Bloodborne: Rom, the Vacuous Spider boss strategy

This article explains the Rom, the Vacuous Spider boss strategy in Bloodborne, following on from Byrgenwerth.

If you're interested in more advice, our complete Bloodborne walkthrough and for the DLC our The Old Hunters guide and walkthrough can help.

If you're not careful, you can soon turn the fight against Rom, the Vacuous Spider into one of the toughest the game has to offer. When the fight starts, Rom will be sitting quietly just ahead of you. As soon as you hit it, a flood of spiders will spawn to protect the boss. The trick is not to worry about killing them too much, and instead focus on Rom.

How to kill Rom, the Vacuous Spider

You need to be aware of how these spiders attack though. There's a multi-hit attack at close range, a dive-bomb that can cause you serious damage, a weaker leaper jump attack, and a spitting attack. The only one you really need to watch out for is that dive-bomb.

Simply run past the spiders and start hitting Rom hard and fast. When you get close to him, however, do not lock your camera on. Instead, go around to the side and start hitting him where he doesn't have any protective armour. If you attack the creature from the sides or from the rear, you'll do a lot more damage than if you whack away at its head.

Hold down O and run as fast as you can towards Rom's side, then start hitting him as much as you can before the spiders start getting stuck into you. You may only be able to get as few as two swings in before this happens, but sometimes you can do a lot more work. You just need to monitor those smaller spiders, and work out how much time you have left before they start laying into you.

Tactics for dealing with Rom's disappearing act

When you've done quite a bit of damage, you'll see white light consume Rom before the beast disappears. Your attacks will do a lot more damage while the light is there, so try to stick close to the creature when it happens. When the boss vanishes completely, run away from the spiders and try to locate the spot where Rom reappears.

Whenever Rom vanishes, he'll spawn another load of spiders. Also, Rom will start attacking you in kind after he's disappeared the first time around. Should you see him roll over onto his back at any point from here on out, run away to avoid the boulders that fly up and into the sky. These can do you some serious damage if you're not careful, and when Rom looks up, the boulders will come raining down. Just keep dodging away from the boss to avoid their impact. Note that this attack can occur many times in succession.

How to survive Rom's blue light attack

When you see the blue light appear around Rom, get as far away from him as you can, because an area-of-effect attack is coming. You'll take a lot of damage if you get caught up in it, so just leg it as soon as you get wind of the incoming attack.

From now on, Rom will frenzy and swing about when you get close. Approach just close enough to trigger this attack, then back up a bit. When the frenzy stops, you can attack Rom again, and you won't have to worry about it occurring again for a few seconds.

You need patience to take Rom down, but as long as you watch the position of those other spiders, and don't get greedy with your own attacks, you should be fine. When Rom does die, the other spiders will disappear too.

After the fight, go up to the woman in the white dress and watch a cinematic play out. You'll reappear at the Unseen Village. Walk to the entrance that's across from the stairs, then go through the door. Be quick though! If you hang about, the portal will take you else where. Now go down the stairs and head to Yahar'gul, Unseen Village.

- The next part of our walkthrough explains how to get some extra items by returning to Cathedral Ward.

- You can find the rest of our Bloodborne guide from the index page of this article.

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