One of the first proper boss fights you’ll encounter in Lords of the Fallen is the radiant Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal, that is, if you don’t count the Lightreaper which will require perfection to beat. At the end of Redcopse Village, just past the Iron Wayfarer, you’ll find the Skyrest Bridge, and it’s here, where you’ll meet Pieta which is followed up with a cutscene. Pieta can be a difficult battle for players new to the game or genre which is why we have written an in-depth strategy on how to defeat her.

How to Beat Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal¶

The first half of the battle, phase one if you like, will be mostly sweeping melee attacks with a bit of Radiant (Holy) magic mixed in with it. However, when you drop her health to approximately 50%, she’ll become more magic-orientated while still keeping up with her sweeping melee attacks. Before we get into her attacks, she is weak to Inferno (fire), so if you have any Inferno magic, or fire salts, you should use them, especially in the second phase. Furthermore, Pieta will frequently cast Radiant magic, so a Holy or Magic Ward will negate some of the damage she does.

Melee Attacks¶

Onto her attacks, as briefly mentioned above, she has melee attacks which are normally performed in two or three hits with a fourth attack getting thrown in occasionally. Although she can do up to four attacks, sometimes she will do just the two, so always wait a second after the second attack to see if a follow-up is coming before attacking her yourself; the same goes with the fourth attack.

The melee attacks are best avoided by performing a single dodge (not roll) toward her just as the attack comes your way. For the most part, you’ll avoid the attack as the iframes are generous. Be aware that these attacks have a deceptive range, so if you want to retreat to heal, make sure you roll away from her instead of dodging as that will normally lead to you getting hit. Furthermore, every melee attack will be a horizontal sweep regardless of what animation she does before it, so dodging toward her is normally your best bet.

One last thing about her melee attacks, she has a slight pause before actually swinging, so wait a bit before hitting dodge otherwise you’ll be in animation when the attack lands leading you to get hit. Note, Pieta does have one vertical attack where she will slam her sword into the ground, then slam it again to create a mini explosion. Sometimes, she won’t do the follow-up, so don’t get baited to attack her straight away.

Pieta Melee Attack List¶

• Sweeping Combo: This will either be two, three, or four attacks. All of them will be wide-sweeping horizontal attacks with the fourth attack sometimes changing between a horizontal slash or a Jumping Slam Explosion.

• Jumping Slam Explosion: Normally performed as attack four of her melee combo, Pieta will perform a small jump before slamming down her sword into the ground. This can be followed up with another attack which will create a small explosion around the impact. Note, that she won’t always do the follow-up attack, but if she does, take advantage of the animation and get some attacks in.

• Diving Sword Rain (second phase): In the second phase, Pieta will fly to the back of the arena, charge up, and dive through the middle of the arena while radiant swords rain down behind her.

• Charging Grab (second phase): This is only used in phase 2. Pieta’s hand will glow briefly before charging/flying at and attempting to grab you.

• Summon Sweep: This is predominantly used in the second phase. Pieta will send out a swordsman summon that will leap and perform a sweeping attack which Pieta will follow up with an attack of her own.

• Summon Slam: This is predominantly used in the second phase. Pieta will send out a swordsman summon that will jump and slam down their weapon which Pieta will follow up with the same attack.

Magic Attacks¶

If she steps away from you, she is getting ready to cast one of her spells at you. This will either be a beam attack or a shockwave attack. If it’s the former, her sword will be pointed in the air while shining a beautiful golden glow. When this happens, simply tap dodge to either side to avoid it. The latter, however, has a similar animation when she’s about to use it, but she’ll raise her catalyst instead. To avoid this, you’ll need to wait, or move towards it, then roll through the spell.

One other trick that Pieta has up her sleeves is that she can summon radiant duplicates of herself. There will only ever be two at maximum, and they will only perform an attack in conjunction with Pieta before disappearing. They have four attacks they can do: Pieta’s Beam attack, but it’ll be two beams at once which can be avoided the same way. Pieta’s Shockwave attack, like the beam attack, it’ll be two instead of one.

This is a bit more difficult to avoid, but wait until they converge, and roll through the middle of them. Then they can do Pieta’s slam attack which Pieta will usually follow up with, and finally, a sweeping attack which Pieta will also follow up with. For the most part, this will happen in the second phase, but it can occur during the first phase.

Pieta Magic Attack List¶

• Radiant Beam: Pieta will raise her sword before unleashing a devastating beam attack at your location.

• Radiant Shockwave: Pieta will raise the opposite hand (not the sword) before she unleashes a shockwave of radiant magic along the ground that tracks your movement.

• Dual Summon Beam: Two Summons will raise their swords before simultaneously unleashing two radiant beams at your position.

• Dual Summon Shockwave: Two Summons will raise their opposite hands (not sword) before unleashing two shockwaves that track, and converge at your location.

• Diving Summon Sword Rain: Pieta will fly to the back of the arena, and conjure two summons that will take two of the three spots at the back of the arena before simultaneously diving across the arena while raining down radiant swords behind them. The locations will change each time. For example, at first, they will cover the left and right lanes leaving the middle free from damage. Later, they will take up either the middle and right, or middle and left positions.

Pieta Boss Strategy¶

First Phase¶

She’ll start the beginning of the fight slowly advancing to your position where she will perform a melee combo which can be anywhere from two to four attacks. There will always be a slight delay before each swing, so wait a little before dodging toward her. Do this for each attack, and after the second attack, wait a second, and if there are no follow-ups, get some attacks in. If you’re using a short sword, this can be up to four attacks.

After that, she can use any of her attacks listed above, so always keep an eye on what she does before the attack. If her sword is pointing toward you while she advances, it’ll be a melee attack, however, if she steps away from you (not to be confused with a retreating slash), it’ll be a magic attack.

For her magic attacks, the consensus is, if her sword points to the air, it’ll be a beam attack, on the other hand (pun intended) if her catalyst/other hand raises, it’ll be the shockwave attack. Both of these can and should be dodged through. During the melee attack combo, she may perform a small jump, if that’s the case, she’ll either do one more sweeping attack or her slam attack. With the slam attack, she can follow that up with a secondary slam attack which creates a small explosion. You’ll know this is coming as she will briefly charge it up. When she does this, run behind her (not too close), wait for the explosion, then pummel her with a few attacks as she takes a second to compose herself.

Second Phase¶

Around the 50-60% mark of her health, she will twirl her sword before stabbing it into the ground. This indicates phase two, but make sure you get away from her as she’ll create an explosion around her. Phase two will give her wings, yes wings, and she’ll be able to fly (hover?) around the arena. The first thing she will do is fly to the back of the arena, charge up her sword, and fly through the middle, raining down radiant swords behind her. When she does this, make sure you’re standing on one of the sides to avoid the attack.

Now, phase two changed some things. Her melee attacks will be while she’s in the air, but the same principles apply, just the animations change. Once again this can be between two and four attacks, so once again, wait a bit after the second attack to see if a follow-up occurs. If it doesn’t, attack her.

Throughout this phase, you’ll see a lot of her swordsman “summons” as they perform various attacks on you while coordinating with Pieta, so make sure you always expect an attack from Pieta to follow even if she doesn’t. For the Summon Slam attack, it’s best to run away, so that way you avoid both of the potential attacks, although you can dodge through it. Like the previous slam attack, if Pieta does follow up with it, take advantage, and attack her back for a few hits.

While you fight her in the second phase, she will frequently go to the back of the arena, summon two “summons” who will take a spot in either the left, middle, or the right, and perform the attack that Pieta did earlier (fly through raining swords down behind them). Whenever you see her do this, stand in the middle of the arena, and see where the summon goes. There will always be a gap, so quickly run into said gap, and let them do their thing. While this is happening, Pieta will head over to attack you. Sometimes this will be through another new attack she got with this phase where she’ll charge and grab you. Thankfully, this is relatively easy to avoid by dodging just before she reaches you.

This will be the fight for pretty much the rest of the battle. The only thing you need to know about is the other attacks her “summons” can do. By far the most difficult one to avoid is the dual shockwave attack, because if they do it when you’re near to them, it can catch you off-guard, and it deals a chunk of damage. Ideally, wait until both shockwaves begin to meet up, and roll forward, through it. The next attack is the slam. One summon will jump into the air to perform a slam attack which Pieta will immediately follow with her own. It’s best to get some distance from this attack, so you can avoid both with ease, but don’t underestimate their range.

Then you have an attack where the summon will jump forward and perform a horizontal slash, and Pieta will follow up with the same attack. Once again, running away is the easier option, but you can time the dodge to sidestep through each attack. Finally, you have the dual beam attack. This is exactly the same as Pieta, but her two summons will do it instead. This hits like a truck if you get hit by it, but you can wait until they unleash the beams then dodge into it.

There you have it, Pieta can be difficult as a first boss, but once you learn how to dodge her melee attacks properly (remember, slight delay!), the rest should come easy. One final tip would be to make sure you use the Vestige Seed the Iron Wayfarer will give you before the bridge, and create a Vestige, so you only have a short run back to the boss. Finally, if you’re still having trouble, either summon the Iron Wayfarer outside the boss arena (group of moths to the left of the entrance) or get some multiplayer compatriots.

Pieta Tips¶

If you’re still having trouble with Pieta, here are a few tips:

• Use Fire (inferno) magic, or fire salts as she is weak to fire magic.
• Use Holy or Magic Wards (Holy is better) to negate some of the damage you take.
• Depending on your class, make use of your ranged/throwing attacks. The Hallowed Knight has a fire grenade for example which adds up.
• Use Briostones to heal chip damage. By the time you fight Pieta, you should have picked up a few of these by now, unless you used them. These will slowly regenerate your health which is great to save wasting a Quintessence.
• Equip armor with holy resistance. Some of the equipment you picked up in Redcopse Village like the Pilgrim set have decent holy resistances. This could give you the extra bit of defense you need.
• Finally, be patient, and learn her attacks. An obvious answer, but it needs to be said. Practice makes perfect.

More Lords of the Fallen Guides¶

If you want any more help with Lords of the Fallen, check out our pages below. You never know, some of them may help you defeat Pieta.

• Best Starting Classes Guide
• Umbral Lamp Guide
• Multiplayer Guide
• Attributes and Stats Guide
• Ammo System Guide