Ludwig Guide#
In Bloodborne and its The Old Hunters DLC, when the Hunter pushes down into the underground region of the Hunter’s Nightmare, he comes face to face with the first Church Hunter, the man the entire order posthumously honoured as the “Holy Blade” - Ludwig. The reason this fight is praised over and over by the community is not simply its difficulty: it turns the process of going “from beast back to man” into the fight itself. In the first half you are dealing with a completely maddened giant beast; in the second half, the instant he draws the Holy Moonlight Sword, he straightens his body again and recovers a fragment of the self he used to be.
Unlike Cleric Beast in Central Yharnam, which can only be handled by “hugging the flank of a huge body”, Ludwig forces you to deal with two completely different combat logics in sequence: first learn to kite a charging beast across a wide arena, then learn to handle a greatsword that can cast arcane sword waves.
Boss Overview#
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | The Old Hunters DLC, the underground region of the Hunter’s Nightmare, a wide, large cavern arena |
| Nature of the encounter | DLC main-story boss; required to advance through the Old Hunters area |
| Recommended level | Around 60-70, and safer to enter once your main weapon is fully upgraded |
| Number of forms | 2 (beast form to Holy Moonlight Sword form, switching at roughly half health) |
| Phase 1 weakness | Fire (the beast itself; it counts as a beast-type enemy) |
| Parriable in phase 2 | Some humanoid swings can be attempted, but the risk is high and the payoff unstable |
| Reward for the kill | A large number of Blood Echoes, plus the chance to interact with his remains on the ground to obtain a key weapon |
Ludwig’s core teaching point is “reading the phases”. Two health bars, two movesets, two rhythms: the first half forces you to run and read attacks, the second half forces you to stay in close and circle around his sword light. Even if everything goes smoothly on your first attempt, the second phase can still knock you back down to square one.
Phase 1: Beast Form#
Form Traits#
Ludwig’s first phase is a giant beast in which almost nothing human remains visible. Its torso is stretched long, its four limbs are thick, and most unsettling of all is the head - that face, wrenched out of shape, barely shows that it was once a Hunter. Players familiar with the techniques of the Church Hunters will see a cruel irony here: a man who spent his life hunting beasts ultimately became something more grotesque than a beast.
In this phase he is down on all fours, a charging-type enemy whose movements are wide and sweeping, and most of his attacks come from the front or at an angle.
Attack Patterns and Reading Criteria#
| Attack | Reading criterion | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Low charge | Body drops low, head thrust forward, then the whole body lunges at the Hunter | Roll forward to the side, out through the blind spot beside his head; never back straight up in place |
| Forelimb sweep | One forelimb swings up and back, then sweeps across | Roll to the opposite side of his body to slip past it |
| Full-body slam | Front half rises, brief pause, then slams into the ground | Roll backwards the instant it rises, leaving the hitbox range directly in front |
| Tail sweep | Body turns, the long tail whips toward the Hunter | Stay close to the side of his torso; the tail hitbox radius often does not cover point-blank range |
| Roar | Body leans back, a low growl | Use the pause to create distance or land a hit; the roar itself is harmless |
The most dangerous move in this phase is the charge. Ludwig first drops his body low, giving the Hunter a startup you can see coming, then lunges across the length of the arena at high speed. If you stand directly in front of him and too far away, this is very easy to get caught by. The counter is not to hold a long straight line on the opposite side of the arena: hug his flank and circle instead, so that every time he charges back and forth he has to spend part of it turning.
Phase 1 Strategy#
- Circle the flank rather than fighting head-on: most of his attacks come from the front or from above, so hugging the side of his torso lets you slip past most of the sweeps and slams.
- Move only after you have read the startup: dropping low, raising a limb, turning around - all of these have a startup you can spot at a glance, so on first meeting, watch one full round before you commit to attacking.
- Fire pays off best: he is a textbook beast-type enemy, so fire damage clearly pays off. Bring plenty of Molotov Cocktails and throw them in the windows when his charge whiffs and he is stuck in recovery - better value than plain slashes.
- Do not rush to greed hits: trading blows head-on gets you caught by his enormous hitboxes very easily. Slip to the flank for one or two hits each time he is in recovery, then pull out and wait for the next opening. His health pool is thick, so steady accumulation through small windows is enough.
Phase Transition: Drawing the Holy Moonlight Sword#
When Ludwig’s health drops to about half, the most memorable moment of the whole fight plays out: he stops lunging madly, plants himself, and slowly draws a greatsword out of his own deformed body - the Holy Moonlight Sword. At that moment he straightens up again, his movements shifting from the four-legged lunges of a beast to the steady stance of a sword-wielding Hunter, and you can even faintly hear that some of his sanity has come back.
From this moment on, the combat logic changes completely. The phase 2 enemy is an upright humanoid, using the Holy Moonlight Sword for wide, sweeping cuts and casting sword waves that carry blue moonlight energy. This phase deals more damage and has tighter attack intervals, so it has to be handled by “reading the startup and dodging sideways in time”.
Attack Patterns and Reading Criteria#
| Attack | Reading criterion | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Greatsword sweep | Sword pulled back to one side, then swung across | Roll in the opposite direction to his swing, or back off to create distance |
| Upward slash | Blade presses down, then lifts upward | Roll to the side to slip past it; never stand directly in front |
| Step-in slash | Blade tip points forward, brief charge, then a stepping slash | Roll forward to the side and slip past along his flank |
| Moonlight sword wave | After a swing, he releases a wave of blue moonlight | Roll sideways to leave the straight-line path of the wave; the wave is a non-homing straight projectile |
| Moonlight slash combo | Several consecutive swings at a tight rhythm | Do not greed hits in the middle of the combo; retreat outside his swing range and wait for recovery |
| Charged heavy slash | Sword raised overhead, a clear pause, then a heavy chop | Roll backwards the instant he pauses, leaving the hitbox directly in front |
The moonlight sword wave is the move you are most likely to get hit by in the entire fight. After swinging his sword, he flings out a blue wave that travels in a straight line, and a hit deals considerable damage. The good news is that this wave does not home: as long as you move laterally the moment he launches it, you can step out of that line.
Phase 2 Strategy#
- Watch the startup of the sword, not the character: before Ludwig swings, the drag of the Holy Moonlight Sword is very clear; see which way the sword is going and dodge the other way.
- Better to step back once more than to greed one more hit: phase 2 combos are tight, and chasing recklessly gets you hit by a backhand swing. Chase one or two hits at a time, then immediately back off.
- Fight point-blank to blunt the sword waves: at point-blank range his moonlight waves often struggle to have impact because the distance is too short, but you can also be suppressed by his close-range sweeps. The trade-off depends on your movement; when you are in close, keep your eyes on the startup of his swings.
- Be careful with gun parries: some humanoid swings can theoretically be parried, but this phase has low tolerance and the cost of a failed parry is high. Newcomers need not force a parry build; dodging and timing are more reliable.
Recommended Gear and Items#
| Category | Item | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | A weapon with crisp, fast swings | Chipping in close during phase 1 and chasing hits in phase 2 both demand fast startup |
| Weapon | The long form after transforming | Longer reach, good for chasing one or two thrusts after his recovery |
| Item | Molotov Cocktail | The main damage tool against the beast itself in phase 1 |
| Item | Blood Vial | Basic healing; the fight runs long, so carry as many as you can |
| Attire | Any medium-weight set | This fight is about movement and reading attacks; there is no need to force your equip load down |
Weapon upgrade level affects the experience more than your character level does. If your main weapon is not yet fully upgraded, phase 2 will drag on because of low damage, which in turn magnifies the risk of being caught by a combo.
Common Mistakes and Corrections#
| Mistake | Consequence | Correct approach |
|---|---|---|
| Holding a long straight line on the opposite side of the arena in phase 1 | Hit head-on by the charge | Circle along his flank; do not leave a long distance in front |
| Greeding hits into the middle of a combo | Eat the full set of consecutive swings | Chase only one or two hits at a time, then pull back immediately |
| Backing straight up to dodge the moonlight wave | The wave closes along the straight line and still hits | Roll sideways, out of the wave’s flight path |
| Trading head-on with the beast form | Crushed by the enormous hitboxes | Circle the flank, read the startup, find the recovery window |
| Forcing gun parries in phase 2 | A failed parry gets you hit by a heavy backhand | Switch to dodging and timing; play it safe first |
After the Kill#
Once Ludwig is killed, the path through the underground region continues forward, leading into the deeper areas of the Old Hunters. The remains left on the ground can still be interacted with - the most important story point of this fight: speaking with his head lets you hear this Holy Blade Hunter’s final echo.
The core reward from this fight is precisely that Holy Moonlight Sword of his. The weapon combines a blade with arcane power, and is one of the signature weapons many players only obtain after finishing all the content. Ludwig was given the name “Holy Blade” because in life the Church held him up as the model Hunter and praised him as “the first Hunter”. The cruelest and most moving part of this boss fight is this: after the Holy Moonlight Sword briefly called his mind back and let him remember who he was before dying, he still fell beneath the Hunter’s blade in the end.
Mechanically speaking, Ludwig is the best teacher for “reading phases plus using the arena”. The first half teaches you to kite a charging giant, the second half teaches you to fight an armed humanoid at close quarters. Once you have this double rhythm down, the later major bosses of the Old Hunters area (such as Lady Maria and the Orphan of Kos) actually demand the same fundamentals: read the startup, find the recovery, keep your rhythm.