. The second phase will start when you manage to drop the final boss in Bloodborne, Gehrman, The First Hunter down to 50% of his health. Suddenly, all of his moments will become significantly aggressive. He will no longer dodge but rather teleport from one spot to another.
Out of all the changes, the most dangerous one is the AoE attack. He will charge for a couple of seconds then let out a blast so vicious, it can insta-kill you if you are close. Even at the outskirts of the blast radius, you will take heavy damage. It is best to run as far away as possible when you see him charging.
If you have any ranged attacks that can damage him, you can use them now because he will be immobile while charging and you can cash this opportunity. You can also delay this attack by running up to him and continuously attacking him while he is charging. This is a gamble because if you are not able to run fast enough after attacking, you are as good as dead.
You can no longer stun him during this phase. The best approach is to slowly and steadily chip away at its health. Land a few hits when you find him recovering from a combo and then run away instantly. He can also do some flying attacks.
He will momentarily rise in the air and generate powerful wind blasts that deal damage upon contact. At this moment, instead of rolling to either side, roll forward the moment he leaps down. This way, you will come up behind him when he lands and you can easily land a couple of hits.
The rest of the battle will consist of mostly dodging, and in between, you can land a max of two hits before you have to run away again. The progress will be slow but surely you will slay this hunter once and for all.
Moveset
- Wind Gust: Gehrman will fly in the air and use his Scythe to create wind blasts.
- Reaction: Roll forward multiple times to avoid them.
- Scythe Pull: He will raise his weapon and slowly pull you towards him. This is followed by a powerful slash at the end.
- Reaction: Roll to either side to avoid the attack.
- End of Nightmare: He will stand at one spot and gather energy. Once he has enough, he will let out a blast of energy, instantly killing anyone that gets caught.
- Reaction: RUN AWAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE!
How to Cheese Gehrman, The First Hunter in Bloodborne
There is no particular way of cheesing Gehrman. Instead, there are certain tricks to make it easier. The one that stands out the most is as follows:
Once the fight starts and you go past the gate, don’t go too far ahead in the arena. Just enough that Gehrman walks towards you. Lure him to near the entrance and once his back is agast the gate, start smacking him with attacks.
His back will be up against the wall and he will have nowhere to dodge. Back up just enough to avoid his attacks and then come at him again with all your might when the opportunity presents itself. You can keep pushing him into the wall. This makes the fight easier by a lot.
Rewards For Defeating Gehrman The First Hunter
Hunting the hunter, Gehrman, The First Hunter will net you 128,000 Blood Echoes and the Old Hunter Badge.
“A hunter must hunt”. That’s what Gehrman used to say until he got slayed by you, hopefully. This was everything from our side about how you can beat Gehrman The First Hunter in Bloodborne.