Harrower Dervla, the Pledged Knight, is one of those bosses in Lords of the Fallen that seem to be completely defeated when you kill them But then in typical soulslike fashion, a new more powerful version of the boss rises from its deathbed.
So to better understand and win the two-phased fight with Harrower Dervla, you are going to need this boss guide. Not only will this guide explain the tactics you can apply to defeat the Pledged Knight in Lords of the Fallen, but it will also show you how you can beat her second form – The Unbroken Promise.
How To Defeat The Pledged Knight & The Unbroken Promise In Lords Of The Fallen
Harrower Dervla is a Colossal Boss, making it one of the toughest bosses in Lords of the Fallen. Think of her as the Melania of this game, and if you know what that means, it will probably take a bunch of tries before you defeat her.
Where To Find Harrower Dervla
You can find Harrower Dervla in the Revelation Depths area, which can be accessed through a network of tunnels going underground from Sunless Skein. When you reach the Vestige of Lost Berescu, make sure you rest up and prepare as this is the point before the Harrower Dervla boss fight begins.
Before you proceed, make sure you have gone through our combat tips for Lords of the Fallen.
First Phase: Harrower Dervla, the Pledged Knight
This fight is quite fair and easily beaten when you thoroughly understand all the things to avoid. Here are some crucial tips to remember:
- There are technically two enemies to tackle during this phase: The main boss Harrower Dervla herself, and a chained-up entity that will throw projectiles at you. The entity only ever attacks when Harrower Dervla rests for a few seconds, and that’s when you need to dodge the incoming projectile from the entity.
- The entity will also do an arena-wide shockwave that you need to dodge. There will be a distinct indication and sound when it is about to do the shockwave so you will need to learn the timing and dodge it accordingly. You can also avoid it by standing behind the pillars around the arena.
- Coming back to Harrower Dervla, her attacks are going to be slow and affect a wide area. With a few tries and practice, it is easy to learn the parry or dodge timing for her attacks as the animations are slow.
- One of the attacks that you need to absolutely avoid getting hit by is her thrust attacks. You will see her charging up this thrust for a moment before plunging it into you. This attack almost has a grab-like effect that can take away a lot of your health.
- After you take away 50% of Harrower Dervla’s health bar, she will start doing ranged attacks with her crossbow. These also can be avoided once you learn the animation indication that she is about to shoot her crossbow.
- Another thing that happens after her health drops below 50% is that she will imbue herself and her weapons with Umbral Magic. This makes her attacks even stronger. She will now have some new attacks as well, such as shockwaves and arrow barrages.
- A general tip for this fight is to always wait for her to attack before you attack. Catching her recovering from an attack animation is the best place to deal lots of damage to her. Her attacks are often slow and delayed, which can bait you into attacking right before she hits.
Second Phase: The Unbroken Promise
Once you defeat Harrower Dervla, the entity from the first phase will join together with her to create an entirely new boss: The Unbroken Promise. Here’s how you can win the fight:
- The Unbroken Promise is going to be more aggressive and faster than Harrower Dervla. With a whole new set of attacks like homing nails and quick claw swipes, you will need to learn the timings all over again and forget everything you learned from the first phase.
- At the start of the battle, she will do a thrusting attack onto the ground, charging it with Umbral Magic. Move away as much as you can and get ready for a massive shockwave that you will need to perfectly dodge or block.
- Her movement speed is still as slow as she was in the first phase, but most of her sword attacks will now create shockwaves. So even if you are at a distance, you will avoid these shockwaves at all costs.
- Pay attention to her left arm when she performs her new homing nail attacks. During this attack, two huge nails will be summoned to attack you and they can have multiple variations like spinning attacks, delayed launch attacks, etc. Unfortunately, the only real way to get through this without getting hit is to learn the timing and signs of these attacks, which require constant tries.
Rewards For Defeating Harrowed Dervla
There are several items you can get after defeating this two-phased boss, including:
- Vestige Seed
- Umbral Scouring x8
- Harrower Dervla’s Rosary
- Dark Crusader’s Call
- Ammunition Satchel
After the boss fight is over, you can Soulflay the Stigma to gain these items:
- Remembrance of the Unbroken Promise
- Umbral Scouring x2
Finally, you can bring the Remembrance of the Unbroken Promise to Molhu and get these items:
- Harrower Dervla’s Sword
- Harrower Dervla’s Crossbow
- Harrower Gauntlets
- Harrower Armour
- Harrower Helm
- Harrower Leggings
- Martyr’s Shackles
- Martyrdom
- Barrage of Echoes
That is it for the Lords of the Fallen Harrower Dervla boss guide. If you are looking to beat more such brutal bosses, you might also be interested in checking out our Bringer of Stillness boss guide.
