Cleric Beast

Cleric Beast
Affiliation	Beasts
Locations	Central Yharnam (Great Bridge)
Drops	Sword Hunter Badge x1 (100%)
Health
NG	NG+
3015	24000
Blood Echoes
NG	NG+
4000	61812
Defenses
103	123
103	165
50	103
165	999
999

The Cleric Beast is a boss in Bloodborne.

Description

The cleric beasts are huge creatures with hideous horns and shrieks that sound like cries of agony. Although at first glance the Cleric Beast appears to have a malnourished and almost skeletal body, this monster has high agility and supernatural strength. It is one of the first bosses encountered in the game, and the first boss to be revealed during the game's development.

Location

• Great Bridge:
  • At the very end of the Central Yharnam's carriage-filled bridge.

Lore

The cleric beasts owe their name to a rumor that they were originally members of Yharnam's clergy transformed by the old blood. After defeating the Cleric Beast, one obtains the Sword Hunter Badge which states in its description:

"One of the badges crafted by the Healing Church. The silver sword is a symbol of a Church hunter. Ludwig was the first of many Healing Church hunters to come, many of Whom were clerics. As it was, clerics transformed into the most hideous beasts."

This suggests that the cleric beast was a member of the Healing Church and possibly a hunter employed under Ludwig that succumbed to the scourge of the beast, leading to their descent into beasthood.

Drops

• 4,000 Blood Echoes
• +4 Insight (+1 for finding the boss & +3 for defeating it)
• Sword Hunter Badge

Strategy

The Cleric Beast, like many other Beast enemies, is weak to both Fire and Serration damage; this allows the player to take advantage of the Molotov Cocktails in the area, as well as causing two of the three starting weapons to work well against it.

The Cleric Beast can be brought to its knees by damaging its face, allowing a Visceral Attack. This can be brought on by Molotov Cocktails or several shots with a firearm. After staggering the Cleric Beast through this method, the player must wait until it heals its limbs, which is seen by a short animation where a dull red glow briefly engulfs the Cleric Beast's chest.

The majority of the Cleric Beast's attacks consist of swipes with its larger, left arm at close range and jump attacks at a distance. It possesses few attacks that hit behind itself and, therefore, it is wise to stay behind it for the majority of the time. Otherwise, repeatedly baiting the Cleric Beast's jump attack and taking advantage of its recovery time is, though not an efficient tactic, viable.

Notes

• This is the first optional boss, and often the first actual boss players can encounter as it requires much less effort to find than Father Gascoigne.
• Should the player require assistance for the fight, Father Gascoigne can be summoned for the fight at the cost of one Insight. He can be summoned at the fountain, close to where the Huntsman's Minion is hitting the gate.
  • If after slaying Father Gascoigne, one agrees to co-operate with Alfred, he can be summoned to aid the player; his summoning location is at the base of the two-story building that leads up to the Great Bridge.

Trivia

• The Cleric Beast appears in several different Bloodborne trailers.
• The theme of the Cleric Beast is the same as the one used for the Project Beast trailer, albeit slightly modified. The original was done with a synthesizer, while the one we hear in-game was performed by a live orchestra.
• The cry of the Cleric Beast can briefly be heard from a distance in the beginning of the game when the player climbs up a ladder to the Central Yharnam lamp.
• The Cleric Beast bears a strong resemblance to a Wendigo, a half-human beast who was possessed by a spirit after indulging in cannibalism.
• The Cleric Beast's antlers, incredibly long left arm, animal-characteristics and former humanity give it a startling resemblance to the Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss DLC boss Manus, Father of the Abyss.
• Similar to many other bosses, the Cleric Beast possesses no eyes.

Videos

Bloodborne Cleric Beast Boss Fight 1

Cleric Beast Saw Spear tactic.

Music

Tsukasa Saitoh - Cleric Beast (Extended) (Bloodborne Full Extended Soundtrack, OST)

• Another, earlier, version of this track played during this fight in the Stress test version of the game:

Tsukasa Saitoh - Cleric Beast (Alpha version) (Bloodborne Full Extended Soundtrack, OST)

Gallery

Screenshots

Shields are useless against such beasts.

Molotov Cocktail is an effective weapon against beasts

Concept Art

A statue of The Cleric Beast in Bloodborne's booth for Tokyo Game Show 2014