Summary
The most common way forBloodborneto test a player’s skill with boss fights is to pit them up against massive beasts that move at breakneck speeds and require memorization of movesets and fast reactions to succeed. However, this concept goes very much out the window in thefight against Rom, The Vacuous Spider, who prioritizes patience over speed when it comes to dealing with the endless string of magical attacks and mobs.
While there are ways to beat Rom quickly, even skipping entire phases with enough damage, coming out on top rarely equates to rushing in and spamming R1 until she dies. Breaking the mold forBloodborne, that type of aggression will likely get the player killed as Rom’s army of smaller spiders will surely overwhelm a frontal assault. That is, of course, assuming that the boss' powerful magic won’t kill the player outright.
Rom’s Army Doesn’t Outmaneuver, But Outnumbers Instead
Rom’s Children Become the Real Threat, At First
The trick to Rom is that she doesn’t exactly fight players head-on from the beginning, instead choosing to summon an army of smaller spiders that will fight in her place for the first phase. These smaller spiders, similar to Rom herself, boast stone heads that will make most frontal attacks useless and spend most of their time making sure the player can’t get behind them.
Breaking through these sturdy barriers isn’t a matter of getting a better building or stackingBloodborne’s stat-boosting Blood Gemsbut instead comes down to baiting out attacks that will leave them vulnerable and getting behind them to deal a killing blow.
As simple as dodging an attack or two and getting behind the spiders might sound, the trouble comes when these mobs start to gather together and attack the player all at once. With more than a dozen spiders arriving in the first wave, these numbers can quickly overwhelm a player and leave them nowhere to go when trying to dodge or have no time to counter when the enemies are vulnerable. It is this simple concept of numbers that helps to elevate Rom amongBloodborne’s toughest bosses, as even getting close to her becomes a difficult task with so many enemies surrounding her and chasing the player.
Rom’s Vanishing Act Ushers in the True Boss
After getting through the first wave of spiders and eventually taking the punishment to Rom, the boss starts to take charge, vanishing from sight and warping to the other side of the arena. This will notably include a second wave of spiders, which will again need to be dealt with, but it will also trigger Rom to start attacking in earnest as she begins to defend herself. Harnessing the magic thatBloodborne’s Hunter Toolsare modeled after, Rom opens the second phase by summoning meteors from the cosmos to rain down on the player, and her damage potential doesn’t stop there.
From the second phase on, Rom will throw out one of four attacks, depending on where the player is standing relative to the boss. These include the aforementioned meteors that rain down from high and out of sight, a ring of meteors that rise from the ground, an explosive pulse, and a series of head slams that push the player to create some distance. While patience has already been key for dealing with the spiders, it is the only way forward here, as diving intoBloodborne’s aggressive gameplaywill easily lead to players getting demolished by one of these attacks.
Breathe Deep And Find an Opening
It is in these later phases that the difficulty of Rom really starts to show itself. However, it isn’t the same difficulty of speed or aggression on the opposing side that normally dictates thedifficulty ofBloodborne’s most brutal bosses. Instead, it is the player’s own tendency towards aggression, whichBloodbornenormally rewards, that will be the most common cause of death against Rom. In this case, it’s best to stop, take account of the arena, and only get a few shots in during the brief moments of opportunity Rom provides.
Bloodborne
WHERE TO PLAY
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