Black Mesa: How to Beat Nihilanth

Nihilanth is the final boss of the game, but it’s truthfully not extremely challenging. At least, it’s nowhere near the Gonarch. That doesn’t mean it’s an easy fight either. This guide goes on how to damage him, with a breakdown of all of his phases and tips on what to do.

How to Beat Nihilanth in Black Mesa

The first thing you should notice when fighting him is his shield. He’s protected from all your attacks as long as this shield is up. Your first task is to take down the shield. You might have noticed some blue cone-like crystals flying around him. Those are the ones keeping the shield up. Focus on shooting them down as you avoid Nihilanth’s attacks. His attacks are fairly easy to dodge as long as you make sure to focus on seeing what he’s doing.

After his main shield is down, he’ll start summoning some structures with a green glow. You can shoot those down for supplies. In this stage of the fight, you want to focus on shooting at him and dodging his attacks. Keep shooting his glass-like shield with all you’ve got. The gluon gun and the rocket launcher are your best bets here.

At some point, he’ll summon some yellow crystal pillars. As soon as he does, focus on destroying them. You’ll only be able to destroy one at a time. Keep shooting him and his shield to make him summon the yellow crystals. Keep dodging and shooting him until you destroy all the yellow crystals.

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