If you’ve spent the last few hours slamming your controller against your desk after three straight failed runs against this creepy, scythe-wielding boss, you’re not alone. I struggled through seven attempts before I nailed the exact rhythm needed to clear it without burning through all my revives. Learning how to beat Hanged Man in The First Descendant isn’t about having the highest damage stats alone—it’s about knowing when to attack, when to dodge, and what weak points to prioritize to cut the fight time in half. This guide pulls from my own playtesting and notes from top 1% PvE players to give you every trick you need to walk away with that sweet win reward.
Optimal Pre-Fight Loadout Setup for Hanged Man
You don’t need a fully maxed out legendary build to beat this boss, but a few small tweaks will make the fight 10x easier. I’ve tested both close-range and long-range setups, and there’s a clear winner for most players, especially if you’re running this fight solo. First, prioritize weapons with lightning or pierce damage—Hanged Man has a natural resistance to fire damage, so that flamethrower you’ve been maining will do 30% less damage per hit, no matter how high its stat roll is. For primary weapons, a semi-auto sniper rifle with a 4x scope works perfectly for hitting weak points from a safe distance, or a high-rate-of-fire SMG if you prefer to stick close during attack windows.
For secondary, I always bring a rocket launcher with splash damage to clear the small minions he summons halfway through the fight, so you don’t get swarmed while you’re trying to dodge his scythe swings. Don’t sleep on utility mods that boost dodge distance and revive speed, either. Most players burn through their revives because they get hit mid-dodge while trying to reach a downed teammate, or they can’t get out of the way of his big AOE attack fast enough. A single +20% dodge distance mod will let you roll out of the red danger zones far faster than the base stat allows.
If you’re playing in a group, assign at least one player to run a support build with healing abilities, but make sure that player also has a weapon that can hit weak points—you don’t want half your team dealing negligible damage the entire fight. We’ve got a quick list of non-negotiable loadout picks that work for both solo and group play:
- Primary: Any sniper rifle with 500+ base damage and lightning damage perk
- Secondary: Rocket launcher with 2m+ splash radius for minion clears
- Mod slots: +20% dodge distance, +15% weak point damage, +10% lightning damage
- Descendant pick: Viessa for ice crowd control, or Bunny for fast movement and high burst damage
Core Battle Mechanics to Know to Beat Hanged Man in The First Descendant
Most players lose this fight because they don’t pay attention to the small visual cues Hanged Man gives right before he uses a big attack, or they waste ammo shooting at his armored body instead of his vulnerable spots. His only two consistent weak points are the glowing orange core on his chest and the crystal embedded in the top of his scythe. Hitting either of these spots deals 2.5x damage, and if you land a critical hit on the chest core, you can stagger him for 3 full seconds, giving you a huge window to unload all your heavy ammo. You’ll notice that his chest core only glows for 10 seconds at a time right after he finishes a big attack, so you have to time your shots perfectly to hit it.
The scythe crystal is always glowing, but it moves around constantly as he swings his weapon, so it’s a harder target to hit for newer players. I recommend focusing on the chest core first until you get used to his attack rhythm. Another key mechanic is the shadow pools he spawns around the arena at random intervals. If you stand in a shadow pool for more than 2 seconds, you’ll get a slow debuff that cuts your movement speed in half for 8 seconds, which is almost always a death sentence when he’s charging his scythe swing.
Always keep an eye on the ground around your feet as you move, and don’t get so focused on shooting that you step right into a pool without noticing. If you do get the slow debuff, use your descendant’s dash ability immediately to get out of the way of any incoming attacks, because you won’t be able to dodge fast enough otherwise. There’s also a small window right before he uses his one-shot kill attack where you can interrupt him by dealing 10% of his total health bar damage in 2 seconds. That’s where your rocket launcher comes in handy—if you see him raise his scythe above his head for more than 2 seconds, fire a rocket straight at his chest core to interrupt the attack entirely, saving your whole team from an instant wipe.
Phase-by-Phase Attack Patterns and Dodge Strategies
The Hanged Man fight has three distinct phases, each with their own unique attack patterns. Once you learn what to expect in each phase, you’ll be able to predict every move he makes before he does it. In Phase 1, which lasts until he hits 70% health, he only uses three basic attacks: a horizontal scythe swing, a vertical scythe slam, and a long-range shadow projectile. The horizontal swing has a very wide range, but you can dodge it by rolling backward twice, or jumping straight up if you’re far enough away. The vertical slam creates a small AOE shockwave, so you just need to roll to the left or right to avoid it. The shadow projectile travels slow, so you can easily side-step it without even using your dodge.
This is the best phase to get used to his attack rhythm, so don’t rush to deal damage as fast as possible. Take your time, practice hitting his chest core when it glows, and save all your heavy ammo for later phases. When he hits 70% health, he’ll roar and move to the center of the arena to start Phase 2. This is the hardest phase for most players, because he summons 6 shadow minions that chase you around the arena, and he starts using his big AOE shadow burst attack. Clear the minions first before you start attacking Hanged Man again—if you ignore them, they’ll chip away at your health while you’re trying to dodge his attacks, and you’ll run out of healing items before you get to Phase 3.
Once the minions are dead, focus on dodging his shadow burst attack: you’ll see a red circle appear around him 3 seconds before the burst goes off, so you just need to run to the edge of the circle to avoid taking damage. This phase lasts until he hits 20% health, when he moves back to the center of the arena for Phase 3. In Phase 3, he uses all his previous attacks plus his one-shot kill scythe charge. He’ll raise his scythe above his head for 3 seconds, then charge straight at the closest player, dealing enough damage to kill even a fully tanked build instantly. As I mentioned earlier, you can interrupt this attack by dealing 10% of his remaining health in those 3 seconds, but if you don’t have enough ammo left, you can also dodge to the side right as he starts charging to avoid the hit entirely. Once you get past the first few charge attacks, you’ll only have to deal a small amount of damage to finish him off, so don’t get careless now.
Common Mistakes That Make Hanged Man Fight Way Harder
I’ve seen even high-level players wipe on this fight because they make small, avoidable mistakes that add up over time. The most common mistake I see is players wasting all their heavy ammo in Phase 1, when Hanged Man is at his easiest to hit. You only get 10 rockets per run unless you’re running a mod that gives you extra ammo, so saving those rockets for Phase 2 minion clears and Phase 3 interrupts will make the fight way smoother. Another common mistake is grouping up too close with your team during Phase 2. His shadow burst attack deals splash damage, so if all four of your team members are standing right next to each other when it goes off, you’ll all take massive damage even if you’re at the edge of the red circle. Spread out at least 5 meters apart during Phase 2, so you don’t get wiped by a single attack.
A lot of players also forget to pick up the healing orbs that spawn around the arena after you stagger Hanged Man. These orbs give you full health and reset your ability cooldowns, so you should always grab one right after you stagger him, even if you’re at full health. The only time you shouldn’t grab an orb is if there’s a shadow pool under it, because the slow debuff isn’t worth the heal. If you’re playing solo, don’t be afraid to take a few seconds to move to a safe spot and reload instead of rushing to get in extra shots. I’ve lost count of how many times I died because I tried to fire one last shot instead of reloading and dodging an incoming attack.
So it's okay to play slow, especially when you're learning the fight for the first time. You don't get any extra reward for beating him faster, so prioritize surviving over speed. If you’re playing with random teammates, don’t be afraid to call out when you see him charging his one-shot attack, because a lot of players will be focused on shooting and miss the visual cue. A quick heads up can save your whole team from a wipe.
At the end of the day, beating this boss is all about pattern recognition and small optimizations, not having the most expensive build in the game. Once you get used to his attack tells and know exactly when to hit his weak points, you’ll be able to clear the fight on your first try without burning through all your revives. If you mess up a few times, don’t get discouraged—every failed run will teach you something new about his attack patterns that you can use next time. Now that you have all these tips, you’re ready to learn how to beat Hanged Man in The First Descendant and claim that rare boss drop you’ve been grinding for. Let me know how your run goes in the comments below!