Bloodborne Guide – Hemwick Charnel Lane, Witch of Hemwick Boss Fight, Memory Altar

If you followed our tips for defeating Vicar Amelia, you had little trouble with this fight.  Congratulations!

Cathedral Ward

If you’re still in this location, interact with the Grand Cathedral lamp and relax, because you just earned some downtime at safe haven, Hunter’s Dream.  When you arrive, purchase or sell items, tweak your hunter and perhaps take in some deep breaths, because the game is about to get insane yet again.

When finished at Hunter’s Dream, return to the aforementioned Grand Cathedral lamp.

Look down the steps to spy some Gravekeepers. Kill these monsters and turn right.  Take the path and you’ll stumble upon a dead person with a Bloodshot Eyeball; this is a ritual item for the Holy Chalice.  From here, go past the body and walk down some steps. Walk up to a corpse laying in the grass and pick up three Bold Hunter’s Marks.

With this item in your hunter’s inventory, head into the cave and prepare for battle. You’ll encounter some firearm-wielding Henchmen, Demon Hounds and a brand-new enemy, Soot Monsters. These guys attack without mercy and pack a ton of health, but they can be killed with at least two critical strikes. If necessary, stun these creatures with your hunter’s firearm and slash away.

Go to the right and you’ll run into four gun-toting Henchmen, along with multiple bodies containing two Thick Coldblood and nine Bone Marrow Ash. Should you have difficulty with these foes, there are gravestones and some trees for cover.

Wrap around the left side and there’s a body with four Pebbles. In addition, there are Henchmen here.  If you continue searching the left area you will encounter one Henchman and quite a few Demon Hounds.  Slaughter these monsters and head towards a tree to discover a body with three Quicksilver Bullets.  Continue left and run into two Demon Hounds, a Soot Monster and a Henchman. Do your business, then continue down this way until you see a gate on the left. Opening it grants entry to Hemwick Charnel Lane.

Hemwick Charnel Lane

Take this walkway all the way to the bottom and then activate the Hemwick Charnel Lane lamp.  Walk down even further and you’ll meet a new creature type, six Crazed Hags. Since these are the weakest monsters you will face in this area, quickly kill them and break the cart to find a corpse on the left.  Now pick up the Bloodshot Eyeball.

Look right and walk into a new location. There’s a body with two Twin Blood Stone Shards. Pan the camera and you’ll see rickety steps. Walk up these stairs and approach the red lantern. There’s a woman in the house, but she has very little to say.

Now go right and you’ll see a body with Madman’s Knowledge. Keep walking along this route to discover a lever. Unfortunately you cannot interact with it right now, so we suggest returning to the place where your hunter battled the Crazed Hags. When you get there, look right and walk up the steps to fight another Soot Monster, a Demon Hound and a Crazed Hag.  We think it’s a good idea to take out the Demon Hound and Crazed Hag first, then save the Soot Monster for a little one-on-one action. This also means you won’t square off against three creatures at the same time.

Stay sharp when pressing onward, because there is a Crazed Hag standing on a ledge that tosses Molotov Cocktails.  Head towards the tree and pick up a Thick Coldblood off a corpse. Now travel upwards to battle two Crazed Hags.

With these enemies deceased, take the steps and you’ll see a Brute. Once again, there’s a Crazed Hag chucking Molotovs. Providing you stay close to the steps, the projectiles won’t damage your character, allowing you to kill the Brute in relative peace.  When you do kill the Brute, run to the gate.

Although the gate is locked, you can walk up the hill and discover a path on the right. You’re able to kill the Crazed Hag above your location and fall to the walkway to discover two Twin Blood Stone Shards on a dead person. Yes, you may have already been here after killing the Brute, but if you followed our advice, you just arrived and there are no Hags throwing Molotov Cocktails.

Return to the place you encountered the Crazed Hag, look left and take the path until you encounter another Crazed Hag that tries to sneak attack you.  Show it you mean business and walk all the way to the bottom. You’ll see five Crazed Crows, and when you get close to these enemies another Soot Monster appears.  Ideally you should kill the Soot Monster first and then the Crows. With every monster dead, look right and rummage through the body holding four Pebbles.  Now look right and you’ll see a lift and lever nearby. Walk onto this lift and interact with the lever. This functions as a shortcut should you desire it.

When you reach the bottom, go up and approach the steps on the right side of this area. Just as you make it to the stairs a Crazed Hag appears, so make short work of her and now look right to take eight Bone Marrow Ash near some headstones.

Go up the steps and kill the Brute standing at the top of this location. Watch out for the Molotovs from another Crazed Hag. Kill the bad guys and walk into the barn ahead.  Look in the second stall and take out the Crazed Hag, then continue exploring until the Demon Hound attacks.  Kill it, of course.

On the opposite side of this barn is a ladder. Ascend this ladder and go to the body. When you’re almost there a Soot Monster appears out of nowhere.  Here’s the problem: it’s so dark in here you cannot lock onto this creature. Hopefully you acquired a Hand Lantern while in Hunter’s Dream from the Bath Messenger; if you don’t have this, a Shining Coin will do. Activate it and hit the Soot Monster with your firearm.

Afterwards, approach the table and inspect the body to score a Bloodshot Eyeball.  Now do an about face and look left to discover steps. Walk down these steps and then along the wooden beams to reach the other side of this location. All the way at the end is an entrance, though you’ll encounter a Wheelchair Blunder on the other side. Psst… he’s on the right!

Rush the Wheelchair Blunder so he doesn’t have the chance to fire. Look left and rummage through the body for an Adept Blood Gemstone. If you explore this room a bit, you’ll find another body, this one with Madman’s Knowledge.

Go to the top floor and wander around a bit so you spill out onto the roof.  If you go left there’s a Crazed Hag, so kill her and keep walking to the end of this roof.  You’ll see a corpse, but also two Crazed Hags and a Brute. Destroy these foes and then go to the body for a Coldblood Dew.

Keep traveling left and you’ll meet two Crazed Hags and a Demon Hound. Show them your might, then continue until you arrive at the end of this building.  Check behind this area for a body with two Twin Blood Stone Shards.  Push onward and dispose of the Hag standing in the entryway of the next location.

Go to the furthest side of this place and take the steps down.  Two Brutes are here. Thankfully they don’t stick close together, allowing you to kill them one at a time. Now pan the camera left and you’ll see a body with a Thick Coldblood. See that gate? This is the one you could not open before.  Interact with the lever to open this gate for another shortcut.

You need to go left from where you are, but if you turn right you’ll eventually battle a Crazed Hag and five Demon Hounds.  Continue moving right and this little trip will be worth the effort, since you’ll take one Thick Coldblood, a Lake run and eight Bone Marrow Ash from some bodies.

OK, now you want to go left and then travel up the hill.  At the top of this hill are more enemies, a Brute and three Hags, one of which throws Molotovs. Kill everything, look right and walk towards the house.  Explore this house to find a broken railing, and although it’s a tight squeeze, you can still fit through the opening.  Now you’re inside an alcove, and the chest contains one Tempering Blood Gemstone.

Return to the primary path and continue moving up this hill.  You’ll see a building and an Imp near the end of it.  Slaughter the Imp and turn your attention to the wooden barrels in the center of this room.  Break them to pieces and take the Madman’s Knowledge off the body.

While in this place, go down the steps to enter an even bigger area where the boss battle takes place.

Boss Fight with The Witch of Hemwick

• Beat The Witch of Hemwick to receive Four Bloodshot Eyeballs.

This battle is easy or extremely difficult, depending on your strategy. We don’t wish to cause unnecessary stress, so follow these tips to kill The Witch of Hemwick.

At the start of the fight, a Soot Monster appears in the center of the room. Ignore it for now and look for The Witch of Hemwick on the left. Run over and attack the boss until she vanishes.  Should a purple light appear directly beneath the Witch, immediately back up so you don’t get hit by the incoming attack.  We cannot stress the word beneath enough times, since the Witch glows the same color before disappearing; this is harmless.

When she vanishes, quickly pan the camera until you find her.  The Witch can appear pretty much anywhere, and you may need a torch to locate this boss, though at times she may be too far away for it to work.

Continue the pattern of locating the witch as soon as she appears, attacking and then backing away before she attacks. When you remove half of her health, another Witch enters the room. This new adversary is somewhat of a pain because she fires magic. Do not let this attack connect with your hunter because the Witch will then unleash another strike that’ll obliterate your health.

This is where the battle gets trickier. Eventually, yet another Witch shows up, this one sharing health with one of the other Witches. Kill one of these creatures and then immediately focus your attention on the other. If you do not kill the next one in roughly a minute, the one just you killed re-spawns. At least on the positive side, resurrected Witches do not have nearly as much health.

Remember that Soot Monster. Yes, it’s still in here. Trying to kill it with your firearm wastes ammo and you won’t get more.  Even worse, if the fight drags on for too long additional Soot Monsters show up.

This may seem unwise at first, but leave the Soot Monsters alone, and if one comes after you, kill it quickly without alerting the others. The game puts Soot Monsters here to distract you from the Witches.  Basically, you should be aware of them at all times, but avoid these creatures as much as possible. Focus on the boss.

After killing the Witch of Hemwick, walk over and activate the Witch’s Abode lamp.  From here, enter the hallway and travel down the steps.  When you reach the bottom of these stairs, open the door, go inside and take the Rune Workshop Tool off the corpse.  Doing this unlocks the Memory Altar back at Hunter’s Dream, giving you the chance to use runes in your inventory.

If you started playing the game and need tips to beat the Cleric Beast, Father Gascoigne and the other bosses, read Prima’s free Bloodborne walkthrough. Ready for more? Continue to part 6, where you’ll explore the Forbidden Woods, find the password to open the door and beat the Shadow of Yharnam.