Sunless Skein in Lords of the Fallen is an absolute nightmare, and its boss, the Skinstealer, is no different, so here’s our guide on how to beat him the boss in the game.
How to Prepare to Fight Skinstealer in Lords of the Fallen
Unlike some of the bigger bosses in Lords of the Fallen, you don’t really need to go too far out of your way when it comes to preparing for Skinstealer. His build-up debuffs aren’t all that troublesome and most of the damage effects you can apply to your weapons should help out in some small capacity. Personally, I recommend Smite or Poison since he does seem to be both an unholy abomination and made of flesh. Bleed would probably also work just as well but frankly, given the amount of blood that’s been spilled on the arena’s floor, let’s not further add to the mess.
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Now, the most important note I think I can give you before this fight is to make use of the Umbral Flowerbed just outside the moth gate. Sunless Skein is such a nightmare to traverse and the fact that you’ll need to duck and dodge through a small army to get to the boss fight is just a little too time-consuming for my taste. If you’ve got a Vestige Seed on hand, go ahead and plant. If not, I HIGHLY recommend farming enough currency to purchase one from Molhu in Skyrest. They’re quite a pricey purchase but the investment is well worth it for the amount of time and energy you’ll save.
With your Seedling planted, let’s rest up and traverse the moth gate. On your immediate left, Skinstealer will be waiting to pounce so get ready…
How to Beat the Skinstealer Boss in LotF
This boss fight can go one of two ways, each one fairly straightforward, depending on how you respond to this question: Are you feeling up to playing a rhythm game? If you are, then get your shield ready because we’re gonna be parrying more than you’ve ever needed to before in Lords of the Fallen. Skinstealer’s combat style is fairly basic but still impressively deadly, as can be expected from a lanky monster with four arms and just as many swords. While the timing is really difficult to nail down, nearly all of this boss’s attacks can simply be parried so if you’re confident with a shield, you can expect to stagger him in just a few seconds.
On the flip side of that, if you, much like the drummer in that one episode of Phineas and Ferb, ain’t got rhythm then simply dodging is all you need to worry about. Make sure you’re not equipped with an armor set that classifies your weight as Heavy; for this fight, you’ll want to clock in at Medium or Light to really take advantage of Lords of the Fallen‘s generous dodge roll. Being a bulky tank won’t do you any favors in this battle.
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Now, once you’re through the wall of moths, you have a moment to steel yourself against Skinstealer. If you want to get a cheeky hit in nice and early, you can land a ranged shot with either your bow or crossbow while he’s still passive.
After that connects, he’ll side-step any other projectiles you launch at this range so stash your launcher and advance, preparing for Skinstealer’s opening charge attack. He’ll either dash directly at you, leading with a double horizontal slash or he’ll initiate with a roll that culminates in a downward swipe; both of these can be parried but if you’d prefer to just avoid them, dodge into the attack. It’s a staple in the Soulslike genre that may feel counterintuitive to new players, but you have to use the invincibility frames on your dodge rolls in Lords of the Fallen. Given the size of his swords, moving left, right, or backward will likely still result in a hit. However, Skinstealer’s ability to pivot an attack is rather limited so dodge diagonally forward, through the hit, and you’ll end up behind him. EXACTLY where you want to be to land a couple of hits of your own.
I also want to call out some weird hitboxes in this fight that make some attacks much easier to avoid. I’m not entirely sure if they’re intentional or just a glitch that will be patched later. When you see Skinstealer go for the downward slash, move into the armpit of the arm he’s swinging. Given the length of his arms and his size advantage, getting this close means the attack will actually just soar straight over your head. It’s a very specific use case, I grant you, but given how often he uses the double and single downward diagonal combo, it’s usually better to stick as close to the boss as follows.
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This most notably applies when you’re trying to heal in the middle of the fight. I found it easier to successfully use a Sanguinarix when I was pressed up against Skinstealer. Gross, I know. Yet his long recovery times and his instance to retreat and make some space after a combo made squeezing in a heal much easier. If you pull back, he has enough lightning-fast distance-closing strikes that will cut you off before you actually recover anything. So when it doubt, hug the boss. Not in a friendly way but like… in a boxing match kinda way.
The biggest thing you’ll want to focus on is judging when Skinstealer’s attack will incorporate both blades or just one. If he gives off a yellow flash just before he swings, you know that you need to either block or avoid TWO hits, one immediately after the other. He usually strings two of these attacks together, meaning you’re looking at four consecutive sword swings.
Locking down the timing on these to parry will significantly drain Skinstealer’s stagger meter. If not, then you’ll want to dodge backward; he swings close to the chest for this combo so it’s fairly simple to get out of his range. If at any point you do successfully stagger him, try to remember that he twists his body to the right. You’ll need to follow his movement if you want to land the devastating blow, otherwise, you’ll just attack his shoulder for normal damage.
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If you manage to back off from Skinstealer’s aggressive onslaught to heal for a moment, be prepared to avoid his fastest attack. His swords will emit an orange glow like he’s igniting the tips, and he’ll zip forward much quicker than you’re expecting. Seriously, I recommend always dodging earlier than you expect when you see this telegraph. Once again, roll through the attack and sneak in your hits here since he takes a while to reset after this particular burst. If you do get hit by this attack and survive it, be warned that you’ll receive around 75% Ignite build-up. Getting hit twice by it? Well, be prepared to roll around to douse the flames.
With all that being said, there’s not much else to this encounter. Skinstealer’s moveset is very basic and he doesn’t have a second phase to learn. This boss is all about testing your reaction speed and while it may initially feel like successfully parrying every attack is the only way to win, dodging is probably the easiest option. Skinstealer’s moves are quick but he takes a while to reset after a combo which you should obviously capitalize on whenever you have the opportunity.
With Skinstealer dead, you can now leave his personal arena of death via the gate and climb aboard the elevator to Upper Calranth. Just be aware that you’ll soon encounter Skinstealer again as a standard enemy type. The second time you encounter him he’ll be in a deserted town square so you have way more freedom of movement but now you’ll also have to deal with all the mobs rushing your position at the same time! Time to drop that lock-on and start swinging away but even though it’s not a boss fight, I found Skinstealer 2 to be a much harder (and more frustrating) fight. The good news is that you can simply run straight past this one!
If you’re looking for more on the game, check out if we think Lords of the Fallen is harder than Lies of P.
