Lords of the Fallen: How to beat The Congregator of Flesh boss

One of the earliest major bosses you'll encounter on your journey to cleanse the five beacons of Mournstead in Lords of the Fallen the Congregator of Flesh. After falling through a ramshackle wooden bridge above its lair while trying to reach a pesky crossbowman, you'll come face-to-face with the grotesque monster.

You'll need to get past it in order to progress into the swamps of Forsaken Fen, but there's just one problem — the Congregator of Flesh wants to, well, congregate your flesh. It's a hungry beast, after all, and dinner (that's you!) just fell right into its den. That means you'll need to defeat it to press forward, and we're here to help you do just that with a full overview of the boss fight. This includes the boss' full moveset, as well as tips about the strategies we recommend using (as well as some helpful consumables you should keep handy).

How to beat The Congregator of Flesh

The Congregator of Flesh seems quite difficult at first, but it's actually not too bad of a fight once you understand how it works. Here's what you need to know.

• The boss attacks with slow, delayed swipe and smash attacks, as well as body slams. These are telegraphed clearly, but hit very hard; be patient and time dodges or blocks carefully.
• If the boss claws at the ground in your direction from afar, get ready to dodge to the side as it will perform a lunging bite shortly after. There's a very good chance that this attack will one-shot you if it lands, so it's crucial that you dodge it.
• The best place to attack the boss is its large right leg. Other parts of its body are either too high up to hit consistently or a bit difficult to target due to their narrow hitboxes.
• Eventually, you'll stagger the boss for a few seconds if you deplete the leg's posture meter. Take advantage of this to land several unchallenged light attacks, or a fully charged heavy.
• If you need to heal, run far away from the boss. It doesn't have any ranged attacks you won't be able to easily see coming, and takes several seconds to close the distance.
• You can take advantage of the boss' lack of ranged options to hit them with spells and projectiles as well. You can deal a surprising amount of damage relatively safely this way.

• Around 50% health, the boss will roar, signaling the beginning of the fight's second phase. This phase is nearly identical to the first, with a few differences.
• Notably, the boss' body slam attacks will now create a large cloud of poison gas. Run away after you dodge the initial slam to avoid it.
• If you have any, use Poison Balms and Poison Cures to resist or remove poison, respectively. You likely have a decent amount built up at this point, but if you don't, consider buying a few from vendors.
• The boss also gets more aggressive, performing more attack combos as a result. Don't get greedy with your own attacks and just get your hits in when you can.
• The boss may also perform a sweeping motion from afar, sending a large wave of sludge your way. Dodge through this wave to avoid taking any damage.

As long as you stay patient, remember to time your dodges properly, and avoid the poison gas created by the boss' body slams, you'll eventually fell the Congregator of Flesh and emerge from its gory sanctuary victorious. Make sure to go into Umbral and use the Umbral Lamp to activate the Stigma in it before you leave, though, as it'll give you the Remembrance of the Congregator of Flesh. You can take this back to Skyrest and trade Umbral Scourings to Molhu in exchange for the boss equipment it gives you access to.

Lords of the Fallen is available to play now on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 for $69.99, as well as on Windows PC (Steam and Epic Games) for $59.99. It's quickly become one of my favorite Soulslikes ever, and is undoubtedly one of 2023's best Xbox games and best PC games.