Valor Mortis opens with General Lothaire, the Eagle-Bearer, as its first boss, and you face him on two occasions. The Battlefield encounter is designed to end in defeat; the Catalysts and trophy are awarded after you return for the fight at the Abandoned Church. Here’s how to beat him in the rematch, what happens in each battle, and how to recognize his attacks.
Quick answer: The first Lothaire fight at The Battlefield is a scripted loss; the kill and the reward of 10,000 Catalysts come from the rematch at the Abandoned Church. To beat him, parry his eagle-standard swings to fill his Posture bar, land the Critical Attack when he drops to a knee, shoot his three glowing red growths with the Pistol to restore Nephtoglobin, and dodge his unblockable attacks: the red-glow leap, the pistol volley, the bash, the grab and the thrown corpse.
See where General Lothaire is fought on the Valor Mortis map.
How to beat General Lothaire
The fight to plan for is the rematch at the Abandoned Church at the end of Chapter II (how to reach it is further down). Lothaire has two health bars, each worth 1,800: emptying the first brings up a second, full bar for phase two. His Posture bar holds 500 in both phases, and phase two starts it over at zero. The whole fight comes down to one rhythm: parry his telegraphed eagle-standard swings to drain his Posture, step in for the Critical Attack when he kneels, keep the Pistol ready for his glowing weak points, and dodge the attacks that cannot be blocked.
What you have for the rematch
You go in with the Saber and the Pistol, which you collected from a carriage in the Valley of Ashes earlier in Chapter II. Its magazine holds 5 rounds, and Pistol Ammunition pickups lie throughout the Valley of Ashes. Press F to heal with Ferrofluid Flasks; a new character starts with 100 Health.
There is nothing to upgrade before this fight. James’s Iron Bench for weapon upgrades sits in the church behind Lothaire’s arena, so you only reach it after he falls, and Louis’s Laboratoire for Transmutation upgrades does not open until Chapter III.
If you picked up the Fire Transmutation, bring it: Lothaire takes extra fire damage (his Ignite resistance is -40%), which makes him a good target for your Nephtoglobin. Fire is optional and easy to walk past; see where to find the Fire Transmutation at the altar above the Onslaught Arch Lantern in The Battlefield. The Duellist’s Focus Amber, from a chest in The Battlefield, is optional too: it makes melee parries more forgiving, and the first Amber slot unlocks at character level 5.
Parry the standard, break his Posture, land the Critical Attack
Tap Ctrl to parry and hold Ctrl to block (LB parries on the default controller scheme). The game’s own tutorial puts it plainly: “Parrying increases the Posture bar more than Melee Attacks do.” Parrying wins this fight, not trading sword hits.
His eagle-standard swings are slow, with obvious wind-ups: the wide sweep (he pulls the pole across his torso, then swings flat at waist height with a reach of about 6 m), the low sweep, the close-range swing and the overhead slam. You can block or parry every one of them, which makes them his safest moves to parry and your best way to build Posture. His three-hit combo is three blockable swings in a row; parrying the whole sequence fills a large part of the bar.
When the Posture bar under his health fills, he drops to a knee and a Critical Attack opens. Step in front of him and press Attack for the critical strike, the biggest hit you can land. Do not chase him and do not trade blows, because his reach is longer than the Saber’s. Stay close enough to read his wind-ups and let him come to you.
Shoot the glowing growths with the Pistol
Lothaire has three glowing red Nephtoglobin weak points: on the left shoulder, the hip and the right thigh, and all three are there again in phase two. The game calls the Pistol “perfect for destroying Nephtoglobin Weak Spots”, and destroyed weak points drop Nephtoglobin Remnants: pick them up to restore your Nephtoglobin, the resource Transmutations such as Fire spend.
Fire your rounds while he recovers after a combo or after a leap lands, and aim only at the growths, never his coat. Keep a few rounds for phase two, when his growths return.
Dodge the attacks you cannot block
Dodge with Alt (or the side mouse button) and jump with Space. Holding block against these only gets you hit:
- Pistol volley: after a two-swing standard combo he lifts three extra arms holding pistols and fires them at once, three shots of 20. Dodge it.
- Red-glow leap: his body takes on a glowing red-orange outline, then he leaps forward with the standard held overhead for 50, half a fresh character’s Health. A parry does not stop it, so dodge clear, then punish the landing or shoot a growth.
- Bash, grab and thrown corpse: the bash (50), the grab (20) and the corpse he throws (it explodes) cannot be blocked either. Dodge each one.
His single pistol shot at range can be blocked, so you do not need to dodge it.
Phase two: harder combos, ground attacks and summons
Once his first health bar is empty, the full second bar appears and his combos hit harder, chaining two or three hits of up to 50 damage each, and several of them cannot be blocked. Roll through the unblockable strikes instead of holding your guard, and keep parrying the standard swings you can: they still build Posture.
- Shockwave: 32 damage plus heavy Posture damage to you, and blocking will not stop it. Jump over it.
- Spike line: spikes run along the ground toward you for 40 damage plus heavy Posture damage. It cannot be blocked: strafe sideways out of its line instead of backing straight away.
- Summons: he calls in either three Risen Soldiers or two Risen Musketeers. Each has 1 Health and dies to one hit, so take them out at once before they pin you.
Keep the same loop until a last Posture break and Critical Attack finishes him, or his second bar runs out.
Who General Lothaire is
His boss bar reads “GENERAL LOTHAIRE, THE EAGLE-BEARER”. He is a towering general in a blue coat and bicorne, with extra grafted arms gripping flintlock pistols and a brass blunderbuss, and glowing red growths across his body. His weapon is the eagle standard, a long pole tipped with a blade beneath a torn tricolour flag, swung like a polearm.
- Health: 1,800. Posture: 500. He has two phases.
- Weak points: glowing red growths at three spots—the left shoulder, hip and right thigh.
- He takes extra fire damage (Ignite resistance of -40%) and resists Stasis (50%).
- You will not receive Ignite, Stasis or infection buildup from any of his attacks.
Beating him grants the Commander’s Catalyst Clot, whose text reads “Use to gain 10000 Catalysts. An apt reward for a gargantuan effort.” You also earn the Torn Banner achievement, “Kill General Lothaire, the Eagle-Bearer.” Both come from the rematch, since the first fight ends with your defeat.
Reaching Lothaire at The Battlefield
Why you cannot win the first fight
Your defeat, rather than his, ends this encounter: wearing his health bar down will not bring the fight to a close. When a hit drains your health, no “YOU ARE DEAD” screen appears. Instead, a dark cutscene shows close-up images, including a hand on the ground and a face; the next area then loads and Chapter II starts.
You wake beside Lucjan, a man in a top hat and long coat, at the Guidepost Lantern in the Valley of Ashes, and he rekindles the Lantern (“LANTERN REKINDLED”). The Catalysts you were carrying are still with you afterward.
There is no reason to grind for this one. Use it to learn Lothaire’s moves, because the same general returns for the rematch.
Lothaire’s attacks and tells
Your character starts with 100 Health. Every damage figure below is per hit.
Standard swings (blockable, 37 damage)
- Wide standard sweep: he draws the pole back across his body, then swings it flat at waist height. The reach stretches to about 6 m, further than the Saber.
- Low sweep: the standard swung low and flat across the ground in front of him.
- Close-range swing: up close he swings the standard across in front of him, often as the second or third hit of a combo.
- Overhead slam: he raises the pole over his head and brings it straight down in front of him.
The red-outlined leap
His whole body is outlined in glowing red-orange, then he jumps forward with the standard raised over his head. It deals 50 damage, half of a fresh character’s health in a single hit. It cannot be blocked. This leap is the blow that ends the first fight.
Ranged fire: single shot and pistol volley
At range, a muzzle flash from one of his extra arms sends a large black ball straight at you. That single shot deals 20 per bullet and can be blocked.
The pistol volley follows a two-hit standard combo: he raises three extra arms with pistols straight up and fires them together, three muzzle flashes with black balls launched upward, and a burning patch can appear on the ground near you. The volley is three shots of 20 and cannot be blocked.
First-phase combos and other moves
Phase one draws on seven attack chains: one three-hit combo, two distinct two-hit combos, a lone swing, a slash, a spinning slash, a bash, and a two-hit sequence ending with the pistol volley. The bash deals 50 damage and cannot be blocked; the volley is also unblockable. Every other standard hit in these chains deals 37 damage and is blockable.
His other moves include an unblockable grab (20 damage), a blockable lunge to close distance (37), a blockable charge (37), an unblockable shockwave (32 damage and heavy Posture damage), and unblockable ground spikes in a line (40 damage and heavy Posture damage). He can also throw a corpse; it explodes and cannot be blocked.
Lothaire’s summons
For reinforcements, he summons either three Risen Soldiers or two Risen Musketeers. Each summon has 1 Health and goes down to one hit.
The Abandoned Church rematch
At the end of Chapter II you arrive at the Abandoned Church, the game’s hub. Past its first Lantern, a wall of golden fog stands across the path. Walk up to it and press E at the “INTERACT” prompt to go through.
On the other side is his arena, a burning field in front of a domed church. A second fog gate seals the way out until he is dead.
Lothaire comes across the field toward you and his boss bar appears. This time he has two health bars. When the first one empties, a second full bar of 1,800 Health replaces it, under the same name: that second bar is his second phase.
Second-phase attacks
In the second phase he drops the first phase’s chains for four harder ones: two- and three-hit combos built around 50-damage hits, several of which cannot be blocked (37/50, 50/50/35, 50/50/50 and 37/50). His whole body still glows red-orange at times in this phase, as it does before the leap in the first fight; the leap deals 50 and cannot be blocked.
When he falls, the banner “ABOMINATION ERADICATED” appears with “REWARD: 10,000 CATALYSTS”, the Torn Banner achievement pops (“Kill General Lothaire, the Eagle-Bearer.”), and “NEW ENTRY ADDED TO THE JOURNAL” shows at the left of the screen. His body breaks apart into red tendrils, and William remarks that he would never have taken orders from him anyway.
The exit fog gate then opens. Past it, the road leads down to the church, where James and his Iron Bench are.
