Bloodborne’s Micholash, Host of the Nightmare, is one of the most distinct bosses, the labyrinthian library, where the fight takes place, is just as much the boss as Micolash himself. The bosses of Bloodborne are meant to give players the feeling of powerlessness, most often through their size, design, and/or extreme strength. Unlike the majority of bosses, Micolash is a relatively weak boss, and doesn’t have the horrific size or design to compensate for it. The powerlessness comes from the player’s struggle to get the fight to progress as they chase Micolash down the confusing library halls.
After defeating The One Reborn, past the arena is a room filled with corpses sat in chairs, each adorning a tall cage upon their head. When interacting with one of these figures, the player will be transported to the Nightmare of Mensis. The player must make their way towards a massive castle-like structure, all while avoiding the frenzy-inducing gaze of the Brain of Mensis, taking out giant spiders one-by-one, and dealing with the infamously annoying Winter Lanterns.
As the player scales up the building, they will eventually come across Micolash, speaking about how they will be “granted eyes.” And then the chase begins. For new Bloodborne players, this fight may seem more arduous than difficult. Since a lot of the fight is chasing him around with seemingly no end. At one point, Micolash will lock himself in a room, leaving the player to wander around the library halls on their own with no directions on where to go next.
How to Beat Micolash in Bloodborne
The Bloodborne fight with Micolash has two “phases.” In the first phase, the player chases Micolash around the library until he runs into an offshoot room. Here, the player can get Micolash’s down to half health, at which he will disappear. The player then has to leave the room and travel up to get to the second phase. This phase is like the first, in that the player chases Micolash around the arena, but these hallways are much more complex than the first, and Micolash can jump into mirrors and teleport to another part of the arena. Eventually, Micolash will run into an offshoot room like before, but a gate will drop behind him, leaving the player on the outside. The player has to drop down into the arena from above onto his bizarre head cage, and then can finish Micolash off.
There are three issues Bloodborne players may run into when fighting Micolash. The first is getting him to run into the offshoot rooms. If the player just chases Micolash around the labyrinth, they will be able to clip him once with their weapon, but this will cause Micolash to disappear and reappear a bit further ahead. Taking down Micolash’s health this way will make the fight longer than it needs to be. Instead, the player can force Micolash to run into the offshoot rooms by chasing him in a particular way. When the player first enters the labyrinth, they need to run forward towards the wall with eyes and then turn right. Running up the stairs, Micolash will be just ahead of the player. The player must chase him up the next flight of stairs. At the top, he will turn right, run down to the end of that hallway, and turn right again down another flight of stairs. When Micolash runs down these stairs, the player should not follow him down, but instead, turn around and go back the way they came. Going back down the hall and down the second flight of stairs they took, to their left will be Micolash. The player must run after him from here. This will push Micolash into the offshoot room where the player can deal some damage.
For this part of the Bloodborne fight, there will be two Skeletal Puppets in the arena with the player. They do a lot of damage, so it is best for the player to take them out first. Once they are dealt with, the player can focus on Micolash. In this first phase, Micolash only has one attack: Augur of Ebrietas. He will summon tentacles to shoot forward and knock the player down. Thankfully, they are easy to avoid. The player should keep a little bit of distance between them and Micolash and once they see his starting to summon the tentacles, the player can either dodge to the side or just sidestep. From there, Micolash will be left open. The player can use a fast weapon like the Saw Cleaver to keep laying damage on him, or they can use the charge of a heavier weapon to keep him on the ground. The player should keep in mind that once Micolash has the chance, he will shoot out tentacles again. Once the player is out of stamina and can’t swing their weapon anymore, they should start moving to the side in order to avoid the tentacles. Once they’ve been avoided, the player rinses and repeats until Micolash has been taken down to half health.
Once he’s at half health, Micolash will disappear, starting phase two in Bloodborne. The player will need to leave the room and turn right. At the top of the stairs will be a doorway leading to the second area of the fight. After going through the doorway, the player needs to run down the hallway and then turn right going up the stairs. The player should be aware there are two Mergo’s Attendants on the stairs, one with a crossbow that will inflict rapid poison. The player can either take them out or just run past them. At the top of the stairs will be another short hallway leading to the doorway of the second labyrinth. The player will need to chase Micolash into the offshoot room again, but it is a bit trickier here due to its confusing, almost Lovecraftian structure. To push him into the room, the player must keep running forward up the stairs. The player will run into Micolash who will start running. The player must chase him all the way up the stairs. Once at the top, Micolash will turn left and jump into a mirror, teleporting to another part of the labyrinth. From here, the player must turn around, go back down one flight of stairs, and take the first right. This will lead to a room with a hole and a broken balcony. Underneath the player is where Micolash teleported to. The player needs to jump into the hole and chase after him again. Micolash will be pushed into the offshoot room, and a gate will close behind him.
The second issue players may encounter while fighting Micolash is how to get into the room he’s in. The player needs to drop down from above to access the room. Assuming the player is facing the mirror Micolash came out of, go left up the stairs, go down the hall, and go up the next two flights of stairs to the left. This will bring the player back to the room where Micolash jumped into the mirror. From here, turn right and go onto the wooden floor where the banister is broken. There will be a door that leads to another hole. Dropping down into the hole, the player will be in the room with Micolash. While dropping down, the player can hit Micolash, giving them a head start for damage as the drop will stagger him.
The third issue Bloodborne players may run into is this final phase of the fight. Micolash will still use his tentacle attack, but he’ll also have two other attacks. One attack is him using his fists to hit the player, which doesn’t do a lot of damage, but it can stagger the player and allow Micolash to use his tentacle attack on them. Even still, so long as the player is aware, the attack is easy to avoid and isn’t too much of a problem. The third move, however, is fairly dangerous. This move is called A Call Beyond, one the player can use if they have the right item and arcane level. It will summon a number of arcane projectiles that will hone on the player, knock them on the floor, and deal lots of damage. It is possible to dodge this attack, but it can be difficult. The best way to counter this move is to stand close to Micolash. He will only unleash the attack if the player is far enough away from him. Staying closer will force him to use either his fists or his tentacle attack. From here, the player needs to do what they did in phase one, continuously attacking him and sidestepping his tentacles. After enough of this pattern, Micolash will be taken down easily.
Bloodborne is currently available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.