Laurence, the First Vicar Bloodborne Wiki » Bosses » Laurence, the First Vicar

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Basic Information

Location														Required
Hunter's Nightmare Nightmare Grand Cathedral	21243	29500	148	178	148	148	200	744	200	999	999	X	-	No

Discovery	Drop	Multipliers		Bonuses		Weak against
Hunter's Nightmare Nightmare Grand Cathedral	Beast's Embrace [100%]; + 1 Insight for encountering the boss; + 3 Insight for defeating the boss.	HP multiplier	1	Is beast	Yes
		Arcane DMG multiplier	1	Is kin	No
		Fire DMG multiplier	1	Is weak to serrated	Yes
		Bolt DMG multiplier	1	Is weak to righteous	No

The required bosses must be killed in order to finish the main game story and to proceed to the new game plus and further, whereas the optional ones may be avoided.

Description In-game Name (multi-language) English: Laurence, the First Vicar; Japanese: 初代教区長ローレンス; German: Laurence, der erste Vikar; Spanish: Laurence, el primer Vicario; French: Laurence, le Premier Vicaire; Italian: Laurence, il Primo Vicario Internal Name Japanese: 教区長Ω; Translation: Parish Chief Omega Laurence is a much more enigmatic figure, especially for a character so important. From the Beast skull in the Grand Cathedral, the PC Hunter witnesses a memory of an encounter between Laurence and Willem, in which Willem accuses the younger Laurence of betraying him. A note left on the Cathedral staircase reads: ”Place your hand on the altar's sacred covering, and inscribe Master Laurence's adage upon your flesh.” That Laurence would be revered so highly infers that he must have been a very significant figure in the Healing Church. It is well documented that the Healing Church has its roots in Byrgenwerth College. The Byrgenwerth Student Uniform states: The Healing Church has its roots in Byrgenwerth, and naturally borrows heavily from its uniform design. The focus not on knowledge. or thought. but on pure pretension would surely bring Master Willem to despair, if only he knew." As Laurence was revered highly by the Healing Church and betrayed Master Willem, this leads credence to the theory that Laurence was in fact one of the Church's founders, splitting from Byrgenwerth in an event that I will later describe as The Schism. [The Paleblood Hunt by “Redgrave”] Preparation Fading Lake runes and equipment with high fire defense such as the Charred Hunter set will help cut down the damage from Laurence's slacks. Alternately, Clawmark runes will allow you to end the fight faster with powerful visceral attacks; you may also opt to stack Communion or Oedon Writhe runes in order to carry more ammunition or Blood Vials. Bring a few Lead Elixirs for the second phase of the the fight as these can be incredibly useful for preventing the lava from stunlocking you; if you've already obtained the Loch Shield, consider bringing it along as well to block the AoEs. Any serrated weapon such as the Beast Cutter or Saw Cleaver will be effective, but the Whirligig Saw's multi-hit jump attack and sustained L2 chain in transformed mode make it an especially good choice. Laurence is subject to the damage bonuses from Beasthunter gems, so attaching three of these to one of the aforementioned weapons will maximize your damage potential against him; however, elemental weapon buffs such as Bolt Paper are largely ineffective. Single-shot firearms like the Hunter Pistol and Evelyn are very useful for injuring Laurence's head and staggering him, especially when powered up with Bone Marrow Ash; the Cannon and Church Cannon are much less efficient for this purpose due to the high risk of a missed shot. If you have met Valtr in the Forbidden Woods and are equipped with the Impurity rune, you can summon him just inside the cathedral door to assist you. Overview The first phase of this battle will play out much like the fight with the original Cleric Beast, though Laurence is by no means a mere clone and in fact has a number of unique tricks in his arsenal. First and foremost, the majority of his attacks either leave lingering trails of flame or create explosions on impact. Laurence becomes a completely different enemy during the second phase, at which point his lower body will melt away and leave only his torso and head, in this form his severed abdomen continuously leaves a trail of damaging lava as he moves and he will begin using and entirely different set of attacks from Phase 1. His moveset is far more limited during the second phase but also less familiar and predictable, consisting of crawling slam combos, delayed arm swipes and attacks that cover large areas in lingering pools of lava. Strategy Target Laurence's head with pistols or the Piercing Rifle to stagger him, then follow through with a visceral attack. Staggering him works in exactly the same manner as with the original Cleric Beast; he will eventually repair the damage to his head, allowing you to injure it and stager him again. You can also injure Laurence's limbs, but unlike most other bosses this will only stun him temporarily and does not actually increase the damage he receives. The Whirligig Saw's transformed L2 attack will quite literally tear Laurence to shreds, especially if you've also set it with Beasthunter gems; fast weapons with serrated bonus such as Saw Cleaver and the Saw Spear are also ideal for dishing out heavy damage as quickly as possible. If you are having trouble with the lava stunlocking you to death during Phase 2, try using a Lead Elixir - it'll give you enough super armor to walk through the flames without flinching, though you'll need to keep a close eye on your HP. The Loch Shield will absorb the impact and most of the damage from his AoEs, though it is NOT effective for blocking the actual physical swings themselves. For more comprehensive strategy guide sroll down below. Environment You'll face Laurence in a rectangular hall identical to Yharnam's Grand Cathedral, where you originally faced Vicar Amelia. Keeping the fight to the room's long axis and taking care not to back yourself into the corners is crucial, you'll need to be especially wary of the pilasters jutting out of the walls at intervals as you can become caught on these while skirting the edges of the hall. If Laurence backs into a corner or against a wall, lure him back toward the center of the room so that you have enough space to dodge his attacks. Old Hunter Summons Location Requirement Valtr Confederate: Laurence, the First Vicar in Hunter's Nightmare: In plain sight just inside the door of the Grand Cathedral. You must not have killed Valtr in the Forbidden Woods. You must be equipped with the "Impurity" rune. Must have obtained Laurence's Skull from the altar elevator. With patch v1.07 you are able to summon NPCs to come to your aid, just like cooperative play, including inside Chalice Dungeons. To do so, first you will need to acquire the “Old Hunter Bell” from the messengers in the Hunter’s Dream. In some areas you may be able to summon up to two NPC Hunters. Note: When you summon Valtr, he will appear wearing his helmet and will be identified as "Valtr, Master of the League" until you have completed his quest and obtained the Master's One-Eyed Iron Helm. From this point onward he will be summoned as "Valtr, Beast Eater" and will appear without his helmet. He is stronger as "Beast Eater" so it's worth completing his quest before summoning him for these fights. Notes This Boss is part of The Old Hunters DLC During Laurence, the First Vicar grab attack animations, damage can NOT be reduced by repeatedly pressing buttons (mashing). Despite Laurence having 999 Slow Poison & Rapid Poison resistances it is still vulnerable to such status. [video] For more information about Laurence check the Laurence's Skull page.

∼ GALLERY PAGE ∼ Pungent Blood Cocktails don't attract this enemy, making the item ineffective. Boss Defenses 148 200 999 178 744 X 148 200 - 148 999 Game Cycle 1st (NG) 21243 29500 2nd (NG+) 33805 124018 3rd (NG+2) 36171 136420 4th (NG+3) 37186 155023 5th (NG+4) 38200 186027 6th (NG+5) 38876 248036 7th (NG+6) 40566 310045 Cooperation & Boss' HP Having a summoned ally doesn't alter the health or difficulty of the enemies you'll fight, but it does affect the bosses. To ensure they are still a challenge, boss health, showed in table above, is increased to 1.5x when a second co-op player enters your world, and to 2.0x when a third enters.

+ Comprehensive Strategy Guide by Vic Wraith

[Google Docs] (click to open)

Useful Information Since Laurence is made of fire, it’s recommended to have fire-resistant armor on. The Charred Hunter set, which can be found in Old Yharnam, is very good for that. The Bone Ash set, which can be purchased at the insight shop after progressing through the Central Pthumeru chalice, is another good option. The Great Lake rune helps with his fire/physical damage, so it's worth having that on. You can find the 4% version of the rune in Upper Cathedral Ward. Laurence is weak to physical damage as well as bolt and arcane. You can buy Bolt Paper from the messengers in the dream after obtaining the Spark Hunter Badge, which you get from killing Darkbeast Paarl. Alternatively, you can use Empty Phantasm Shell to add arcane damage to your weapon. Serrated weapons like the Saw Cleaver deal 20% bonus damage to Laurence since he is classified as a beast. Your positioning is very important in this fight. It is recommended to stay at mid range from him. The further away you stay from him, the more likely he is to use his gap closers, which can be difficult to avoid. Stay at mid range and let him come to you instead of you running towards him. Wait for him to attack, then get close and punish. I do not recommend locking-on for this fight. If he gets close to you and you are locked-on to him, it can be extremely difficult to see what he’s doing. I know that a lot of people are not used to playing unlocked, and it can be an awkward adjustment if you’re not used to it, but eventually it will make fighting this boss so much easier for you. If you still don’t feel like playing unlocked, then do yourself a favor and target the lock-on point on the middle of his body instead of his head. This will make the camera a little better, but it still would be hard to see what he’s doing when he’s close to you. The arena is not the biggest for this fight. You can find yourself getting stuck in a corner if you’re not paying attention, which can easily get you killed. Try to judge how close you are to a wall and be careful not to get stuck. Laurence has 3 phases. The second phase starts when he gets below 80% HP. He will start using more attacks here and generally be more aggressive. The third phase starts at around 40% HP. Here he’ll lose both of his legs and will start crawling on the ground, gaining completely new attacks. The limb stagger mechanic can change how phase 1 plays out. Staggering his arm or his legs will make him gain new follow up attacks or gain completely new ones (more on that later). Phase 1 Left-Handed Slam A large left-handed slam followed by a large fire AoE. This is the attack that Laurence will always start the fight with. When he does this at the start of the fight, you can simply sprint behind him and get a few hits in. Be careful of the fire AoE as it can reach you if you are standing too close to him even from behind. Avoiding this attack later in the fight depends on your position. If you are close to him then you can roll forward when his hand is about to hit the ground, get one or two hits behind him, out-space the fire AoE, then continue attacking. If you are not close to him or if you just want to play it safe, then you can roll away from his slam, wait for the fire AoE to come out, then sprint and attack him. Smaller Left-Handed Slam A left-handed slam that looks similar to the one we talked about before, but this one comes out a little quicker and doesn’t have the large AoE follow up. Only consider punishing this if you are close to him. Similar to the other left-handed slam, you want to roll towards him and be behind him, then you can start attacking him. How do we tell whether he's doing this one or the other bigger slam with the large fire AoE? Well, there's two tells: 1. The first being his scream. When he's doing the other larger slam with the large fire AoE, he'll always scream while he's lifting his arm up, but he doesn't scream while doing the smaller version. 2. The second is how high he lifts his arm up the air. For the larger slam attack, he lifts his arm up higher than when he's doing the smaller one. Not the best image but it should give you an idea of the animation difference between the two versions. The one on the left is the bigger slam with the large fire AoE, the one on the right is the smaller one. Back Swipes Laurence has two back swipe attacks that he can use when you’re behind or beside him. Always be on the lookout for these two attacks when you are attacking him from behind or the sides. Don’t get greedy when attacking him, and be ready to roll away the moment you see these attacks coming. One small note about these two swipes is that he does them way more often during the second phase than the first one. 3 Swipe Combo Laurence can use a 3 swipe combo using both of his hands if you get close to him. This is one of his most dangerous attacks, and the one I see people die to the most. This attack is designed to roll catch you if you panic. To avoid it, you have to delay your rolls just like how he’s delaying his swipes. Roll the first swipe towards him, delay your next roll just like how he’s delaying his next swipe, then do the same for the 3rd swipe and start attacking. Whatever you do, don’t roll spam. One trick you can do is to roll the first and second swipes towards him, and by standing very close to him beside his right leg, you can attack him and his third swipe will miss. There is a deadzone right under him during the third swipe where its hitboxes won’t reach. This video should hopefully give you an idea on the roll timing and where the deadzone is.

Jump Attack Laurence will curl up then jump towards you. Mostly happens when you’re not close to him, but can at rare times happen at close range. If you are mid to close range from him, roll forward. You will end up being behind him which will give you an opportunity to attack him a few times. Be careful of the quick swipes we talked about earlier. If you are very far away from him, roll away instead. Grab Attacks Laurence has two grab attacks that he uses when you’re close to him. One where he’ll slowly lift up his left arm before trying to grab you, and the other one where he does the same but with both arms. Giving how slow these grab attacks are, you can simply out-space them by just walking away and you’ll be safe. The one where he uses both of his arms is very good for punishing. He recovers much slower from this one than the other grab attack. 3 Ground Slams Laurence will start by doing a ground slam with his right hand, then left hand, then will use both of his hands for a third slam. Roll the first slam, roll the second, wait for the third slam to come out then go in and attack him. You can try rolling through the third slam if you want, but it’s much easier and safer to simply out-space it and then punish. 4 Swipe Combo Laurence will start by doing a swipe with his right hand, then follow it up with 3 more swipes while walking towards you. Roll away from the first swipe and keep walking away from him since he moves towards you while doing this attack. You can punish this but only after the last swipe. Roll through the last swipe and attack only once. That’s because he recovers very quickly after this attack, and he can follow it up instantly with another attack, so don’t get greedy when punishing this one. Double Swipe An attack where Laurence will do a swipe with his right hand first, then another one with his left hand. There is also another version of this attack where he’ll do a swipe with his right hand, but then do a large swipe attack with both of his hands. Roll into him and punish this only with one attack. He can attack very quickly again after this so it's best not to punish it with more than one attack. Alternatively you can roll away from him if you wish to play it safer. Double 180° Swipes Laurence will start by doing a large swipe from his right to left side, and if you are close enough, he will follow it up with another swipe from his left to his right side. Start by rolling the first swipe towards him, wait for the second one to come out then roll towards him again and start attacking. This is a very good attack for punishing, as he takes a while to recover, giving you enough time to attack him multiple times. Right Hand Ground Punch A right hand ground punch that happens when he's close to you. Roll into him and punish it. Slam Into 4 Swipes Laurence will start by doing a ground slam with his left hand, then follow it up with 4 swipes. So there’s couple of ways to deal with this attack: 1. Roll away from the first slam, then wait for the last swipe, roll towards him and attack. The GIF above shows how that’s done. 2. This one is a little harder to do, but doing it will give you a chance to attack him multiple times. For this, you want to roll away or out-space the first slam, then roll the first swipe towards his right side. When you are at his right side, you’ll be safe from his next attacks, which will give you time to punish this with multiple attacks. This video should give you an idea of how that works.

Phase 1 Changes After Limb Staggers Phase 1 can change depending on which limb(s) you stagger. Staggering either of his arms will make him gain new follow up attacks. Staggering either of his legs will make him gain completely new attacks. This video will be the reference to the attacks I’ll mention next. Arm Stagger After staggering either of his arms, he’ll gain new follow ups to these attacks: Right hand ground punch now will have a left hand swipe follow up that happens when you’re close to him. Roll the first ground punch, wait for the swipe to come out, roll into him and punish him. Smaller left hand slam now will have a follow up where he’ll slam his hand 2 more times. Happens when you’re close and in front of him. If you roll the first slam trying to get behind him but instead find yourself still in front of him, expect these 2 slams to come out and roll away. The 180° swipe(s) will have 4 different variations now: 1. Double swipes into left hand poke. A very common one. This will happen if you stand close to him after the double swipes. He’ll do a poke attack with his left arm, which you can avoid by rolling to the left. Again, this one is very common after an arm stagger, so always expect this to happen. 2. One swipe into left hand poke. This one is also common. Roll to the left. 3. Double swipes into left hand ground slam. Not a very common one, and it happens if you are standing to his left side after the swipes. Roll away from him. 4. One swipe into left hand ground slam. Roll away. Leg Stagger After staggering either of his legs, he’ll gain new attacks: Left hand slam into jump attacks. Now he’ll be able to do new jump attacks that mostly happen when you aren’t very close to him, though he can use them at close range as well. He’ll start by slamming his left hand on the ground, then jump up and land on the ground while also doing a right-handed slam as he’s coming down. Roll away from the first slam, then just as he’s about to land on the ground roll into him and punish him. Rolling away is safer, but you’ll have to immediately turn around and sprint to him to punish it, but that can be a little dangerous as he can attack again very quickly. Slam into a large swipe gap closer. He’ll start by doing a quick right hand slam, then follow it up with a large left hand swipe that covers a lot of distance. Roll away from the first slam, then roll into his swipe and punish him. This is one of his most dangerous attacks. Just like his jump attacks, he mostly does this when you are not close to him as a gap closer, though he does occasionally use it at close range as well. Slam into backwards hop. He’ll slam his left hand down the ground then hops backwards. Roll away from him. This one happens when you’re too close to him. All of these attacks can happen in phase 2 regardless of whether you staggered any of his limbs or not. Phase 2 Phase 2 starts when he drops to around 80% HP. Here he’ll gain new attacks, and be able to use all of the previously mentioned attacks here, including all of the attacks that happen after staggering his limbs, regardless of whether you actually staggered him in phase 1 or not. He’ll also generally be a lot more aggressive, giving you very little time to breathe. As I said before, your positioning is very important here, especially in the 2nd and 3rd phases. In phase 2 he has gap closer attacks that he uses when you’re far away from him. Stay at mid range, wait for him to attack then get close and punish it. Slow Back Swipe When you are at his left side or behind him, he can use this back swipe with his left hand. It is slower than the other back swipes he uses in phase 1, and in this one he also falls down on the ground and does a ground slam with his left hand too. Roll to the left, then go in while he’s down on the ground and attack him. Dive Laurence will curl up then do an air dive towards you. Roll to the left and punish him while he’s down on the ground. This mostly happens when you are far away from him as a gap closer. One small problem is that the animation of him curling up looks exactly like the one for the jump attack mentioned in phase 1, so how can we tell whether he’s gonna do a jump or a dive? Well, there is one way to tell, but sadly it’s not a very good one. The audio cues are different. It’s hard to explain them in text, so watch this video to tell the difference. Like I said, it’s not a very good tell, so you’re just gonna have to have quick reflexes and roll accordingly. 5 Attack Combo He’ll start by doing a ground salm with his left hand, then 3 swipes, then ends the combo with another ground slam. Roll the first swipe that comes out after the ground slam towards his left side, then go behind him and start attacking. This is the best attack to get in phase 2. It’s easy to avoid and gives you plenty of time to punish him. This one also looks similar to the slam into 4 swipes attack from phase 1. Fortunately this one has better tells than the dive. If you pay attention to the camera, you’ll notice that the camera shakes the moment the first ground slam comes out, whereas it doesn’t shake as much in the attack from the first phase. This video should make it clearer. His scream timing can also tell you which version he’s doing. In the normal version, he starts screaming the moment he slams his hand on the ground, while in the fall down version, he screams just before he slams it. His right hand will also touch the ground after the first swipe in this one, unlike the similar attack from the first phase. 4 Swipe Combo Roll away from his first swipe, wait for the second and third to come out, then roll the 4th delayed swipe towards his left side. Very similar to the 4 swipe combo from the first phase, but here he’ll delay his 4th swipe and fall down on the ground while doing it. Again, you can tell which version he’s doing by paying attention to the camera. Here the camera shakes just as he’s doing the second swipe. Refer back to this video. You can also see that in this one, his left hand will touch the ground after the 2nd swipe, unlike the one from the first phase. Slow Left-Handed Slam A slow left-handed slam that looks similar to the one from his first phase. This one however covers more distance and ends with him falling down on the ground. Also has a follow up left-handed swipe attack if you are in close range and in front of him. Just like the one from the first phase, only consider rolling towards him if you are at close range, if not, roll away.

Phase 3 Phase 3 will start once his HP reaches about 40% or lower. He’ll lose both of his legs and start crawling on the ground. Laurence will constantly keep spewing lava from his back, so don’t stand or attack him from behind. The lava from his back doesn’t do a lot of damage, but it will keep staggering you if you stand on it. This phase can either be really easy or really hard depending on how you position your character. Always stay close to him. The further away you are from him, the harder this phase gets. This is the ideal position for this phase. Stand close to him, just to the left of his head. Right Hand Swipe A right hand swipe that happens when you are in front of him and in close range. Roll into it and punish it. There’s no follow up attacks. Back Swipes Just like the first two phases, Laurence also has 2 back swipe attacks in phase 3 that he uses when you are behind him or beside him. After rolling, you’ll have enough time to get in and hit him once or twice. The left hand swipe is a little harder to punish since he turns away from you much further than the right hand swipe. Lava Vomit Laurence will start by shaking his head before vomiting lava. If you are close to him, you can simply walk to the left and you’ll be safe from it. Because of how long this attack’s animation is, it gives you plenty of time to punish it. This attack can be dangerous if you are standing far away from him. If you do find yourself in that situation, either try running away from it, or run diagonally to the left or right. Delayed Left Hand Slam He’ll lift up his left hand up before slamming it on the ground, then spew lava out of his back. Roll to the left and then attack him from the front. Do not go behind him or to either of his sides to not get hit by the lava. Keep in mind that this attack is a little delayed, meaning that if you roll immediately the moment you see the attack coming, then you’ll most likely gonna get hit by his slam. Delay your roll just as he’s delaying his slam. When you see his hand coming down, that’s your cue to roll. Slow Left Hand Slam A very slow left hand slam, followed by a swipe. Don’t roll when he’s still lifting his arm up. Roll to the left the moment you see the hand coming down, and don’t attack just yet. He will mostly follow it up with a left hand swipe if you are close to him. So roll the slam, wait for the swipe to come out, then roll to the right and punish it. Alternatively, you can avoid the swipe by standing next to his right arm, as shown in the GIF above. Crawling Attacks Laurence has 2 crawling attacks. He’ll crawl on the ground moving towards you while slamming both of his hands on the ground and creating a lava trail as he’s going. In this one, he’ll crawl and slam his hands 7 times on the ground. Roll the first one to the left, and as long as you keep your character to his right side, he won’t be able to hit you. You can attack him while he’s still doing the attack, or just wait for it to end then start attacking. This method doesn’t work very well when you are both near a wall. Be careful when you find yourself in that situation, and be ready to avoid the rest of his slams instead of just the first one. Always roll to the left. In the second one, he’ll slam his hands only 3 times, but this one has a left hand swipe follow up. This left hand swipe is the same as the one from his slow left hand slam attack, which means that you can either avoid it by rolling to the right, or simply by standing next to his right arm.

Video Showcase and Thanks Finally, here's a BL4 gemless fight that demonstrates most of the info and strats mentioned here. Good luck! Special thanks to StochasticGD, Question_able, and Arti for their help with this guide.

Attack Patterns Phase 1

Key Attack	Interrupt	Notes
One-Armed Grab	No	Executed with the left arm. Slow windup; roll or quickstep behind him or quickstep backward.
Two-Armed Grab	No	Frontal grab with a slow windup; strafe or quickstep backward out of range.
Fire Slam	No	Single frontal open-palmed ground slam that generates a small explosion. Resembles the first hit of the Overhead Claw, but has no followup. Quickstep backward at mid range or forward past him at close range.
Double Slam	No	Two advancing ground punches in rapid succession. Both punches create small explosions. Quickstep backward twice at mid range or forward twice past the attacks at close range.
Heavy Double Slam	No	Slower version of the Double Slam that generates larger explosions. Quickstep twice forward clockwise past the first hit from anywhere inside mid range; if on the outer edge of mid range or farther, quickstep backward three times.
Retreating Slam	No	Quick frontal ground slam that generates a small explosion, followed immediately by a backstep that repositions him facing you. Quickstep backward once or forward through the attack.
Lunging Swipe	No	Lunges forward and swipes a wide frontal arc with his left arm, leaving a trail of lingering flames; quickstep forward or counterclockwise through the swing.
Slam Combo	No	Two slow ground punches followed by a downward slam that generates a small explosion of flames; quickstep backward one to two times at mid range or forward past him if extremely close.
Left Combo A	No	Four-hit combo with his left arm starting with a ground punch followed by two horizontal swipes and a frontal shove. The shove inflicts heavy knockdown. Quickstep forward or sideways through each swing in the opposite direction.
Left Combo B	No	Five-hit combo with his left arm starting with a ground punch followed by four horizontal slashes.The final three slashes are performed leaning forward and have increased range. Quickstep backward three to five times at mid range or forward past him at close range.
Right Combo	No	Opens with a right-handed horizontal slash and alternates between left and right for three more horizontal swings.The fourth swing will be either a close-range swipe or a mid-range forward dive depending on your distance from him. Quickstep forward past him through each attack at close range or backward three to four times at mid range.
Variable Combo	No	Can chain an unlimited number of horizontal slashes, ground punches and forward shoves in random order. Quickstep forward through each attack at close range or backward out of reach at mid range.
Advancing Lunge	No	Extremely quick two-hit forward lunge with almost no warning. Both hits generate explosions. Mainly used at short range, but has very long reach. Quickstep forward past his right side one to two times.
Flying Press	No	Jumps high into the air and performs a rapid falling body slam. Can change direction midair and has strong tracking; quickstep or roll toward him and he will pass over you.
Overhead Claw	No	Mid-range overhead slam with his left arm that creates a small explosion of flames, sometimes followed by an upward swing which generates a much larger explosion. Preceded by a scream and has a long windup; he also digs his claws into the ground on the first hit, in contrast to the open-palmed Fire Slam. Quickstep forward past him from close range or backward from mid range.
Recovery	No	Surrounds himself in a red aura and heals injured limbs. Doesn't actually restore HP; simply repairs body damage.

Phase 1 Strategy: In general, quickstepping forward through Laurence's combos and baiting his grab attacks provide some of the safer opportunities to attack him from behind with R1 chains or to heal yourself If necessary; strafing backward out of range of his two-hit forward lunges and performing a jump attack after he misses the second swing is another good chance to deal damage. A third such opportunity comes while he is recovering injured limbs since he is helpless during this animation; additionally, injuring a limb will cause him to stumble and buy a little extra time for another attack or two. If you aim to injure his arms or legs, it is often easier to lock off and circle him manually while using dodge rolls to avoid his backward swipe attacks - the two targetable points on his body are very high and will often foul attempts to strike low enough to injure his legs. When fighting locked-on, be sure to target the lower point (on his abdomen) as attempting to dodge his attacks while locked onto his head makes it harder to avoid taking damage. It is possible, though extremely difficult, to avoid the explosions created by his slam attacks using the quickstep's invincibility frames to dodge through them; however, beware that the large explosion on the second hit of his Overhead Claw (when he pulls his claw out of the ground) is large enough that it extends a short distance behind him and can still clip you coming out of a quickstep with poor positioning. You can also attack him one or two times after dodging his Fire Slam, but be sure not to get caught at pointblank range when the AoE occurs. If you are behind him at fairly close range, it is possible to avoid his Slam Combo simply by strafing sideways and strike during his recovery period after the final hit. Alternately, to avoid this combo from the front, quickstep backward away from him. When the AoE from the third hit dissipates, he will be left recovering for a few seconds during which it is possible to quickstep forward and attack him.

Attack Patterns Phase 2

Key Attack	Interrupt	Notes
Lava Launcher	No	Long-range forward conical stream of lava that remains on the ground for several seconds and inflicts residual damage. Quickstep or strafe sideways as needed, or quickstep forward toward his right side.
Rear Lava Gush	No	Close-range frontal AoE slam while gushing a large pool of lava behind him out of his severed abdomen. Quickstep away from him two to three times at close range and beware that he will follow up with a horizontal swipe if you stand in front of him for too long.
Crawling Combo	No	Drags himself forward using up to seven overhead claw slams often ending with a left-handed horizontal slash. Quickstep left twice and continue strafing or quickstepping clockwise as he circles you.
Delayed Slam	No	Single overhead slam with his left arm after a long windup, sometimes followed by a horizontal swipe. Has strong tracking and must be dodged very late, just before he brings his arm down - quickstep sideways or forward past it.

Phase 2 Strategy: When Laurence's HP falls below 40% the bottom half of his body will disintegrate leaving only his torso, arms and head. In this state his mobility is drastically reduced and he loses access to his entire Phase 1 moveset. His severed torso constantly spews lava that lingers on the ground for a short period of time, causing fire damage and flinching if you touch it. The best time to attack Laurence or restore your HP during this phase is during his Lava Launcher; he will telegraph this attack with very obvious shudders and screams, providing enough warning for you to quickstep toward his right side and strike several times while he is spitting lava. This move has moderate lateral tracking and leaves large pools of lava on the ground which cause fire damage and heavy stunlock; the stream of lava itself inflicts damage and hits multiple times, and a direct hit with this attack will usually stunlock you to death. The Whirligig Saw's transformed L2 is ideal for piling on damage from Laurence's right side during this move as it can be used while strafing clockwise to avoid the boss' frontal attack area. Another good chance to attack comes during the Rear Lava Gush, though you'll need to dodge the frontal AoE before positioning yourself to strike his head and will also need to avoid the horizontal followup swing at the end.