The Ferryman

“ I am a Krulian, and one of the few known to you surface-folk. We are the closest bridge between the Gods below and your kind. The next step in the evolutionary chain you could say... But I really must be off, it was a pleasure dancing with you as always. ”

― The Ferryman

The Ferryman
Health	30,000 (30k per player)
Attacks	Lightning Clones Lightning Strike Lightning Assault Grand Volley
Drops	3 Chests (see loot table) 2/1 Knowledge Ferryman's Coat Cloth (Spring only): 1 Knowledge (Summer Only): Chest (Autumn Only): Chest (Winter Only): Aelita chest
Locations	Boatman's Watch
Challenges	-- The Ferryman -- Dance Partner - Slay 10. Reward: +5% DMG; +2.5% RES

Description

The Ferryman is an instanced Boss fought at the Boatman's Watch within the Eastern Luminant's Voidsea. A strange figure referenced in old folklore of the surface world, he is member of the enigmatic race of Krulians and claims to be the closest bridge between the Drowned Gods and the people of Lumen.

According to the stories of old, the Ferryman is a benevolent individual who bestows gifts upon those who summon him, though most fail to mention that these gifts aren't earned without a fight. The Ferryman actively despises the mortals who dwell on the surface, offering up unfair wagers, with the mortal betting their life, and him only betting a "Relic."

According to Yamaketzal, he is an amalgamation of souls dredged up from the "dregs of the dregs." He was mistreated by the people of the surface and returns the favor by tormenting them.

Summoning The Ferryman

1. Find the Boatman's Watch, and within the middle, find the ritual circle.
2. Make sure there is a white ring at the middle of the inner circle, indicating that he is spawnable. There is a 15 second cooldown between summons.
3. Place a campfire on each circle outside the center, (up to a total of 4 campfires).
4. Light 1-4 of the campfires. These campfires must be freshly placed; any campfires previously used by others to spawn The Ferryman will not work for a second ritual. You can dispose of any said previously used campfires by hitting them once.
5. A ring akin to Teleportation Resonance will appear, teleporting any players within to an instanced version of Boatman's Watch after a short delay.
   • Being combat tagged will prevent you from being teleported.
6. The Ferryman will spawn in the middle. Talk with him and initiate the wager by completing his dialogue, if at any point you wish to back-out before fighting him, you may.

Summoning The Ferryman in Vow of Iron

1. Talk to the Reclaimer at The Cerebral Spire, take the mission/task option and interact if it says "memory of a dancer".
2. Walk up to the five teleporters up the stairs and (from left to right) take the first teleporter to arrive at the Boatman's Watch.
3. Interact with the white circle at the ritual spot where Ferryman is and he should spawn to start the fight.

The Ferryman is a fairly easy boss to fight solo, if you are familiar with his moveset and are Power 15+. His speed, damage, health, and Mantra potency will scale greatly depending on how many players are present in the dungeon, and as such it is recommended to fight him alone.

For a visual guide consider watching this video. Note: Teal means phase 1, Violet means phase 2. If it isn't listed, then it doesn't happen during its respective phase.

Moves

Name	Description
Displacement (☆☆☆)	The Ferryman teleports to one of 6 pre-determined spots within the battlefield, along with un-stunning him and allowing him to use another move. This move is only done if you choose to be close to him when your attack opportunity ends. He cannot teleport close to you, and if he does so, he will teleport again. In Phase 2, this will be accompanied by a small pulse akin to Flamecharm's Flame Repulsion and King Gigamed's repulsion move. ⛧ Teleport ☕︎ Harmless
Lightning Clones (★☆☆)	The Ferryman will spin around and summon two clones of himself, and does this twice, summoning four clones in total. They run up to nearby players and slash at them before quickly disappearing. Lightning Clones will not disappear unless their attack either lands, gets blocked, parried, or dodged. He only uses Lightning Clones in phase one, superseded by Grand Volley in phase two. He grants an attack opportunity whilst summoning his clones, but there is no ending attack opportunity afterward. This attack opportunity duration is shared with Grand Volley. Unlike melee, ranged Mantras will not trigger his Displacement, allowing for an additional attack opportunity if you have one. Killing the clones while having the Grand Feast Talent will replenish health, Ether and Tempo. + Summon ☕︎ Harmless
Lightning Strike (★☆☆)	The Ferryman spins around, triggering a long attack opportunity while raining down multiple bolts of thunder from the skies upon the battlefield, dealing high damage and an incredibly long stun to anybody hit. Targets the area relative to your player and it's movement, however, if the player is moving, he will only attempt to strike in-front of the player, and as such this move is avoidable by going to the sides or backwards. Becomes much faster in his second phase. If The Ferryman is in hitstun while casting this move, the lightning strikes will not deal damage. Attempt to run at him and attack him with consistently hitting moves, such as basic attacks. Certain Heavy Weapons will not be able to stun him often enough to prevent damage. Grants auto-parry frames during this attack in both phases. Parrying a single instance of a Lightning Strike will automatically parry the following pulses, ONLY if each pulse hits you. If a pulse misses, you will have to parry again to restart the auto-parry frames. If you are in a bad spot or do not want to rush, this can be helpful for avoiding damage. Due to the attack being faster in the second phase, a much "longer" attack opportunity will be given afterward. 𓆩✧𓆪 Parryable ⛊ Blockable § Dodgeable 🕱 Autogrip
Lightning Assault (★☆☆)	The Ferryman teleports directly in front of the player, before using a stronger version of the Lightning Assault Mantra. He uses this attack three times before stopping, always attacking from the player's facing direction, then left, then right. The frequency of the attacks is typically fixed, but The Ferryman will occasionally cast this at a much more rapid pace if he is placed next to, or in a wall by the previous Lightning Assault. Grants autoparry frames. In phase one, you need to manually parry the first and last strike, as the second will be auto parried. In the second phase, you only need to parry the initial hit, and the others will be autoparried. Becomes much faster in phase two. The Ferryman has auto-parry frames during this attack, nullifying any hits that may be about to hit him while executing Lightning Assault. Parrying any of these hits after two parries of the Ferryman's attacks in quick succession, including via. previous failed instances of this attack, will grant an attack opportunity. Otherwise, gives no attack opportunity. 𓆩✧𓆪 Parryable ⛊ Blockable § Dodgeable 🕱 Autogrip
Grand Volley (★★★)	The most dangerous attack in the Ferryman's arsenal, he fires four, much slower, purple Grand Javelins at any player within the arena. He only uses this attack in phase two, replacing his Lightning Clones attack. Each javelin hit does an estimated 150 damage, but is affected by Mantra, and Thunder resistance. Can be dodged by simply running anywhere but directly at The Ferryman. Has insanely high posture damage, almost always resulting in an instant guard-break. In a similar manner to his Lightning Assault attack, the Ferryman will give a (although much briefer) attack opportunity should any of these javelins be parried following four successful parries—this requires this attack to be chained more than once, an intentionally failed Lightning Assault for one to two recent parries, or multiple players parrying at once. Otherwise, gives no attack opportunity. Similarly to Lightning Clones, Ranged Mantras will not trigger his Displacement, allowing for an attack opportunity. Can be ragdoll-cancelled. 𓆩✧𓆪 Parryable ⛊ Blockable § Dodgeable ⤻ Ragdoll 🕱 Autogrip
Vent	An explosion of blue ether around the user that pushes opponents away. He always vents when an attack would daze him. 𓆩✧𓆪 Parryable ⛊ Blockable § Dodgeable

Talents

• Inverse Chain (currently doesn't function) - For each hit the player lands on the Ferryman, he takes more damage, similar to the Talent Chain of Perfection.
• First Interrogation - Attacks from players who are Electrified will give the Ferryman ether proportional to their initial damage.
• Second Interrogation - Electrified attacks do 50% less damage and posture damage to the Ferryman.
• Authority Intimidation - All moves that apply electricity slow you more.
• Resolve Crusher - All the Ferryman's lightning moves apply "Electrify", attacks from electrified players are converted into lightning damage, but will deal 10% less damage to the Ferryman.
• Resilience - Similar to every other boss, is immune to statuses which disable moves.

Finishers

• Boatman's Gaze - The Ferryman does not need to manually execute anyone. If you lose all of your health, you die instantly.

Battle

Unlike many standard NPCs, the Ferryman instead requires the player to constantly be on their toes and watch where the ferryman goes and listen for his sound cues, rather than "Power-Checking" like many other monsters up to this point. A detailed guide has been placed below to be viewed, but do note that it may miss certain points that a video guide may be able to answer.

Note that Chain of Perfection's obtainment condition will not be lost if hit by Ferryman's minions or vent; only his direct damage (e.g. lightning assault, javelins, etc.) counts against it.

• In General
• Phase One
• Phase Two

In General

The Ferryman can prove a tough boss for new-comers, while being extremely easy for any repeat experiences, as he is the first major "Unique" enemy many players may encounter.

• Please note that you may no longer use campfires due to it now being a voidzone.
• Remain calm doing this boss, as the less hits you take, the more damage you will deal due to his Inverse Chain.
• His moves are all INCREDIBLY loud and telegraphed, turning up your volume will allow you to hear any attacks you may be unable to see. In almost all cases, the moments he grants the player an attack opportunity are telegraphed with a spin, although the duration will vary from attack to attack.
• Make sure to sell or store items in your inventory; You will be surprised how much the speed debuff of being overencumbered can hurt.

Phase One

Phase One is a simple warm-up phase for his second phase, allowing lots of grace-periods, and incredibly low damage if you do ever get hit. This phase should be used to grasp the basics of the Ferryman, and build up chain stacks in order to deal incredibly high damage in his much harder second phase.

• His displacement is a simple reminder to not get greedy within the fight, as he will automatically un-stun himself and immedietely begin an attack if he displaces. Use your attack opportunity to get hits, but then back away so he does not teleport and mess up your rhythm.
• Lightning Assault is always the first move used within the fight, allowing you to get up to four free hits, and get the timing down to parry it. Despite how it may seem, both phases have nearly the same parry timing for Lightning Assault.
• His Lightning Strikes are much more dangerous in the initial phase, as many Heavy Weapons are unable to deal damage fast enough to prevent a full damageless strikes, along with him being stunned for much less time than in phase two, to avoid this move, simply rush at him with slides and air dashes and swiftly hit him, or move any other cardinal direction to completely avoid it.
• The clones are a move specifically to punish heavy weapons further, as any other weapon can simply swing at the ferryman and both disable the clones and land hits on the ferryman. Any AoE mantra is able to deal massive damage along with completely disabling the clones. If you have the talent Grand Feast, you will receive a healthpack for disabling the clones.

Phase Two

Phase Two is when the fight ironically is easier than the first phase if you have paid attention and gotten the grasp of parry timings. His faster attacks provide much longer attack opportunities than in the first phase. He also loses his incredibly annoying Lightning Clones in place for a much easier to avoid move in Grand Volley.

• His displacement is much easier to avoid than in the initial phase, as all of his attack opportunities in this phase may have a full basic attack and flourish combo, even with the Hivelord's Hubris. In the event he spawns near you, you will withstand a Pulse but most of the time he teleports away before it even hits you, rendering it useless.
• The Lightning Assault from the previous phase has been near-completely unchanged in parry timing, as his second slash will always be avoided through Auto-Parry frames. Along with this, his attack opportunity is MUCH longer, allowing 1-2 more basic attacks than in phase one.
• His Lightning Strikes is ironically nerfed if you are able to avoid it, as they last much shorter and provide even more of an attack opportunity than the phase one version, even allowing heavy weapons to fully basic attack through it due to its short length.
• While his Grand Volley is the most feared move within his arsenal, in solo runs it can be disregarded as a "free-heal" move, only ever being dangerous in multiplayer runs as Javelins are fired towards all players within the arena. It can be avoided by moving to either the right or the left, or even parried. A incredibly loud sound cue is played when he chooses to use this attack, and is more of a time-waster than an actual attack due to it's lack of attack opportunity.

Tips

As with all the other boss-fights within Deepwoken, the Ferryman is more of a knowledge and parry check rather than a stat-check. It is highly recommended to solo him rather than go in a group due to how his scaling works.

The best way to damage the Ferryman is utilising the attack opportunities from parrying or avoiding his moves. You can NOT flourish him against a wall like Duke Erisia and must instead wait for Your Turn to attack him.

The Ferryman also has a fair amount of auto-parry frames during his two main methods of attack, Lightning Assault and Lightning Strike. Taking advantage of them will reduce the strain on yourself over attempting to individually parry each attack.

The Ferryman's arena from above, with his six teleportation locations encircled in blue.

Rewards

• Knowledge: The Ferryman grants 2 Knowledge when you first defeat him, and 1 Knowledge on every subsequent defeat, regardless of season.
• "Progress": As with all bosses, the Ferryman grants Resonance progress on defeat, scaling with damage done along with whoever got the last hit.
• Seasonal Rewards - Speaking to the Ferryman after defeating him will reward the player with an additional reward. If there are multiple people in the dungeon, the reward will only be given to the one who initiates dialogue (unless it's Summer).
  • Spring - Instead of an additional chest, he awards you with one Knowledge. This is repeatable. He speaks about him being a Krulian, Enlightening you.
  • Summer - An additional, lower-tier chest containing Amethyst Pendant Earrings, along with many miscellaneous Legendary Rings.
  • Autumn - Identical to Summer, being an additional, lower-tier chest containing Amethyst Pendant Earrings, along with many miscellaneous Legendary Rings.
  • Winter - A Krulian Knife, which may be starred or enchanted. Subsequent defeats award an Aelita chest, but does not give additional Krulian Knives.

Aside from his seasonal rewards, the Ferryman also provides a line of three chests which may drop Earrings, Legendary Rings, Weapons, and rarely, Relics.

Exhaustive Loot Table

Outfit Schematics	Unique: Ferryman's Coat
Miscellaneous	Items: Ferryman's Coat Cloth, The Ferryman's Lullaby (Book), All Deep Gems, Umbral Obsidian, Diamond (Extremely Rare) Relics: Ardour Manifestation, Armorer's Needle, Idol of Yun'Shul, Pluripotent Alloy, Smith's Alloy
Weapons	Relic Weapons: Dormant Splinter. Legendary Weapons: Crypt Blade, Stormseye. Alloyed Weapons: N/A Generic Weapons: Light Weapons: Krulian Knife, Nemit's Sickle. Medium Weapons: Crescendo. Heavy Weapons: N/A Offhand Weapons: N/A Seasonal Exclusive Weapons: Iron Birch (Winter), Shattered Katana (Winter).
Equipment	Head Equipment: All Seasons: N/A Seasonal Exclusive: Assassin's Hood (Crimson, Gold, & Mist) (Winter). Arm Equipment: All Seasons: N/A Seasonal Exclusive: Adjudicator's Coat (All Variants) (Winter), Authority Commander Coat (All Variants) (Winter), Assassin's Cloak (Crimson, Gold, & Mist) (Winter), Justicar Defender Coat (All Variants) (Summer & Winter). Leg Equipment: N/A Torso Equipment: All Seasons: Lightkeeper's Medallion. Seasonal Exclusive: Scarf (Black) (Winter). Face Equipment: All Seasons: N/A Seasonal Exclusive: Brow Stud (Winter), Dermal Stud (Winter), Headband (Black, Blue, Green, White) (Winter), Moon Brow Rings (Winter), Moon Lip Ring (Winter), Moon Septum Ring (Winter), Nose Stud (Winter), Snakebite Studs (Winter), Warrior's Eyepatch (Winter). Ear Equipment: All Seasons: Moonlit Earrings. Seasonal Exclusive: Amethyst Pendant Earrings (Summer & Autumn). Rings: All Seasons: Akira's Ring, Armorer's Ring, Dawnfist's Ring Deepfire Ring, Ferryman's Ring, Finisher's Ring, Maestro's Ring, Moon Ring, Prophet's Ring, Rosen's Ring, Waning Ring. Almost all Legendary Rings.

Dialogue

• Introduction
• After Fight Finishes

This is Ferryman's dialogue when he's neutral, before you fight him.

Begin Dialogue
[The First time meeting The Ferryman on that character]						Returning to The Ferryman after having already fought him once
*He yawns deeply.* Oh, it seems like one of you land dwellers has finally decided to wake me up. Well squirt, what do you want?						Oh, back again? Heh, how about another wager?
Who are you?						Deal.
Well, that's quite rude isn't it? Asking my name without even giving your own. Hmf. Typical land dwellers. No manners, I swear.						[End Dialogue], Fight Begins
[Tell him your name]
Oh come on [player name], I'm just pulling your leg. Anywho! I don't think I'll be telling you my name but how's about a little wager?
A wager?
Yes a wager! You mortals love wagers. From what I've seen anyway. You bet your life, and I bet a relic you might be interested in. How's that sound?
Deal.
[End Dialogue], Fight Begins

This is Ferryman's dialogue when he's defeated, after you fight him. There is no dubbing for this in game.

Begin Dialogue
[Post-fight, after defeating The Ferryman multiple times, and the season is Spring or Summer]						[Post-fight, after defeating The Ferryman for the first time, and the season is Spring or Summer. Or any defeats in Autumn or Winter]
Well done, well done!						Well done, well done!
Who are you?						Who are you?
Oh, you really are quite persistent with these questions... Fine fine fine. Though, a better question is perhaps not who I am, but what.						Oh, again with these questions... Maybe I'll tell you some other time. For now, your reward!
So, what are you?						[End Dialogue]
I am a Krulian, and one of the few known to you surface-folk. We are the closest bridge between the Gods below and your kind. The next step in the evolutionary chain you could say... But I really must be off, it was a pleasure dancing with you as always.
[End Dialogue]

Additionally, The Ferryman used to have a dialogue for beating him under a certain time limit, as the pre-release obtainment method for the Rhythm murmur.

• "Look into the flames, and you shall see my gift... If you have the strength to take it that is." (Only available in Spring)
  • Video of beating the Ferryman in time to activate the Murmur text here: https://streamable.com/1ei4gt

Trivia

• The music that plays as you fight the Ferryman will vary depending on his current phase. The music is modified in-game and cannot be heard the exact same way it is heard here.
  • If the Ferryman is in phase 1, "A Sarabande of Thunder" will play in the background.
    • A Sarabande Of Thunder (The Ferryman Phase 1)
  • If the Ferryman is in phase 2, "Dance, If You Can!" will play in the background.
    • Dance, If You Can! (The Ferryman Phase 2)
• The Ferryman's Colors: #f7eae3 Skin | #E6D4D4 Hair | #8c0f82 Pupils | #cbd2ff Sclera | 17208591888 Hair ID
• The Ferryman is confirmed by Arch_Mage to be completely unrelated to the keeper of the House of Purgatory from Rogue Lineage.
• Due to this boss and The Scion of Ethiron using a purple variation of their respective element, they were thought to be using "awakened elements." However, despite the connections that would lead one to believe this is the application of the Song that Kaide talks about, Arch_Mage confirmed that there is no relation, and that he only chose purple because "it looked cool."
• Boatman's Watch is located within the Void Sea, and dying in it will send you directly to The Depths.
• If spoken to whilst wearing the Hallowtide Mask, the Ferryman will not be afraid and instead reply by saying "Such a funny little tradition. I do like a game." or "Oh, you like to take different forms too?"
• Arch_Mage has stated that the Ferryman is probably bisexual
• Starting the Ferryman fight in a season then having the season change will give you the reward of the new season, so if you started the fight in Winter and the season changed to Spring mid-fight, you would get 1 knowledge, instead of a Krulian Knife.
• The Ferryman's clones can drop Soul Orbs which give you an investment point.
• The Ferryman appears to have an interest towards the culture of Lumen as he has appeared in the Metallica promotional event to see the appeal of it.
  • The Ferryman has also hosted the Yesterwynde Tavern in the Nightwish promotional event, where a quest could be done to obtain exclusive instrument skins.
• The Ferryman is voiced by redpetal (previously known as DemStormz).
• The Saltchemist Oath giver, Adrofalis, says that "The thundering sounds and the music are awfully distracting," in reference to The Ferryman's attacks as well as the music, which could mean that the fight music is infact, diegetic.
• If you take too long to initiate the fight with The Ferryman, he will leave after a certain amount of time, and leave you with nothing but a portal to leave.
• He is considered a significant enemy of the Authority by Chainwarden progression, likely due to his alignment with the Depths.
• He bears a near-identical appearance to Korin, the only difference being eye coloration.

References

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