Sometimes it’s just better to be lucky than anything else. From getting some boss kills that I'd struggle with. Along with just being in the right area at the time of finding a boss who resolves my issues.
A rather important boss that I've attempted before and failed is Ziva the Engineer. This is quite an important one, as defeating him unlocks not only the fabricator but the ability to make radium alloy bars. Among many other things. The bars themselves, while I could farm, were in such limited quantities that being able to craft my own would be a huge deal.
My biggest struggle with Ziva is when he switches what kind of weapon he is using during different phases of the fight. He uses everything from a flamethrower to a lightning bolt gun. The flamethrower is such a devastating weapon; to face it usually ends in quite a quick death.
Early into the fight, if I end up getting the flamethrower instead of other guns I had to phase. I’d just fail the fight and let it reset. I just ended up hoping that if I did get it, that would be late into the fight when I'd use any remaining burst damage to finish the fight itself.
After a few failed attempts. Me doing everything from just running when I could to hiding behind objects in the arena. I ended up lucking out. I had an attempt where I only had to deal with the flamethrower at the end. By then, he had so little health left that I was able to get in a couple of good hits and end the fight. It was luck, and I'll take it.
Perhaps one of the more challenging fights I'd end up dealing with so far was against Domina, the Blade Dancer. Not only did she do some massive damage. She also wanders around the town I'd find her in. Causing me all sorts of issues.
My first attempt did not last very long. As I quickly learned that there were far too many guards in the village I was in. So after that death, I sneaked around getting what I thought was all of them. My second attempt at her, I'd discover I missed a couple, and there went that attempt.
In my third attempt, I realized she had some rather massive and powerful moves. Ones that I needed to get far away from or use the building around me to try and dodge them. That ended up being the key to defeating her. Ducking behind or in cleared areas, anytime she did her usual wind-up attacks.
I did not really care that much about taking this boss down. The biggest thing was unlocking whips, which I never used as a weapon. Later on, I'd need the advanced grinder that I also unlocked. This could have been a boss that was skipped over for a few levels and just came back when I was much stronger. I, however, at the time, was just dead set on getting this boss over with.
With those fights over, I went back to my base to craft up a bunch of radium alloy. It was not cheap to make, but thankfully, after checking my storage. I had a couple of the hardest components to get the sludge. I could also craft some as needed.
The most important thing is that I now have the radium alloy I needed to upgrade my weapon in the ancestral forge. While it would only give it a small boost in gear level. With the way scaling works with gear level, that was the only edge I needed to progress further along.
I ended up going out and testing my new weapon by grinding some Rift Incisions. Despite the weapon paper being only a small upgrade. I’ve never had such an easy time clearing that event. I managed to clear three whole sites before the event was over.
Sometimes in a boss fight, you just get lucky, and it is killed. That is all that matters. That was never more true than in my encounter with Angram the Purifier. This guy is quite nasty at closing distances and just leaves horrific damage of effect on the ground.
Being a melee build, my options were rather limited on this fight. I was considering just giving up for now and coming back another time. However, on my third fight, right before I was about to get killed yet again. Something insane happened.
Another creature that has some nasty ranged attacks. One that I can kill without too much trouble if I'm paying enough attention. I wandered into the area where I was fighting the boss. It melted the face of this boss. To my shock, the creature took very little damage. So, despite the boss being dead, I now had another challenge of taking out this creature with very little health remaining.
I also know if I happened to get killed, that by the time I'd return, it would be too late to collect the V boss blood and get credit for the kill I did not kill. I ended up dancing all over the place to avoid taking any further damage. I was lucky, and I'll take it.
Next up, I went to do some farming in the Cursed Forest. A region in the game I try and spend as little time as possible in. It can be super easy to get lost in that region.
One of the more annoying things about wandering around in the Cursed Forest is that this is what the map looks like after you spend just a couple of moments in it. After all, the forest is cursed, and your entire map and field of view get hit with a fog of war.
After trying to get a better understanding of the region itself. I took a look to see if any bosses were close to me. Sure enough, one that wanders around that deals no damage to you, called Ben the Old Wanderer, was not that far away.
The biggest challenge when dealing with him is if he escapes into the fog. Once he gets far enough away, your chances of finding him start reducing like crazy. Lots of wolves and other creatures in the area seem rather intent and protecting him.
The nice this is that once you defeat Ben the Old Wanderer. You unlock the ability to craft the Shrouded Of The Forest cape. This removes the fog of war while you are in there since you can’t be cursed.
While the stats on the cape itself here are not that great. I’d take not getting cursed and having to rely on finding whips of light to remove a small amount of the curse. Just so I could get my whereabouts while in the region.
Final Thoughts
It was nice to get some further boss kills and some upgrades as well. You would think with all the bosses I've killed, the list would be getting quite thin by now. To my shock, there are still quite a few remaining.
Information
Screenshots were taken, and content was written by @Enjar about V Rising.
Disclosure: A review copy of the game was received for free.