Void Hunters Prisoner Boss Guide

Stuck on the Prisoner boss in Void Hunters? You’re not alone.
This fight is the first real progression wall, and its a big jump. But here’s the thing, it’s not about having insane heroes. It’s about understanding the mechanics and playing smart.

In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how to beat the Prisoner boss, including key mechanics and the strategy that will get you through consistently.

This fight revolves around a few core systems, and if you do not understand them, you will struggle.

Pillars and Shackles
The boss starts linked to several pillars. For each pillar the Prisoner is shackled too, he gets -10% (up to 40%). However he will gain a 15% Turn meter boost on each enemy turn in which he did not receive damage. When attacking the pillars, destroying one will stun the boss and remove all buffs, but it also deals heavy area damage to your team.

Weak Stacks
These are applied when the boss takes direct damage or is debuffed. I havent tested what happens with units like Tiche who place Bleeds on their attacks, but I would assume one stack would be applied for the hit and one for the bleed.  The “Weak” debuff  reduces his Attack, Defense, Crit Rate and Crit Resistance by 5% per stack, stacking up to 10 times. This massively helps you survive. However, if the boss reaches 10 stacks, he immediately gains a bonus turn.

Hunted
When you attack the boss, the attacker will receive the Hunted debuff. Meaning they can be targetted even if there is a unit with Taunt on your team. Sadly, there is no hiding your DPS behind a tank here.

Enrage
The boss gets 1 enraged stack evert 4 turns and one on their 20th turn. Each one gives him +50% attack and +20% speed. You want this fight to be quick and methodical, you cannot drag it out forever.

Control Resistance
Turn meter reduction and control effects are much less effective here, so you cannot rely on them to carry the fight.

There is a lot to manage here but the key takeaway is simple. This is a fight about balance and smart play patterns, not just raw damage.

What is the best team set up for the fight you ask? Well there isn’t really a simple answer to this.

Right now there are units like Bohdan who can solo everything, including this encounter. I have even seen a well equipped and levelled Jagya also solo this. But thats not why you come here.

In truth, you do not need perfect units to win, but you do need the right roles. For now we are only going to focus on the first star, not the seasoned or dwarf only requirements (although as stated above these can be done with only one unit)

A strong team should include:

• A main damage dealer. This could be someone such as Robin, Reed or Angelo.
• A multi-hitter. This one isnt essential but the quicker you can build up the weak stacks, the easier it is to survive. All 3 units on the previous point have an ability that hits 2 or more times.
• A tank or utility unit with shields, or attack down. The tank role wont necessarily come into play for the actual boss part as the Hunted debuff still allows the Prisoner to target your squishies. But it may help in the waves and ease the burden on your healer. Nadia and Sir Bernard are excellent here.
• A healer or sustain unit to keep your team alive, goes without saying really.
• A flexible slot. This can either be extra damage, healer or more utility. I would suggest bringing someone like Vilk or Besemin for the Blinds. Blind is one of the single most powerful effects in this game and it works on bosses. Those hard hitting attacks do nothing.

Free units like Reed, Robin and Lilith are more than capable of clearing this fight when built properly and the right level, so do not feel pressured to rely on legendary heroes. But I must say that to make this encounter easier, making sure your core units are level 35 or above will help.

The fight becomes much easier when you follow a clear plan. I touched on this above slightly but will go into more detail here.

First, you need prioritise your teams safety.  This will include defensive abilities such as applying Shields with Nadia or applying attack down (or both). But also you want to make sure you start getting some of those weak stacks on the boss, so make sure you hit him a couple of times as well. The mitigation those weak stacks bring is no joke. Alternatively, Blinding the bosses eliminates the need to get Weak Stacks high as his attack will simply miss.

Secondly, focus on steady pressure rather than rushing. The bosses opening rotation is an attack, then he buffs himself. This means if you have survived the first hit, you dont need to panic about destroying a pillar right away. You essentially have a turn of him not doing much before he hits you again. Also, dont worry about the buffs, these will disappear when you destroy a pillar. So deal some more damage to him but keep an eye on Weak stacks. If you get to around 7 or 8 it might be time to switch focus to a pillar so he doesnt get an extra turn.

When you are ready, destroy a pillar. When you are “ready” entirely depends on cooldowns and the bosses stacks. As stated above if he has too many stacks you should destroy one. Try and get it to line up so your healer is ready handle the incoming damage from the pillar falling or when you need to interrupt the boss and stun him.

Once the pillar falls, its show time. The boss wont get anymore Weak stacks when he is stunned so you can safely go ham on him. In the meantime watch his turn meter, heal your team and be ready to go again.

From there, repeat the cycle. Continue this pattern of controlled damage, pillar timing, and recovery until the boss is defeated.

Caution!!! Try not to bring too much AoE damage, the falling pillars will also damage the other ones. There is a chance you can accidentally drop multiple at the same time which is terrible news, not just for your healer but also limits the amount of times you can stall him.

I think the saying is “beating the same old drum” but this is the most important part of the fight and the biggest reason players fail.

Weak stacks reduce the boss’s effectiveness, which helps your survivability. However, reaching ten stacks will give the boss an extra turn, which can quickly spiral out of control.

You need to find the balance. Apply enough stacks to weaken the boss, but always stay below the threshold that triggers the bonus turn.

Think of it as a constant adjustment rather than a fixed target. He will lose one stack when he takes a turn.

Every time you destroy a pillar, your team takes 10-15% Max HP damage. Poor timing here can end your run instantly.

To manage this, always prepare before breaking a pillar. Make sure your healing abilities are ready, and avoid triggering the effect when your team is already low on health. Also as each tumbling pillar will damage the others, try to avoid have multiple at low HP at the same time. You don’t want a domino effect here.

Using shields or defensive abilities can make a huge difference in surviving these moments.

There are a few common errors that can make this fight much harder than it needs to be.

• Destroying multiple pillars at once can overwhelm your team with the fall damage. It also limits the amount of control you have on the boss.
• Not paying attention to Weak stacks and letting them reach ten will give the boss too much momentum.
• Not bringing some form of sustain in favour of pure damage often leads to defeats.
• Finally, control effects like Turn Meter Down wont work well due to the boss’s resistance. But Blind is irreplaceable in encounters like this, often making the bosses attack do nothing. Bring it if you have it.

Avoiding these mistakes will significantly improve your chances of success.

The Prisoner boss is an excellent early test of your understanding of Void Hunters. It forces you to think carefully about timing, management of different effects, and team balance.

Once you learn when to break pillars, how to manage Weak stacks, and how to balance damage with survival, the fight becomes much more manageable.

If you are still struggling, take another look at your team setup. Small adjustments can make a big difference. And if you want more Void Hunters guides and strategies, be sure to keep it here as I will have more coming out on Hellhades.com in the near future.