How to Hunt Nicholaus the Fallen in V Rising

Nicholaus the Fallen is a difficult encounter for many of the newly risen vampires of V Rising. Nicholaus marks the transition from the early levels to the mid-levels, and so there is most certainly a spike in difficulty to match, though the rewards certainly make the difficulty worth it. An undying lich with a mastery of the unholy power of necromancy, they are a powerful foe with blood that runs slow in their veins. But, no corpse raiser is a match for the vampires, and if you prepare properly, Nicholaus will fall once again.

Nicholaus was once a member of Silverlight’s high society, but when their unholy proclivities were discovered, they moved to a place more suited to their needs, the Forgotten Cemetery in the center of the Farbane Woods. Nicholaus makes their home on the highest level of the cemetery, with multiple encounters separating him from the entrance of the cemetery.

Nicholaus is a level 37 boss with a heavy focus on summoning and magic. In order to even face him, your vampire will need to be at least level 34. Merciless Copper Weaponry and Merciless Nightstalker Armour should be more than what you need, but for those a fan of overkill, Quincy the Bandit King is the same level as Nicholaus and will allow you to craft Iron Weaponry and Hollowfang Battlegear once they are conquered, which can give you a leg up in the fight.

Nicholaus has a number of abilities that make him difficult to contend with in combat. He is difficult to pin down, as he has a teleportation ability that drains the life of anyone standing too close to where he teleports to. He is also difficult to outnumber, as a necromancer he can summon up to 15 skeletons to swarm you and your allies. His own damage-dealing capabilities might be limited, but they are nothing to dismiss. A single of his Unholy bolts does not do much damage, but his final ability more than makes up for that problem, as he sends out three waves of unholy bolts in all directions, making a complete dodge almost impossible. Nicholaus also has 2 vocal queues to indicate that they are about to use one of their abilities. Their skeletal summoning is preceded by the voice line “Let's test that meat suit of yours” and their waves of unholy bolts are preceded by the line “Your bones will be mine”. Mobility and AOE damage are great boons in this fight, as you’ll have plenty of skeleton minions to mow down and bolts of unholy magic to dodge. This makes Veil of Chaos a natural choice of travel ability, though a great number of builds could easily be used.

Once Nicholaus the Fallen has been felled to your fangs, you’ll want to retreat to your castle fairly quickly. The top of the cemetery is quite bare, and little sun protection can be found. You’ll also need to expand your library, as one of the rewards obtained from draining the necromancer is the ability to construct a Study, which is necessary to research midlevel items and gear. It is also, to put it lightly, a table that could have served the last supper, so space is going to be at a premium. In addition to the study, Nicholaus’s V Blood will teach you the unholy abilities known as Pestilence and Ward of the Damned. Pestilence fires a cone of three unholy bolts, knocking back anything they hit and applying a damage-boosting debuff to them. Ward of the Damned is a shield that lasts for 2 seconds, applies a small speed buff, and will summon a skeleton to knock back enemies when attacks are successfully blocked.