Bloodborne: Survive Central Yharnam and kill the Henchmen

This article explains how to survive Central Yharnam and kill the Henchmen in Bloodborne, following on from Hunter's Dream and choose the right weapons.

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

Go upstairs and then use the door to talk to Iosefka. When the conversation's finished you'll receive Iosefka's Blood Vial. From here, you can choose to go back to Central Yharnam via the Hunter's Dream, or you can return to where you just were. Just remember that all enemies you've killed will respawn after you pay a visit to the Hunter's Dream - although you should at least find them a lot easier to kill now, thanks to your new weapons!

When you arrive at the last lamp, head to the windows to the left of the red lantern in front of you. Talk to Gilbert twice to get your hands on the Flamesprayer. Next, go around to the right and head downstairs. Check the corpse in front of you to get a pile of Pebbles, then carry on along the path that's to your right. When you reach the other side of the bridge, you'll be attacked by one of those Agile Henchmen. He'll ambush from the other side of the debris on your right. Carry on heading right, then go downstairs.

Kill the Agile and Shielded Henchmen

When you go around the next corner you'll encounter another Agile Henchman, as well as a friend of his - the Shielded Henchman. When you've killed them both, carry on down the right-hand stairs, but beware of the packs of Henchmen patrolling the walkway beneath you. There's another one behind the carriage on your right as well. Take a left at the bottom of the staircase. You'll likely run afoul of one of these patrols - kill them and keep heading forwards until you come to a load of crates - watch out for the fire!

You can smash up the blockade with a few solid whacks, but watch out for the Hooded Bruiser who's hanging around this area. While most of the enemies can be dispatched pretty easily, this one requires a lot more damage to take out - he's so tough, in fact, that your normal hits are incapable of stunning him.

How to kill the Hooded Bruiser

The best way of dealing with the Bruiser is to lure him back towards the main path, wait for him to launch an attack, dodge, then use your Charged Attack to show him who's boss. If this assault connects with the rear of the Bruiser, he'll be stunned, which then gives you a window of opportunity to dole out even more damage. Once the monster's dead, search the corpse to get a Tempering Blood Gemstone which allows you to upgrade your weapons.

Go off in the opposite direction from where you are now, kill any other patrolling enemies, then walk up the stairs just ahead of the carriage. Take the Molotov Cocktail stash to the rear of the well, then make your way back to the level below, before heading up the stairs where that sitting Henchman used to be. At the top of the stairs go left, then look to your right and go up the next stairs to where a body lies on the floor. Approach carefully, as another Henchman is waiting nearby. It'll pounce as soon as you get near the corpse. Kill it, then take a Blood Stone Shard from the corpse you've been working towards.

Go back downstairs and then head right to deal with another Henchman. Stay up-top as you work your way along the path, and keep your eyes peeled for a stairway on your left. If you go down there now, you'll have to deal with lots of enemies. For now, kill the last Henchman remaining up here, then search the body by the stairs to get more Quicksilver Bullets.

Once you've stuffed your pockets, make your way back downstairs and approach the big bonfire. Be aware that more enemies, along with a new Hound creature and some ranged-damage Henchman are waiting for you. Deal with them in small groups as best you can, and draw them back up the stairs if you need some breathing space - it'll also take you out of the line-of-sight of the ranged attackers.

When you've taken out the trash, look for a corpse just by the big door at the end of this section. You'll be able to take a pair of Blood Vials from it, before going to the upper level that's just to the right of the bonfire. You'll find more enemies up here, but it's worth killing them so you can take the Coldblood Dew from the nearby corpse. Look for a second corpse to get hold of more Blood Vials.

Kill the Brick Brute and the Crazed Crows

Head through the tunnel in front of you, and smash up all the rubble on your left as you leave. Do so to expose a body with a Blood Stone Shard that's just waiting to be pinched. Carry on towards the end of the path, then make your way down the stairway on your right. On your left you'll be able to see a trio of Crazed Crows. They'll attack rapidly, then withdraw for just long enough that you can pick them off easily. There are also three caskets just beyond the Crows - smash 'em up to expose a corpse with a pair of Oil Urns on it.

Once you've taken the items, make your way over to the other side of this area and prepare to fight a Brick Brute. When he gets close, let him start his attack, then dodge, and hit him from either the side or the rear - use a Charged Attack if possible. When he recovers, put some distance between the two of you, then simply repeat the process until the monster drops. Rummage through the corpses to the rear of his starting position to get a load of Molotov Cocktails and a Torch.

Stuff your pockets, then turn around and go up the stairs on your right. Don't worry about the enemies up the other stairs for now, and instead go to the gate over on the far right-hand side. In front of this gate is a corpse containing another Coldblood Dew. Now turn around and go up that second flight of stairs, and prepare to deal with those enemies. Kill the Hounds first, but try to keep moving so you avoid the worst of the ranged damage.

Go to the bench on the far left-hand side of this area. The nearby corpse has half a dozen Blood Vials you can add to your stash. Take them, then go up the stairs on the right until you come to a bridge. It's preferable to avoid fighting the two Nether Beasts at once at this stage, so throw a Molotov Cocktail at the one nearest to you, then back up and lure it away from his friend. Don't go downstairs though, otherwise you'll find yourself fighting a confined area, and this can make it difficult to avoid the worst of the Nether Beasts' attacks.

When both of the creatures are dead, turn round and take the Blood Stone Shard from the body over in the corner. Go down the stairs that are just over from the ones you came up, and smash the rubble on your left to get another Blood Stone Shard from a corpse. Take the Pebbles from the body on the other side of the room, then smash up the debris at the end of the path to get yet another Blood Stone Shard.

Approaching the first boss

Head back upstairs and go down the path, back towards where the Nether Beasts were. Keep an eye on the stairs on each side of you here, and tread carefully as you risk alerting the Henchmen. Were you to keep heading forwards here, you'd approach the first boss fight with the Cleric Beast. Instead, take the next stairs on your left and kill the Henchmen, as well as his friends in the murky room ahead. When they're dead, loot all of the corpses, and don't forget you can use your Torch to shed a little light on things here.

Next, go down the stairs by the entrance and kill the Henchman on the next floor down. Attack the Wheelchair Blunder straight away, then grab the Pungent Blood Cocktails on the corpse up ahead. Finally take a look at the note that's on the cabinet located over in the corner.

Now, go through the door that's on the other side from the stairs, then go up the next set of steps. Kill the Henchmen, then interact with the body to get another Blood Stone Shard. Go up the next stairs and open the gate to get back to that lamp to the Hunter's Dream. You should now have a handy shortcut which means you can cut out a lot of enemies if you die (you will die).

Remember that if you choose to go back to the Hunter's Dream now for whatever reason, then all of the enemies will respawn on your return. Better to go back to that bridge leading to the Cleric Beast boss fight. First you must deal with the Crazed Crows and Brick Brute at the far end though. Chuck a firebomb into the mix to polish off all the Crows, and also do a massive chunk of damage to the Brute at the same time. When they're all dead, keep heading along the path to start the fight with the Cleric Beast.

- Read on for the next part of our guide which explains how to kill the Cleric Beast.

- Return to the index page for more sections of our Bloodborne guide.

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