The Dead King
The Dead King is an undead king who rules the Catacombs, an underground Iron’s Spellbooks structure. It fights with blood and necromancy spells as well as melee. It is an Act II boss, and its defeat opens the fight against its stronger form, the Enraged Dead King.
Location#
The Dead King sits in the Catacombs (irons_spellbooks:catacombs), which generate in most temperate Overworld biomes (hills, taigas, jungles, forests, plains, savannas, deserts, swamps and others), at most once per 72 × 72 chunk area. The Explorer's Compass can search for them.
Stats#
The Dead King’s level is fixed at 40, so its stats never change. See Mob Levels.
| Stat | Base | Level 40 |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 500 HP | 6,350 HP (3,175 hearts) |
| Attack damage | 10 | 49 |
| Armor | 15 | 21.4 |
| Knockback resistance | 80% | 80% |
| Spell power | 115% | 115% |
| Movement speed | 0.155 | 0.155 |
| Follow range | 32 blocks | 32 blocks |
| Damage cap | 20% of max health per second (1,270 HP), so a kill takes at least 5 s |
Attacks#
The Dead King fights in two phases, with melee swings and a slam as well as spells:
| Spell | |
|---|---|
| Blood Slash, Blood Step, Ray of Siphoning | |
| Raise Dead, Summon Vex | Summon allies. |
| Fang Strike, Fang Ward | |
| Wither Skull, Acid Orb, Blight, Poison Arrow, Blaze Storm |
Strategy#
- Expect summons. Raise Dead and Summon Vex add enemies to the fight.
- Sustained damage beats burst. The damage cap blocks anything above 1,270 HP in a second.
Drops#
| Item | Count | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Arcane Essence | 28–45 | Always; Looting adds 2–6 |
| Spell scroll or Blank Runestone | 2 | Two rolls, 50% each |
| Ink | 3 | Three rolls on Iron’s Spellbooks’ reward ink table |
| The Blood Staff or Necronomicon | 1 | Player kill; 50% (+5% per Looting level) |
Quests#
Find Structure: Catacombs (Act II, after the Estus Flask quest) requires finding the Catacombs. Reward: 2 XP levels.
Defeat The Dead King requires killing it. Reward: a roll on the Ink reward table. See Defeat The Dead King.
Defeat The Dead King (Act II)
Once a great leader, The Dead King descended into madness along with thousands of his people…
The next quest asks for the Enraged Dead King, summoned with a scroll found in Catacombs chests.