Lords of the Fallen: How to Beat Pieta

Lords of the Fallen technically begins with a duo of introductory boss battles. This first boss is a pushover, with the second boss acting as a narrative device in which you’re meant to die to progress normally. Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal, is the game’s first true boss, introducing the sort of combat pacing you should come to expect from most difficult encounters moving forward. In this guide, we’ll tell you how to beat Pieta in Lords of the Fallen.

How to Beat Pieta in Lords of the Fallen

For starters, we recommend equipping gear with high holy damage mitigation. While Pieta also inflicts physical damage, her physical attacks are generally easier to avoid. If you find yourself taking more damage from her standard close-range attacks, then equip gear with higher physical damage mitigation instead for a more even spread between the two.

First Phase

Pieta’s boss fight is split across two phases. The first phase largely consists of Pieta closing in on you and initiating three or four close-range slashes. Each attack has a slow enough wind-up to allow you to dodge each step of her combo. Every once in a while, during her close-range combos, Pieta might jump up and perform a slam attack, dealing holy damage within a small radius around her ground slam. Dodging is your best bet against Pieta rather than attempting to block or parry attacks. The amount of invincibility frames combined with the speed of Pieta’s attacks should make avoiding damage feel like second nature after only a few attempts.

Pieta’s first phase also occasionally involves a few holy-infused attacks while keeping your distance. The easiest of the attacks is a sea of holy spikes that gradually juts out from the ground. This ability comes out slow enough that it’s easy to react to. Pieta can also summon a holy beam, which deals tons of damage. With the shortest wind-up of her entire moveset, this holy beam is the most difficult to counter. If you see an orb hovering over Pieta, as pictured above, dodge immediately. This move comes out almost instantly.

Now that you have a handle on her moveset, dealing damage is the second half of the battle. We recommend attacking after her physical attack combo. She’ll usually have a few seconds of recovery afterwards, allowing you to deal a decent amount of damage per round. With that said, Pieta occasionally recovers more quickly than usual and attacks again. Because of this, only commit to one or two attacks at a time unless you’re feeling confident in your reaction times.

Second Phase

After dealing about 30% damage to her health bar, Pieta sprouts wings, signaling the battle’s second phase. The moment she transforms, Pieta glides across the middle portion of the battlefield, raining holy fire within her flight path. This serves as a preview of one of the second phase’s abilities: summoned angels. Pieta summons two angels, both of which glide across the arena, leaving a destructive volley of holy lances behind them. Make sure to line yourself away from or between both flight paths so that you can focus on Pieta. During this ability, Pieta closes in on you for some physical attacks.

While the animations may be different, these close-quarters engagements work exactly like the first phase — dodge three or four slashes and then go in for some damage before pulling away. Just as with the first phase, Pieta also occasionally recovers from a combo more quickly than expected. Attack with caution, especially if using a heavier build.

Aside from that, Pieta’s second phase isn’t much different from the first. She’s slightly faster and deals a bit more damage, but still utilizes the same moves as the first phase except for the ability in which she summons two angels at once. Anyone who defeated Pieta’s first phase can easily best her second phase utilizing the exact same strategies and mindset, albeit with slightly faster reaction times.

That’s everything you need to know if you’re wondering how to beat Pieta in Lords of the Fallen. Check out the rest of our Lords of the Fallen coverage on our dedicated guides hub.