Darkbeast Paarl

darkbeast_paarl.jpg
General Info
hp.jpg blood_echoes.jpg Location Drops
4552
19524 NG+
23,100
125,559
Hypogean Gaol Spark Hunter Badge
Bold Hunter's Mark
Defenses
physical_DEF.jpg VS_blunt.jpg VS_thrust.jpg --
120 144 120 --
blood_DEF.jpg arcane_DEF.jpg fire_atk.jpg bolt_DEF.jpg
120 75 85 300
slow_poison_RES.jpg rapid_poison_RES.jpg VS_beasts.jpg VS_kin.jpg
999 999 Yes No

Darkbeast Paarl (黒獣パール Kokujū Pāru lit. "Black Beast Paarl" ) is an optional Boss in Bloodborne. A malformed beast enveloped in blue lightning. With a long body made of only bones, and a wrinkle-covered skull, people say this beast must be very old, very ancient. Or perhaps, it is a descendant of the city of the plague of beasts.

Darkbeast Paarl Information

  • Henryk's Hunter Set is highly effective against Paarl, as it has extremely high Bolt resistance.
  • Entering the Darkbeast Paarl boss room and gaining 1 Insight causes Djura to become friendly and you can peacefully talk with him on the tower. It seems that it doesn't matter if you have engaged him before or killed his partner on the ground. The only thing that matters is that you don't get spotted by him while getting into the location from this entrance before you ascend the ladder.
  • After Paarl's defeat, a shortcut to Old Yharnam is made available.
  • During the boss fight, one may perform a special attack on the beast's head by knocking it down and performing a regular attack to the downed head. This will result in a visceral attack which will take about a third of its health.

 

Locations

  • In Hypogean Gaol, from the lantern, go down into the spiral stairs and enter the first prison room with two Witches and Snatchers. At the end of the room there is a hole that leads outside where you drop down a ledge and fight the boss. (Same location in Yahar'gul, only difference is the enemies encountered).

 

Drops

 

Combat Information

  • Weak to Arcane and Fire Damage. It can also be knocked over with R2 charged attacks aimed at the center (such as the Axe)
  • Strong against Blunt and Bolt damage.
  • Slow and steady wins the race. Watch out for his swipes, usually 2-3 (left, right, or left, right, downward) then go for a hit. Run away, rinse/repeat.
  • Instead of backing up from him to avoid his AoE, unlock the camera and attempt to roll through it. You will have a good 2-second window to land free hits on him after that.
  • Look for windows to launch a strong attack. Several of these plus well-timed small hits could make short work of the boss.
  • After approximately 1 minute of fight, boss will infuse himself with more electricity. This moment can be clearly seen: boss will stand at two legs and howl when starting to glow more intensively. At this stage, his pattern will become more aggresive, swipes will be faster and gain additional range — electric bolts will flow out of beast's claws with each strike.
  • Beating this encounter with locked-on camera can be tough, because it may go haywire due to Paarl's speed and chaotic moves. Consider using unlocked camera and rolling in his swipes (making use of invincibility frames), straight under his belly.
  • Each of Paarl's leg have its own healthbar, which doesn't have visible indicator. It is possible to knock him down multiple times in a row if you manage to attack different legs simultaneously. Also, his skull can "break" too. It won't knock him down, but will stagger him for a solid 3-5 seconds and discharge his electric field.
  • After losing his electric field, Paarl will try to attack you 1 or 2 times, and then escape to safety and infuse himself with electricity. If you constantly chase him, he won't be able to recharge. A wise hunter can make some use of this weakness.
  • In NG+, Paarl recovers both electrical charges much more rapidly with the second stage almost immediately after the first.
  • You can summon Defector Antal to assist you in the fight. His summon is to the right after you drop down the ledge to Paarl's arena.

 

Attack Name Attack Description & Counter
Claw Swipes Paarl swipes his claws up to three times in succession. This attack does moderate damage, but is fast. When Paarl's power is fully charged, it also unleashes 3 balls of electricity that travel in a straight line.
Leap Swipe Paarl can leap toward a distant hunter as he swipes at them. His leap covers a lot of distance, so always try to dodge it.
Slam Paarl slams his claw, and then emits a blast. Paarl can use this attack in combination with his swipe attacks.
Electric Nova After channeling for a few seconds, Paarl unleashes a nova around him that does high damage. If the hunter manages to stagger him during the channel, Paarl will fall down and become completely vulnerable for a few seconds. This will also cause his attacks to be no longer infused with electricity until he recharges (which he tends to do as soon as possible). Standing behind his tail will prevent any damage from this attack.
Electric Breath After a short channel, Paarl damages everything near his head .If not in vicinity of his head, the hunter can safely go in for a few hits. Pay attention to which part of Paarl's body is glowing to tell whether he is doing a nova or a breathe. If his chest glows, he is preparing for a nova; if his head glows, he is about to breathe.

 

Strategy 1 (Molotov Strategy)

As with most enemies, dousing Paarl with an Oil Urn followed by hitting him with a Molotov Cocktail will cause massive damage. Additionally, the hits will sometimes knock Paarl off balance and dissipate Paarl's electric charge. While he's off balance, the Hunter can charge in and attack his legs, furthering the stun and causing Paarl's legs to give out altogether. Once Paarl gets up he will try to gain distance to restore his Bolt aura, allowing an easy re-use of the combo and further stunlock until Paarl is dead. (You can save quit out of the fight to reload on the safe side of the fog gate and you can aim with the Monocular and throw Oil Urns and Molotovs until you are out. On ng you can take out more than half of it's health before even stepping foot into the fight.)

Strategy 2 (Hunters Axe)

This is an easy and effective strategy. Using this I beat the boss on my first try. When you start the fight rush in and get under him as fast as you can. Stay locked on and keep attacking with a 2 handed Hunter's Axe. Spin attacks are efficient but should be used carefully. With any luck you can cut one of his legs and stun him. Then just keep spamming attacks until he gets back up. Rinse and repeat. If he does his AOE attack try dashing into the bottom of his head (into the bottom of his jaw) as soon as he's about to blast it. Make sure you attempt this from under him. By doing this you don't take any damage! Further testing may be required, but this technique had me kill him in less than a minute with a +6 hunters Axe (26 strength, 18 skill). Good luck!

Strategy 3 (Empty Phantasm Shell or Fire Paper w/ Threaded Cane)

Make sure you are stocked up blood vials, Quicksilver bullets (for Phantasm Shell) or Fire Paper, a weapon you can use it with ( Threaded Cane +6), and armor with high bolt resistance.
The key here is to do some dry runs to get his move-set down. Paarl is very much an offensive boss so you will just have to wait for your opportunities.
1. It's recommended getting your Fire Paper or Phantasm Shell off as soon as you get in the arena as Paarl roars. Then sprinting off to left and getting ready to dodge.
2. You should be close enough now to lock on and be ready to dodge since he usually does his swipe attack first. There are two ways to dodge this attack. You can either be far enough away from it or close enough to his body. Getting close will give you an opportunity to attack (but he will go for an AOE bolt attack so get out quick).
3. Your goal is to get enough damage on him to knock his charge off of him and stun him. This will give you a chance to do a visceral attack on him from the front. The window on this is very short so be careful. It's worth it though as it does massive damage.
4. Don't feel bad if you spend most of the fight dodging his moves and healing. Just make sure you can get a few hits in by dodging in front of his swipe attack and getting behind him.

Strategy 4 (Being aggressive)

You're going to have to learn to be offensive 90% of the time, make sure you have a +6 weapon. Now as soon as the fight starts run to one of his front legs and hit it (unless he's about to do a AoE then run away), now dodge his attacks and hit his legs, do this and he'll fall once then go to his face and introduce your fist to his skull. Repeat the following until your victory (if your on NG you'll only have to do this once and win).

Strategy 5 (Stunlock)

A little strat I did to beat Paarl without tearing my hair out.

  1. Acquire Ludwig's Holy Sword and level it to +6 (Minimun)
  2. Access a bloodgem of Fire, radial or waning, it doesn't matter.
  3. Summon Defector Antal
  4. Enter arena and immediately trick switch to greatsword mode
  5. Get underneath paarl, and while Antal distracts it, full charge a R2 and let it fly.This should immediately knock down paarl, no matter where you hit.

Now from here on, keep getting underneath it and charging those R2's, always full charge, DO NOT LET GO TO AVOID HIS BURST ATTACK! The charged attack WILL knock him down and he can't discharge.Antal will likely angro on Paarl, this should cheese him via stunlock. Oh, and enjoy watching Paarl squirm.

Videos

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Notes & Trivia

  • Archibald was fond of the sparks emitted from the Darkbeast, and so he created Tonitrus and Bolt Paper to replicate the sparks.
  • Paarl is Afrikaans for "pearl", paarl is based on the Dutch word for pearl, "parel".
  •  The area Paarl is found in can be reached through the cells of Yarhar'gul. There is a tunnel that appears to have been dug out from the cell to the graveyard. It is a likely that the tunnel was created forcefully, perhaps by Paarl himself as he tried to escape its cell and because the door to Old Yharnam was closed, the undead Darkbeast "died" in what is now known as Graveyard of the Darkbeast.
  • If you've fought him at least once before you can find Paarl poised, looking at the nightmare gate like a cat ready to pounce. Paarl is also wagging his tail and making growling noises that sound a lot like that of a lion.
  • While casting his electric explosion Paarl curves his long neck all the way down then swings it back across his back. The animation is so dramatic that it would cause whiplash in any real living animal.
  • Burial Blade can trivialize this battle with its incredibly long reach and top-tier rally potential. When hit, simply pass through Paarl and unleash a flurry of transformed swings to recover your health.

 

Gallery

 

Paarl Extra 1.jpg

 

 

 




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    • Anonymous

      My friend and I went chalice dungeon delving and got through the forest and by the time we got to Mr Caarl he was trivial. I felt bad beating his ass with my fire sword ;_;

      • Anonymous

        Why does such a cool design have to be wasted on the boss itself, literally just axe spin and won, especially when right before him is logarius, even Rom’s harder

        • Anonymous

          Fighting this guy is a nightmare. Won't EVER STOP RUNNING AWAY and then smacks you with a claw you couldn't see because the camera hates you. Not to mention getting a visceral is almost impossible because he gets up faster than you can get to him.

          Honestly this might be the inspiration for the elden beast

          • Anonymous

            Cool design, but imho half of the fun of a boss is figuring out how to beat it, and it really fails at that in specific.

            Seemed completely impossible to figure it out on my own. The lock onto the head kept incentivizing me to hit the head, since I could not lock on to the legs...
            Not to mention that if you're underneath it when trying to go for the rear legs, it's pretty much impossible to get away in time to dodge the AOE. So both the AOE and the fact I could no lock on to the legs incentivized me to not attack the legs, since the game kept telling me to not stay underneath it by punishing me with the AOE, while it's literally just that which I need to do.

            Then there's the fact that I would never even dare try to do a charge attack when it has an AOE attack with such a short time window to dodge. This boss is fast, so doing any slow attack just seems like a bad idea. Again, the complete opposite of what you're supposed to do

            The fact the camera keeps spazzing out when locked on is terrible. I understand now that it's better to not use lock on, but if lock on is a feature in this game, then it means the boss should also function with that feature. Camera should just be better, or just have the game disable lock on all together in this fight if it's so bad. Don't make a player struggle around needlessly with a broken lock on. It's pretty lazy to not have adressed this.

            Oh and on top of that the camera lock woud automatically change to the torso very often, which was impossible to hit with my weapons. So I constantly got annoyed that I would suddenly not be locked on to the head anymore and instead am hitting a torso that my weapon could not reach.

            Other than that, now knowing what I need to do, I think it's really cool that you can stop the AOE by knocking the boss over. Just really needed some better design to steer the player into the direction of figure that out.

            • Anonymous

              Wait, he's not weak to blunt damage?? The untransformed hunter axe pancakes his bony ass in like 2 hits, I guess it's just high poise damage

              • Anonymous

                This is a boss that becomes pathetic when you're higher level. Wear Henryk's set and use a high stagger weapon like the axe or kirkhammer with Fire Paper. One good R2 to his head and you can visceral him for a third of his health. Even at just 25 vitality with Henryk's set he doesn't really do enough damage to stop you if you're aggressive, and his aoe has a pretty generous dodge windiw. Just don't lock on.

                Scared the hell out of me when I first found him but was even easier than the witches when I came back like 15 levels later. Definitely one to save for later if you're getting stuck on him early in the game.

                • Anonymous

                  Awesome design, but way too easy, I literally stumbled upon it while being lost on the chapel and beat it first try

                  • Anonymous

                    You can open the gate before the fight. Just stick to the right wall and run for it. Now you are outside the arena.

                    • Anonymous

                      His resistance to blunt didn't make much of a difference. I killed him by just spamming R1 at his legs with the Threaded Cane. He falls down quite easily. When he gets back up, you just charge him and do it again. Be aggressive as hell in this fight and it's a piece of cake.

                      • Anonymous

                        Absolutely ****ing destroyed this guy with a flamesprayer +6 and Bone Marrow Ash. He literally got stunlocked to death and did not attack me once while his healthbar got shredded. I had 25 arcane too, i may have been slightly overstatted but this was still before forbidden woods so not that late.

                        • Anonymous

                          yeah yea paarl is strong agains blunt weapons and all but i never saw him get up from the floor while using one due to how easy it is to break his parts

                          • Anonymous

                            You want to kill him quick and not let the battle drag on with this boss. Bring a player friend or human summon and no npc. One person smack his back legs while the other smacks his front leg and focuses the head when he falls down, it is easiest without camera locked. If he gets back up do the same smacking legs/head, and don't let him breathe. With this strategy you can stun lock him immediately, skip his phases, and kill him in 1.5 minutes. Just did it 5 times in a row as a summon. Ludwig Holy blade +7 with the quick blade out. Your 5-6 speedy attacks are more useful here than 2-3 heavy. If ur attacking he's on the ground longer.

                            • Anonymous

                              Paarl is so annoying because of how much it moves around but other than that the fight was a cake walk. If it wasn't for the high mobility I'd say it was a joke boss lol

                              • Anonymous

                                Never had trouble with Paarl, but I can definitely see why others did. Just remember to not lock on, and the fight becomes ten times easier.

                                • Anonymous

                                  Here's a strat': you can dodge his electrical explosion within range if you dodge when the explosion starts.

                                  • Anonymous

                                    Darkbeast "my limbs are made of wrinkly jello and will bounce out of your reach every time you hit me" Paarl

                                    • Anonymous

                                      To make this easier it requires no item, buffs, cooperator, or even a lock on. Just put the camera to the ground and look up.

                                      • Anonymous

                                        Don't lock on, stay underneath. If you get hit while dodging you might get one shotted especially when it's charged with lightning.

                                        • Anonymous

                                          Missed this guy in Hypogean Gaol, stumbled across him unexpectedly while doing Yahar'gul, and he died to the third use of "a call beyond"

                                          Easiest soulsborne boss fight I've ever had...

                                          • Anonymous

                                            Worst boss ever, if you try to go under him he does his AOE, if you get close, guess what? He does his AOE or hits you twice and runs and it becomes a mose and cat game (or beast and hunter, kill me)

                                            • Anonymous

                                              Just wanted to say thanks so much for putting this Wiki together it’s helped me so much to enjoy the game more and (almost) understand it!

                                              • Anonymous

                                                The best strategy I've found is to attack him with the axe until he kills you for the 10th time, then shut the game off and drink some Jaegermeister in shame and anger

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  It tricks you. You don't realize until you start fighting it's a double boss battle. It's you vs. Darkbeast Paarl and the camera.

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    Oh the classic, dont lock onto him and just run under him. Even though he will constantly jump of screen so you can keep chasing him. What an aids boss...

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      I wonder if this dude, when alive, had a feline like appearance, rather than that of a canine. This is because it acts somewhat like a cat, or rather has the body posture of a cat, and to me looks somewhat cat like. No cemented evidence though, just speculation.

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        Use the R1 L1 transform combo on each leg one at a time to stun him(works well with saw cleaver/spear). Start on one front leg, then the two back legs, then second front leg. Move on to the next leg once he goes down. If you make your way all the way around (he's usually dead by now for me) then you should be able to perform a visceral attack for the win.

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          Good rule of thumb in soulsborne games: if it is on four legs, get underneath or behind it. Paarl is super easy if you just charge/dash into his attacks and get underneath him. All his attacks whiff and you can crumple his legs.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            Level 174 with a Ludwig Holy Blade that has 896 in stats on NG + 2 is pretty easy. Every boss besides Amygdala is easy to solo.

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              What's with large bosses in this series and how the camera messes up your depth perception and causes you to whiff a lot of attacks? This guy, NK's dragon, flamelurker, Kalameet, Midir are all decent examples

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                I believe you can also still fight him once the blood moon comes out (after defeating Rom). In case for whatever reason you didnt prior. Since the pathway is still there and all

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  On NG+ cycles this guy is such a massive pain in the ass. I get it super close to death, and then it does the lightning AoE with increased area and he one-shots me even though I have Henryk-set etc. Pretty bs. But a really fun battle in NG

                                                                  • I struggled with this bastard a lot. (Ludwig's Holy Sword +6 with 29 Str, 13 Skill.) Trying to attack with R1 resulted in a lot of whiffs with and without locking on. I switched to attacking with L2 and beat him pretty fast after by chain-staggering him. This is for my Holy Sword boys.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      Literally one fire paper and a +7 saw cleaver got him down in maybe 60 seconds. Didnt even touch me. His moveset reminds me so much of Vordt from ds3 which made it 1000x easier

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        Using bone marrow ash with the repeating pistol can constantly knock it down. Took about 30 seconds and it landed 0 attacks.

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          Just beat this guy with +2 Saw Spear, 2nd try. Here's what I recommend: * When you enter the boss arena, sprint towards him for a bit and immediately throw a molotov, he's super weak to fire * For all of his attacks, dodge foward TOWARDS the boss. His swipes have a super wide hitbox so dodging to the sides won't be any good. However the vertical hitboxes are almost non existent so you can just roll right through * NEVER EVER EVER LOCK ON * Try your best to stay close and under him so you can swipe his legs and eventually stun him * When he's about to unleash his charged attack, roll right when he lifts his head * Staying far is ill advised, as his leap slam is super deadly at that range. You can't roll through it when he's about to land, it's damage is huge, and it becomes almost unavoidable. * Transform attacks are your best friend when you get under him. 2-3 of them on one leg can instantly stun

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            I honestly didn't know this was a boss people had trouble with... I'm actually pretty surprised.. I don't think I've ever had a problem with him. Just focus a leg until he collapses and repeat. The hardest part of the fight is his hitbox, but he's not particularly difficult... One of my favorite looking bosses

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              Strategy for TLDR: When he swipes dodge underneath and attack his back legs. When he collapses, attack a different leg and he will fall again. His AOE explosion can be rolled through with good timing; risky but it allows you to remain aggressive and keep him on the ground longer.

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                When Paarl's charging up he curves his neck and brings his head to ground level. It's actually possible to hit his head with a charged R2 during this time while standing under him, which will stun him, interrupt his AoE, open up for a visceral AND dispel his electric shroud. It works best with weps like Ludwig's Blade (greatsword form), which have a charged thrust and good range. Locking onto his head will also help, but NOT on his body. Dodge his swipes, get under his belly (somewhat near to the head) and if he starts his AoE, immediately start charging your own wep and smash it into his skull. It's a good way to stun him if you can't seem to get his head from the front, or restart the stun-cheese if you messed up previously.

                                                                                In this way, i was able to beat him at SL37 with 20VGr, STR and END, using Ludwig's blade.

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  I've got to say I found this easier than expected. Broke him with a +5 spear and +5 cane, the spear for the first phase with fire paper and the transformed cane for the second. Patience is kind of key with this one which seems counterintuitive due to his fast movement. I'd definitely recommend the cane as for one you can hit multiple limbs at once and secondly it allows you to use proper spacing.

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    You can chain stun this guy with ease. Pup a beast blood pellet and fire paper and go to town on one of the legs with your saw cleaver / spear (i had +6). Once he falls, move to the nxt leg and wack it until it breaks and resets his flat belly pose. Rinse and repeat 4x. I was surprised how quick and easy this was, it's basically cheese. Remember to to transform attacks for max damage and beasthood buildup. Good hoonting folks

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      Saw Cleaver +8, keep buffing with empty phantasm shell, whilst wearing Henryk’s Hunter set. Stand between his legs, keep on hitting him. Done and dusted within a minute or two. Possibly worth summoning the old hunter as a decoy.

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        If a summon appears on the other side of the fog wall, Paarl won't attack until the Beckoner enters the arena. You can let the Phantom kill a non-aggressive Paarl for literally no effort. To become a summon on the other side of the fog wall, all you have to do is wait at where the fog wall was and when the save symbol appears in the corner indicating you are being summoned, you run until you are almost at Yharnam. If you do it right, you can kill Paarl with no effort and the Beckoner gets a free boss kill.

                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                          Yes, the Old Hunter summon really makes this boss doable for noobs. It allows you to maintain camera lock on Paarl and simply go in beneath him with heavy, vertical blows as the opportunities present themselves. LHB +5 (or +6) with fire paper will make quick work of him. Henryk's armor also helps with its great bolt protection.

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            I hate this boss with a *****ing passion every time I get him low on health my character decides to stand still and butchered while I'm over here spamming the dodge button at full stanima

                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                              What the actual ***** he did the claw swipe and only lowered me to half health I backed up and healed and he did the same attack and it somehow one shot me

                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                To this day I still hate this boss, not for it's damage or even that it's hard. Nope, it's hitbox is so hard to hit, half the fight is just trying to hit the thing.

                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                  Shouldn't the location be the Unseen Village? Sure, you can open the door that leads to Old Yharnam, but to get to the boss in first place you have to be captured by the Snatcher.




                                                                                                  Also, that explosion attack is bullshit.

                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                    Hardest for me so far. Tried follow attack the legs strategy but its so bloody hard to land a hit with anything different than LHB... and then to back for a visceral. Finally a flamesprayer firebath from both me and Antal helped massively to kill this bastard

                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                      So, I have a question, which I guess reveals my inefficiency at self-control. So I wanted to befriend Djura and decided to pay Paarl a visit, thinking to also test myself against it now that I'm there already. Things got out of hand and I killed it. Now, is it possible that Djura would still want to be my bestie? I mean, I could just go and see but I'm kind of not enthusiastic about a trial-n-error approach to his moods right now...

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