Code Vein Invading Executioner | How to beat The Howling Pits boss

The boss fight against the Invading Executioner in Code Vein is one of the first really trying battles in the game. The Invading Executioner can be found at the end of The Howling Pits and depending on your build, can be one of the toughest bosses in the game.

To beat her, you may have to switch things up, as I found out in our first encounter. Here’s how to beat the Invading Executioner in Code Vein.

How do I beat the Invading Executioner in Code Vein?

The first thing you want to do is to make sure you activate the Mistile in the side area located before the oil rig arena where you fight the Invading Executioner in Code Vein. This save point is tucked away in a non-essential location and can be easily overlooked. If you don’t activate this Mistile, you’ll have to walk all the way back through The Howling Pits to reach the boss each time, which makes this tough fight even more frustrating.

What makes this battle so tough is that the Invading Executioner is fast, hits hard, and is highly mobile. If you’ve been using a Blood Code which utilizes slow, two-handed weapons, you’ll want to switch over to one that specializes in faster armaments temporarily.

I found staying in close to her got the best results. Her attacks are hard to dodge because she doesn’t choreograph most of her attacks. Sticking close worked well for me because it seemed to keep her from using her most dangerous attack often. At mid-to-long range, the Invading Executioner will mount her spear and use it to spin around and launch water balls. These can stun you, which opens you up to be hit by more, and also inflict slow.

Given that she’s so fast, being hit by slow then makes you that much more susceptible to being hit by her other attacks. If she uses the water ball attack, you can avoid most, if not all, of it by dodging to the side repeatedly until she dismounts her spear. These do have an area of effect damage, so sometimes you’ll have to depend on luck not to be caught with splash damage.

Her second most dangerous attack comes when she mounts her spear and quickly rides it towards you. This can occur at any range and can quickly traverse the whole arena. There are two ways to handle this attack. Either you can try and dodge to one side, which doesn’t always work since she may still stick you, or you can dodge towards her, which allows for a quicker recovery, but requires more precise timing. She’ll usually chain together a few of these attacks in a row, so be prepared to dodge her multiple times.

When the Invading Executioner hits 50%, the fight will enter phase 2. She won’t change forms or add any new significant attacks to her arsenal. Instead, she just gets more aggressive. The main thing to worry about is speed. As long as you can get in, hit her rapidly, and get out of the way of her attacks when necessary, this fight isn’t too hard. I tried fighting her as a Berserker and just couldn’t move quick enough to take her out. Changing to a fighter and equipping a polearm gave me the edge I needed to eliminate her.

Another helpful tip to fighting the Invading Executioner is to bring an AI partner that fights from long-range. For one, close-range AI partners are too dumb to avoid her water ball attack and will usually get slammed by its full force. From a distance, they have more room to react. Also, the longer the AI sticks around to aggro her, the more chances you’ll get to attack her while her attention is turned towards them. If you’re lucky, the AI will make it through most of the fight, and you won’t have to worry about taking on the full force of her fury until she’s got around 1/4-1/8 of her health left.

What do I get for beating the Invading Executioner in Code Vein?

Besides the feeling of relief at seeing her die, you’ll get a few goodies for taking down the Invading Executioner in Code Vein:

13340 Haze
Assassin’s Sickle (Weapon)

You can always use more Haze, and the Assassin’s Sickle is a decent weapon if your build specializes in the polearm weapon type.

After the boss fight, you’ll get to leave The Howling Pits, and Mia Karstein will join your crew. She’ll share her Blood Code, Artemis, which has high stamina and attack-type gifts, but low HP. Mia will also become available as an AI partner from there on out.