The Warden of the Silent Sorrow is the first boss you’ll run into in Blasphemous, and it’s honestly great, because he’s the very first enemy you face, and that happens really early. I love games that throw a “tough” boss at you right at the start to get your blood pumping.
You might be wondering why “tough” is in quotes. Well, he’s not a huge challenge, but at the end of the day he’s the very first one, and his job isn’t to wall you this early. It’s more like he’s sending you a message: “You’re going to find tough bosses here, and this is just the appetizer, so get ready.” At least that’s the feeling I get.
This boss killed me the first time I fought him because I didn’t really have the controls down yet, but I beat him on the second try. The funny thing is that a while later I realized I hadn’t used my healing at all. I mean, that’s what it’s there for, but it turned into a really epic fight without it.
I guess that under normal conditions, with two Bile Flasks available, he must be a pretty easy boss. But I also have to keep in mind that there are probably people who aren’t as used to this kind of game as I am, and in that case it’d make total sense for them to have trouble with him. So I decided to write this guide, and I hope it’s the first of many about Blasphemous, which looks really promising so far.
Table of Contents
Warden of the Silent Sorrow Location
You can’t miss him: you’ll find him practically at the start, in a place called “Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow“. There’s no way you won’t find him, there are no detours, and he’s literally the first enemy you come across.
Attack Guide
These are the Warden’s attacks:
- Jump: The Warden jumps really high and tries to land on you or get away from you, depending on where you are. If he catches you during the jump, you’ll take damage.
- Slam: He uses the heavy contraption in his hands to strike in your character’s direction. The hit itself does quite a bit of damage and has good reach because of how big the contraption is, but the worst part is that after the impact a purple magic trail runs along the floor, and that’s the most annoying part of the attack. To dodge it, just stay far enough away that the contraption doesn’t hit you, and jump at the right moment to avoid the magic wave.
As you can see, nothing out of this world, but the Slam is pretty annoying, and until you get the hang of it you’ll probably eat it more than once.
Strategy
The strategy I found really effective for taking down the Warden of the Silent Sorrow is the following. The trick is to repeat this loop until he’s dead.
- Wait for him to jump at you and move a little out of the way so he doesn’t land on you (watch his shadow).
- Hit him two or three times at most (be patient, going in swinging will only get you killed) and quickly dash away, otherwise you’ll take a nasty Slam.
- Right after that, jump over the magic wave while moving toward the boss, and if you have time, hit him as much as you can (there usually isn’t much time).
- He’ll jump again, and you’re back at the start of the loop.
You’ll have to repeat the process quite a few times to beat him. The boss has a moderate amount of health: it won’t take forever, but he won’t go down in a second either.
Tips
Don’t be a masochist like me, and remember you can heal a couple of times in total; each Bile Flask restores roughly half your health. That said, as usual with this kind of game, it’s best to find the right moment to heal, since it takes a little time (but long enough for an enemy to cancel your heal if you’re not careful).
The best time to heal is, without a doubt, right after the Slam attack, once you’ve jumped over the magic trail on the floor. You’ll have a brief window between when he jumps again and the time he spends in the air to heal without any pressure. If things get tight, remember you have the dash in case you see him about to land on you, but I think there’s “plenty” of time as long as you heal right after jumping over the magic attack.
And that’s it! All in all, I liked Blasphemous’s first boss, and I hope the bosses from here on are even tougher. The fact that the very first one is already a small challenge, and that it’s your very first fight (no minor enemies beforehand), gives me a lot of hope for this game.
What do you think of Blasphemous so far? Have you already beaten the Warden of the Silent Sorrow? How did you do it? Leave a comment!
