Bloodborne: Central Yharnam to Father Gascoigne
Bloodborne continues after the Cleric Beast boss battle with more exploration of Central Yharnam.
With Bloodborne's first boss out of the way, it's time to get serious. We'll do that first by heading back to our base at Hunter's Dream. If you haven't been back here since gaining a point of Insight after entering the Cleric Beast arena for the first time, you'll notice something has changed - the Doll is now upright, and speaking. You can use Blood Echoes to purchase attribute points and level up your character.
Also keep an eye out for a new gift from the Messengers - a Beckoning Bell and Silencing Blank. You'll need these to engage in multiplayer or to summon NPCs to aid you in boss fights.
While you're here you may want to use your collection of Bloodstones to upgrade your weapon at the bench inside. If you have any Blood Echoes leftover, take a look in the Bath Messenger shop, too. After that, take the Tombstone back to the Cleric Beast lantern.
Central Yharnam
Take the left gate and head down two short flights of stairs, then look for another path downwards in the far left corner of the room. There are two more Brick brutes here; pull one away from the other so you can take him down alone, then turn your attention to the other. Successfully killing them nets you three Shining Coins, which can be used in the dark to highlight enemies. That will be handy later.
Note the nearby switch, which you'll be using later, then head back up the stairs on the right. Once you get to the top, take the stairs to your right and meet a door leading back to the Wheelchair Blunder you dispatched earlier. Take note of this shortcut after opening it, but don't go through; turn go back and take the stairs leading to a broken staircase (you can fall down here from the bridge). When you reach the far end of the broken stairs you'll find a Coldblood Dew.
Back down the bottom of the broken stairs, move straight ahead to take the next flight down too. Go cautiously and as soon as you spot the stairs on the left leading down to the cages, rush down and take out the Hounds in the cages before they break out and mob you.
Stay in this low section and scan the borders for a path on the left, just before you reach the bridge. Take out the guardian Hound and accept the Coldblood Dew waiting for you. Backtrack and head over the bridge, killing another Hound, then pause to speak with the lady behind the lit door with the red lantern; this will be important later.
Take the stairs down and then the next set to fight a Hunchback. He's not too hard to take out; wait for him to finish his combo of several attacks, then give it a paddling.
Down the stairs and to the right you'll find another Hunchback. This one has its back to you, so walk up slowly and use a Charge Attack and then a Backstrike. Watch out for the Henchman with a rifle to one side; you need to kill the Hunchback quickly before this guy damages you too much.
Once they're both down, look for the Coldblood Dew on the right. There's one more Hunchback who needs to be taken out before you move on, taking the doorway in the corner of the room.
You can grab a little more treasure now by looping back. This detour is described in italics, so skip it if you like.
Go upstairs to where you first entered this building and smash the refuse to find a doorway. Go through and walk around the rafters to collect a Coldblood Dew. Carefully cut down the two hanging bodies and you can collect the items below when you return to the bottom floor. There's another hidden doorway up here; it's at the end of the beam next to the hanging body closest to where you entered. Depending on when you visit this area, there may a friendly NPC, a female Hunter, here. Take to her for a Bold Hunter's Mark, and again for a gesture. She is gone if you return after defeating a boss or two.
Go back to the rafters. You can't get back out of here using the door you cam in by, so drop carefully to the next level down.
To collect the items you cut down - two Blood Stone Shards and a Saw Spear - you'll need to drop down onto the ledges below - once for each item - kill some Giant Rats and make your way back to the main sewer complex. I recommend returning to do this after you've cleared out the two Henchmen with rifles and the Hunchback, described in the next paragraph, so you don't get hurt or lost.
The next room has two Henchmen with rifles as well as a Hunchback. If you can take out one of the Henchmen before the Hunchback aggros you'll have a much easier time of it. Draw the Hunchback into the previous room for breathing space, but don't fall down to the next level! Once the room is cleared, look for a corpse with another Coldblood Dew.
Go around to the walkway opposite the doorway you entered through, and follow it around to take out four Crazed Crows on the way to the nearby bridge. Before crossing, look down and right to spot an item ball. It's a Blood Stone Shard, which I consider worth the hassle. Walk back along the waterway in the direction you came form to find a ladder back up.
Go back to the bridge. Cross it so you're back on the first side, then turn right and look for two Crazed Crows near some breakable items. Smash 'em down to get two Oil Urns.
You've done everything you can here, so go back to the where you fought the rifleman Henchmen and Hunchback, and take the ladder leading down. At the bottom of the ladder, facing it, turn right, then take the first left. The upper level here is full of Giant Rats which may aggro and drop down to attack you - try walking rather than running to avoid this. If they do go for you, be wary of their leap attack; otherwise, they're pretty weak. You'll have to take down two Giant Rats at the end of the corridor to score a Madman's Knowledge item off a corpse. You can cash this in for an Insight point when you need it.
Return to the ladder and continue past it. At the end of the path you should spot two more ladders to the right. Take the right hand one up, then take down a mob of Crazed Crows guarding the path along the balcony to a corpse with another Madman's Knowledge.
Go back the way you came and continue on in that direction to meet a Club Brute. This guy hits hard, and his attacks are harder to dodge than his Brick Brute cousin's, but you can walk slowly to sneak up and do a Charge Attack and Backstrike for a quick end to the battle. After taking it down, you can chat with the character behind the lit door opposite.
Take the ladder to the right up to the next level, and pull the lever to open the next gate. While you're up there, speak to the lit window and agree to help the speaker out, to receive the Tiny Music Box.
Take the gate you just opened and lo and behold: you're back in a familiar courtyard. This will save some time, no?
Bloodborne guide: Central Yharnman to Father Gascoigne
Backtrack now and go down the ladder, cross the bridge, and down the next ladder. You should be back at those two side by side ladders. Head down to find a mob of Undead Crawlers; if this scares you, throw a Molotov at them and enjoy the resulting carnage, but you can just smack 'em instead. Once they're dead you can inspect the corpse for ten Quicksilver Bullets, and with any luck score a Bold Hunter's Mark from one of the dead Crawlers.
On your way through the waterway you'll encounter more Crazed Crows and Undead Crawlers; you can shoot the former or approach them so that they drop into the water in manageable numbers. Go down the stairs and encounter a few more Undead Crawlers, then take the short path on the right, take out one more Undead Crawler, and collect the Blood Stone Shard.
Back in the waterway, look for two more Crazed Crows to take out, then look for a ladder and a tunnel. The ladder's what we're after now, so climb up, and then notice the doorway on the left with a lever. Use this lever to bring the lift ahead down if it is missing, but it shouldn't be. The lift goes to that balcony where you fought the two Brick Brutes; another shortcut opened, if you need it.
Note the stairs in this area: this path leads across a bridge to the next boss, Father Gascoigne. You can go now, if you like, but we recommend a little more treasure hunting first. If you do want to go straight ahead, be careful crossing the bridge. Several Henchmen will head for you, but before you get there a flaming boulder will be triggered. Either duck into a nearby nook or run back to the start of the bridge and move to one side.
Otherwise, let's take the long route. Go back to the last ladder and climb down to enter that tunnel we mentioned. In here you'll meet your first Crazed Pig. This is a bit nastier than other animals you've met; it charges, and its close range bite is very unpleasant. Lure it out to the tunnel entrance and try to get it to charge - it has a long enough recovery after this move that you can get in a Charge Attack and Backstrike. It also regularly gets stuck on the wall here, and doesn't turn quickly once you're behind it. If you need a break from this guy, climb the ladder and take a breather. Climb far enough, wait, and he'll give up and trot back down the tunnel.
Continuing through the tunnel past the dead porker, pause the it opens up halfway into to a small room with two corpses; you'll get a Saw Hunter Badge and a Coldblood Dew for your pains. Further down the tunnel you'll find a small opening on the left, just before the tunnel ends - go through and climb up the ladder on the right. (There's nothing but a pitfall at the end of the tunnel.)
This last climb leaves you near the bridge to Father Gascoigne. You want to take down the Henchman and Brick Brute who would ambush you if you crossed the bridge from the other path.
This battle is a bit tough due to limited room, so hang on the ladder and asses. One time, a Henchman pushed the boulder, damaging the brute hugely and killing half his team. Nice.
Take the stairs up to the left to take down two Hunchbacks. You can sneak up and Charge Attack and Backstrike one. They're guarding a corpse with two Bold Hunter's Marks.
To enter the next boss arena, head up the remaining stairs and continue straight on for a cutscene.
Next: How to beat Father Gascoigne.