Valor Mortis: How To Beat Nephis Superioris

With each new Chapter you brave in Valor Mortis, the more expansive and labyrinthine they become, and the castle in Chapter Ten is the epitome of this. However, even all you endure exploring the castle is nothing compared to the boss fight that it's all leading up to.

Nephis Superioris is a powerful boss that punishes any player that hasn't quite got the rhythm of parrying in Valor Mortis down to a fine art at this point. He takes no prisoners, and no matter how you approach this fight, you're in for a challenging encounter.

But with this handy boss guide, you should be able to prepare well, exploit his weaknesses, and come out on top.

Nephis Superioris Boss Location & How To Prepare

Nephis Superioris is located in the tenth Chapter of the game, at the High Tower. To get there, you will need to clear the corruption to open the Iron Gate, and will then need to complete a platforming section while under heavy cannon fire.

Once you get to the High Tower, stop and prepare for the fight ahead, and even consider heading back to the Abandoned Church to upgrade and gather supplies, as this boss is no joke.

This is the build that we would suggest for the fight:

• Recommended Level: 40+
• Primary Weapon: Saber/Claymore
• Ambers: Iron Grip, Lunatic's Grasp, Perfectionism, Potent Concoction
• Items: Stasis Whetstone, Hand Grenade, Nephoglobin Vial
• Recommended Ferrofluid Flasks: 8+

For your build, you can really go about this one of two ways. You can either build William to be a powerful, heavy hitter with lots of perks relating to melee damage, posture breaking, firearms damage, and the like. Or you can go for a Nephoglobin-focused build.

Regardless of what you choose, you will be forced to parry accurately throughout. But we would probably steer you towards the latter, as Stasis is incredibly effective in this fight.

Nephoglobin-focused Build & Stasis Whetstones

This build not only allows you to slow down the boss' swift movement to make parrying and blocking a little easier, but also allows you to build it up to maximum and chip a huge chunk off their HP bar.

This is why Stasis Whetstones are so vital to this tactic, as this allows you to race through the stages of their Stasis build-up, potentially dealing 2-3 Stasis critical hits during the fight.

Additionally, we would say that Iron Grip is non-negotiable, as Nephis Superioris is fast and will interrupt your healing. Whereas Potent Concoction and Lunatic's Grasp are incredible if you do adopt our suggested Stasis build-up strategy.

How To Beat Nephis Superioris In Valor Mortis

The reality of this fight is that, while I can talk about these melee attack patterns, you can really only get a feel for their timing by blocking and parrying. What I can say, though, is that it's crucial that you do get into a rhythm of doing this, as the alternative is a quick and painful death.

Generally speaking, Nephis Superioris has two common melee patterns. One is a criss-cross slash followed by a stab and spin attack. Then the other is a strike, stab, and unblockable leap attack. They all happen at pace, and he's always on the front foot, so try your best to learn the timings here.

Alongside these melee attacks, Nephis Superioris will also use a stasis attack where he touches his hand to the ground, releasing a shockwave of Stasis. It's best to back off when he does this and then do your best to hop over this attack like a jump rope.

It's also important that we mention firearms here. When at a distance, Nephis Superioris will fire potshots at you with their pistol, and will also occasionally fire off a full clip of five rounds at the player. Try your best to be ready to dodge them as they fire.

Also, if you plan to use firearms, know that it's something you can do, but you need to be fast to aim. If you aim for longer than a split second, the boss will use a Shield Transmutation and will volley the bullets back at you. However, if you can confidently quick scope, don't be deterred from using your guns.

This boss also has the capacity to heal using Ferrofluid Flasks. You'll see their hand glow that signature teal color. At this moment, you need to shoot the flask from their hand to prevent the heal, and the Blunderbuss is best for this due to the wide spread.

After you get the Nephis to less than half health, they will also get a range of new fire-based attacks. They will imbue their sword with fire and launch a line of fire at the player, or they will also use a wide swinging attack that will strike you even from some distance away. The former is very easy to dodge, but the swinging attack is hard to avoid, so try to find a way to consistently dodge that one.

This is essentially how the fight plays out. The key is to constantly be applying Stasis to wear them down, and Stasis Whetstones are the best way to do this. Provided you can survive their melee barrage, you'll come out on top.

Nephis Superioris Boss Rewards

Beating this boss will net you 50,000 Catalysts and grant you access to the nearby box that will trigger Chapter Eleven.

Important: Once you interact with the box nearby, you will be locked into a segment where you have no access to your inventory and no access to a lantern for some time. It's very easy to lose your Catalysts. So, spend them at the lantern outside the High Tower before progressing.

Hopefully this guide helped you take down this challenging boss!