41 articlesThomas Richards is the first real boss in Windrose, and for most players, it’s where the game becomes more punishing. Unlike normal enemies in the Coastal Jungle, Richards is designed to test your preparation, stamina management, and dodge timing all at once.
If you walk into the arena underprepared or undergeared, he can easily overwhelm you. But as soon as you learn his attack patterns and prepare properly, taking him down should be easier.
Without further ado, here are the tips and strategies you can use to bring down Thomas Richards.
Prepare Accordingly
If this boss is giving you trouble, your first task should be to prepare properly before the fight even begins. The game recommends that your character is at least Level 4 to take on the challenge.
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At the same time, as we’ve said in our best start guide, make sure to get the Rested and Food buffs. Rested buffs become stronger when you have more Decorations at your base, while Food buffs depend on the food types you eat.
Now, for the Food itself, which buffs you go for should depend on your playstyle. I personally recommend anything that improves your Endurance. This gives you more Stamina, allowing you to run circles around Thomas Richards!
As for the weapons, melee weapons still work well, especially heavy weapons that can stagger Richards during punish windows. However, ranged builds have become increasingly popular because they allow you to safely chip away at his health while avoiding risky close-range trades.
Most players now use a Musket or Blunderbuss alongside a melee weapon for safer damage opportunities. Bleed weapons are also extremely effective because the damage continues ticking while you focus on dodging his attacks
When you’re ready to take on Thomas Richards, you just need to follow the “Revenge Is Best Served Cold” main quest. It will lead you to the Blackbeard Pirate Camp where the boss awaits you.
Tips and Strategy for Dealing with Thomas Richards
Now, for the boss fight itself! The best way to deal with this guy is to use a hit-and-run approach. Get in close, do a single heavy attack as a poke, then run away from Thomas Richards.
His basic combo chains are actually the safest moments in the fight once you learn them. You can avoid most of his swings by simply backing away and waiting for the combo to finish. After that, you can then make a counterattack. Getting the exact timing down can be a bit tough.
But for the most part, Thomas Richards is fairly slow and has no good ranged options. This allows you to just hit and run, whittling him down safely.
If you have ranged weapons and plentiful Bullets, you can expand on the hit-and-run strategy by just shooting Thomas Richards from far away! He is sluggish, so he rarely catches up to you if you just stay far away.
The one thing to watch out for as you fight Thomas using this strategy is his grab attack. This is signaled by him dashing toward you with a red glow in his left hand, shown above.
Do take note that this is his most dangerous move. When Richard flashes red and lunges forward, make sure to immediately dodge sideways, not backward. Dodging backward will only cause you to get hit by the grab hitbox.
Besides that one attack, though, Thomas Richards mainly just walks toward you and tries to swing his club. Provided you got buffs to your Stamina, as I mentioned in the previous section, you shouldn’t have too much trouble staying away from his attacks.
Ultimately, just be patient when dealing with this boss, as rushing in is more likely to benefit him than you!
Why Lots of Players Fail to Beat Him
The safest way to handle the fight is to stay patient and only punish after his combo strings end.
However, a lot of players fail this encounter because they become greedy and try landing multiple hits during small openings. Richards heavily punishes overcommitting.
One of the biggest mistakes they make is entering the fight too early with incomplete upgrades. Thomas Richards is technically an early-game boss, but he is balanced more like a major progression check.
Another common issue is fully draining your stamina bar. Once your stamina hits zero, recovery becomes much slower, which usually leads to getting caught by his next combo.
Some multiplayer groups also struggle because boss health scaling becomes much more noticeable with additional players. In some cases, solo attempts can actually feel easier than poorly coordinated group runs.
Final Thoughts
Once you’re able to defeat Thomas Richards, you get to unlock Iron-tier progression, new crafting stations, and an additional story progression. And that’s all you need to know to defeat Thomas Richards, the Coastal Jungle Threat, in Windrose.
Defeating him also unlocks the Foothills exploration, which allows you to make use of new features. You can now start farming or even go do some fishing, for example!
