After defeating Metyr, Mother of Fingers, you can return to the Cathedral of Manus Metyr in order to see that Metyr isn’t the only Mother of Fingers around. Interacting with the chair at the end of the Cathedral will reveal that the title seems to have passed to Count Ymir, who will now be hostile to you.
The dexterous sorcerer is also defended by the formidable Swordhand of Knight Jolán, who you must defeat before taking him on, leading to what is essentially a double-NPC fight. While not the toughest fights in the game, these two can be still be tricky, so we are here to help you defeat this second Mother of Fingers once and for all.
General Tips
Before taking on Count Ymir, you will need to take on Jolan first. She isn’t too hard so long as you don’t let yourself Bleed and react to her Witching Hour Slash.
Between Jolán and Ymir, Ymir will need to spawn in and deliver a speech, giving you time to buff, heal, or prepare big hits to start the fight in between the two opponents. You will only be able to hit Ymir after his health bar appears, after he says the line “And I will be the only mother!“
Ymir is an annoying fight. You want to dodge away from almost every attack, and he can teleport away as well. Keep up with him, but be ready to roll back whenever he raises his staff while you’re close.
Count Ymir’s Glintstone Nails can kill most players instantly if all five projectiles connect. Be wary of this, and don’t let yourself be too close when he launches these.
Swordhand of Night Jolán
In order to begin the fight, you will need to activate the button on Count Ymir’s chair (the same button you would’ve had to interact with in order to reach the Finger Ruins of Miyr). Once you do, Swordhand of Night Jolán will appear in like an Invader, and she will begin running at you before you are done with the button-pushing animation. This means that you should apply buffs (or grab lost runes) before pressing the button.
Once you are in the fight, it is a fairly typical NPC fight against an NPC who does high Bleed build-up, like her sister Anna in the Finger Ruins of Miyr. This means that you should avoid blocking, but can easily dodge and parry most of her attacks. If you do start getting hit, you may want to back away and heal up so that you can survive a Bleed proc. The only attack that can be tough to deal with is Jolán’s Witching Hour Slash, but it has such a long telegraph and short range that you should be able to avoid it.
Thankfully, Jolán can be easily staggered and doesn’t have that much health, meaning that if you can avoid her Bleeding you out, you should be able to make short work of her in order to move on to her master, the true boss of the encounter.
Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers
After you defeat Jolán, Count Ymir will appear and deliver a monologue next to the chair. During this monologue, Ymir will be invulnerable, but you can use this time to buff, heal, or set up for a hit as soon as he becomes vulnerable. Once he finishes the line “And I will be the only mother!“, the fight will begin, and you will be able to damage Ymir.
Count Ymir is a unique and somewhat frustrating fight. As an NPC, you might expect to be able to handle him the same way you would most NPCs, but very small moveset limits your options greatly, forcing you to play cat-and-mouse with Ymir while avoiding the surprising amount of damage he can dish out if you mess up. If you are familiar with Bloodborne’s Micolash, this fight might seem familiar.
There are two primary attacks that are worth worrying about in this fight, both of which are sorceries that involve Ymir lifting his staff into the air (and both of which can be responded to by rolling away first). The first, Cherishing Fingers, creates a circle of Fingers around Ymir that curl in to damage you if you are close. To avoid this, simply dodge back when Ymir raises his staff. You can often dodge back in to damage him right afterward, unless he chains the attack.
The other attack worth keeping an eye on is Ymir’s Glintstone Nails, which can deal a shocking amount of damage if you happen to get hit by all of them. These Nails track you in a stop-and-start pattern that repeats 6 times, and so if you are close to Ymir when they activate, they will be able to double-back and hit you easily. While spam-rolling can sometimes see you avoid hits, it is better to roll away when Ymir raises his staff, and then to back away until the Nails are about to hit you, at which point you can dodge through them and toward Ymir.
So long as you can avoid those attacks, and don’t let yourself get interrupted by Finger Creepers, this fight should go fairly smoothly. Ymir’s limited moveset might force you to back off, but it shouldn’t pose much danger to a focused Tarnished. After all, you’ve had enough of “Mothers of Fingers” for one playthrough.
Movesets
Below are the movesets for both the Swordhand of Night Jolán and Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers. Be sure to congratulate Jolán for getting to be treated like part of the boss.
Swordhand of Night Jolán
Witching Hour Slash: Jolán will extend her sword out to her side and, after a short delay, slash forward with two spherical slashing patterns (similar to Malenia’s Waterfowl Dance). While this attack can be parried, the timing is difficult; it is best to back away when she puts her arm up, rolling away if you are still too close.
Slashes: Jolán will slash using the Sword of Night, following the weapon’s normal paterns. Dodge or parry these as you see fit.
Double Slashes: Jolán will do two slashes in quick succession twice. Because of the double strike, this has a high likelihood to proc Bleed. Parry or dodge away as you see fit.
Jumping Strike: Jolan will jump in the air and bring the Sword of Night down on you. Dodge away or to the side to avoid the attack. If you time an attack correctly, you can knock her out of the air.
Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers
Cherishing Fingers: Ymir will bring his staff up to charge it, then slam it down on the ground. A circle of fingers will appear around him, damaging and interrupting anyone in range. When you see Ymir’s staff go up, roll away if you are in range. If he brings it down, you can roll back in to punish the attack.
Glintstone Nails: Ymir will bring his staff up to charge it, then twirl it to summon 5 Glintstone Nails that move in 6 start-and-stop bursts, tracking the player. These can deal massive damage if all 5 five. When you see Ymir’s staff go up, roll away if you are close. If he twirls it, time your dodge through it and toward Ymir so that at least 4 of the start-and-stop bursts have passed, then you can move in to punish.
Birth Finger: Ymir will open his chest, spawning a small finger creeper. These don’t pose much threat, but should be dealt with so they don’t interrupt you.
Staff Strike: If you are very close, Ymir will sometimes try to hit you directly with his staff. Dodge, block, or parry this attack, then ask yourself why he would even do that when he has Cherishing Fingers.
Teleporatation: Ymir will teleport to a nearby area of the arena.
After you defeat Jolán and Ymir, there is a bit more to do will Jolán, as well as a piece of loot you can grab after the fight. In order to see what to do with Jolán and where to find that item (Ymir’s Cherishing Fingers sorcery), see the Cathedral of Manus Metyr section of our Scadu Altus guide.
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Graves
Graves is an avid writer, web designer, and gamer, with more ideas than he could hope to achieve in a lifetime. But, armed with a mug of coffee and an overactive imagination, he'll try. When he isn't working on a creative project, he is painting miniatures, reading cheesy sci-fi novels, or making music.
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