All 10 Bosses and How to Beat Each One in Valor Mortis

Lost to General Lothaire in your first Valor Mortis fight? You haven't done anything wrong. That opening meeting is scripted to end in defeat, and the fight that counts comes in Chapter 2. After that, every boss asks something different of you: a clean parry, a well-aimed shot or a calm head in a crowd.

General Lothaire, the Eagle-Bearer

The eagle-standard general who beats you in Chapter 1, then waits for your rematch in Chapter 2. It's the fight where parries, posture breaks and criticals start to make sense.

Where You Fight It

Chapter 2, Valley of Ashes

Phases

2

Hidden Achievement

Torn Banner

Spoiler Warning

-

Attacks to Watch

Sword combinations, long sweeps with his eagle standard, pistol shots and strikes that glow red and can't be blocked. Phase two adds a transformed arm with grabs, plus summoned soldiers.

How to Beat It

Parry his regular strikes in phase one to break his posture, then take the critical. Dodge anything that glows red, keep him burning with the Fire Transmutation, and shoot his glowing weak points with the Pistol. In phase two, dodge his combos and clear the summoned soldiers before they surround you. He takes extra damage from Fire, and beating him pays 10,000 Catalysts.

The Iron Marshall

A heavily armored bruiser in the Fallen Village orchard. Footwork and a well-placed shot win this fight, not a straight trade of hits.

Where You Fight It

Chapter 3, Fallen Village

Phases

-

Hidden Achievement

Ultima Ratio Regum

Spoiler Warning

-

Attacks to Watch

Slow, heavy swings from a big weapon. Each one is readable, but a caught combination can drain a lot of health.

How to Beat It

Stay out of the path of the heavy swings and get behind it. Its large weak point on the back takes heavy damage from the Blunderbuss. Shoot the explosive barrels as it walks toward them, and parry its plain swings to chip its posture.

Sphinx, Devourer of the Unworthy

A two-phase beast whose claws build Stasis, which drains your stamina. Parry the swipes instead of blocking them.

Where You Fight It

Chapter 4, Caverns

Phases

2

Hidden Achievement

Not a Cat Person

Spoiler Warning

-

Attacks to Watch

Claw swipes, purple projectiles that erupt from the ground, an airborne orb that lands as a shockwave, and a leap you can't block. A claw hit or a plain block builds Stasis, which shrinks your stamina. Phase two adds new ranged attacks and exposes a weak point on its face.

How to Beat It

Parry the claw swipes instead of blocking them so Stasis doesn't stack up. Step sideways out of the purple projectiles, shoot the orb out of the air before its shockwave lands, and dodge the leap. In phase two, put Pistol shots into its exposed face.

The Slaughtermill

A corrupted windmill that plays like a puzzle. Accurate shots, timing and platforming matter more than your blade.

Where You Fight It

Chapter 5, Vale of Wrath

Phases

3

Hidden Achievement

Quixotry

Spoiler Warning

-

Attacks to Watch

A giant windmill with spinning blades, a wind-push attack, tentacles, ground spikes, explosive projectiles and a sweep of fire across the arena. It also calls in Carrion to fight alongside it.

How to Beat It

Shoot the glowing weak points that appear around the windmill, and in the last stage destroy the tentacle weak points before the central eye. Use Stasis to stop the spinning gears when they block you, and take cover from the fire sweep behind a raised platform or a Nephtoglobin Formation. This is a shooting fight, not a sword fight.

Anna, The Bride Drowned in Tears

A bride who vanishes under the water and comes back swinging. Her crowd of villagers is half the fight.

Where You Fight It

Chapter 6, Cursed Hollow

Phases

-

Hidden Achievement

My Dying Bride

Spoiler Warning

-

Attacks to Watch

She surfaces from the water with a strike you can't block, then either settles into ordinary combinations or dives and does it again. Villagers join as her health drops.

How to Beat It

Dodge the moment she rises from the water, then hit her while she recovers. Parry her regular combinations. Clear the villagers before they surround you, or go for Anna when you get a safe opening, since defeating her clears the rest of the summoned enemies.

High Justicar Aurelius, Last of the Faithful

A holdout who fights like the Eternal Guardsmen you've already met. If you've learned to parry them, you already know much of his first phase.

Where You Fight It

Chapter 7, The Outskirts

Phases

2

Hidden Achievement

True Oath

Spoiler Warning

-

Attacks to Watch

Sword combinations in the style of the Eternal Guardsmen. In phase two he transforms: a monstrous arm adds follow-up strikes, and a jumping attack can't be blocked.

How to Beat It

Parry his sword combinations and punish the stagger. Keep Fire working on him between exchanges. In phase two, delay your dodge on the jumping attack, and watch the transformed arm for follow-up strikes.

Experiment 83

A monstrous enemy with an unblockable grab and weak points you can shoot. Most of the fight is spotting the grab in time.

Where You Fight It

Chapter 7, The Outskirts

Phases

-

Hidden Achievement

Lament of The Limbs

Spoiler Warning

-

Attacks to Watch

Aggressive melee strikes and an unblockable grab.

How to Beat It

Keep your distance so you can see the grab coming, and dodge sideways when it commits. Counterattack while it finishes the move. Shoot its weak points with a firearm, and circle behind it during the safe damage window.

The Orphan

A two-phase brawl in an arena where the floor can hurt you as much as the boss does.

Where You Fight It

University

Phases

2

Hidden Achievement

Coup de Grâce

Spoiler Warning

Late-story boss

Attacks to Watch

Sword attacks, jumping strikes and a weapon that comes up from the ground, with poison gas vents on the floor in phase one. Phase two adds heavy arm combinations, a large pipe weapon and a poison beam. Some sequences end in a strike you can't block.

How to Beat It

Stay out of the gas vents in phase one and dodge its sword attacks. In phase two, parry the arm combinations, sidestep the poison beam and dodge the unblockable strike.

Captain Raphael of the Nephtis Superioris

A swordsman who also shoots, and who heals if you give him room. Keep the pressure on.

Where You Fight It

Fortress

Phases

-

Hidden Achievement

Behemoth

Spoiler Warning

Late-story boss

Attacks to Watch

Long sword combinations, gunfire, a Stasis shockwave and a powerful sword strike you can't block that shows up when his weapon ignites. He adds attacks as his health drops and can heal himself.

How to Beat It

Learn his sword rhythm and parry it. Dodge sideways when he aims the gun, jump the Stasis shockwave and watch for a second one later, and dodge the strike when his weapon catches fire. Close in when he retreats to reload or heal.

The Entity, Voice of the Void

A teleporting duelist that brings reinforcements. Defense first, damage second.

Where You Fight It

Entropy, entered from the Ancient Lair in the Caverns

Phases

2

Hidden Achievement

In His Own Image

Spoiler Warning

Late-story boss

Attacks to Watch

Long sword combinations, teleports followed by tentacles, ranged attacks and summoned clones. It reuses mechanics from earlier bosses, and in phase two its Claymore strikes hit harder and some can't be blocked.

How to Beat It

Parry its sword combinations to build posture damage and take the critical when it staggers. Dodge the tentacles after it teleports, and kill the summoned clones quickly before they interfere. In phase two, dodge the heavy Claymore strikes.

Spoiler warning: The Orphan, Captain Raphael and The Entity are late-story bosses. The sections below name them and their tactics, so read those parts once you're ready for the late game.

How Parries, Posture and Critical Hits Break Valor Mortis Bosses

Most bosses run on one loop. Parry an attack to drain the boss's posture, and once the posture breaks, you get a critical hit, which hits hard. Poking at a health bar and hoping loses to that plan, so spend the first stretch of a fight learning the rhythm instead of racing it.

Attacks that glow red can't be blocked. Dodge those instead of parrying, and save your parries for the swings you can answer.

Which Valor Mortis Bosses Reward Parries and Which Want a Gun

The sword fights are parry duels at heart. General Lothaire, High Justicar Aurelius, The Orphan, Captain Raphael and The Entity all reward clean parries first, so that's where most of your attention goes.

Three fights are built around weak points instead. The Iron Marshall, the Slaughtermill and Experiment 83 all show you spots worth shooting, and a firearm hit on a weak point does damage and refills the Nephtoglobin that powers your Transmutations. A firearm you trust does most of the work in these three, and the weapons page has several to choose from.

Fire has the clearest payoff. General Lothaire takes extra damage from it, and on High Justicar Aurelius it keeps burning between exchanges.

Boss Fights That Aren't Duels: The Slaughtermill and Anna

The Slaughtermill is a windmill, so the work is shooting, moving and finding cover. Anna pulls villagers into the fight as her health drops, so part of the fight is deciding when to deal with them. Neither one rewards standing still with a sword out.

What to Do at the Lantern Before a Boss Door

Reach the nearest Lantern and spend your Catalysts before you go in. Health, stamina and parry upgrades all come from Catalysts, and a boss arena is the worst place to be carrying a pile of them. Your Ambers are set at a Lantern too, so swap them there if a fight calls for it. If one boss keeps beating you, put upgrade materials into a weapon before the next try.

Mistakes That Cost You a Boss Fight

• Pushing a long combination. A string of swings feels like progress until the boss finishes its own and you're hit mid-animation. Land a hit or two, back off and wait for the next opening.
• Letting the adds pile up. Lothaire's soldiers, Anna's villagers and the Entity's clones all go down quickly, and they're far easier to handle early than when you're surrounded.
• Burning stamina on swings that don't open the boss up. Attacks and dodges both run on stamina, and the Sphinx's Stasis shrinks the bar even further.
• Ignoring the arena. The Iron Marshall's arena has explosive barrels, The Orphan's has poison gas vents, and the Slaughtermill's raised platforms and Nephtoglobin Formations give you cover from its fire sweep. The room is part of the fight.

FAQ