Remnant: From the Ashes – How to Beat Barbed Terror, How to Earn Unstable Quills Mod

Remnant: From the Ashes’ latest DLC, Swamps of Corsus, adds a variety of new bosses to the game, including the formidable Barbed Terror. This new boss isn’t the hardest to take down, but will quickly kill players not paying attention to their surroundings.

That said, discovering how to beat these new bosses on your own is its own little reward, so I’ll start this guide by reminding everyone here that there be spoilers below. Seriously, all my Swamps of Corsus guides are full to the brim with spoilers, but I advocate you try and find all the new stuff first on your own before coming here. Secrets are a part of Remnant: From the Ashes charm, so while these guide titles at least confirm certain items exist I ask you use them as a “last resort”. Now, moving on….

The Barbed Terror is located in the Needle Lair dungeon.

The Needle Lair is one of the new dungeons that can spawn in Corsus, and it uses a new tile-set that is a mix between a dank crypt and claustrophobic limestone cavern. There are a host of new enemies within, some perverted variations of monsters you already know (looking at you, banshee).

Once you reach the Barbed Terror you’ll notice it is rooted in place. This doesn’t make the fight easy, but its attack pattern isn’t the hardest to memorize. The Barbed Terror has a massive scythe for a hand, and it will cleave the arena with it in one of two ways. If the boss rears back it will perform a room-wide horizontal cleave, so dodge as this deploys to avoid it. If it raises it vertically it will bring the scythe down on your location, so dodge at the last second towards the sides of the arena as it lands.

Additionally, there are holes in the walls of the arena that spew deadly needles that are easy enough to avoid individually, but launch in harder to dodge volleys. The key to surviving these barrages is to use their firing pattern to your favor. The front row under the boss are split into two sets, and these sets will mirror each other. Watch for the glowing holes (which indicate a volley is coming): if the center glows then move towards the side and be ready to dodge back into the middle, and if the outside glows move towards the center and be ready to dodge towards the sides.

There are also pockets of needles on the left and right walls of the arena, and these are significantly harder to keep an eye on. These also mirror each other, so if you notice a pattern on the left of the arena then the same is occurring on the right. Avoiding these works much the same as the center needles, but instead of moving in and out you’ll be moving forward and back. Watch for the glowing holes and situated yourself accordingly. Eventually the center and sides will fire simultaneously, but don’t panic. Keep a cool head and an eye on the pattern.

The Barbed Terror has a giant weakpoint: it’s sizable cranium, so taking the beast down won’t take long if you are attentive and avoid its cleaves and needle volleys. Once the boss is down you’ll be given the Barbed Sinew, which is redeemed for the Unstable Quills mod back at Ward 13. This mod fires off a volley of needles that deal damage to an enemy, and the mod can be activated again to explode them. However, if you attack a tagged enemy until the barbs glow, then detonate the ability it’ll deal bonus damage. Use this to nuke elite enemies or bosses.