Act 1 Boss Guide: Count Geonor

Difficulty: This boss is no pushover, but arguably isn’t as tough as Jamanra, the Act 2 boss, or Viper Napuzati, a miniboss late in Act 3.

It's a two phase fight, this guide will include details of all abilities in both phases. The second phase has about 50% more health than the first.

The second phase changes slightly below 25% hp, but not enough to call it a new phase.

Geonor has one frequently used ability that is unlikely to one-shot a player but can come close, his Teleport Slam.

The boss has about 10000hp in act 1, and in Early Access only where you fight him again in Act 4, he has around 160000hp. However, you’ll need to do more than this amount of damage, as he full heals once from 33% hp.

Notable Loot: Geonor drops random loot only, but because he has 14700% increased item rarity, this is heavily biased toward good stuff for the level. This loot becomes miles better if the player has some ‘Increased Item Rarity’ on gear. Since a day 6 patch, repeat kills no longer award as much currency.

Geonor has a number of weak werewolf guardians the player must dispatch before the boss starts fighting. Try not to waste any flask charges during this phase.

If you die and re-attempt the fight immediately, these guardians will not be present.

Lunge

Geonor makes a melee slice. This also summons a projectile that hits a line to the end of the arena. There’s a small windup (about 0.75 seconds). This skill hits once for significant damage, mostly physical but with some cold. It takes Geonor approximately another 0.75 seconds to recover from this strike.

The projectile component appears to be almost entirely cold damage, and to have bonuses to inflicting freeze on players.

If you recognize this skill is coming, sidestep slightly so it misses you.

AOE Swipe

Geonor quickly attacks a large arc in front of him (if Geonor is at the center of a clock facing 12, this will approximately hit from 10 to 2). This deals pure physical damage, hits hard and will knock the player around slightly.

You’ll need to endure this. He doesn’t use it all that often.

Icicle Cage

This has an important voice cue. If the boss says “First Dawn’s Frost”, “You will falter” or “No escape” – this ability is coming very soon.

Geonor locks in the player’s position then briefly afterwards makes two melee attacks slightly to each side of the locked in position. Each deals chip damage, and each leaves behind a wall of icicles.

After this, he does a huge windup slam targeting the area between the icicles.

This final component of the ability deals devastating damage if your cold resistance is under about 60%. Significant damage still even at 75% cold resist.

Melee Charge

Geonor will use this skill to close distance to the player sometimes.

It does more damage the further Geonor has to run to reach you, just like the player skill Shield Charge.

It has reliable voice cues (“Run, little rabbit” or “You’ll pay with your life”). You should listen carefully for these if you are fighting at long range. If you are up close, this ability is basically harmless.

Wolf Mode

Geonor can transform into a taste of what he’ll become in the second phase of the fight. During this 30 second mini-phase, he will attack in melee, howl summoning additional werewolves, and charge. He will also use his Phase 2 teleport slam once, but it appears to do much less damage than in Phase 2.

Ice Breath

This skill appears to deal no damage, but creates a ground effect that persists for almost 15 seconds and inflicts a massive 50% chill on players in it.

The chilled ground appears to hit the direction Geonor is facing and 10-20 degrees off to each side, so the further from the boss you are, the further you will have to move out of the bad ground.

This is too much of an action speed penalty to endure, it will guarantee Geonor’s slower skills hit you. Drop everything and move out of it, and move two or three meters further away from it than strictly necessary, because you will not want to move back into the chilled ground.

Winter Solstice

Geonor will often cry “Solstice of Pain” when beginning this skill, although he does not always do so. He’s also known to say “Requiem on High”.

Geonor will raise his sword to the air, and chilling beams will strike down at random locations around the arena, typically four times.

This is harder to deal with when Ice Breath is on the ground. The footage will show this difficulty; dodging downwards would have put me onto chilled ground and so was out of the question. Mistakes in handling these abilities together can be deadly.

Stop trying to damage the boss during this phase, and focus on dodging most of the Solstice beams. However, if you can freeze the boss, doing so in this phase is great, as the Solstice will pause.

AOE Swipe

This should be familiar from Phase 1.

Geonor quickly attacks a large arc in front of him (if Geonor is at the center of a clock facing 12, this will approximately hit from 10 to 2). This deals mostly physical damage and hits hard, but unlike Phase 1, it does not appear to cause appreciable forced movement.

It’s hard to be certain, but this appears to hit a slightly larger arc in Phase 2.

You’ll need to endure this. He doesn’t use it all that often.

Teleport Slam

Geonor flies up in to the air, then promptly marks out a circle in blood on the ground and lands there dealing significant damage.

If he catches you mid-spellcast, you will need to abandon your spell in progress and roll to have any hope of dodging this skill.

There’s a section in the center that is marked in deeper red. If you are in contact with that, it appears that this skill either automatically critically hits, or gets a big damage boost. Don’t be in contact with that spot.

Fog Phase

Geonor will conjure fog that covers the edges of the arena, dealing chip cold damage over time if you enter it, but leaving a safe circle. He will also summon additional werewolves and charge across the arena.

Each time he completes a line of dialogue, he’s about to run across the arena. He’ll fixate on your location, then usually dash through the center of the arena to the location he fixated upon. You don’t want to still be there when he arrives.

If you make no attempt to dodge Geonor’s charge, he’ll hit you twice each time he dashes across.

You can move out of the way, or dodge roll. The timing on dodge rolls appears to be extremely generous.

The minor werewolves can become a major hassle in this phase as they keep building up. You will need to kill them, which can make dodging Geonor’s charges harder.

Charged Icicle Slam

Geonor will often cry “I Smell Your Blood… And I Am Ravenous” while charging this skill. The arena will fill with what looks to be chilled ground.

It is not chilled ground.

It is a warning that icicles are about to erupt in those locations.

This is a very slow ability.

Warning: Freezing (or presumably stunning) Geonor during this ability will not prevent it.

Ultimate Moonbeam

This ability is only used once Geonor falls under 25% HP.

It functions the same way as Winter Solstice, but also applies a bleeding debuff.

If Winter Solstice has a cooldown (I’ve never seen it used twice in succession), Ultimate Moonbeam does not.

Phase 1

Icicle Cage and Lunge both reward you for slowly circling the boss, and Icicle Cage rewards circling in a clockwise direction. Each time you see him using a skill, try to move 30 degrees clockwise from the boss’s perspective. This way, his Icicle Cage will never catch you, and Lunge will always miss.

Phase 2

Freezing the boss or applying other similar mechanics such as stun is incredibly useful. The boss doesn’t have much HP.

Dodge the charged icicle slam, and during Winter Solstice and Fog Phase, focus on avoiding damage rather than dealing it (any you deal is a bonus).

In the Ultimate Moonbeam phase, you will need to balance damage and avoiding being hit. I advise saving life flask charges specifically for this phase. As long as you make some effort to avoid Ultimate Moonbeams, it’s OK to get clipped by a couple of them in order to get off spells.