If you’re playing Lords of the Fallen anything like me, then the Congregator of Flesh is probably the most monstrous boss you’ve encountered yet. This towering abomination of teeth and blood makes a surprise appearance shortly after leaving Pilgrim’s Perch and if you’re not ready for it then you’re likely in for a major shock. Beyond its appearance, it’s also likely the strongest enemy you’ve encountered yet. So if you’re struggling, here’s how to defeat the Congregator of Flesh in Lords of the Fallen.
How to Prepare for the Congregator of Flesh Boss in LotF
Now, before going any deeper into this topic, I’m going to tell you right now that if you want this boss to be SIGNIFICANTLY easier than it was for me, you’ll want to rescue Gerlinde from her prison just before the fight against Gentle Gaverus, Mistress of Hounds. Once you hand over the key to her cell, you can return to Skyrest and find her set up in the blacksmith’s alcove. Use her to upgrade your equipment, specifically your weapons, to make this fight much easier. Don’t be like me and completely miss out on Gerlinde when first exploring the caverns of Pilgrim’s Perch. I only found her after defeating the Congregator of Flesh and with a base-level weapon, it was a CHORE.
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So, now that we’ve got that out the way, let’s track down this horrifying beastie. From the arena where you fought Gaverus, follow the path down a ladder and then into a dark tunnel which eventually leads you to the Vestige of Olleren, a place for you to rest and prepare. Once you’ve upgraded your character, continue down the tunnel until it opens up into a lush forest cliffside with the name Forsake Fen. There’ll be a merchant to your right and I recommend stopping and having a chat with him. His wares aren’t all that impressive but he does have a bunch of potions that will cure you of any poison debuffs or build-up. Just for me, for the Congregator you’ll want to stock up on these and assign them to a quick-use item slot.
Having concluded your business, advance down the path until you come across a pit with some planks acting as a makeshift bridge. Before you step onto the boards, apply either a Radiance or Fire effect to your equipped weapon and move forward. There’ll be an enemy that advances from a cave on the other side of the crevice as a means of encouraging you to press forward. Don’t worry about killing him and instead run across the central board. When you get halfway, it’ll snap and you’ll fall an incredibly long way. Despite the height of the drop, you won’t take any damage when you reach the bottom since you’ve landed on a pile of corpses. Unfortunately, the bodies aren’t just decoration. They’re actually the Congregator of Flesh (the name should make sense now) and he’s annoyed that you fell on its… head? I guess?
How to Beat the Congregator of Flesh in Lords of the Fallen
The first thing you want to know about this monstrosity is that nowhere is safe. It has attacks that cover every side, meaning that a sneaky flank won’t automatically win you the fight. Having said that, fighting it head-on is a death sentence. When you begin the fight, you’ll notice that you can lock onto various parts of its mass, including its face and its right leg. I recommend going for the fleshy appendage; hitting the mouth will seemingly deal slightly more damage but it won’t be enough to warrant being in the firing line of the Congregator’s major attacks. Just try and hug its right side (your left side) and many of its larger abilities will miss you.
Speaking of large, the Congregator is gigantic which not only poses a serious problem in terms of its health pool but also the camera angle. There are instances where it’ll effectively push you up against the wall and clip into the camera, making it impossible to see what it’s about to do. I have to imagine that this is unintentional but I lost a couple of fights because of this so I want to advise you to try to stay central in the arena. Maybe a patch will be rolled out that fixes this issue but right now, it can be incredibly frustrating.
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Okay, now onto the actual logistics of the boss battle. The Congregator has access to quite a wide variety of moves that can ruin your day. If you stick to its front, it’ll often pull back its lanky arm and sweep across the stage, sending you flying. The hit box for this strike feels very specific so you can avoid it by running into the crook of its elbow as it winds up; there’s a big enough gap that you’ll be safe and you can squeeze in a few hits at the same time. It’s not a very quick ability, making it easy to roll through or avoid entirely if you can run around its left side. If you do this, be ready for a follow-up that will see it simply tumble onto its side, squashing you in the process. Getting caught by that move results in a ton of damage and it’s incredibly difficult to dodge so I recommend avoiding attacking from behind unless you’re willing to heal through the damage. Oh, did I also mention that every hit it deals in this fight also adds to your poison build-up? Hence we bought those potions. If your item bar isn’t on the Sanguinarix, it should be on the poison solution. Also be on the lookout for a vomit ability that SIGNIFICANTLY increases poison build-up and a jumping attack that sees your enemy leap into the twist, coming down with a staggering amount of force. The former can be avoided by moving into The Congregator, effectively getting under its mouth, while the latter can be dodged with a well-timed roll.
Despite its size, the Congregator is also a bit of a coward. Throughout the fight, it’ll retreat from you in an effort to put some distance between the two of you. You can either use these transitions to quickly heal up or charge it down and refuse to give any quarter. Realistically, you can do both but I recommend trying to close the gap as quickly as possible. When there’s enough space, the Congregator will raise its thin arm and slam it down again; it’ll then repeat this for another strike. It deals a MASSIVE amount of damage but it’s also quite easy to avoid if you move either left or right.
If you do flee for a moment, be ready for the Congregator to blast a few waves of… magic? You’ll notice it charging some kind of ability before it unleashes a literal wave of black-and-white energy. I recommend simply dodging through it since it’s too long to avoid by heading to the left or right. Blocking also works as long as you’re facing directly into the wave. Holding your shield up but having it hit from the side obviously won’t work.
How to Pass the Congregator of Flesh’s Second Phase
It’s debatable whether the Congregator of Flesh actually has a second phase but for the sake of this article, I’m treating it that way. When its health drops to about half, you’ll notice that it begins to seep green clouds of toxic gas. You’ve been playing video games long enough to know that you need to avoid those but this gets a bit trickier when it constantly surrounds itself with the gas. If you want to get your hits in, you’ll need to constantly be watching your poison build-up, downing anything you have that can reduce the meter. Otherwise, just tank the passive damage and heal through. You likely don’t have many healing charges at this point in the game, so I wouldn’t recommend going this route but go for it if you prefer the extra challenge.
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Once the gas is in play, the Congregator will add an additional move to its horizontal swipe; while you’re likely already used to the backhand, it’ll now lead with a forehand hit that can similarly be dodged through or blocked. It also gains access to a special move that will see it pick you up with its mouth, chew you for a moment, and then spit you out. This is easily his highest damaging move, so make sure you’re dodging because it goes straight through your block. I’m unsure if this particular ability is reserved for phase two but I never saw it in the first half of the fight. It might very well be in play early, which is even more reason to hug the foot!
The Congregator has a HUGE amount of health and given the emphasis on poison damage, this fight is one of the first of its kind in Lords of the Fallen: A battle of attrition. Rather than going all-in on an aggressive strategy like Pieta or Scourged Sister Delyth, patience is key to overcoming this particular boss. Having said that, it’s not a particularly challenging battle, just time-consuming. Make peace with the fact that you won’t be dealing huge swathes of damage every hit and instead settle into a rhythm of swinging and blocking and you should come out on top.
Oh, and if you fail on your first attempt (which is very likely) you’ll be given a chance to summon an NPC as back-up the next time you fight it. You can choose whichever one you want, they don’t really do a lot beyond drawing aggro for a time. They usually die before the Congregator even gets to half health but they cost nothing to summon, so you might as well!
With the Congregator of Flesh dead, it’s difficult to imagine and even more disturbing boss fight in Lords of the Fallen but don’t you worry, there’s still plenty to see.
If you’re looking for more on the game, check out how to respec stats in Lords of the Fallen.
