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- "Aah, you were at my side, all along. My true mentor... My guiding moonlight..."
- — Ludwig, the Holy Blade
Ludwig is a boss in Bloodborne's The Old Hunters DLC.
Description
His lower body is thin, apparently flayed and sports four asymmetrical but strong hooved legs, while his upper torso is a portrait of pure madness: between two long arms with large sharp talons, protrudes a disproportionate hunch that shows a circular maw lined inside with irregular teeth and clusters of eyes, and his face; apparently blind from the right eye, is a melted visage of wrinkled skin and crooked teeth, stretched over an elongated head vaguely resembling that of a horse.
Location
- Underground Corpse Pile:
- In the Hunter's Nightmare, following upward through the path outside the Nightmare Church.
Lore
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.[1]
Ludwig was a hunter affiliated with the Healing Church. Under Ludwig's leadership, the Healing Church gained its own core of hunters, led by Ludwig himself under the patronage of the Healing Church. Ludwig trained his hunters to be honorable Spartans, and even trained ordinary Yharnamites as hunters, effectively uniting the populace and using it to combat the scourge.
Ludwig wielded a mystical greatsword, that he himself discovered, which allowed him to channel the abyssal cosmos. Ludwig looked to the sword and the tiny beings of light that surrounded it, for guidance, allowing Ludwig to empty his fears, even in the middle of a hunt.
Despite seemingly being respected, Ludwig had his detractors, who appear to have disagreed with his methods and not appreciated his hunters. These detractors dismissed Ludwig as a beast-possessed degenerate, and Ludwig suffered much denigration at their hands.
At some point, Ludwig succumbed to the bloodlust and mutated into a horrifying beast, a terrible cross between horse, wolf and man. He was trapped in Hunter's Nightmare, and completely lost himself to the blood.
Strategy
Much like The One Reborn, Ludwig has limbs in a variety of locations, making it difficult to attack him. These flailing atrocities cause blunt damage when struck by them. A set of legs on his rear can kick behind him, while other arms scattered throughout will swipe when given the chance. His front-end is host to his two primary arms, which will perform wide, heavily damaging sweeps. His left side has only a single frail appendage. Keeping distance will cause Ludwig to occasionally spit a damaging fluid.
In his first phase, Ludwig is weak to Bolt, Fire, and Arcane. However, in his second phase, he becomes more resistant to Arcane.
When he screams and grips to the ceiling, it can be difficult to dodge, and watching the blood drip can be immensely demoralizing. It is best to dodge a small moment after his scream ends, as he will instantly yell again on his way down, allowing one to listen for his first scream to end so that they can time their dodge to avoid his attack.
A second phase begins when he sustains damage equivalent to 50% of his health, and he seemingly gives out and falls to the ground. In this phase, he will also launch arcane attacks, ranging from relatively small AoE's to ranged waves of moonlight. One of note is a particular attack where Ludwig raises the Sword high over his head, charging it with arcane energy, before slamming onto the ground, releasing a massive blast that blankets the entire area in front of him. As this attack can potentially one-shot, either attempt to stagger him during the charge-up sequence or run to the other side of the boss arena.
Alternatively, for players with passive playstyle, they can acquire the Simon's Bowblade early, then summon an NPC Hunter to tank and safely deal with Ludwig from a distance. This tactic works well for both phases.
Dialogue
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Notes
- Ludwig is no longer considered a beast in his 2nd phase, so serrated weapons will no longer get the bonus.
- After the battle, his severed head is found lying near the stairs. Wearing the church-related attire, will cause him to pose the player a question regarding the church. Answering yes will cause him to thank the player for letting him know that he did not suffer for nothing. He then quietly dies and the Holy Moonlight Sword spawns on his corpse. Answering no will cause him to mope for a bit before dying to the hands of Simon the Harrowed.
- Alternatively, not wearing any church-related attire will cause him to talk about a thread of light he once clung to. After his dialogue is finished, he will break out in a fit of bestial giggles and shrieks, with the occasional horse sound in between. Killing him is the only way to acquire the sword at this point, as his shrieks seem to have no end.
- Simply leaving Ludwig's head untouched and leaving the area before coming back will lead to Simon killing him, handing the Holy Moonlight Sword over when the player next speaks to him.
Trivia
- If the player kills Ludwig with a visceral attack he will have a different death animation.
- Ludwig is the only boss who has two different soundtracks for his boss fight.
- While most beasts are wolflike in nature, Ludwig is horselike in his deformities, and the only beast to have such a unique appearance.
- Much like the Abhorrent Beast the Afflicted Beggar turns into, Ludwig still retains his cognitive functions and the ability to speak.
- The Guidance rune was discovered by Ludwig and is directly associated with him. There is also a theme regarding the rallying mechanic and Ludwig himself. Since rallying is the act of recovering health by attacking, shortly after being attacked, this could perhaps be what ultimately fuelled his bloodlust. Even the Holy Moonlight Sword itself possesses high rally potential. It can also even be theorized that since Ludwig calls his sword his true mentor, the sword itself was that which transcribed the Guidance rune unto him.
Music
Videos
Gallery
References
- ↑ Sword Hunter Badge description from Bloodborne.