Ebrietas Bloodborne Guide

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Arron is an RPG all-rounder with a love for CRPGs in particular. Ever since he started playing games on his old SNES, he has been hooked ever since. He has a particular love for games like Pillars of Eternity, Skyrim, a variety of beloved indie titles, and also a few online shooters to serve as a means of avoiding open-world fatigue. Outside of gaming, he enjoys watching arthouse movies, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and writing fiction.

Key Info Up Front

Location: Altar of Despair/Great Isz Chalice

Skippable: Yes

Blood Echoes: 28,800/121,076/133,183/151,344/301,688

Drops: Great Isz Chalice, Isz Root Chalice, Triangular Arcane Damp Blood Gem

Ebrietas Lore

Ebrietas is tied to the plane of existence known as Isz deep within the Chalice Dungeon Labyrinth. Isz is thought to be in contact with the plane of existence referred to as the Cosmos itself, which led to Great Ones like Ebrietas using planes of thought beyond their dimension to grow in power and influence. It is believed that the Healing Church was able to summon Ebrietas to Yharnam using the slug-like augurs of Great Ones known as Phantasms.

The player can even find an item called the Augur of Ebrietas, which opens up a rift to Isz that allows some of her tentacles to come through before it closes and they are severed.

Once the Healing Church, led by an elite group known as the Choir, discovered Ebrietas, they believed that they would be able to communicate with numerous other Great Ones. However, they discovered that there was an exodus of Great Ones many years before, with Ebrietas being left behind by her kind. This led to an alliance between Ebrietas and the Choir that promised to help them both in their ultimate goal of finding the other Great Ones.

With Ebrietas’ assistance, the Choir pieced together that the Cosmos was not as far as they initially thought but was just “above” Yharnam. They couldn’t see it because humanity could not comprehend the transcendental dimension.

The Choir then began numerous experiments to reach the Cosmos with Ebrietas’ augurs, but they were unsuccessful and often had dangerous consequences. However, Iosefka, the Choir member, devised a plan to use the blood of Ebrietas to turn orphan children into kin of Ebreitas in the hope that they would be able to communicate with the Cosmos.

Once this experiment started seeing promising results, Ebrietas was kept captive by the Choir so that they could harvest her blood and continue injecting it into people, a possible genesis of the plague infecting Yharnam.

For her cooperation with the Healing Church, the Choir and Ebrietas began trying to make offspring for her. It is a common theme for Great Ones to lose their children and then spend their lives trying to find a surrogate, and the Celestial Children surrounding Ebrietas’ lair seem to be the church’s efforts to provide one for her. They have similar pale blood as Ebrietas, wings that look similar to her own, and massive round heads on bodes that look like slugs all seem to point toward it.

As for how they were created, the most popular theory points toward the NPC Arianna. Depending on choices made by the player, Arianna can end up giving birth to a Celestial Larvae, which hints that the Healing Church has begun experimenting with using human women to give birth to celestial creatures.

It thus seems likely that a similar process was first tested with Ebrietas since she is the Healing Church’s main source of anything connected to the Cosmos, and the Celestial Children could very well be the result of this.

Another question of Ebrietas’ history is the death of her child Rom, the Vacuous Spider. What exactly happened to Rom has not been confirmed, but it does seem that Ebrietas has gone to great lengths to try and return him to life. The Altar of Despair, where Ebrietas is found, is confirmed through the Queen Annalise of Cainhurst questline to be able to turn back time if very specific requirements are met.

A corpse looks strikingly similar to Rom, who himself looks like a larva version of Ebrietas, atop the altar. This seems to indicate that Ebrietas was trying to find a way to reverse the flow of time and bring her son back to her when the player encounters her.

Ebrietas Location

Ebrietas can be found in two locations throughout the game. The first time players encounter her is in the Altar of Despair. Players have to go to the Upper Cathedral Ward and break the window next to the Lumenflower Gardens Lamp to get there. They will then be able to make their way into the area and face Ebrietas.

After she is defeated, Ebrietas drops a Chalice that gives the player access to the Chalice Dungeon. She can then be found on the third layer of the Chalice Dungeon within what is known as the Great Isz Chalice.

altar of dispair — Image from Bloodborne Fandom Wiki

Ebrietas Boss Fight

When the player first finds Ebrietas, she does not immediately attack, likely because she is so used to dealing with members of the Choir. However, that does not mean that the fight is not incredibly challenging. She is a Great One, after all. Bloodborne‘s community largely recommends being at least level 70 before attempting this fight, but very skilled players can do it before then.

Ebrietas’ stats stay largely the same when she is faced both times, although her hit points rise from 12,493 to 21,223 in the Chalice Dungeon. The rest of her stats are found below.

Ebrietas Stats

Physical Defense: 252
Blunt Defense: 226
Thrust Defense: 101
Blood Defense: 168
Arcane Defense: 170
Fire Defense: 60
Bolt Defense: 55

Like any boss fight in Bloodborne, beating Ebrietas is about understanding her moves and the best way to counter them. The most dangerous of her moves is a charge that she can use from any range and at any time. The move is telegraphed quite heavily before she does it, but it is still so difficult to dodge that most players still get hit by it here and there, which is very dangerous since it has the potential to kill you in just one hit.

The charge is easiest to deal with when it is initiated from a long distance, as the player can then run or roll directly away from her to get out of the attack’s range. However, if the charge begins up close, you’ll have to take the hit. However, if you ever have to get hit by the charge, make sure to get hit by Ebrietas’ head, as that deals less damage than the tentacles on either side of her. The charge is most challenging to deal with when you are only a medium distance away from her.

If you catch the charge animation early enough, you should be able to run directly away from her and dodge away and at an angle just before she hits you to avoid the damage. It will take some practice to get the timing down just right, but it will undoubtedly save your life numerous times once you do. The remainder of Ebreitas’ moves is below.

Ebrietas Moves List

Head Slam: Ebrietas slams her head down onto the ground in front of her to try and hit the player when they are close.
Grab: This move can kill the player if they are at less than 1,000 hit points as Ebrietas grabs them and begins rabidly eating them.
Tentacle Swing: If the player is too close, Ebrietas will swing at them with either one of her tentacles or both if the player remains close after the first swing.
Charge: A lethal charge that can be started no matter how far the player is from her.
Flying: A short flight is used to put distance between her and the player. This move is only damaging if the player is too close when she takes off or lands.
Flying Head Slam: When the player is a medium distance away from Ebrietas, there is a chance she will go into the air briefly before flying to the ground and trying to slam her head into them.
Body Slam: This move sees Ebrietas trying to crush the player with her entire body if they are close enough.
Spit Blood: A ranged move that allows Ebrietas to spit out her blood at the player to deal damage and afflict them with the Frenzy status effect.
A Call Beyond: A ranged move that summons three waves of magic missiles that require constant dodging to avoid.
Damage Aura: When Ebrietas reaches 50% of her maximum health, she will use this ability. It casts an aura around her that damages the player if they get too close, but it also deals minimal damage to her while it is active.

There are a handful of specific strategies that we will cover in a second, but whether you want to follow one or figure it out for yourself, some general tips will prove necessary when fighting Ebrietas. Firstly, you will want to do most of your attacking from her front. She can turn quickly, and most of her moves have wide arcs, making fighting from behind or to her side much more difficult due to the limited visibility.

Her Body Slam attack is also an excellent opportunity to get some extra damage in, as she will stay on the ground for a short while as she recovers. You should also know that her head is her main weak point. This means that if you can get a shot on the head, it will cause her to slump forward, bringing it into range for you to hit it with your melee weapon for massive damage and relative safety.

Since she is weakest to Bolt damage and Thrust damage, if you have problems, you should use one of those two types to get the fight over with as fast as possible.

The first strategy to beating Ebrietas is to provoke her Head Slam attack as much as possible, allowing you to get in hefty damage in her weak point. To do this, try to stay as close as possible to her chest, close enough to touch it. This will lessen the chance of charging while also preventing her from using her ranged moves. It will also help you avoid her Tentacle Swing, but you should where armor with high Physical Resistance just in case.

Then, you just have to stay touching her chest and pass from side to side until she does her Head Slam. Get as much damage in as possible, and then wait for her to stand up and repeat the process. This strategy is particularly strong because if you get hit, you can use the damage phase to heal instead.

If you prefer to use larger weapons, it is also viable to continuously circle her from a medium distance. This will prevent you from getting hit with her Tentacle Swing and other attacks. If she charges, just sprint in the direction you were already headed and dodge at the last minute, and you should be able to avoid damage.

Once you get used to the animation for her head slam, you can start moving toward her when it begins and hit her head with a fully charged heavy attack to deal massive damage before retreating and repeating the process.

However, if you have a hard time dodging her powerful grab attack, you may want to stay to her right side. This will prevent her from using that attack and will largely decrease the chance of having to deal with her charge. This strategy works best with Strength builds that can deal massive amounts of damage with a single attack. To do it, you’ll have to learn Ebrietas’ Tentacle Swipe well so that you can dodge her swing and then get some damage in afterward.

From this position, you should also be able to get a fully charged heavy attack in when she performs her Head Slam for really big damage. The main downside of this strategy is that you may take damage from when she takes off for Flying, but it should be minimal enough that you can heal it back easily when you return to your spot right next to her.

For players who have a particularly difficult time with this boss fight or who want to get through it as quickly as possible, there is one method that is incredibly strong. It takes full advantage of Ebrietas’ weakness to Thrust and Bolt damage. You’ll want to get a Thrust weapon, but I would definitely recommend the Rakuyo. Just before you start the fight you can then apply a Bolt Paper to it to make it even more dangerous for her. Then, summon the Old Hunter Damian spirit to distract her at the start of the fight.

While she’s trying to hit him run around her and get into the nook between her two tails. This spot will protect you from the majority of her attacks while minimizing the ones that do make contact. Then, with Rakuyo in its alternate form, you can spam its R2 attack thanks to its low Stamina cost. While you won’t be hitting her head from this position, a well-upgraded Rakuyo should be able to kill her before the Bolt Paper even runs out.

If it does, however, you’ll have plenty of time to apply a new one or heal while you’re back there.

daughter of the cosmos — Image from Bloodborne Fandom Wiki

Conclusion

The Great Ones are one of the most interesting parts of Bloodborne‘s extended world and lore and fighting Ebrietas more than lives up to their reputation. The fight is often one of the hardest that players face during their playthrough, but the challenge is surmountable with enough patience and strategy. The fight has also become an iconic part of the game, in no small part thanks to Ebrietas’ striking visual design.

So, if you’re a FromSoft or Bloodborne fan at all, Ebrietas is a fight that you have to finish at least once.

FAQs

Question: Does the “Make Contact” gesture in Bloodborne have any effect if used on Ebrietas?

Answer: No, despite Make Contact being found near her, it does not do anything if you use it on her before the boss fight begins.

Question: Why was Ebrietas left behind in Bloodborne?

Answer: It is not made clear why exactly Ebrietas was left behind by the other Old Ones. Since the Healing Church and Ebrietas fail to make contact with them it seems likely that we will never know how she came to be stranded in Yharnam.

Question: What level should I be at to fight Ebrietas?

Answer: It is recommended to be at least level 70. If you have a hard time with the boss, however, there is nothing to stop you from grinding out more levels to make things just a little bit easier for you.

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