Like in Chapter 6: Punishment in Valor Mortis; the game gets you into a boss fight pretty early in Chapter 7. This 2 phase fight is one of the tougher challenges in the game, especially if you have been giving the Eternal Guardians fights in The Oathbound quest a pass.
It will be a pretty short fight as the boss is an aggressive one, he will keep coming at you with barely a pause in between his attacks. Also, unlike other fights like The Slaughtermill, there are no gimmicks here, it is a pure test of your combat skills. Here is how to defeat Justicar Aurelius in Valor Mortis.
Preparing for Justicar Aurelius
Level: It is best that you are around level 33 – 35, to have put in enough points in the Skill Tree
Melee Weapon: You would by now have stuck to one weapon as your weapon of choice. Pick that one. If you don’t have any favorites, I would recommend to go for the Rapier.
Firearms: The trusty Blunderbuss is my weapon of choice for the fight. You will be at close quarters with the boss most of the time during the fight. Pick the range upgrade over the spread one here to make the Firearm even more effective.
Transmutation: Fire. The Fire buildup, especially after you have upgraded it a couple of levels is pretty rapid, and helps to stagger the boss a bit once Burn has been afflicted.
Specific Skills: Maximize the increased Nephtoglobin Remnants drop from melee attacks.
Amber: Pick from the following
- Bottomless Well II – Regenerates lost Nephtoglobin over time
- Iron Grip – Using the Ferrofluid Flask is faster and uninterruptible
- Limit Break – Excess healing from Ferrofluid Flask is converted to temporary additional Health
- Bountiful Harvest – Picking up Nephtoglobin Remnants restores Health.
- Dominatus – Restores health on critical attacks (if you are confident of your parries)
Strategy for Justicar Aurelius Boss Fight
In a nutshell, the strategy is Fire Transmutation -> Parry specific attacks -> Fill up Nephtoglobin bar -> Fire Transmutation. That is why, we have picked up everything that helps fill the bar faster – dedicating 2 Amber slots for that, and prioritizing the increased Remnants drop from Melee attacks.
Phase 1
When the fight starts, immediately unload your Fire Transmutation on the boss. This will cause Burn, and the boss will get stunned for a second or so. Go in, and get a few attacks through. Try and parry all boss movesets except for the red glowing one, and the one with two slashes. Here are the movesets and the tell for those that you should be looking to parry.
Thrust: The boss has 2 Thrust moves.
In one, he will move push his body backward, a sign that it is a 2 consecutive Thrust attacks and a Slash. The first is easy to parry, you will mostly take damage on the other two attacks. It may not be a bad choice to dodge and avoid this entire attack altogether; at least till you get a feel for this one.
The other one is a single Thrust attack where he just pulls his sword hand behind. This, again is easy to parry.
Across the shoulder Slash: The boss will lift the sword across his body and bring down a slash. This also has a relatively easy tell and can be parried.
Single slash: The boss will lift the sword, but on the same side that he is wielding it and bring it down. This will be a more stiff and rigid movement, unlike when he is readying up a 2 slash attack.
Red glowing attack: The windup for this attack will be similar to the Iai Slash move from Nioh or the Unsheathe Ash of War on the Uchigatana in Elden Ring. Get ready to dodge when you see this.
Firearm attack: If you stay too afar, he will take out his Pistol and fire one shot. Dodge to avoid damage.
Phase 2
With a sliver of a health remaining, the Justicar will transform his non-sword wielding hand into a claw, and Phase 2 will begin. This Phase 2 for the Justicar boss fight is an easier one, as the boss will keep repeating one very telegraphed move which you can punish him for. Apart from the ones from Phase 1, here are the new moves that he comes up with
2 Claw Swipes + Sword Thrust: One will be a horizontal one and then an upward swipe from the Claw hand. He will then follow this up with a quick thrust from the sword. Dodge and stay at range.
The Red Glowing Jump attack 1: The easiest one to dodge, and land in a few hits / Fire Transmutation. This is the one attack you should bait. A lot of times he will do this from a fair distance, giving you even more time to prepare a dodge and counter. He also repeats this attack quite a few times.
The Red Glowing Jump attack 2: Here, there will be a short animation of the Justicar extending the Claw, and he will then do a full pirouette in the air, and jump down, very leisurely. Again, very telegraphed and easily avoided.
On defeating Justicar Aurelius, you get 18000 Catalysts and a Silver Trophy unlock.
