How to beat the Lords of the Fallen Pieta boss fight

The Lords of the Fallen Pieta boss fight is likely to be the first major sticking point you encounter in the game, as it presents a solid challenge that isn't easy to move past. To beat it, you'll need to apply patience, caution, and everything you've learned so far about the mechanics of the game. Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal is an angel of wrath, and therefore mainly utilizes heavy strikes and summons – these will hit you hard, but they're also highly telegraphed which should give you a decent chance to dodge or parry them away. We'll delve more into that below with our guide on how to beat the Pieta boss fight in Lords of the Fallen.

Lords of the Fallen Pieta boss fight weaknesses, tips and strategy

Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal is the first major Lords of the Fallen boss fight, not including the training bosses fought in the tutorial before this. She's certainly tough, but I found that if you play carefully and cautiously, you can have her beaten in a few attempts. Here's some advice on what you can do to make it easier.

• Outside the arena is a spectral figure. Interact with it to summon an NPC, the Iron Wayfarer, who will help you. He's not especially damaging, but he does a little, and can serve as a way to draw Pieta's attention.
• Play patiently and carefully. Going aggressive will get you killed - focus on defence, evasion and staying alive, getting in hits when you can. Pieta's attack patterns often end with a pause that allows you to hit her back - that's your chance to do damage.
• Focus on parries. Because Pieta telegraphs her sword swings so clearly, parrying them is easier than most enemies. They also have a very wide reach and range, so staying away isn't an easy option - she can even clip you when you're standing behind her.
• Use fire. There's items scattered in the area outside the arena that allow you to set your weapon temporarily ablaze. Pieta isn't exactly weak to this, but extra damage is extra damage, even if it's just a little. If you're close to finishing the fight and need an extra push, this can help.
• After losing a third of her health, she hits phase 2. This is where things get dangerous, with Pieta summoning spectral figures and making whole sections of the battlefield dangerous. Now you'll have to be even more cautious - ranged fighters will have a slight advantage here as she flies around the battlefield, but ultimately it's still about using those pauses against her.
• If she staggers, move quickly. Kicking, parrying or using a heavy attack when her poise is at minimum will stagger her like any enemy, setting her up for a critical hit, but you'll need to be fast. Different enemies remain staggered for different lengths of time, and Pieta doesn't remain down long.

Again, it'll take a few attempts to get it right if you're not an experienced Soulslike veteran, but you'll be able to do it eventually. 

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If you're struggling, try farming a few levels against the enemies just outside, building up your stats so you can take on this foe more easily - nothing takes down an enemy like a level advantage.

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