Winter Lantern

winter lantern
Enemy Type Not Beast Nor Kin
Health 1700
Drops Cursed Damp Blood Droplets (5) [33%], Pebble x10 [5%], Quicksilver Bullets x3 [62%]
Weak Poison
Strong Above average magical defenses
Locations Nightmare Frontier, Nightmare of MensisFishing Hamlet

Winter Lanterns (sometimes called "brain trusts" prior to the release of the official guide) are an enemy in Bloodborne. Grotesque creatures with a lethal gimmick, Winter Lanterns will constantly damage you and build up your frenzy meter with their gaze.

These vaguely humanoid, eldritch abominations roam the Nightmare Frontier and the Nightmare of Mensis. It can also be found in the caves in Fishing Hamlet before Orphan of Kos. Winter Lanterns require line of sight to cast their deadly spell and despite their appearance they cannot see anything behind them. Be forewarned, frenzy will continue to build for a few seconds after line of sight is broken.

Strategy

  • Have Sedatives ready.
  • Avoid fighting them up close, they cause Frenzy to build up while you are in their line of sight. In most cases, they are set up in a way that allows you to sneak past more or less undetected.
  • Apart from their Frenzy AoE they only have one attack, a lunging grab attack that deals minor damage, but frenzy continues to build during the grab.
  • Circle around them up close, and their grab should miss, which will leave their backs exposed for a long enough time to do a charge attack.
  • Alternatively roll or dodge through their grab, but beware that the grab attack has good tracking and will catch you if you act too early.
  • Wait halfway through the grab animation,
  • Frenzy will not cause damage if it triggers in the middle of a visceral attack. Use this to your advantage, if you are farming them, by stacking an appropriate amount of frenzy resistance.
  • Use the transformed Hunter Axe's heavy attack (Hold R2) to keep them on the ground.
  • For those having trouble with this enemy, 3 sets of 2 poison throwing knifes are enough to kill one (except in The Nightmare Frontier, those are immune to Slow Poisoning).
  • Can be knocked down with Burial Blade charge attack,
  • Heavy weapons can stagger and cancel their grab, you can charge one, smash it a few times, then quickly roll away and use the sedative before you get frenzied.
  • Simon's Bowblade in its bow form is a reliable weapon against this enemy for builds with high Bloodtinge. Being able to one-shot them or tear apart huge chunks of their hp with a charge attack.

 

Winter Lantern Information

  • There are at 2 variations of Winter Lantern with slight differences: the kind found in Nightmare Frontier is immune to poison; meanwhile, the kind found in Nightmare of Mensis is weak to poison and their heads glow orange when they have spotted you, much like the Brain of Mensis.
  • Similar to the Brain of Mensis, they glow orange and cause frenzy by looking at you.
  • If they do not notice you, the hunter will remain unaffected by Frenzy. Blue Elixirs are very useful for this.
  • Winter Lanterns after the Lighthouse lamp can drop Physical ATK Blood Gems up to +27.7% (Old Hunter's DLC).

 

Drops


Location
hp
blood echoes
quicksilver bullet
pebble
Cursed%20Tempering%20Damp%20Blood%20Gem
cursed adept blood gem
cursed striking blood gem
Nightmare Frontier 1700 2759 (x3) 62% (x10) 5% (5) 33% (2) 33% (2) 33%
Nightmare of Mensis 1700 10177 (x3) 62% (x10) 5% (5) 33% -- --

 

Notes & Trivia

  • They are believed to be lesser versions of the Brain of Mensis, only with their bodies in tact. This is evidenced as the Brain of Mensis is simply a massive version of a Winter Lantern's head and the Brain has the exact same effect, even emitting the same glow and animation, when inflicting frenzy.
  • Their brain seems to be entwined with several messengers.
  • Winter can be related to Death or Slumber, and, considering the high threat that these enemies pose, could imply that their name refers to them as a "death beacon" of sorts.
  • At a certain level of Insight, they will begin singing in an off-key tone.
  • They wear what appears to be a blood-stained version of the Doll set. minus the shawl
  • Close examination of their hands reveal that they have the same hands as The Doll, albeit slimy and covered in tentacles.
  • Their bodies are a great deal taller than The Doll and there is no doll head underneath the brain.
  • Their mouths look just like venus fly traps.
  • It has a large gash along the spine for which there is yet no explanation.

 

Gallery

Winter Lantern Encounter Front1 Winter Lantern Venus Trap C Front1 Winter Lantern Attacks B Front1

Winter Lantern Concept Crawler Squalid Queen Front1 Winter Lantern Dress And Feet Detail Front1 Winter Lantern Detail Front1 

 

Enemies
Amygdala  ♦  Beast Claw Hunter  ♦  Beast Cutter Hunter  ♦  Beast-possessed Soul  ♦  Beast-possessed Soul (Mob)  ♦  Black Widow  ♦  Blood Dobermann  ♦  Blood Gel  ♦  Blood-Starved Beast  ♦  Bloodletting Beast  ♦  Bloodsucking Beast  ♦  Bloody Crow of Cainhurst  ♦  Bone Ash Hunter  ♦  Boom Hammer Hunter  ♦  Bosses  ♦  Brador  ♦  Brain of Mensis  ♦  Brainsucker  ♦  Brick Troll  ♦  Byrgenwerth Spider  ♦  Cainhurst Hunter  ♦  Carrion Crow  ♦  Celestial Centipede  ♦  Celestial Emissary  ♦  Celestial Larvae  ♦  Celestial Mob  ♦  Chapel Giant  ♦  Chime Maiden  ♦  Church Doctor  ♦  Cleric Beast  ♦  Crawler  ♦  Darkbeast Paarl  ♦  Deep Sea Hound  ♦  Djura  ♦  Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos  ♦  Enlarged Head Giant  ♦  Enlarged Head Patients  ♦  Ethereal Walker  ♦  Executioner  ♦  Eye Collector  ♦  Father Gascoigne  ♦  Fishwitch  ♦  Gel  ♦  Gravekeeper Scorpion  ♦  Graveyard Hags  ♦  Greater Viper Pit  ♦  Hamlet Fishmen  ♦  Henryk  ♦  Hostile Choir Hunter  ♦  Hostile Hunters  ♦  Hunter Mob  ♦  Hunting Dog  ♦  Keeper's Hunting Dog  ♦  Keeper of the Old Lords  ♦  Labyrinth Mole  ♦  Labyrinth Rat  ♦  Large Huntsman  ♦  Lightning Summoner  ♦  Loran Cleric  ♦  Mad One  ♦  Madman  ♦  Maneater Boar (Mob)  ♦  Mannequin  ♦  Martyr Logarius  ♦  Merciless Watcher  ♦  Merciless Watcher (Mob)  ♦  Mergo's Attendant  ♦  Mergo's Wet Nurse  ♦  Mi-Go Zombie  ♦  Micolash, Host of the Nightmare  ♦  Moon Presence  ♦  Nightmare Huntsman  ♦  Old Yharnam Beast  ♦  Old Yharnam Hunter (Mob)  ♦  One Reborn  ♦  Piercing Rifle Hunter  ♦  Protector  ♦  Pthumerian Descendant  ♦  Pthumerian Undead  ♦  Rabid Dog  ♦  Rat  ♦  Reaper  ♦  Ritual Master  ♦  Rom, the Vacuous Spider  ♦  Saif Hunter  ♦  Shadow of Yharnam  ♦  Shadow of Yharnam (Mob)  ♦  Shark-Giant  ♦  Silver Lady  ♦  Silverbeast  ♦  Slime Scholar  ♦  Slug  ♦  Snail Woman  ♦  Snake Ball  ♦  Snatcher  ♦  Sorrowful Emissary  ♦  Tomb Guardian  ♦  Tomb Inspector Hunter  ♦  Tormented Nanny  ♦  Undead Amalgam  ♦  Undead Giant  ♦  Undead Giant (Mob)  ♦  Vengeful Specter  ♦  Vermin Host  ♦  Vicar Amelia  ♦  Viper Pit  ♦  Watchdog of the Old Lords  ♦  Watcher's Gravedigger  ♦  Wheel Hunter  ♦  Wheelchair Mob  ♦  Witch of Hemwick  ♦  Witch of Hemwick (Mob)  ♦  Wolf Beast  ♦  Wrathful Stinger  ♦  Wretched Undead  ♦  Yahar'gul Hunter  ♦  Yeti  ♦  Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen

 




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    • Anonymous

      I like to run straight at them and just parry the grab to visceral through the frenzy proc. If you have a decent SKL stat and good parry timing you can completely delete them

      • Anonymous

        Nightmare Frontier: Phys ATK UP +11.6%
        Nightmare of Mensis: Phys ATK UP +19.8%
        Fishing Hamlet: Phys ATK UP +22.3%

        • Anonymous

          Beast roar, charge attack, beast roar, heal, beast roar, charge attack, beast roar, heal, beast roar, charge attack, dead. (Well, in most cases.)

          • Anonymous

            What obnoxious little evil devil from From Software's darkest department is responsible for the unholy creation of this frenzied atrocity?

            • Anonymous

              can people PLEASE stop putting the wrong names in the enemies list? they are called winter lanterns, not brain trust, use the damn official name, not what you think its called, not what its based off, and not what it might get called by some character, so everyone can actually find the page

              • Anonymous

                These things are by far the scariest enemies I've seen in a video game. The high danger of them combined with the creepy appearance, overpowered grab attack and eerie singing. Gives me conniptions.

                • Anonymous

                  For everyone complaining about these enemies be (a bunch of things really) just wear the Ashen set and have frenzy resist runes and low insight. I've been farming the ones at Lighthouse Hut with no issue and can someone update the wiki, I don't think they drop +27.7% ATK gems, but they do drop some pretty nice gems.

                  • Anonymous

                    Trying to get the damn blood chunk in mergo middle loft. Died an embarrassing amount of times already. Luckily u can farm for sedatives in Lecture Hall...

                    • Anonymous

                      What *****ing idiot came up with the name 'Brain Trust' I mean, it's not only retarded sounding, but where the hell did they pull out the "trust" part from?

                      • Anonymous

                        If you like basilisks, you’ll love these! Seriously, what *****ing dumbass came up with this*****. I wanna kill them maneater boat style, tear their organs out through their asshole

                        • Anonymous

                          Playing through the game again on NG+7 and yeah I think I remember why I quit playing Bloodborne now. These enemies should honestly have been removed. Nothing is as unfun as Winter Lanterns. Luckily the areas they’re in can be avoided but that doesn’t excuse the downright unfair nature of them. It’s basically parry them or you’re dead no other option on higher difficulties.

                          • Anonymous

                            For anyone having a hard time with this enemy, my way to deal with them (if your build supports it) is to use the transformed Ludwig's Holy Blade (it stops every attack from them) and only takes 3 hits to kill them. Early in the nightmare frontier they'll still cause you frenzy even after they die, so have some sedatives ready. Other option is the Great Lake rune that boosts frenzy resistance. And another option (if you don't have sedatives nor the Grate Lake rune) is to just have high vitality and spend many blood vials.

                            • Anonymous

                              My preferred method of dealing with these buggers is to just fire a bone marrow ash buffed Cannon, backed by 99 bloodtinge for good measure... Excessive? perhaps... but when your brain is at risk of being fried by looking at these guys, a waste of blood bullets is damn justified. In short... ***** these guys!

                              • Anonymous

                                The easiest way for me to kill them is using the Chikage in its transformed state. Just use R1 + Hold R2 for a charged attack to stagger the winter lantern, then finish it with a couple of R1s.

                                • Anonymous

                                  These guys are hilarious, if you make the mistake of dodging backwards it doesn't matter if you're 5 or 10ft away, you get teleported right into their grasp. Just goes to show even the people paid to test this game couldn't be *****ed dealing with them LOL.

                                  • Anonymous

                                    Its likely that the gash in the spine is the brain on their heads replacing their spinal cord, which travels all the way down one's spine.

                                    • Anonymous

                                      These assholes are worse than brainsuckers, so far I've cleared Upper Cathedral Ward in one go only lost 2 insights but I've never managed kill even one of these guys. Every time I want something that guarded by these enemies I'm just running towards it, grab the thing and die to them. I don't even want to try to get my echos back

                                      • Anonymous

                                        These things are a really curiosity to me. They don’t seem to have a (in game lore that is) purpose nor do they have any ambition. They clearly don’t like hunters and seem to be mocking hunters by wearing the doll set. By mocking I mean it looks like they are deliberately impersonating the helpful doll in the hunters dream. Perhaps they are messengers who’ve been banished or harmed in some way by hunters and collect themselves into these monsters for spite and vengeance. Purely speculation, it would be nice if there was some sort of item that talked more about them in game.

                                        Another theory I have is what is being seen isn’t what’s really there, I mean the human mind cannot comprehend what they really look like and what you see is really a Frankenstein Monster made up from fragments of memory in a desperate attempt at comprehension. It would also exspain why they cause frenzy by just looking at them, your mind is being ripped apart trying to make sense of what it’s seeing but only creates a false interpretation.

                                        • I was farming the winter lanterns in metro middle made a million echoes and then failed the elevator parlour after during to one of them by accident and all the echoes were lost

                                          • Anonymous

                                            The max cursed blood droplet or cursed tampering blood gem is 21% but you can get better one in cursed dungeons up to 27% increase in attack

                                            • Anonymous

                                              A great place to farm this for blood gems is the lantern just before the orphan fight.
                                              To the right of the boss entrance lantern is a tunnel. You will see a strange torso enemy scamper to the right as you enter.
                                              Take the left path and you will emediatly find a winter lantern. He is close enough to the lantern that it is simple to farm cursed droplets.
                                              Best of luck.

                                              • Anonymous

                                                Heaven forbid should this monster ever become a boss fight! It would make the orphan of kos look like a cleric beast fight!

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  Theories about the Winter Lanterns being predecessors of the Plain Doll aren't really true. Corpses with Frenzy spears in Nightmare of Mensis wear the same attire so this kinda proves it false.

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    They kind of remind me of the Flatwoods Monster. Tall, humanoid form, oversized and misshapen head, an incredibly fashion-forward dress, some arms for holding, a piercing gaze, and capable of inducing severe illness. 10/10

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      The page says "despite their appearance they cannot see anything behind them", but that's not true in Nightmare of Mensis. They could see me from any angle and at the full distance of their forward vision. They do have to turn towards you to cast the Frenzy spell, but they definitely can see you. I was surprised at this since I was able to sneak up on the couple that were in Nightmare Frontier and easily backstab and eviscerate them. Why the difference? I assume it's the level, but it could be that I had higher insight or some other hidden mechanic.

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        so you're telling me that these FROM software *****ers put a*****ty weapon at the end of a tunnel guarded by 2 cheap enemies, just to get raped by a second pair of cheap enemies, three times your size with hair trigger reflexes and broken hitboxes? sooo not worth the reward... pfff

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          Anyone else notice that their gown looks more like a combination of the doll's set and the noble dress? These enemies are probably the most confusing in terms of lore, since they appear in so many important places, but seemingly for no reason--guarding the brain of mensis, in the caves of the nightmare frontier, and for some reason in the fishing hamlet, which REALLY throws me off.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            The best method I've found so far for dealing with these bastards is (1) make sure you're fighting them in the right place so that any other Winter Lanterns in the area won't notice you because obviously then you're screwed, and (2) use the non-transformed Holy Moonlight Sword's R2 attack--not a full charge attack, though. This hitlocks them easily, and can be used in quick repetition unlike with other strength weapons. (In fact, I'm pretty sure HMS's strong attacks move faster than its standard R1 attacks.) They should go down in roughly 3-5 hits, after which of course you'll want to chug your sedatives.

                                                            Side note: this page fails to mention that their gaze causes damage even prior to the frenzy buildup. If you stand in their sight long enough, sedatives will eventually become useless as your HP will begin to corrode RIDICULOUSLY fast--I'm talking a steady decrease in 1000 HP per second that only accelerates the longer those spears of blood continue to erupt from your body. I'm not sure if this happens with all of the Lanterns or just a select few, but it basically necessitates that you kill them within 20 seconds of them spotting you.

                                                            AND I'M PRETTY CONVINCED THEY CAN PARTIALLY SEE THROUGH WALLS. No matter where I hide on the bridge of Mensis, they always seem to stop and stare through the wall for long periods of time, until they suddenly just break out in a mad dash to circumvent the barrier. I don't have to move a muscle and this will still trigger this behavior. SO BASICALLY ***** THEM

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              wish i knew who programmed this***** garbage so i could fly to their *****in house and kill them in their living room with my*****in their face. ***** you

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                With the 40+ insight, the "singing" may be some sort of siren song, seeing how many people find the sounds so nice and haunting, almost pulling them in.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  Guys....

                                                                  I just realized something.

                                                                  These things are a miniature version of the Brain of Menzis.
                                                                  Unlike big jello with its arms in the open, these *****ers keep theirs hidden.

                                                                  Could it mean their "tail" is inside the puppets, controlling the body?

                                                                  I mean, Menzis does a Frenzy when "look" at the tower.
                                                                  These Frenzy when you "look" at them.

                                                                  *Frenzied*

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    If you go for the stagger-by-gun-followed-by-visceral strategy, a good way to ensure you get the difficult timing right is to hit L2 at the very apex of their arm extension before the arms enclose to grab you. Assuming you're of decent leveling, the stagger and visceral should kill them immediately.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      Hitting them with the saw cleaver's short-to-long transformation attack interrupts their grab animation and causes them to stagger. So attacking with only the transformational attacks can kill them safely and quickly as long as you have the stamina and damage for it.

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        These things are genuinely terrifying to me. I think it's awesome, but what a creepy monster. It doesn't help they're incredibly deadly too.

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          I absolutely hate this frenzy *****! I have tried every tactic to kill those a**holes before ether A I'm grabbed and insta death. And B I frenzy and insta death.

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            1. run past them and keep your hp at full. if you have enough hp, frenzy wont one shot you and by the time the meter is full you are well away from it. 2. keep you hp at full and kill it as quickly as possible. kill it before the meter is full and you will be fine. 3. sneak attack

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              This enemey wins this award with honors, I can say this confidently now. More than the week 1 homing laser women in Shrine of Amana, more than the Wheelskelletons, more than the skeleton warriors in Shrine of Storms in Demon's Souls or anything else I can think of from their previous games of this sort. If FROM wanted to make a monster so cheap that even being overleveled isn't a defense against it, then they succeeded. NOT saying they're impossible to kill, or they're hard to kill, because like said below there are precautions you can take to make them much easier; but from the perspective of a new player these things are just absolutely dastardly. With skill, you could even conceivably deal with any of the aforementioned cheap enemies first time but these things are like walking beginners traps, and no matter how high you level you can get you still can NEVER let down your guard, that's how cheap they are. The fact you have to actually take special precautions, or best off just not fighting them at all, in order to have the best chance says everything. Their placement too is absolutely perfect. Rigid, narrow areas with environmental hazards like pitfalls or poison swamp all around them to maximize how cheap they are, they really thought these enemies out to make them as horrendous as possible. I'm both venting and congratulating FROM for making this monstrosity. What a gloriously cheap scumbag enemy.

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                Does anyone else noticed that this things are actually dolls? Their body is doll like, just try to look at the hands; you will see joints.. but what could this mean lore wise ?!

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  Use Blue Elixirs to negate their invisible spear attack they launch when they see you; it also cuts the distance they can start causing frenzy by quite a bit. Though be warned this doesn't work once you get too up close. It does however tend to let you get close enough to land a better hit with your weapon. And as many others have said: ***** this *****ing frenzy inducing *****.

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    I put their singing to the test in an MC Hammer U Cant Touch This vid. If they didnt pause between, it would actually be a perfect match. https://youtu.be/RMmzbUXvfxA

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      I only have problems with that thing and the pregnant things in cainhurst. Every boss is easier than one of this creepy things

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        Before entering the Nightmare of Mensis, be sure to equip the Ashen Hunter Set, as it gives you almost twice the Frenzy resist any other set could. Also, RES +100 or Frenzy RES +200 Runes also recommended. With this build, the use of sedatives also becomes viable, since you'll have enough time to the brain and use the medicine. Additionally, Ludwig's Blade's charged thrust attack , and other long range, powerful attacks do well against them. Alternatively, use gunshots to counter their grab.

                                                                                        • Stack frenzy resist and charge at them with R2 2hand attack asap works well for me, the frenzy won't build up high enough to trigger if you make the encounter short.

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            This mobs are pretty easy to handle. Wear your Madness-Resist gear (ashen hunter set for example), equip your sedatives on quickbar, run to them, kill them (easy to stagger/stunlock), use your sedative.

                                                                                            • NeoMerdien has kindly put together a vid on how to kill them with ease on the following vid
                                                                                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdNoBJSYJb8
                                                                                              i do want to point out after trying this myself that if you trigger your frenzy damage during a visceral attack you pretty much get away scott free no damage taken so timing your frenzy with your visceral attacks can save you alot of sedatives and pain once you get use to it

                                                                                              • it looks nothing like the dolls set. looks like a dress.. the 3 distinctive features of the dolls set are not present in the dress these things are wearing.

                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                  so i died to frenzy and it kept building while i was dead on the ground then frenzy popped again then when i respawned i has like 10% of my health, wtf

                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                    Just charge R2 at a distance they always charge right at just in time to get smashed into the ground. Feels ***** good flinging them around like pin cushions. Keep my insight at around 40 on purpose since this STR character uses beast claws too, so my character's too stupid to be affected by their mental bs. Dumb brawn OP lol

                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                      Can't seem to edit the page, is this because I'm a guest? I just wanted to change the part that says they are strong against poison. They most certainly are not.

                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                        Their song is in 72 BPM. Their footsteps is two thirds of that, 54 BPM. https://youtu.be/uQoqR4CKzBM Here's a recreation I (hastily) made: https://www.dropbox.com/s/spnnqvsiwghlvi5/Brain%20Trust.wav?dl=0

                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                          She just wants a hug, and a bite That girl who aced her math test Ugly Betty's prettier sister The waifu of my nightmares HEAD CRAB! EYE SEE YYYOOOOOUUUUUUUU!

                                                                                                          • I'm not sure, but I think everytime I kill one with a visceral but frenzy still triggers, I take no damage. Can someone confirm? This is probably the scariest enemy to parry, both because of the looks and because of the frenzy damage potential, but I think the correct way to kill them is simply visceraling them everytime. The correct timing by the way is almost at the end of their grab animation.

                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                              The above says three poison knives will it but I can confirm poison dose absolutely nothing to it. The best advice is slamming her with a weapon that you've buffed with either, fire paper, bolt paper, or the arcane slug, then just avoid her grab and be mindful of the frenzy you can survive if she grabs you if your vitality and endurance are 26 and you button mash just be ready with heals cause the attack will leave you with a slither of health

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