How To Beat Hands in Windrose (Needle In A Haystack - Foothills Boss)

Hands is the final boss in the Foothills zone of Windrose, termed within the Discovery menu as the 'Local Threat'. As with all bosses in Windrose, he's pretty tough at all difficulties but especially on higher difficulties but fear as this guide will give you all of the information you need to take him down so you can proceed on to the lovely Cursed Swamp.

How To Beat Hands In Windrose: Gear Up

If you've read our guide on how to defeat Thomas Richards, then you'll know that preparation is key in this game. If you haven't read it then here's a primer:

1. Make sure that your gear is maxed out to Level 10;
2. Ascend at least your weapons to Epic if you are still struggling;
3. Make sure you have the most powerful two-set bonuses equipped;
4. Come with decent food and if possible, a potion; and
5. Make sure you have at least a full stack of Healing Potions

At this stage you probably know most of that so here's some additional gearing tips to help make the encounter more manageable.

The Rapier of a Thousand Cuts

Seriously, this weapon is currently extremely powerful so if you have unlocked it and are able to craft it, do so and upgrade it to Level 10. The bleed effect on this weapon deals huge damage to enemies and all of the ticks refresh on a single hit so it's easy to keep at max stacks.

We provide more detail on the suggested weapon set-up in our best weapons guide but the tl;dr is that you run the Rapier with a pistol and just max out Precision since they both scale off of the same stat. Once you have 5 stacks applied to Hands, you can just kite and dodge then re-apply the stacks, if you are finding the mechanics difficult to deal with.

Send In The Combat Pig (Boar Whistle)

The trusty Truffle is our porcine protector and if you don't know what I'm talking about then you will want to go and find the Ancient Village in the foothills that has this description on mouseover:

A ruined village now inhabited by animals. Above the wreckage rises a mysterious alter of the ancients.

To complete the POI you will need to interact with the Altar after collecting items from various chests nearby and 20 Meat from the nearby animals. You will be rewarded with one of the best items in the mid-game, the Boar Whistle, which allows you to summon Truffle on demand.

All of this to say, using the Boar Whistle is helpful in your encounter with Hands.

How To Beat Hands In Windrose: Encounter Tips

Now that you are prepared for the fight, here's a quick overview of Hands' abilities and how you can deal with them all:

Fight Strategy

Individually, all of Hands' abilities are fairly easy to avoid by sprinting, blocking or dodging but the challenge is finding openings to deal enough damage to take him down. This is why the Rapier of a Thousand Cuts is so strong here, as it allows you to kite him while the DoT ticks down.

Basically just be patient, don't get greedy and overextend by trying to get in an extra hit. You'll have his ability pattern down quickly then it's just a case of finding openings to strike. He has a 'dodge' ability which can make it hard to shoot him but use your ranged weapon whenever the passive reload is up, a good time is when he starts casting Summon Souls.

Rewards For Defeating Hands

Defeating Hands will reward you with 20 Undead Essence and a quest item, but importantly you will also be able to loot the Ancient Chest in the boss room which contains the Souleater, an excellent two-handed weapon and one of our top weapon picks.