If you want to become the strongest Vampire you can in V Rising, you’ll need to track down and hunt the V Blood carriers across Vardoran. You’ll encounter Henry Blackbrew the Doctor in Act IV, deep in the Gloomrot North region and defeating him will allow you to unlock another Shock Ultimate spell. Keep reading to learn where he is lurking and how to defeat him.

Table of Contents¶

If you want to jump straight to our strategy, or perhaps see what rewards you get from beating Henry, check out the following table:

Henry Blackbrew Location¶

As with many bosses in this level range, before you set off to find Henry Blackbrew, you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared. As he is Level 74, ensure you’re around that Gear Level (80 will make life easier) and you have means of ranged attacks for the battle ahead, as you’ll often find yourself unable to get into melee range.

Fortunately, Henry is fought inside, so you don’t need to worry about the Sun other than reaching the Trancendum Laboratories that he resides in. You’ll find the lab in the Gloomrot North region, which is located in the northwest corner of Vardoran. The easiest way to reach this is by heading to the Gloomrot North Vampire Waygate, and then follow the path to the west and then south once you see the lab come into view. Deal with the roaming enemies around the outside of the main room and then head down the stairs once you’re ready to confront him.

Henry Blackbrew Boss Strategy¶

As mentioned above, Henry Blackbrew is Level 74 so you’ll want to make sure you’re around that level before beginning the battle. Having access to ranged weaponry is also of the utmost importance as you’ll find it tough to get into melee range due to all of the hazards in the arena.

Henry Blackbrew has multiple attacks that you’ll need to watch out for and you can learn about them all below:

Shock Orb¶

Henry will shoot out a slow moving Shock Orb that will move toward you slightly, this is easy to avoid at the beginning as you have plenty of room to get about, but once he starts using lasers across the room, this can be more difficult to avoid. He can also shoot multiple Orbs at once, so keep on your toes after avoiding the first.

Electrical Discharge¶

Henry will let out four lasers that will slowly move out from him in different directions, this is another attack that is easy to avoid at the start as there are plenty of places you can stand to avoid it.

Lasers¶

As the battle continues, Henry will cause the Orbs around the room to shoot out lasers between themselves, effectively cutting off large parts of the arena. If you touch a laser, you’ll take damage, but you can dash evade through them. As you deplete Henry’s health, more lasers will shoot out, leaving you less space and this makes it difficult to avoid his other attacks during this moment. This is the main reason why you want access to ranged attacks.

Additionally, some of the orbs will release smaller electrical pulses while the lasers are out, focus on survival instead of trying to attack Henry.

Electrical Shield¶

Henry will envelop himself in an electrical shield and should you strike him, he will be able to counter immediately for moderate damage. Avoid attacking Henry when you see him in a blue glow, stop attacking and instead focus on preparing for a large attack when he’s out of it.

Dash¶

Henry will transform into an orb and dash towards you, this will deal moderate damage should it strike you and knock you back slightly (potentially into the lasers) while stunning you, this is simple to avoid if you’re evade is ready, just wait until he starts moving towards you.

Shockwave¶

Once you have drained Henry’s health below half, he will retreat to the center of the arena and lasers will surround the outer edges. From there, he will releases pulses that constantly push you back toward the outer edge, use dashes to get closer to him to avoid being pushed into the lasers.

Defeating Henry Blackbrew¶

The first thing you need to know about the battle against Henry is that you’re very limited in terms of the arena. See those orbs around the edge of the room? As the battle rages on, these will shoot lasers across the room, cutting off where you are safe to stand. This is the main reason that we recommend having access to weapons and abilities that have range to them. We used the Crossbow, but the Pistols and Longbow are just as effective, and if you’re adapt at using them, the Whip has decent range to it.

As with many of the bosses in the game, Sanguine Coil is a great spell to take into the battle, as it has health leech capabilities and it has three charges at a time. The Frost Ultimate, Ice Block is also a great ultimate to take for survivability as it will not only make you immune to damage but also top up your max health during it. For your final ability, feel free to take anything that you’re comfortable with, but Blood Rage is as useful as ever for its movement buff alone.

The early stages of the Henry battle is a simple one, his basic attacks are easy enough to avoid while you have the whole of the arena available to you. Take the time to learn how to avoid these as once you deplete at least a quarter of his health, the lasers will start coming out. Again, to begin with, you’re still left with a lot of the arena, but once you’ve taken off around 50% of his health, a persistent laser will surround the outer edge of the arena, followed by more intersecting ones.

It’s crucial at this point that you don’t accidentally strike Henry while his counter is up, as you won’t have the space to avoid it and this will stun you. Beyond that, his Shockwave is the only other threat, you will take damage here so ensure you have an Ultimate like Ice Block ready to use after (or even during) it.

As for dealing damage to Henry, you’ll have to almost exclusively stick to ranged options, both the Crossbow and Pistols are great for this and Sanguine Coil will allow you to leech some health from range. Once you’re down to the final quarter of his health, go all out, as you’ll have very little room to maneuver.

Henry Blackbrew Rewards¶

When you defeat Henry, you’ll unlock a Tier 3 Shock Spell Point, used to unlock a Shock Ultimate attack. Alongside this, you’ll unlock the Athenaeum which can be used to learn even more recipes. With Henry defeated, you can start thinking about the upcoming battle against Adam the Firstborn, also in Gloomrot North.