FromSoftware tends to have mediocre final boss fights in the base and go all out with the final boss of their DLC expansions. The same is the case in Bloodborne. Orphan of Kos is by far the hardest boss you’ll come across in Bloodborne or maybe any other From’s game you might play.
This boss’s dreadful design and ferocity are incomparable to the rest of the baddies in the game and sit so well with the game’s theme. Luckily, there are some clever ways to send this orphan back to the cosmic foster home.
Fighting Orphan Of Kos
When you enter the arena, you will see a giant dead slug in the middle. A cutscene will play and the boss will crawl out of the slug’s womb, dripping with stomach juices and a giant placenta stuck to his hand that he uses as a yoyo type of weapon. The sight of this boss and its weapons will surely induce a gag reflex.
As for fighting him, he is an aggressive AF boss and a wide moveset to boot that feisty nature. He likes to throw his weapon at you and retract it, charges at you constantly, keeps the pressure nonstop, has AOE explosion attacks, and has a projectile attack that he uses at range. He also has a lunge attack which can be easily exploited (more on this later).
When his health is at the halfway point, he bites his weapons causing a blinding explosion, transforming into his second phase. He grows in size and sprouts out wings (that are useless, thank god!), and his insanity goes unhinged.
He goes completely berserk at this point, wielding his weapon with both hands and taking every chance he gets to crush you with it. His moves are highly unpredictable and keeping up with him gets that much harder.
To top it off, he gets a ton of new attacks where he jumps in the air to throw explosive blood at you, calls lightning from the cosmos, and new combos that are disastrous to your health if caught in it.
Here are some tips you can use when facing Orphan Of Kos in Bloodborne:
- He has no apparent weakness to exploit.
- Sticking to his left side, your right, will negate some of his attacks but it’s still quite hard.
- He can be parried in both phases.
- Fighting him in the water is recommended as there are no obstructions to get stuck in.
- Top up your HP at all times, especially in phase two. His long hard-hitting combos might end you without you realizing it.
- Any item or Rune that boosts your Stamina regeneration is a godsend. You need to be quick on your feet during this battle and a fast recovering stamina will help you achieve that lightfootedness.
Phase 1
In the first phase of the fight, you have to keep the boss at a distance and bait him to perform a particular attack to exploit it. He has only three attacks when you keep him at bay.
He will either throw a projectile at you, which you can sidestep easily, or he’ll go for two different melee attacks. One is where he tries to rush in and serve a two-hit uppercut attack, you must dodge that backward.
The one we are looking for is the forward leaping attack where he jumps straight at you to deal a devastating blow. All you have to do is when he goes airborne, simply walk/run a little toward him. He will completely miss you and land behind. Immediately turn around and deal a charged heavy R2 attack on his back.
Doing so will drop him to the ground and you can move in for a Visceral Attack. As he recovers from it attack him once or twice and back off and distance yourself again. Keep repeating this process and wait for the leaping attack and exploit it each time. The first phase will be over in a few successful Visceral Attacks.
The other strategy will lock him in place. This will kill the boss without him transitioning to the second phase.
While he is going for the Charged Spinning Attack or Overhead Slam, start shooting your gun when he begins his attack animation. As soon as he is parried, do not perform a Visceral Attack, instead hit him twice with your weapon and let him recover.
When he recovers he will go for a melee attack that you can parry again. Attack him twice and avoid Visceral Attacking him. If things go according to plan, he will be stuck in this same attack pattern. Performing the same attack that you parry and hit twice and parry again.
He won’t transition to phase two if you keep this up and die a sad little boy.
Moveset
Here are all the attacks you have to look out for in the first phase of the fight:
- Charged Spinning Attack: After a bit of a wind-up, he will perform two circular overhead strikes. Can change up the attack if you are close.
- Reaction: Parry this attack to lock him in place.
- Uppercut Swing: Slams the weapon down and then swings it upwards which lands behind him.
- Reaction: Dodge to the left of him.
- Overhead Slam: Raises his weapon with both hands and slams it after a three-second delay. There is a small AOE afterward.
- Reaction: Parry this attack to lock him in place.
- Delayed Mine: Pulls out a bomb from his weapon and plants it in the ground. It explodes after some time.
- Reaction: Avoid walking near it at all costs.
- Projectile: Pulls out a ball from his weapons and throws it at you.
- Reaction: Dodge to the side right before the ball reaches you.
- Reposition: Jumps backward and slams his weapon into the ground, usually done to back away from you. He can follow up this attack with any of the previous attacks.
- Reaction: Stay back and don’t rush him while he does this attack.
- Forward Leaping Attack: Jumps towards you and tries to land a hit.
- Reaction: Walk slowly towards him while he goes airborne and watch him fly over your head. Attack his back with a charged heavy attack as soon as he lands.
Phase 2
If you go with the second strategy mentioned before, you need not worry about this phase. However, if you use the first strategy, he will transition and you will have to fight him properly. There are no exploits in this phase; you can still stagger and parry him, but it is much harder to pull off.
What you should do is stick close to him or better yet behind him. Distancing yourself from him will only force him to use projectile and explosion attacks that are very hard to dodge. His melee attacks are relatively easier to predict and react to.
Many of his attacks have long animations and you can use this time to move behind him and ham on him while he is busy. He will constantly try to create some distance and throw his explosive ball at you so you must dodge them and move close to him ASAP.
Make sure to take advantage of his recovery windows. Whenever he goes on his long combos, he will take his sweet time to recover from it. This is your time to really lay into him.
When he does the lightning attack, it’s easier to just get some distance and then walk in the gaps between the waves.
The second phase is extremely hard due to the unpredictability of his attack. With enough practice, you’ll know when to attack and when to withdraw.
Moveset
Here are all the attacks you have to look out for in the second phase of the fight against the Orphan of Kos in Bloodborne:
- Leaping Charge Attack: This time he will run toward you and perform a leaping forward attack as before but follow it up with three slams while turning toward you.
- Reaction: His turning radius is limited so outmaneuver it. You can walk underneath the leap as before and run away if you want to avoid confronting this deadly attack.
- Projectile: Throws three projectiles in a fan-like pattern in front of him which explodes on impact.
- Reaction: Back off out of the range of the explosion.
- Shockwave: Charged his weapon and slammed it into the ground causing a huge shockwave.
- Reaction: Only the attack hurts not the shockwave. It only knocks you over. Run away to avoid it completely.
- Bombing Run: He will remain airborne for a while and throw multiple exploding projectiles near your location. It can be random or on target. He slams down on you afterward.
- Reaction: Dodge away when you see the bomb coming your way. Dodge again after the explosions are done to avoid getting crushed by the slam.
- Lightning Strike: Scream followed by a lightning strike on the body of the mother where he crawled out. The lightning then travels on the ground in a + and x pattern.
- Reaction: Back away as soon as starts screaming. Spot the gaps in between the lightning waves and stand there.
Rewards for Defeating Orphan Of Kos
Once the Nightmare is Slain, you’ll receive 60,000 Blood Echoes along with the unusual Kos Parasite weapon.
You must equip the Milkweed Rune to your Rune slot to fully unlock this weapon’s potential. It will transform you into a Lumenwood and greatly enhances the weapon’s moveset, range, and damage output.