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Bloodborne: Byrgenwerth - killing Tree Mutants, fighting Giant Insect Mutants and beating the Hunter

How to survive Byrgenwerth in Bloodborne.

This article explains how to explore Byrgenwerth in Bloodborne, following on from Shadow of Yharnam.

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


Make your way down the hill until you reach another Tree Mutant. Kill it, then take the path over to your left. Whenever you fight one of these Mutants, don't let your opponent jump on you more than once or twice in any fight - it's easy to die if you're not careful. Better to let them leap towards you, which allows you to dodge out of the way, then get stuck in when the creature lands.

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

How to kill the Tree Mutants in Bloodborne

If you've got a zippy weapon you can keep slashing away without worrying about being interrupted. If your weapon's slower, make sure you're a good distance away, so you're not cut off halfway through your attack.

Where to find the Arcane Lake rune

When you reach the clearing up ahead you'll see a Tree Mutant over to the left, and a friend who's patrolling around the stairs to your right. Carry on up the stairs, then go straight on and up another small set of stairs you come to. Sneak up carefully behind the Infected and then land a critical attack on the creature. Take the Arcane Lake rune - which reduces damage by seven per cent - from the corpse, then go back downstairs and go down the lower area on your left.

Carry on along the next set of stairs in front of you, then edge slowly to the right. When you get near the item on the left-hand wall, you'll be ambushed by a pair of Tree Mutants who attack from above. Back up if you need a bit more breaking space. You'll struggle to separate them, but you should definitely wait for one to leap at you before performing any attacks of your own.

How to kill the Giant Insect Mutant

As soon as both creatures are dead, have a rummage around in the corpse by the railing to get a Madman's Knowledge. Right in front of your current position is a Giant Insect Mutant. From range they're capable of firing a pair of fireballs that do huge damage. Up close they can shred you apart with grabbing, slashing manoeuvres. If you want to kill this creature, you need to get close and stick to their rear. The beast will keep circling around, but won't attack unless you get caught at the front. Just keep in mind that you can't stun this creature at all during the fight.

You should be able to see another corpse just over from the stairs and to the left. Take the Great One's Wisdom - granting Insight - then go to the other end of this area and kill the Tree Mutant guarding a corpse. Take the Sedatives from the body when the beast is dead.

How to kill the Hunter in Byrgenwerth

Now turn all the way around and go to the left-hand part of this region. Interact with the lever by the gate to open it up and create a shortcut, then go through the door that's on your right. When the patrolling Hunter spots you, make your way to the bottom floor where you'll have more room to fight. If you prefer, you can wedge her into a gap in the upper floor, attack until you're out of stamina, then dodge the counter-attacks and go back in when you've got more power back.

Watch out for the tentacle arm this creature uses, as well as her Threaded Cane weapon and a spray which can stun you and do a little damage. The other attack to watch out for is an arcane blast that shoots light at you. When it gets close, dodge as often as you have to to get away from the beams. Don't dodge too soon though, otherwise they'll still track your position. Should she hit you with the sword, wait for the third blow to land before launching your counter-attack, otherwise you'll just be interrupted.

How to get the Pearl Slug

When she's dead, go to the corner where a chest sits. Take the Pearl Slug - a Holy Chalice ritual item - then go over to the other side and open a door to create a short-cut. Now go upstairs, look right, and take the Student Uniform and Student Trousers from the next chest. You can also get a note off the couch nearby.

Once you've gathered these items, go over to the bookshelf in the next room and take the note from it. Now go all the around to the other side and climb up the ladder you come to. Take the Lunarium Key from your left, then go up the next set of stairs. Kill the Tree Mutant at the top, then take the Empty Phantasm Shell from the chest up here.

The Lunarium Key is used to open the second floor door. Go back down, open the door up, then chat to the person sitting in the chair. They'll point you towards a ledge on the balcony - leap off it to find yourself on Moonside lake, where you'll commence the fight against Rom, the Vacuous Spider.


- Struggling to kill Rom, the Vacuous Spider? Read on to the next part of our walkthrough.

- You can find the rest of our Bloodborne walkthrough from the first page of this article.