All Valor Mortis bosses and how to beat them

Boss list in order

Order and chapters follow PowerPyx (the same as in our achievement guide). Catalyst rewards come from the Fextralife wiki. Every boss also unlocks an achievement.

Two notes on the table. Fextralife numbers the late chapters differently (The Orphan in Chapter 9, Captain Raphael in 10), but the chapter names match. Eurogamer and GameRant spell it "High Justicar", while Fextralife writes "High Justiciar".

Are there optional bosses?

No. PowerPyx says outright that the game has no optional bosses, and the whole map is played through in a linear story order. Only minibosses are optional, such as the Eternal Guardsmen from the Oathbound quest.

• You get the Birdwatcher achievement for meeting the Shrike after Chapter 7, at the end of the City of Orphans region. PowerPyx doesn't count it as a boss fight.
• Several bosses come back later as stronger regular enemies: The Iron Marshall (as Remnants of the Iron Regiment), High Justicar Aurelius (as an Eternal Guardsman) and Experiment 83. A player with early access noted that the original fights keep their own unique moves and phases.
• After the final boss you return to the world and can finish any quests you missed.

General Lothaire: why you lose the first fight

At the end of Chapter 1 (Revival) the Lothaire fight is scripted: you're meant to lose it, and you won't get a second try at that point. The game moves on, and the real duel waits at the end of Chapter 2. There you can retry as often as you need. Why the studio moved him out of the demo's Chapter 1 is covered in our difficulty guide.

Lothaire has 2 phases and two full health bars:

1. Phase 1: a sword and a banner pole, with roughly 3 times the reach of your sword. His combos can be parried unless he flashes red (an unblockable attack). At the end of a combo he fires the guns on his shoulders: dodge sideways.
2. Burn him and shoot: use the Fire Transmutation, then the Pistol on his weak spots. This fills the stagger bar quickly, and you finish it off by parrying.
3. Phase 2: he drops the sword and swings a huge arm, gains more unblockable attacks, including a grab, and summons soldiers who die in one hit. Shooting the enlarged arm also fills his posture bar.

IGN says Lothaire is especially weak to parries. One player on Reddit advises holding the parry button instead of tapping it.

How to beat the other bosses

The Iron Marshall. Slow swings, parryable except the red ones. Shoot the barrels in the arena, since the explosion sets him on fire. Then walk around him and hit the orange weak spot on his back with the Blunderbuss. According to Fextralife, a few seconds of fire can bring him to his knees.

Sphinx. 2 phases. Claw hits inflict Stasis when you get hit or block instead of parrying, and full Stasis cuts your stamina bar a lot. Shoot the orb floating above its tail with the Pistol. In phase 2 the mask falls off and exposes a weak spot on its face. Back away from the swarm of bugs: their Poison kills you instantly once the bar fills. Eurogamer recommends the Stasis Transmutation here.

Slaughtermill. A puzzle boss: you shoot the windmill's weak spots, pull doors open with the grapple and freeze the gears with Stasis, then clear a parkour section. There's a checkpoint during the fight. On the platforms, shoot the exploding bodies before you land on them, or you die instantly. Bring plenty of ammo.

Anna, the Bride Drowned in Tears. She rises from the water with an unblockable attack: dodge, then counter. At around half health she summons villagers. Kill them right away (Pistol headshots or a grenade). When the boss is low, you can ignore them, since they die with her.

High Justicar Aurelius. Phase 1 is basically an Eternal Guardsman. If you're struggling, PowerPyx suggests practicing on the optional Guardsmen first. In phase 2 he drinks a flask and mutates. Watch for the jump where he hangs in the air for a very long time before striking.

Experiment 83. Slow, but you fight it in a narrow corridor. Dodge its grab sideways and attack from behind. It's weak to fire. Wider spots in the tunnel let you get around it.

The Orphan. An arena full of poison gas vents. In phase 1, keep it burning with fire nonstop. In phase 2, parry its arm swings and dodge sideways out of the green beam. The charged orb in its chest is a weak spot. The Shield Transmutation protects you from both hits and gas, and IGN says this boss is weak to the Blunderbuss.

Captain Raphael of the Nephtis Superioris. The only boss that heals during the fight. Play aggressively and shoot the flask when he pulls it out. Jump over his Stasis wave, and if it hits you, a Cleansing Vial removes it. From half health he adds arena-wide area attacks and a burning, unblockable slash. Eurogamer relied on the Shield Transmutation here, which also deflects bullets.

The final boss: Entity, Voice of the Void

You start the fight in Chapter 11 (Reflection) at the stone door by the Caverns > Ancient Lair Lantern. PowerPyx rates its achievement, In His Own Image, as the hardest one in the game. Details are in our achievement guide.

1. Phase 1: long sword combos where the weapon changes mid-string (Saber, Rapier, Claymore). Parry until it's staggered. The moment it switches to the Claymore is your opening. When it floats up and sends 2 tentacles, dodge or shoot it.
2. Interlude: it floats up and summons clones one at a time. Shoot them with the Pistol, and some clones drop ammo.
3. Phase 2: Claymore swings are almost always unblockable, there are 4 tentacles, and the clones take the form of earlier bosses. Every clone dies in one hit, so kill them first.

Eurogamer calls the Shield Transmutation "your best friend" in this fight.

The hardest bosses according to players

• General Lothaire: the most common complaint on Reddit. Players say boss difficulty is uneven and that "the general" is harder than almost anything that follows. Others think he feels easier after launch than in the demo.
• Captain Raphael and the Entity: GameRant rates them as the only "Hard" fights. GameRant calls The Iron Marshall, Slaughtermill and Experiment 83 easy, and the rest "Medium".
• The final boss splits players: for some it's a test of everything you've learned, while one player on r/soulslikes called it a letdown.

How many Steam players got further (October 17, 2026): 26.2% have beaten the Sphinx, 17.8% Slaughtermill, 16.7% Anna, 13.6% Aurelius, 11.9% Experiment 83, and only 5% Captain Raphael (the Behemoth achievement).

What helps in boss fights

• There are three Transmutations: Fire (from the start of the game), Stasis (Chapter 4, the mines in the Caverns) and Shield (Chapter 8, University). They use Nephtoglobin, which you refill by attacking. An enemy frozen in Stasis takes massive damage, and a burning one loses health over time.
• The grapple and wall running are not Transmutations. The studio's trailer described them alongside the powers, but in the game they're separate movement abilities (Nephtoglobin Grapple) that you don't select in combat.
• Firearms on weak spots: the fastest way to fill the stagger bar on most bosses.
• Items: Eurogamer recommends grenades (Hand Grenade, Oil Grenades), Flaming Whetstones and Nephtoglobin Vials.
• Catalysts: you spend boss rewards at a Lantern to improve your melee, firearms or Transmutations. The game has no difficulty settings, so you can't make a fight easier from the menu.

Who William is and why he hears Napoleon: story and characters. All 39 achievements: achievement list.