The Ghost King is currently the most difficult boss in Dark and Darker, releasing the finest quality loot when you get there. However, this boss teleports around the room, causing huge damage that will quickly obliterate all but the best-organized teams. Here's how to turn the tables on the nasty Ghost King, and leave the dungeon with some of the game's finest loot.
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This information is up to date for the current alpha playtest.
How to Prepare for the Ghost King
Ideally, your party will have a Ranger to continue to engage the Ghost King during certain attacks that push him out of melee range. A Cleric can also assist, with their ability to buff allies and send out heals with a minor cast time:
- Thrown weaponry
- Every adventurer that cannot engage at-range must have two stacks of thrown weaponry. The Ghost King will float above the battlefield, and punishing this animation is a massive opportunity for a quick burn down.
- Health/Shield potions (2 stacks minimum)
- When you’re in Hell, you’re going to want to keep your Shield potions up to help mitigate the massive damage enemies can do. This is vital for the Ghost King fight — failing just one mechanic here can cause a party wipe.
- Every adventurer that cannot engage at-range must have two stacks of thrown weaponry. The Ghost King will float above the battlefield, and punishing this animation is a massive opportunity for a quick burn down.
- When you’re in Hell, you’re going to want to keep your Shield potions up to help mitigate the massive damage enemies can do. This is vital for the Ghost King fight — failing just one mechanic here can cause a party wipe.
- Every adventurer that cannot engage at-range must have two stacks of thrown weaponry. The Ghost King will float above the battlefield, and punishing this animation is a massive opportunity for a quick burn down.
- When you’re in Hell, you’re going to want to keep your Shield potions up to help mitigate the massive damage enemies can do. This is vital for the Ghost King fight — failing just one mechanic here can cause a party wipe.
In Dark and Darker, what is the ghost King's identity?
Players will need to go deep into a dungeon, taking the red portals rather than the blue ones, while methodically eliminating NPC enemies, getting to the center of the map where this foe lives. The Ghost King appears on Map Inferno 02, while the Lich appears on Map 01.
How to Terror the Ghost King
The Ghost King himself should be visible within the boss room in Inferno 02. Focus down the Magma enemies at range, ideally with the Ranger, so your party isn't wasting your limited ranged weapons during this boss fight. The Ghost King will enrage your party during the boss battle, but can not kill them.
It's a knockout battle when you boil the Ghost King down to basic mechanics. Three things to keep an eye on:
- Slam
- The Ghost King will hover well into the air, then slam down into the ground. Every player must jump shortly before the Ghost King hits the ground, or everyone will take massive damage. When the Ghost King starts floating upwards, every party member must switch to ranged weaponry and eke out damage.
- At the beginning of this animation, three bats will spawn in the center of the room. Focus the Ghost King during the jump, then eliminate the bats — it will distract you from fight mechanics.
- The Ghost King will hover well into the air, then slam down into the ground. Every player must jump shortly before the Ghost King hits the ground, or everyone will take massive damage. When the Ghost King starts floating upwards, every party member must switch to ranged weaponry and eke out damage.
- Teleport
- The Ghost King will teleport to a party member, and then cleave instantly — anyone hit will receive a massive slow debuff that cannot be removed without leaving the dungeon. If you get hit by the slow debuff, you’re effectively dead unless the Ghost King can be killed quickly. The only tell for the teleport attack is a faint glimmer of light where the Ghost King will spawn. Communication is vital, here — call out the name of the player that the Ghost King is teleporting to, and use your ranged attacks to continue to harass the enemy.
- Soul Drain
- If you can’t kill the Ghost King fast enough, he will place a bubble around himself and start chasing a single party member. If he catches the chased player, he will begin draining the soul of them for colossal damage. He can be damaged in this state, but there isn’t much time before the attacked player perishes. Thank your stars that he isn’t killing you, and close the distance to finish him before he picks you as his next meal
- The Ghost King will hover well into the air, then slam down into the ground. Every player must jump shortly before the Ghost King hits the ground, or everyone will take massive damage. When the Ghost King starts floating upwards, every party member must switch to ranged weaponry and eke out damage.
- At the beginning of this animation, three bats will spawn in the center of the room. Focus the Ghost King during the jump, then eliminate the bats — it will distract you from fight mechanics.
- At the beginning of this animation, three bats will spawn in the center of the room. Focus the Ghost King during the jump, then eliminate the bats — it will distract you from fight mechanics.
- The Ghost King will teleport to a party member, and then cleave instantly — anyone hit will receive a massive slow debuff that cannot be removed without leaving the dungeon. If you get hit by the slow debuff, you’re effectively dead unless the Ghost King can be killed quickly. The only tell for the teleport attack is a faint glimmer of light where the Ghost King will spawn. Communication is vital, here — call out the name of the player that the Ghost King is teleporting to, and use your ranged attacks to continue to harass the enemy.
- If you can’t kill the Ghost King fast enough, he will place a bubble around himself and start chasing a single party member. If he catches the chased player, he will begin draining the soul of them for colossal damage. He can be damaged in this state, but there isn’t much time before the attacked player perishes. Thank your stars that he isn’t killing you, and close the distance to finish him before he picks you as his next meal
- The Ghost King will hover well into the air, then slam down into the ground. Every player must jump shortly before the Ghost King hits the ground, or everyone will take massive damage. When the Ghost King starts floating upwards, every party member must switch to ranged weaponry and eke out damage.
- At the beginning of this animation, three bats will spawn in the center of the room. Focus the Ghost King during the jump, then eliminate the bats — it will distract you from fight mechanics.
- At the beginning of this animation, three bats will spawn in the center of the room. Focus the Ghost King during the jump, then eliminate the bats — it will distract you from fight mechanics.
- At the beginning of this animation, three bats will spawn in the center of the room. Focus the Ghost King during the jump, then eliminate the bats — it will distract you from fight mechanics.
- The Ghost King will teleport to a party member, and then cleave instantly — anyone hit will receive a massive slow debuff that cannot be removed without leaving the dungeon. If you get hit by the slow debuff, you’re effectively dead unless the Ghost King can be killed quickly. The only tell for the teleport attack is a faint glimmer of light where the Ghost King will spawn. Communication is vital, here — call out the name of the player that the Ghost King is teleporting to, and use your ranged attacks to continue to harass the enemy.
- If you can’t kill the Ghost King fast enough, he will place a bubble around himself and start chasing a single party member. If he catches the chased player, he will begin draining the soul of them for colossal damage. He can be damaged in this state, but there isn’t much time before the attacked player perishes. Thank your stars that he isn’t killing you, and close the distance to finish him before he picks you as his next meal
The Ghost King has an unavoidable party-wide Scream attack which does minor damage to everyone, either using a shield potion or taking the hit on the chin. He will also launch five orbs at a specific targeted player, simply sidestep the attack if you're not targeted. But this has not been verified in High Roller dungeons.