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Bloodborne: Final boss Gehrman, the First Hunter

How to kill Gehrman, the First Hunter in Bloodborne.

This article explains how to take down final boss Gehrman, the First Hunter in Bloodborne, following on from Mergo's Wet Nurse.

If you're interested in more advice, our complete Bloodborne walkthrough and for the DLC our The Old Hunters guide and walkthrough can help.


When you're done with Mergo's West Nurse, talk to the Doll at Hunter's Dream who'll tell you that Gehrman's ready for you. Go over to the other side of the zone and head through the now-open gate. A little further beyond it you'll be challenged by Gehrman to either give your life or refuse. To fight the boss, turn down his offer.

Cover image for YouTube videoWe made a Pungent Blood Cocktail from Bloodborne
We made a Pungent Blood Cocktail from Bloodborne

How to kill Gehrman, the First Hunter

Gehrman will make use of a scythe during the first part of this fight, and it can do a decent amount of damage to you. How you go about fighting back at the boss depends largely on the kind of weapon you're packing, but if you have a pretty fast one you should take charge of the fight and go straight towards the enemy.

When you get close he'll try to damage you, so just dodge out of the way and then dish out some damage of your own. We reckon you can get a good couple of hits in here before he moves out of harm's way himself. Even better, try to force him up against the wall so you can unload your full stamina bar onto him - just make sure you leave enough juice in the tank to get away from danger yourself. He'll hit with a two to three attack combo, so dodge towards him during the last swipe to set yourself up nicely.

Always have one eye on Gehrman's attacking animations. If he flinches at all, get ready to dodge away from the danger. If he puts his scythe behind him, pause for a second then shoot him - this prevents a powerful attack of his, but you mustn't shoot too early or the stun won't land correctly. When he's stunned, get in there and deliver a deadly visceral attack.

At 50 per cent health, Gehrman will make use of a Beast Blood Pellet which boosts his damage output and grants a teleporting ability. From here on out, he can also leap up in the air and issue an attack where even the winds created by it can cause you harm. During this phase, make sure you dodge out of the way and wait for Gehrman to return to earth.

As a general rule though, if you can stay aware of the boss's attacking range and keep up your own offensive pressure, you should finish this fight without too much bother. Just don't let him take charge of things, or you'll find it impossible to maintain the focus needed to win. Don't let him get close enough to attack you, and make sure you get those stuns in to make this battle a lot easier.

When you've killed him, you'll gain the Old Hunter Badge and have the option to restart the game on New Game Plus mode. Congratulations!


- Read on for our essential Bloodborne farming tips.

- Head back to the index page to browse all of the entries in our Bloodborne complete walkthrough.