Nihilus
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Fortune and glory, kid. Expert Mode-Only Content: This information applies only to Expert mode and Expert mode worlds.
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“Make sure to take that relic with you, warrior. It is the only way to break through the defense of these beings.
— Erazor
Nihilus is a post-Moon Lord boss fought after Erazor. He currently serves as the last boss of the mod, with more to come after.
Spawn
Nihilus does not spawn on its own and requires the player to right-click the Dread Obelisk in a valid arena, upon which a brief skippable cutscene will play.
For the arena to count as valid, there must be a completely empty rectangular space with the Obelisk in the middle-bottom. This area CANNOT contain any blocks, platforms, or furniture with solid tops. Additionally, below the arena must be an equally wide platform of solid blocks (not platforms), with no holes allowed. The Obelisk will inform the player of anything that needs correction when trying to use it in an invalid arena, and will guide them to any obstructions with arrows.
Behavior
The boss has multiple extremely dangerous phases with different attack styles. During all of his phases, contact with his attacks or any of his minions' attacks will inflict Shadowflare, inflicting damage over time and a defense penalty, both stacking up to 3 times on successive inflictions. Throughout the entire fight, all forms of building, mining, and wiring will be disabled, and the player will be blocked from leaving the arena by translucent barriers.
Phase 1
Nihilus is a stationary, grounded target. Throughout the whole phase, the player will be inflicted with Grounded, disabling all flight, mounts, and jump boosts.
Nihilus uses the following attacks at random.
- Seed Slam: Nihilus slams the ground with his tendrils, causing Shadowflare Seeds to burst upwards and then redirect themselves at the player.
- Thorn Wave: Nihilus raises his tendrils and two telegraph waves move towards the left and right end of the arena, followed by a wave of thorns that travels along the ground.
- Dread Mortar: Nihilus spits a volley of mortars upwards, which will strike the ground at spots indicated by telegraphs.
- Tendril Stab: Nihilus will burrow his tendrils into the ground, after which multiple telegraphed tendrils will break out of the floor in an attempt to stab the player.
- Close Range Tendril Stab: If the player is too close to Nihilus, he will rapidly attempt to stab them with tendrils from the ground.
- Scream: Nihilus will charge up and release a scream, dealing no damage but sending the player flying if they're too close.
Lantern Subphase 1
When reaching 70% HP for the first time, Nihilus will initiate a Lantern Subphase, indicated by a brief cutscene where his shell partially breaks. Nihilus becomes invulnerable, heals to 80% HP, and locks on to the player with a crosshair for several seconds, then casts a Dread Pillar on their location, a massive pillar of fire that remains for the rest of the fight and restricts the player's movement. He then summons 3 evenly spaced Shadowflare Lanterns in the arena, each of which deploys a circular zone centered on themselves; they will only attack when the player is within their zone, but cannot take any damage when they are outside of it. Nihilus is invulnerable until all three Lanterns have been destroyed, with their health being displayed by a unique UI at the top of the screen.
Lanterns have the following attacks:
- Combustion: The lantern will charge up energy and its zone ring will spin faster, after which it will explode and damage the player should they be within the zone.
- Chaos Flame: The lantern will glow, then fire out orbiting flames with gaps between them. They will continue to move past the zone of their lantern.
- Focus Fire: The lantern will flash, then fire a stream of Shadowflare Seeds at the player; the attack keeps going even if the player leaves the lantern's zone.
- Thorn Barricade: The lantern will summon a destructible thorn barricade within its zone, which doesn't deal damage but prevents the player from moving past it.
- Inferno Pillar: The lantern will summon several flame pillars within its zone, indicated by lights glowing on the floor.
- Rune of Pain: The lantern will light up and summon 3 bouncing runes that move around the zone. They last quite a bit and will make following attacks harder to deal with.
- Reignition: If a defeated lantern remains untouched for 15 seconds and other lanterns have not been defeated, the remaining lanterns can fire a beam at it which will revive it with full HP.
Nihilus himself can still attack with Dread Mortar, Tendril Stab, and Seed Slam - Aimed while the lanterns are up, although at a slower pace and with weaker damage. However, his body is intangible and does no damage.
After the first lantern subphase, Nihilus heals to 80% HP and gains the following new attacks:
- Seed Slam - Aimed: Same as the normal version, but the seeds appear near the player instead. The seeds deal no damage when shooting upwards.
- Sphere of Sins: Nihilus will summon a bouncing fireball that will travel around the arena. The amount of spheres increases as his health lowers.
- Thorn Barricade: Summons two Thorn Barricades that trap the player between them.
- Chaos Flame: Identical to the version used by the Lanterns, but with more flames and less room between each of them.
Lantern Subphase 2
At 50% HP, Nihilus heals to 60% HP and repeats the Lantern Subphase, casting another Dread Pillar and reviving his lanterns. After the second lantern subphase, Nihilus gains the following new attacks:
- Grim Tendril: Similar to Tendril Stab, but he will fill the entire arena with tendrils, indicated by telegraphs. However, these tendrils are more spaced apart, allowing players to slip between them.
- Death Hail: Nihilus will summon fireballs in a moderate radius around him, which slam down and leave lingering fire zones.
- Sphere of Ruin: Nihilus will summon a bouncing sphere that tracks after the player and sprouts short-lived thorns on each impact with the ground. When expiring it explodes, flinging the player away from it without dealing damage.
Lantern Subphase 3
At 30% HP, Nihilus heals to 50% HP and repeats the Lantern Subphase one more time. Nihilus does not gain any new attacks afterwards, but recovers a larger amount of health.
Phase 2
Nihilus' shell breaks and his true form is revealed, becoming a mobile flying boss. Flight is restored and the width of the arena is expanded. When the phase begins, Nihilus will summon 10 initially unlit lanterns that follow his movement, with every lit lantern increasing his damage by 5%/10%; their status can be seen at the top of the screen. Starting from this phase, Abyssal Rocks will periodically drop onto the arena, which can block Nihilus' attacks but also explode on destruction; these rocks will always fall at the start of the phase and whenever Nihilus returns to the field after a subphase.
Nihilus will initially be protected by an Aura of Suppression that only takes damage from Relic weapons, although Nihilus' attacks will also be more tame while the Aura is active. Once the Aura is destroyed, the true battle will begin, where Nihilus will use a variety of attacks chosen at random:
- Seed Barrage: Nihilus will fire a focused stream of shadowflare seeds at the player, followed by 3 increasingly dense spreads of big seeds.
- Shadowflare Phantom Flame: Nihilus summons a ring of phantom flames around him, which will strongly home in on the player until they hit something. On impact, phantom flames leave behind pools of lingering fire.
- Thorn Pillar: 3 telegraphed pillars of black thorns will sprout from the ground ahead of the player, predicting their movement. The pillars linger for a short time.
- Stun Bomb: A ring of explosive fireballs is summoned around the player. If they are destroyed, they explode and stun the player for 4 seconds; after some time passes, they will converge and self-destruct, also stunning the player. The player can avoid the attack by navigating out of the fireballs without destroying them.
- Soul Bomb: Nihilus charges up a homing sphere with his claws, which follows the player and explodes into 3 rings of soul projectiles, predicting player movement.
- Lantern Reignition: Nihilus ignites 5 of his lanterns. Excess attempts restore 5% of his health.
- Claw Strike: If the player is too close, Nihilus' claws can slash at them, indicated by them glowing. He can use either one, two or all three of them, with the latter making them spin around him instead. His claws do not deal contact damage otherwise.
- Lantern Focus Fire: Ignited lanterns can fire 3 seeds at the player if they are too close.
- Condemnation Ray: Every 1.5 minutes, Nihilus will fly towards the center of the arena, release a shockwave that knocks the player away, and fires a massive beam that sweeps the entire arena. Abyssal Rocks can block the attack, but will be instantly destroyed on contact. The player will be inflicted with Grounded for the duration of the attack.
Annihilation Crossfire 1
When Nihilus is reduced to 75% HP for the first time, he will become invulnerable and leave through a portal as the arena is engulfed in flames, leaving only one safe spot in the center as all players are inflicted with Grounded. 4 platforms will appear in the safe zone, followed by two sets of horizontal laser beams that cover all but one of the platforms, telegraphed by pink arrows. The lasers are unparryable while inflicting massive damage, making it essential to avoid them.
After the first Annihilation Crossfire, the battlefield returns to normal, Nihilus returns, and he gains the following new attacks:
- Thorn Forest: Similar to Thorn Pillar, but a large number of thorn pillars sprout from the ground at random.
- Seed Spiral: Nihilus traps the player within a ring made up of his lanterns and fires out big abyssal seeds in a spiral pattern.
Annihilation Crossfire 2
At 50% HP, Nihilus repeats the Annihilation Crossfire, now firing 4 sets of lasers. In addition, the third and fourth set will have horizontal and vertical beams, forcing the player to locate the small safe spot in each set.
After the second Annihilation Crossfire, some of Nihilus' attacks are modified:
- Seed Barrage now receives assistance from the smaller lanterns in the form of them firing 3 predictive shots twice at the player, and Nihilus will fire additional rings of fireballs after the attack.
- Shadowflare Phantom Flame fires twice as many fireballs.
- Stun Bomb Creates 2 more rings of bombs, which fly outwards instead of inwards, hitting the player if they traveled too far during their escape.
- Soul Bomb becomes faster, explodes into 4 rings of projectiles, and produces an additional explosion of big seeds.
- Seed Spiral will now suck the player in and end the attack with a burst of orbiting flames.
- Claw Strike will now send out fireballs during the triple claw spin.
- Condemnation Ray will no longer be used, unless the player is in True Mode.
Nihilus also receives the following new attacks:
- Sweeping Ray: Nihilus positions himself above the player and fires a small beam that sweeps in front of him while his lanterns attempt to drop on the player, with the beam producing lingering flames on contact with solid blocks. He will do this twice in a row.
- Dark Fury: will aggressively charges at the player 9 times in a row. Every third charge will predict the player's movement.
- Blazing Fury: Nihilus aligns himself horizontally with the player and charges at them, producing a ring of curving flames every half second. He will do this twice in a row. The charges cannot be parried, but the resulting fireballs can.
Nihilus will additionally summon two Shadowflare Crucibles, which follow him around, periodically attack the player with bursts of 3 big seeds, and begin charging the Extinction Gauge. Defeating one will stop the Extinction Gauge from filling, while defeating both will cause the Gauge to decrease instead; in True Mode, defeating one only slows the Gauge, and defeating both only stops the Gauge from increasing instead of making it go down. The Crucibles will relight themselves after 60 seconds, or 30 seconds if the other is still alive. Nihilus will use Extinction Ray when the Gauge is full.
Annihilation Crossfire 3
At 25% HP, Nihilus initiates the third and final Annihilation Crossfire. This one will be a memory game: Instead of the beams firing right after the telegraph, you will instead see the telegraphs of all 4 laser barrages in order, which the player will have to remember. After the final telegraph, the beams will fire in the formations telegraphed before.
Extinction Ray
When the Extinction Gauge at the top of the screen is fully charged, Nihilus will initiate Extinction Ray, an upgraded version of Condemnation Ray. For the duration of the attack, the player is inflicted with Grounded.
Nihilus becomes invincible and moves towards the center of the arena, charges up energy, and teleports players to the far side of the arena before firing a devastating beam of energy that will grow crystals on the ground. Both the beam and the crystals cannot be parried and will instantly kill the player no matter what, forcing them to run away from the beam towards the other end of the arena, where Erazor will shield the player from the ray and dispel it. Additionally, Abyssal Rocks and Impact Flares will fall from the sky, attempting to stop the player from escaping. If Nihilus has 5 or less lanterns active, Erazor will also strike Nihilus after the attack concludes, staggering him and allowing for a short period of free damage.
True Mode changes
Phase 1
- Nihilus attacks faster during lantern subphases if the player is not within a lantern zone.
- During lantern subphases, Nihilus will cast Dread Pillar on all players in multiplayer.
- The Lanterns' Combustion attack inflicts Flesh Wound.
- The following attacks are modified by aggression:
- Seed Slam: Is used more often while the player is nearby, and can be used if cooldown is 15 seconds or less. Additionally, the seeds will proceed to bounce on the ground.
- Dread Mortar: Will be used more often if the player is moving around, and will be used thrice in a row, leaving behind lingering fire on the third wave, and can be used if cooldown is 15 seconds or less.
- Seed Slam - Aimed: Is used more often while the player is far away, and can be used if cooldown is 15 seconds or less. Additionally, the seeds will proceed to bounce on the ground.
- Chaos Flame: Is used more often while the player is closeby, and will be faster, more chaotic, and have more rings of fire, and can be used if cooldown is 30 seconds or less.
- Death Hail: Is used when the player is closeby, and can be used if cooldown is 20 seconds or less.
- Sphere of Ruin: Is used immediately once off cooldown and if there are no Thorn Barricades in the arena.
Phase 2
- The Extinction Gauge will charge at half speed if only one Crucible is active and only stop if none are active.
- Nihilus can relight both Extinction Crucibles instantly if all 10 lanterns are active.
- Condemnation Ray and Annihilation Crossfire inflict Flesh Wound.
The following attacks are modified by aggression:
- Shadowflare Phantom Flame: If the player is far away and midair, the attack can be used if the cooldown is 30 seconds or less.
- Thorn Pillar: If the player is nearby and circling, the attack can be used if the cooldown is 30 seconds or less. Additionally, a mirrored set of thorns is spawned on the opposite side of the player, and the attack is faster.
- Stun Bomb: If the player is far away, and moving faster than half of Nihilus' speed, and there is no Soul Bomb active, the attack can be used if the cooldown is 30 seconds or less. Additionally, 2 orbiting sets of stun bombs are spawned that have a delayed explosion.
- Sweeping Ray: If the player is in midair and repeatedly attempts to fly above Nihilus, and if there are no Soul Bombs or Stun Bombs active, the attack can be used if the cooldown is 30 seconds or less. Additionally, the attack is faster and is used thrice in a row.
- Blazing Fury: If the player is midair and on the same level as Nihilus, and if there are no Soul Bombs or Stun Bombs active, the attack can be used if the cooldown is 30 seconds or less. Additionally, the attack is faster and is used thrice in a row.
Summons
| Image | Name | Condition |
|---|---|---|
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Thorn Barricade | In phase 1 |
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Shadowflare Lantern (Big) | In phase 1's lantern subphases |
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Shadowflare Lantern | In phase 2 |
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Abyssal Rock | In phase 2 |
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Shadowflare Crucible | In phase 2, once health falls below 50% |
Notes
- If Nihilus is pushed past the HP threshold for one of his subphases in the middle of an attack, he will go invulnerable and complete the attack before transitioning.
- The player is granted invulnerability whenever the camera pans onto Nihilus, such as during in-combat cutscenes.
- Nihilus has a unique defeat cutscene where its body disintegrates in a flash of light, leaving behind a pink crystal that is grabbed by an unseen hand before vanishing.
Tips
- In the first phase, Dread Pillar can spell doom for the player if it lands in a highly obstructive spot, so luring it to the edges of the arena is advised.
Dialogue
Nihilus himself does not have dialogue, but several other characters will provide text messages throughout the fight. Erazor provides all the dialogue during the fight, while Abaddon provides the dialogue for the post-defeat cutscene.
When the Dread Obelisk is used:
- "A massive amount of spiritual energy is beginning to concentrate around the obelisk, take caution."
- "I will be securing the area around the sidelines and assist you if needed. Good luck out there."
Nihilus enters his second phase:
- "The battle is far from over. The creature has shown its true form and distorted the area even more."
- "Prepare your relic weapon to destroy the distortion and take that thing down!"
Nihilus uses Condemnation Ray for the first time in the fight:
- "Watch out, he is preparing a focused attack."
- "Make haste and take cover behind one of those rocks! But beware, I sense a volatile force slumbering within them."
Nihilus summons Extinction Crucibles:
- "The creature appears to have become more unstable, and has manifested this unstable energy into a catalyst of some sort."
- "Watch out, if it manages to focus this energy into a direct attack, the effects will be devastating."
Nihilus uses Extinction Ray for the first time in the fight:
- "You're not gonna survive that one."
- "Quick, make your way to the other side. I will be assisting you."
Nihilus finishes Extinction Ray and has 5 or less Lanterns active:
- "I got a free line of sight. Go all out on him!"
Nihilus is defeated for the first time in a world:
- "Ahhh...it appears one of my constructs has fallen, so this world does have significant threats after all."
- "Listen well, whoever you are. This matter is none of your concern. I have previously paid not much attention to your meddling, despite your attack on my weakened being."
- "But now, it appears as if you have chosen a side opposing the likes of mine, and as such I cannot let you continue unnoticed."
- "You may think you have disrupted my plans, but you are nothing more than an extra variable to add to the equation."
- "Go ahead then, and pretend you have any weight on the outcome. Go ahead and try to change what cannot be changed."
Trivia
- Nihilus' theme is Before the Storm, which was composed by the artist CDMusic.
- It is a common myth that Nihilus and Ralnek are the same entity, but it has been confirmed that they are not.
History
- 1.2.001: Reworked entirely.
- 1.1.1:
- No longer despawns at daytime and can be spawned at anytime.
- Reworked Shadowflare background.
- 1.1.0.4: Changed to be no longer true mode exclusive, but expert exclusive.
- 1.1: Introduced.
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