Bloodborne Guide – Byrgenwerth, Arcane Lake Rune, Rom, the Vacuous Spider Boss Fight

How to find the Lunarium Key, Student Uniform and beat Rom, the Vacuous Spider in Bloodborne for PS4.

Byrgenwerth

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Continue walking down this hill and you’ll fight another Tree Mutant, the same creature you encountered following the Shadow of Yharnam boss fight.  Kill this monster, look left and walk in the same direction.

This area appears to be Tree Mutant central. When dealing with these adversaries, you should never let them jump on your hunter, otherwise he or she will go crazy and croak. Wait until a Tree Mutant jumps in your direction, dodge out of the way and then go on the attack as soon as the creature hits the ground. Similar to other enemies in Bloodborne, the faster you swing your hunter’s weapon, the more attacks you’ll be able to land without having to back away and repeat the process.

Push forward and you will enter a wide open place. You’ll see a Tree Mutant all the way left and another one of these baddies to the right on some steps.  Go up these steps and proceed forward up another bunch of steps. You should be able to stealthily creep behind the Infected and unleash a critical strike.  Now head over to the body near the wall and pick up the Arcane Lake rune. This items allows for seven percent reduction from arcane damage.  Now turn around and go back down those steps so you’re in the below area on the left.

Go forward and down the next staircase, then go right but exercise caution.  Look at the left wall and you’ll see an item. As you approach two Tree Mutants suddenly appear.  We found it difficult to fight these enemies one at a time, though running backwards gave us additional room to move.

Kill the Tree Mutants and then go over to the body near the railing. Pick up the Madman’s Knowledge and then look ahead to see a Giant Insect Mutant, one of the more difficult creatures you’re about to face.  From range they unleash two fireballs that will eliminate roughly half of your health bar.  From up close they attempt to grab your hunter or slice him.  Ideally you should stay as close as possible, get behind these adversaries and begin attacking. This can be problematic because the Giant Insect Mutant will attempt to move around to see your character, but at least on the positive side, it cannot strike back unless you’re in front or to the side.  Bloodborne tip, stunning a Giant Insect Mutant is difficult and not worth the effort.

Stomp the bug creature into oblivion and look at the stairs. Now turn around and go left to find a body holding Great One’s Wisdom, which lets your Hunter gain some Insight.  From here, go to the furthest end of the area to tangle with a Tree Mutant. Dispose of it and then pick up five Sedatives from a nearby dead person; these items cure frenzy, which comes in handy if you take damage from a Tree Mutant’s jumping attack.

From here, turn around and go left into a new area.  Interact with the lever near the gate and you’ll unlock a shortcut.  Now go into the door on the right and you’ll see some steps and a Hunter.  When the Hunter notices your character, go all the way down the steps so you have even more space to maneuver.  Conversely, you have a chance to make this enemy fit through one of the narrow areas at the top. If that happens, attack until your hunter almost runs out of stamina, then dodge to avoid her attacks and repeat the process.  You should be able to kill her before she has a chance to exit this location.

During this battle, the hunter attempts to hit you with a Threaded Cane, a weird mist that temporarily stuns your character and a tentacle attack.  The Hunter’s primary strike, though, is a light beam attack.  When you see these rays of light moving in your direction, quickly dodge out of harm’s way a few times. You need to get the timing down, because dodging prematurely is a bad idea. Should she attempt a three-hit attack with her blade, wait patiently for the last attack before you strike back.

When she’s finally dead, walk to the entrance and you’ll see a chest that contains a Pearl Slug, a ritual item for the Holy Chalice.  Now walk in the other direction and open the door for another shortcut. Go up the steps and turn right to find a chest containing Student Trousers and a Student Uniform.  Then walk over to the couch and read the note.

If you go to the other side of this room you’ll see a bookshelf and find another note. Now circle around and climb the ladder.  Look left and take the Lunarium Key. Now walk up more steps and you’ll see a Tree Mutant. Upon killing this creature, remove the Empty Phantasm Shell from the chest. This item allows you to infuse weapons with arcane power.

With the Lunarium Key in your hunter’s inventory, run up to the second floor and unlock the door. From here, go back down the steps to open the door on the other side.  Speak to the NPC sitting in the chair and this person will point to a balcony. Safely drop down from the left and you’ll wind up in Moonside Lake.  We hope you don’t suffer from arachnophobia, because it’s time to encounter Rom, the Vacuous Spider.

Boss Fight with Rom, the Vacuous Spider

  • Beat Rom, the Vacuous Spider to receive Kin Coldblood.

This boss is easy or extremely complicated depending on how you approach the battle.  Follow our advice and we’ll help you quickly and efficiently kill this creepy crawler.

At first you’ll see Rom, the Vacuous Spider lying in wait.  If you go to strike this creature, multiple spiders show up to protect Rom.  They’re both tough and kind of a waste to kill.  In fact, you can ignore these creatures and go after Rom by pressing the Circle button to run.

Should these spiders get in your way, they will use their legs to unleash a bunch of attacks. These include a spitting attack, a standard-looking jumping strike and then another leap that deals significant damage. That last one is by far the worst, so avoid it as much as possible.

Despite multiple baddies clogging the screen, Rom is your primary focus. Approach the king spider (or is it queen?) and do not lock onto the boss. Approach the side and you’ll notice Rom has no armor there. Attack this area without mercy. You’ll also achieve success hitting Rom from behind, as you would with other monsters in Bloodborne. Striking Rom’s head is unwise.

Don’t get too carried away attacking Rom. In many cases you will only pull off two successful attacks before having to dodge out of harm’s way; remember, there are other spiders to be aware of.  The location of Rom’s minions will determine how many attacks you’re able to land.

After dealing a certain amount of damage to the boss, Rom glows white and then vanishes.  When you see this white light, hit Rom as much as possible because you will score a huge amount of damage. After Rom gives you the slip, avoid his loyal subjects and pan the camera to find the boss again.

Each time Rom vanishes more spiders join the fight. On top of that, when Rom reappears the first time he goes on the offensive. If you see Rom roll over so he’s on his back, run away as far as possible because boulders suddenly erupt from this location and go into the sky; weird attack for a spider, but OK.

Of equal importance, if Rom looks up at the sky, these boulders are on their way down.  Get away from the spider boss and then dodge in the opposite direction to avoid the boulders.  Granted, you can dodge wherever you want and still come away unscathed, but we feel opposite Rom is the best strategy. There’s a good chance that Rom will attempt consecutive boulder attacks, and you just want to be in the area to attack when you see an opening.

To make matters worse, a blue light will appear over Rom.  Back away as much as possible to avoid getting hit by this ensuing attack, otherwise it may kill you depending on your hunter’s health.

By now, after you’ve seen these attacks, approaching Rom causes the spider to freak out and swing around. Get in close so he initiates this attack and then immediately escape, but remain close.  You want to be nearby because when Rom stops you have a few seconds to run up and deal multiple strikes, again depending on the location of those bothersome spider minions. Even if you manage one hit you’re in good shape.  No need to be overly aggressive. Your goal is to manage your health and take care of Rom without having to restart the battle.  Since Rom cannot heal, every landed attack is a good one, and when you finally kill this boss, the spider body guards are no longer a threat.

With Rom, the Vacuous Spider soundly beaten, walk up to the woman in white and you’ll view a cinematic.  The game will then inform you that a ritual secret is no more and your new goal is to look for the nightmare newborn.

From here, you wind up close to Unseen Village.  You’ll see some steps but you want to go in the other direction. Walk through the entrance and do whatever it takes to avoid the portal.  Walk down the steps directly ahead of your character and you will be inside Yahar’gul, Unseen Village.

Yahar’gul, Unseen Village

Start off by disposing of the two Henchmen and taking the first steps. Now immediately turn around and you’ll discover a body with Frenzied Coldblood.  With the item collected, continue traveling down the steps and interact with the Yahar’gul, Unseen Village lamp.

Head back to Prima’s free Bloodborne walkthrough for tips and tricks for beating every boss. When ready, move on to part 8, where we provide tips on how to beat The One Reborn and Darkbeast Paarl.


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Prima Games Staff
The staff at Prima Games.