Compared to other dungeon bosses, Putrid Darkborn doesn’t have many attacks that you’ll be facing. However, he’s an agile creature, so you end up using a decent chunk of stamina to dodge or block his attacks. It also makes it tough to use your own attacks that have longer animations, since that lets him deal free damage to you.
If you decide to face the Putrid Darkborn in Code Vein 2, you’ll need to visit the Cliff Underground Ruins during the present time. Even if you made the decision to save Noah and haven’t beat Franz yet, you can access the Putrid Darkborn, which might not be a bad idea if you’re struggling with Franz, since you can level up a bit in the present to make the fight easier.
Finding Putrid Darkborn
The Cliff Underground Ruins are in a location that you probably won’t find without knowing where to go, unless you’re the type of player that explores everything. The entrance to the ruins are in the northeast corner of MagMell Island, above the research institute building.
If you start at the research building, go outside and around to the back of the building. There’s an opening in the cliffside that has a staircase leading down. The inside matches the research building in terms of style, but it’s dark and filled with enemies. You definitely want to turn your flashlight on when you enter, otherwise it’s going to be tough to see.
Putrid Darkborn’s Attacks
Luckily, Putrid Darkborn only has four attacks that you have to watch out for. These include a slam, a charging slash, a side-step slash, and an acid blob barrage.
The slam is about what you expect from bosses at this point, since it seems like almost every boss has a slam attack. Putrid Darkborn will prepare his scythe and jump to your location, slamming his scythe into the ground. This is a great time to get some attacks in, as he takes a moment to pull his scythe out of the ground.
The charging slash is somewhere between the charge you see from bosses like Franz and a lunge. Putrid Darkborn will step back before this attack, then lunge at you and do a slash attack. If you dodge right before it would hit you, you have a chance to sneak some attacks in.
The side-step slash is similar to the charging slash, but with a much smaller range. Instead of dashing toward you, Putrid Darkborn hops to the side and slashes at you or your partner, depending on who he’s focusing on at that moment. Since the hop is so obvious, it’s easy enough to dodge out of the way long before the attack can hit you.
Finally, you have the acid barrage. Putrid Darkborn hovers in the air and sends out blobs of acid that rain on you. The attack hits in a cone in front of him, so you have to dodge by moving to his side or behind him if you’re in melee range. Otherwise, you want to move back if you’re at a distance to get out of the cone.
Tips for Fighting Putrid Darkness
Putrid Darkness doesn’t have combo attacks, so you can usually get in an attack following a dodge or successful block. This is especially true when he turns his attention to your partner, letting you attack without having to worry about dodging as much.
During my battle, the most useful attack was having Battle Axe: Idris’s Conceit as my Bequeathed Forma. It has a slow wind-up, but a large area of damage. Use it after the slam when Putrid Darkness is trying to pull his scythe out of the ground, or when he’s focused on your partner.
If you time and aim it right, the battle axe can freeze Putrid Darkness in place, letting you deal a massive amount of free damage, and likely letting you get a special drain attack on him. It almost felt unfair with how easy this fight felt when you use the battle axe.
As a reward for defeating him, you receive a chunk of Haze and the Blood Protection Forma, which temporarily increases your defense against Blood.
Overall, it’s not too intense of a fight. Putrid Darkness doesn’t have a lot of attacks, but he’s quick. Follow your dodges and blocks with attacks to chip away at his health, then use the battle axe when you can and follow it with heavy attacks to make this an easy fight in Code Vein 2.
