Wolcen Edric: how to kill the act one boss

You saw this big armoured lad early on in Wolcen, slamming into enemies while screaming at the top of his lungs. The bad news for you here is that by the time you face him Edric is even bigger, and he's packing some serious heat in that sword of his. It's not every day that a boss gives players such a large amount of trouble so early on in a game.

Wolcen Edric guide

Edric is a boss fight with three distinct phases, and it's highly likely that this is the first real difficult bit you'll face in Wolcen. While the first two phases are quite damaging, it's the third section that is likely going to kill you outright. This Edric boss guide will go over all the phases and show you how to beat him. Our Wolcen guide has some tips and tricks for beginners that are also very useful to use against every enemy in the game.

Before you even go into this boss fight, I highly recommend that you equip the two best healing potions. This will double how many times you are able to heal, since healing items use charges that refill upon attacking enemies with regular attacks. Since Edric hits really, really hard, you'll want that little bit of extra healing to hand. I'd also recommend looking at the gems section of our Wolcen items guide as ailments can help push you closer to eliminating this hard boss.

I've also recorded my successful fight against Edric, using the tips below, in the video above this section.

Contents

• Wolcen Edric fight: phase one
• Wolcen Edric fight: Edric phase two
• Wolcen Edric fight: Edric phase three

Watch on YouTube

Wolcen Edric fight: phase one

This is the easiest phase of the fight, but it is still a lot more difficult than the majority of bosses you've faced so far. Edric has a massive health bar, but he also has a bar underneath it. This is the stun gauge, and when it's empty Edric will be stunned for a few seconds, allowing you to hit him hard with spells and abilities. He also takes more damage from any attack while stunned.

While stunning him is as easy as hitting him constantly, there are several attacks he has that you need to watch out for:

• If you see a line appear in front of Edric, he's about to scream and charge forward a few metres. Begin running to the side and dodge roll to avoid this charge, as it can inflict stun.
• When a cone appears in front of him, move out of the range of the cone.
• If you are far away from Edric, he will frequently hunker down behind his shield and fire six waves of three shot bursts at you. Run in a circle around him and as the bullets get close, dodge in the opposite direction and keep running.
• If you are close, he can swipe his sword for damage or push you away with his shield. Pushing you away will leave you stunned for a few seconds.
• At around a quarter of health being depleted, you'll find that regular soldiers will begin spawning occasionally.
• At around a third of Edric's health remaining, the solders will stop spawning and Alastors will spawn instead. The Alastors can disappear into thin air, before reappearing for a slashing attack. This is telegraphed by a red line appearing moments before they do, so stay out of the area it indicates.

A good build for this fight is the Plaguelord build in our Wolcen builds guide, as it can use these respawning Lost Souls with the poison gas modifier enabled to damage him quickly.

Wolcen Edric fight: phase two

For the second phase, Edric will take off his helmet and throw away his shield. Lost Souls will now appear instead of Alastors, which is probably for the best as Lost Souls are relatively harmless.

• When he begins screaming, try to dodge to the side and towards him. He will charge forward, before swinging his sword, firing off a cone of bullets in front of him.
• If you're not at close range and Edric stops with his sword glimmering for a short time, this means he's about to fire a single shot in front of him. It's very damaging, so make sure you're not in front of him.
• Edric has a second ranged attack that's harder to avoid. If he has stopped moving and you hear a small metallic sound that sounds like a sword unsheathing, he will begin firing multiple spread shots. From the direction he is currently facing, cones will appear to his left, then right, then behind him, and finally in front of him. Try not to stand inside the cones, or else dodge as the shot fires if you can't escape them in time.
• He also has access to standard swipes of the sword if you're up close. There's no tell for this, but it can stun you for a short time if you are hit.

Breaking his stun gauge and whittling down his health is still the main aim. Once you do, he'll knock you down to the lower levels and the third phase will begin.

Wolcen Edric fight: phase three

This is mostly likely the phase that is giving you problems. It requires some really good timing on your part and conservative use of your dodges, so that you can avoid some brutal attacks. The strategy is still the same as the previous phases when it comes to damaging him, but your window of opportunity is greatly diminished in this phase. Here are tips for how to deal with the phase three attacks:

• When he dashes forward, Edric will swing his sword around him a couple of times, before swiping hard once more. You can roll to the side to dodge this flurry of attacks, but you may get caught in the initial spin. This attack can stun you.
• Whenever he leaps into the air, dodge at a 45 degree angle to not only avoid the slam, but also the damaging waves he shoots out. This attack can emit either four waves normally, or five waves if Edric is landing in the centre of the battlefield.
• Whenever he leaps to the centre of the battlefield and emits five waves, he will then put down many shields surrounding him, before making spots on the ground explode in random locations, seven times. He's invulnerable while in this state.
• After the seventh explosion, Edric will emit a wave of fire, moving outwards. You'll need to dodge at the last possible moment to avoid this hitting you. If it does, you will likely lose all your health.
• Edric does the leaping attack fewer times if you're up close, instead favouring the standard sword swipe. Try to get behind him as much as you can.

By dodging these brutal attacks, you should be able to overcome the difficult third phase and beat Edric. You'll get plenty of rare gear and items for defeating him, as well as unlock the Aspects of the Apocalypse. As for how best to deal damage to Edric, we've got a few Wolcen builds to get you started. I used the Plaguelord build against this boss, which does massive damage in short bursts. Passives also help in this fight, so our Wolcen skill tree (classes) and Wolcen skills guides can help with that.

If you're struggling with the next end-of-act boss, then the strategies can be found in the Wolcen Act 2 boss guide.