Watch the brief cinematic introducing you to the world of Bloodborne and choose your hunter’s attributes. Your character’s gender, age and overall appearance have no bearing on the game, but give some thought to which origin you think is best, since it has a direct impact on the abilities you begin the adventure with.
| Starting Attributes in Bloodborne | ||||||||
| Origin | Level | Blood Echoes | Vitality | Endurance | Strength | Skill | Bloodtinge | Arcane |
| Milquetoast | 10 | 300 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Lone Survivor | 10 | 420 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 7 |
| Troubled Childhood | 10 | 360 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 9 |
| Violent Past | 10 | 180 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 7 |
| Professional | 10 | 240 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 8 |
| Military Veteran | 10 | 320 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 6 |
| Noble Scion | 10 | 540 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 9 |
| Cruel Fate | 10 | 500 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 14 |
| Waste of Skin | 4 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
After you wake up from that creepy dream, look to your right to find a note resting on a chair. Upon reading it, you must go in search of paleblood to begin the first hunt. You cannot open the door all the way to the right, so instead exit the door on the left and walk down the stairs.
In the next room, search for two notes laying on the ground. These function as a Bloodborne tutorial of sorts, teaching you the game’s most basic controls. From there, travel to the next room and prepare to battle your first Nether Beast. He’s tough to kill, and you can run past the creature up the stairs if you prefer to take the easy route; don’t worry, the Nether Beast won’t follow you as long as you don’t stop at all and open the door as quickly as possible. However, since this is Bloodborne and you are a virtual badass, it’s time to kill the monster.
Get within range so the Nether Beast goes on the offensive and then quickly move to the opposite end of the room. Best case scenario, the creature needs to stand up tall and attempt a lunging attack. Dodge this strike, quickly run behind the Nether Beast and hit it with a Charge Attack by pressing the R2 button on the DualShock 4 controller. If done correctly you will stun your adversary, providing the opportunity to slay the beast by mashing the R1 button. Should you miss or fail to react quickly enough, start over from step one, the enemy’s lunge attack.
With the Nether Beast dead, walk to the next available room to find additional notes that will help you master the controls in Bloodborne. You’ll also find a corpse in the corner to the left. Search the deceased and you’ll receive two Blood Vials. Now that you have some loot in your pockets, walk up the stairs to discover yet another corpse. Search the dearly departed and you’ll score 10 Quicksilver Bullets that will do doubt come in handy. Now that you have everything there is to grab, proceed through a gate on the left to access Central Yharnam.
As they say in pro wrestling, business is about to pick up!
Central Yharnam
By the looks of this place, property values are in the toilet! For starters, you’ll see a scary Walking Henchman on the right, but don’t attack it yet. Instead, walk down the stairs and loot the dead guy to acquire four Blood Vials. Now let the Walking Henchman know you’re here and return to the courtyard you initially stepped into. Reason being, all of this wide open space gives you room to dodge.
The Henchman looks tough but goes down easily. Move like a butterfly to dodge his strikes and then sting like a bee with a flurry of hits, but don’t overdo it. Towards the end of your combo, retreat to avoid taking damage from your much angrier adversary; he gets a little too pokey with his weapon. Repeat the process until he becomes your newest victim.
Go to where you first saw the Walking Henchman and make note of the locked door on the right. If you travel left, you’ll see a crude device that lets you access a ladder. Use this object to do that, then loot the body behind it to add two more Blood Vials to the hunter’s inventory. Do not climb the ladder yet. For now, go left and you’ll discover a couple of Agile Henchmen. Time to rumble!
Your first thought may involve slaying both of these guys at the same time, but take the smarter approach by once again returning to the courtyard where you destroyed the Walking Henchman. Why? Doing this separates the two enemies, allowing you to kill them individually. Kill one and then go after the second. When he’s deceased, check the left corner of the area to find a dead guy rotting behind a wooden coffin. Smash through this coffin and loot the corpse to receive six Molotov Cocktails. If these things are as effective as the ones from Dying Light, they will instantly become the go-to item for crowd control.
Now you can climb that ladder you summoned earlier. Activate the Central Yharnam lamp to gain access to Hunter’s Dream.
Hunter’s Dream
When you first enter this area, immediately walk up the stairs and take the items from those weird-looking messengers; oddly enough, these creatures want to help. They start by letting you choose a weapon from a list of three that include the following: Threaded Cane, Saw Cleaver and Hunter Axe. The Threaded Cane is somewhat difficult to wield, so leave it alone and consider the next two. Most players will probably choose the Saw Cleaver. It does the job, but don’t sleep on the Hunter Axe. Although it takes longer to swing, it deals the most damage.
Since the messengers are in such a giving mood, select a firearm that lets you momentarily stun enemies with a cool secondary attack. You have a choice between the Hunter Blunderbuss and the Hunter Pistol. The former is by far the most durable but doesn’t hurt enemies nearly as much, while the latter is simpler to use.
As for the third and final messenger gift, it’s a notebook that brings Demons Souls to mind, since it allows you to communicate with other gamers via notes you leave behind. This is all dependent on whether or not you wish to take part in Bloodborne’s online feature.
Now that you have the essentials, pause the game and then equip the melee and ranged weapons in their appropriate arms slots. Place the cutting tool in the first slot to the left and the firearm in the third location. In addition, now is a great time to equip those Molotov Cocktails in the Quick Items section along the bottom of the screen.
Continue walking up those stairs to find a house. This place serves multiple functions, allowing to repair and upgrade weapons, put away items for later use and access features that for now are unavailable. To the side you’ll see a doll left of those stairs, but you cannot interact with it for now. Look left of this doll to see a path. Wander down this path to meet a Bath Messenger. He’ll let you buy and sell things, but you need more Blood Echoes, so note his location for later use.
OK, it’s time to head out of here. Go back to where you originally appeared, then interact with the Yharnam Headstone to visit 1st Floor Sickroom.
Central Yharnam
Go up some stairs and access the door to meet losefka. When you finish talking your character will walk away with losefka’s Blood Vial. Now it’s a matter of choice. Access the Hunter’s Dream to choose Central Yharnam, or return to where you came from. Remember, enemies in Bloodborne respawn following Hunter’s Dream. Thankfully, these low-level foes don’t stand a chance against you.
Upon arriving at Central Yharnam, you’ll see a red lantern and window to the left. Approach this window and have a chat with Gilbert, and he’ll hand you a new weapon called the Flamesprayer. Now walk right and down some stairs. Loot the corpse to find eight Pebbles, which are great to distract and separate enemies with. With those acquired, continue walking right along the path. Near the end of the bridge an Agile Henchman attempts to slow you down. Just keep moving right down another staircase.
Round the corner to face a Shielded Henchman and an Agile Henchman. Kill these guys in short order and continue traveling down the stairs on the right side of the map. Make note of the Henchmen patrols shambling about, as well as the Henchman standing near the carriage on the right. Go left and you’ll have to face the Henchmen Patrol. Past them are a bunch of crates on the left. Avoid the fire.
A few button presses are all it takes to smash through those crates, but beware the Hooded Bruiser. This is the toughest enemy you’ve faced to this point, and he requires multiple hits to kill. The best way to make him dead is to trick the monster into wandering down the main pathway, dodge his attack and then counter with a Charged Attack of your own. Providing you pull off this maneuver to his back, the Bruiser will be temporarily dazed, giving you the opportunity to unleash hell. Repeat the process until he’s down, then rummage through his body for one Tempering Blood Gemstone; used in upgrading weapons.
Travel in the opposite direction, dispose of any Henchmen Patrols that get in your way and walk up some stairs near the carriage to score four Molotov Cocktails that are somewhat hidden behind a well. From there, proceed to the lower area where you encountered the Henchman taking a seat. When you walk up these stairs immediately head left and then right up another flight of steps. There’s a body, but be very mindful of your surroundings because there’s another Henchman around the corner on the right. He wants you to carelessly run towards the corpse so he can get in a cheap hit. Kill him and then focus your attention on the corpse, which contains one Blood Stone Shard; use this to upgrade your hunter’s weapons.
Go back down the staircase and turn right; there’s another Henchman. Travel along this path but remain on the top level. You’ll see a staircase a bit to the left that will take you to that lower level, but several Henchmen are down there. First, at the level you’re on, rummage through the body on the right for five Quicksilver Bullets.
OK, now it’s cool to access the lower level. Eventually you’ll see a bonfire and you better get ready to fight. Multiple enemies are here, including a Hound and Henchmen on a higher area armed with ranged weapons. If you want to push the odds in your favor, do your best to avoid the Henchmen’s lines of sight. The last thing you need right now is to battle a Hound while dodging projectiles.
Slaughter everyone in this area and search a corpse near a huge door to find two Blood Vials. Go to the higher area right of that bonfire, murder two additional baddies and take a Coldblood Dew from a body to receive 350 Blood Echoes. Continue walking this way to find yet another corpse, this one containing two Blood Vials.
Walk into the tunnel and when you exit, turn left and smash through the debris blocking your way. There’s a corpse holding a Blood Stone Shard behind the rubble. Travel all the way to the end of this path and take the stairs on the right. Go left and three Crazed Crows will attempt to pick you to death. Thankfully they chill out for a bit, granting you an opening to slay these infected birds. You’ll now see three coffins. Splinter these caskets to discover a body and collect the two Oil Urns. It’s cool. He doesn’t need them anymore.
From here, explore the area until you come to the Brick Brute, a large monster hammering the gate with, well, a brick. Similar to other enemies in Bloodborne, trick him into attacking and then dodge. From there, attack him from behind or on one side via Charge Attack. Repeat until he’s down, then check the area around the large door to find bodies holding a Torch and four Molotov Cocktails.
While facing these corpses, turn around and then take the stairs on the right. You’ll see monsters near a second staircase but leave them alone. Instead, walk to the gate all the way on the right. There’s a corpse right in front of this gate with a Coldblood Dew. Collect that and take the aforementioned second staircase. There are both Hounds and armed Henchmen, so be on guard. We suggest dealing with the Hounds and saving the Henchmen for later.
While in this area, go to the bench on the far left to discover a body with six Blood Vials. Now take the staircase on the farthest side to access a bridge. There are two Nether Beasts on the right. Battling two at a time is not a great idea, so hit the nearest one with a Molotov. This will not only piss off the monster but trick it into leaving its buddy. Avoid taking the stairs, since you won’t have much room to avoid the creature.
With both enemies down, look right for a body with a Blood Stone Shard. Directly across from the staircase you just took is another one. Go up these stairs and bust apart the items in the way to find a corpse with a Blood Stone Shard. Now walk in the opposite direction to find a body with 10 Pebbles. Should you break apart the debris at the end of this path, you’ll find one more Blood Stone Shard.
Return to where those two Nether Beasts were and explore the route. Continue straight and you’ll kick off the boss fight with the Cleric Beast, but you don’t want to meet this dude yet. Instead, walk down the next staircase on the left and kill all of the Henchmen, especially the ones in the dark room. Snoop and you’ll take a Coldblood Dew off a dead person. If you have difficulty seeing, use the Torch.
There are stairs by this room, and you’ll want to go down and kill the Henchman at the bottom. This also marks your first encounter with a Wheelchair Blunder, a crotchety old man with a firearm. Attack without hesitation and look for a corpse with two Pungent Blood Cocktails; these let you attract monsters. Finally, look at the cabinet to find a note.
Opposite the stairs is a door. Open it and walk up the staircase. After killing the enemy and reaching the top, there’s a body with a Blood Stone Shard. Now take more stairs and open the gate. This brings you back to the lamp that when interacted with can take you to Hunter’s Dream; congrats, you unlocked a shortcut.
It’s time to square off against the Cleric Beast! Return to the bridge we steered you away from. You’ll need to get through some Crazed Crows and a Brick Brute. Time for a well-thrown Molotov Cocktail! With all or at least some of the enemies weakened, go in for the kill, but don’t get too confident. This next opponent may put your Bloodborne skills to the test.
Boss Fight with the Cleric Beast
- Beat the Cleric Beast to receive a Sword Hunter Badge
This guy is big, mean and ugly, but you’ll have little trouble laying the smack down if you follow these tips. This may sound crazy, but run towards the Cleric Beast and hang around the monster until if brings its arm back to prep for an attack. That’s your cue to step behind the creature and hit it with a strike of your own. In fact, remaining behind the Cleric Beast is the best possible thing you can do because you won’t be susceptible to its strongest attacks. When your adversary turns around, follow these exact steps and hit it from behind yet again.
Should you put a little distance between your hunter and the Cleric Beast, beware of its jumping attack. If you’ve played lots of video games you’ve no doubt seen this before. The monster leaps into the air and somehow lands exactly where you’re standing. We strongly suggest waiting a bit while it’s airborne and then start side-stepping around the map to avoid getting crushed. Dodge prematurely and it will flatten you.
When you remove a huge chunk of the creature’s health, the Cleric Beast will throw a tantrum and then switch its strategy to swipe attacks that cover a wide area. At times it may also drive one of its hands into the floor. Regardless of what it does, keep your distance.
When the Cleric Beast calms down (well, what passes for calm) resume attacking from behind until the monster dies. That being said, there are some things to remember.
First, always be mindful of your surroundings. Standing face-to-face with the Cleric Beast is a bad idea because it will grab your hunter. Second, you may get stuck between the side walls; if this happens dodge like crazy.
Once the Cleric Beast is finally dead, pick up the Great Bridge lamp. Lighting the lamp allows you to revisit Hunter’s Dream if necessary. On top of that you now have Insight, which allows your hunter to level up. We suggest returning to Hunter’s Dream.
Continue your journey through Yharnam with Prima’s Bloodborne walkthrough. When ready, continue to Part 2, where you’ll find the Tiny Music Box and prepare to battle Father Gascoigne.
