Clive Barker's Undying
Boss Strategy/FAQ

Created by: Rapskallion (AKA BrianR755)
Date: March 2001
Copyright 2001 Brian Renbarger

Table of Contents:

I. Introduction
II. General Boss Strategies
III. The Bosses
-1. Cursed Cleavage: Lizabeth
-2. Chop Chop!: Ambrose
-3. An Old Rival: Keisinger
-4. Chained Terror: Aaron
-5. Playing in the Dirt: Bethany
-6. Nuclear Worm: The Undead King
IV. Frequently Asked Questions
V. Credits
VI. Legal Stuff

I. Introduction

Having a hard time taking out those hard to beat bosses in Clive 
Barker's Undying?  Have no fear, Rapskallion is here! I've gone back 
and beat each boss numerous times, trying out all sorts of different 
strategies against them, and now I am going to share the quickest, 
easiest, and least confusing way to hack through these undead mofos. If 
you have any suggestions, ideas, comments, complaints, or criticisms 
please let me know.  E-mail me at with whatever you 
have to say.  I appreciate your ideas and also appreciate your praise 
:).  Oh, and please don't email me spam, I really do not like it.  If 
you think you've got an easier way of beating a particular boss, send 
it to me.  If it is something good, I'll add it to this FAQ and give 
you the credit you deserve.
Now, a little bit about myself.  Boss FAQs and game reviews are my 
specialty, and if you'd like to check out my other wonderful work that 
has been posted at GameFAQ's wonderful website, simply click on my name 
to view my profile.  Voila!  That wasn't too tough, was it?
Oh, and one more thing.  Please do not use this FAQ on any other site 
without my permission.  If you are interested in using this FAQ on a 
webpage other than GameFAQ's, e-mail me at to get 
permission first.  Thank you, and enjoy!

II. General Boss Strategies

There are a few things to remember when fighting the bosses in Undying.  
If you follow these basic strategies, it should make your battles 
easier and less frustrating.

Use your shield: Perhaps the most important thing to remember is to try 
and keep your shield on at all times against basically all bosses.  Now 
of course you can't do that against Lizabeth since you don't have the 
shield spell yet, but once you acquire it, use it.  You'd be surprised 
how much it helps.

Keep moving: Its very important to keep moving against these bosses.  
If you stand still, you'll be dead before you know it.  If you have to 
change weapons or spells, do it while you are moving.  If your health 
is low, run around in circles while your health packs raise it up.  The 
only time you should stand still is when you are attacking.

Be aggressive: You will never kill anything if you don't attack it.  Be 
aggressive against the bosses.  The worst thing that can happen is 
you'll die and have to reload!  Go out on a limb and give up some of 
your life for a good attack.  Who knows, maybe that last effort 
offensive move is all that it takes to finish the boss off.  Suicidal 
attacks (attacks where you don't worry about your own life) does more 
damage than you can imagine.  Of course, don't get into a habit of 
being overly aggressive, either.

Use your head: Unlike most first-person shooters, many of the bosses in 
Undying require some thought instead of all out firepower.  If you 
don't seem to be getting anywhere by beating the crap out of one of the 
bosses, try and find a weak point.  It could be a lot easier than it 

III. The Bosses

1. Cursed Cleavage: Lizabeth
Difficulty: Easy
Word of Advice: Not much strategy involved here; just kick her ass!

Well, here it is, the first boss of the game.  Just so you know, it 
doesn't take this long to get to the other bosses; you are about one 
third of the way through the game when you reach the first boss.  
Lizabeth seems like a tough little cookie, but she isn't as hard as she 
looks.  First thing we gotta do is get rid of those damn skeletons.  
Ignoring Lizabeth, go up to the skeletons and use invoke on them one by 
one.  While you are waiting for your invoke to recharge, fend off the 
others by hitting them with your Gel'ziabar Stone (note: if you hold 
the stone when you cast invoke, it will only use half of your mana 
instead of all of it).  After the skeletons are out of the way, its 
time to face Liz.
You can kill Lizabeth with any weapon, but my personal favorites are 
the shotgun or the scythe.  The shotgun is probably the better choice 
since you can avoid Lizabeth's nasty melee attacks.  Make sure that 
your shotgun is on double barrel mode (activate by pushing Alt), and it 
won't take too long to kill her.  Be wary of her melee attacks; she has 
some missle attacks as well, but they do very little damage.  If you 
want to conserve ammo and you have some health packs to spare, feel 
free to go right up to her and slash at her with the scythe; one very 
good tactic is to run up to her, slash her real quickly, then run away 
again.  Well, whatever weapon you choose to use, eventually she will 
start glowing.  This means she is near death, and she is pretty damn 
pissed too.  Keep attacking her, being even more careful of her melee 
attacks.  Eventually she will stop attacking and begin to wobble like 
someone who has had a bit too much to drink.  Go up to her with the 
scythe and pop off her little head.  Ding dong, the witch is dead 

2. Chop Chop!: Ambrose
Difficulty: Very easy
Word of Advice: Just take your time aiming, and he'll be dead in just a 
few shots!

It took me forever to figure out how to kill this big gorilla of a man.  
I spent nearly an hour firing everything I had at him, until I happened 
to stumble onto the trick to beating him.  You see your Gel'ziabar 
Stone stuck in his axe?  All you have to do is shoot the stone out of 
his axe with your pistol, and he's dead!  The best way to do this is to 
run around the room, letting him chase after you.  After a minute or 
two, a big creature (lion?) will jump out of the wall and grab onto his 
arm.  While Ambrose struggles with the creature, carefully aim your 
pistol at the stone and fire.  If your aim is true, the stone will pop 
out of the axe and Ambrose will return to his original self.  Go pick 
up your stone and slice off his head with the scythe.  Now, wasn't that 
TRICK: Do you wanna have your stone with you while you fight him?  Well 
then, all you gotta do is save the game at the beginning of the battle, 
then after you shoot the stone out of his axe and pick it up, load your 
game.  When you start the battle again, you will have the stone in your 
inventory and it will also be on the axe.  This doesn't really help you 
at all, but I just thought I'd share my discovery :).

3. An Old Rival: Keinsinger
Difficulty: Hard
Word of Advice: Keep moving and try to avoid his attacks at all costs, 
they do mega damage!

Keinsinger is a pretty tough opponent, by far the toughest you've faced 
yet.  Like Lizabeth, there is no weak point or trick to beating him; 
just hit him with all the firepower you've got!  Now, there are many 
ways to beat him.  My personal favorite is skull storm combined with 
the shotgun, but another good one (probably a safer method) is 
If you are doing the shield/shotgun, make sure that your shield is up 
at all times.  Whenever you get a chance, carefully and quickly aim 
your shotgun at Keinsinger and fire away.  Make sure your shotgun is on 
double barrel mode, and go ahead and equip the phosphorous shells if 
you want.  Don't bother firing at him when he has that purple ball 
surrounding him; that is his shield, and you'll be just wasting ammo.  
Make sure that you keep moving, because even with shield up, his 
attacks can kill you in a matter of seconds.
Unless you have skull storm amplified to AT LEAST level 3, I would 
advise against using skull storm.  I like using it because it is easy 
to aim, does major damage, and doesn't take any ammo.  However, you run 
a risk by not using shield; make sure you avoid Keinsinger's attacks.  
Aim the skulls at him and fire away, quickly running for cover from 
Keinsinger's own skull storm.
However you fight him, Keinsinger will eventually disappear.  At this 
point, drop into the trap door in the middle of the arena.  Keinsinger 
will reappear, ready for another whipping.  Whip out your shotgun and 
shield spell and open a can of whoop-ass on him.  Before long, 
Keinsinger will fall to his death.

4. Chained Terror: Aaron
Difficulty: Medium (Easy if you use this guide, though!)
Word of Advice: Stay light on your feet and strafe like crazy!

Aaron is a bit tricky, so listen up!  Equip the shield spell and the 
scythe and go at him, swinging like a madman.  Before long, you'll cut 
off his arm.  At this point, Aaron will go to the middle of the arena 
and start shooting his chain at you.  Stay along the perimeter, making 
sure to keep your shield up and strafing to avoid his fire as much as 
possible.  What you want to do is line yourself up behind one of the 
chains that hang down from the ceiling.  Stand behind one of these 
chains and wait for Aaron to throw his chain at you.  If done right, 
Aaron's chain will get caught and you can go up to him and slice off 
his head with the scythe.  Sound easy?  Well, sorta.  The problem is 
positioning.  You have to be placed PERFECTLY behind the chain, or 
Aaron won't get caught.  It may take a few times before you finally get 
it, so be patient.  Thankfully Aaron's attack doesn't do that much 
damage when you have your shield up, so if at first you don't succeed, 
try, try again!

TIP: If you are having trouble getting Aaron to get his chain stuck in 
one of those hanging chains, there is an easier way to do it.  Look 
around.  You should see a wooden door in the room.  Once Aaron starts 
throwing his chain at you, go and stand in front of it.  When Aaron 
throws his chain at you, get out of the way and it will stick to the 
wooden door.  This is much easier than trying to get him to get stuck 
on one of the other chains.  (Special thanks to David Waddling and Drew 
Lucy for contributing this strategy.)

5. Playing in the Dirt: Bethany
Difficulty: Hard
Word of Advice: Strafe to avoid the missile attacks and never, ever 
stop moving!

Bethany would be simple if it wasn't for her two annoying buddies.  
First thing you need to do is make sure your shield spell is up; if it 
isn't, you'll be dead before you know it.  There are two sorceresses 
floating around the arena; make life a bit easier by taking them out 
A.S.A.P. with either your pistol with silver bullets or skull storm.  
After they are down for the count, blast the creature that Bethany 
summons with either skull storm, your shotgun, or the scythe.  Now that 
Bethany is all alone, all you gotta do is run up to her and slice off 
her head.  Make sure you do it quickly though, or she'll summon another 
creature for your entertainment.  After she's dead, watch the 
surprising cutscene and prepare yourself for your final battle: the 
undead roach.. er, I mean king.

6. Nuclear Worm: The Undead King
Difficulty: Medium
Word of Advice: Stay away from the shore and stay away from his mouth 
and you'll be fine.  Notice that the King is very fat and lazy; he 
won't move an inch the entire fight.

I know what you're thinking.  What the hell is that?!?!?  Well instead 
of laughing at this sad excuse for an end boss, just beat the damn 
thing so you can see the final cutscene, okay?  The King is nearly 
impossible unless you know how to beat him, but once you figure out his 
weak point he is disappointingly easy. If you don't have any dynamite, 
grab some from the shoreline, being careful of the tentacles that slap 
at you from the ocean.  Ignore the phoenix eggs; the way we're gonna 
beat him, we won't be needing them.  Now turn on your shield, run right 
up to him, and drop a few dynamite right in front of him.  Run back 
quickly, but be careful not to run too close to the water; if you do, 
you'll get butchered.  If you set the dynamite correctly, you'll notice 
that his two lower legs have blown off.  Equip your pistol and skull 
storm and back up a little ways away from him.  Pretty soon his stomach 
(or is that his mouth?) will open up and begin to suck you in.  Quickly 
shoot the hole with your pistol and it will close.  He will then expose 
his weak point; the top of his head.  He will lean his long neck 
forward and scream at you.  Launch a few skulls at his head and he will 
pull back in pain.  Next thing you know, his stomach will open again 
and try to suck you in.  After this repeats about 5 times, he'll die.  
Congratulations, you've just killed one of the most disappointing end 
bosses ever! 

IV. Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some helpful questions and answers about the game.  Some of 
these have been from e-mails I've received, others I've just made up.  
The FAQ is not just limited to boss questions, either.  There are many 
general game questions that I have gone ahead and answered.  However, I 
will not answer any specific puzzle questions on this FAQ.  Sorry.

1. Q: Is the Gel'ziabar Stone a weapon?  What is it used for?

A: I guess you could call the stone a weapon, but it is more of a tool.  
The stone does a few things.  First, it can be used to push enemies 
back a few feet.  Second, it amplifies all spells by 1 when you are 
holding it.  So if your skull storm is level 3 and you are holding the 
stone, it becomes level 4.  Finally, the stone reduces the amount of 
mana required to cast a spell by half.  So if you are using a spell 
that usually takes 100 mana, it will only take 50 when holding the 

2. Q: What do arcane whorls do? 

A: Arcane whorls are power-ups you will find during the game.  They 
increase the rate at which your mana recharges itself.  The more arcane 
whorls you get, the faster you'll regain mana.

3. Q: What are the silver bullets for?

A: Silver bullets can be used against regular enemies the same as 
regular bullets, but there main purpose is for killing magical enemies.

4. Q: What the heck IS that thing?

A: If you are referring to the game's last boss, I have no idea....

5. Q: I have a question for you, Rapskallion.  How do I get in contact 
with you?

A: Well, if you look around really hard, you may find my e-mail address 
somewhere on this FAQ... considering it is in about a dozen places!!!  
For those of you who are too lazy, you can e-mail me at about whatever it is you want to talk about.

6. Q: What are amplifiers, and how do I use them?

A: Amplifiers are probably the most important power-ups in the game.  
They are small stones that can be identified by the strange humming 
sound they make.  Many are very well hidden, but some are pretty easy 
to find.  Amplifiers increase the strength of a spell; they may 
increase the damage, increase the duration, or lower the mana cost of 
the spell.  Once you find an amplifier, select it from your item 
inventory, switch to the spell that you want to amplify, and then use 
it like you would a health pack (default key: enter).  Choose wisely, 
because amplifiers are hard to find!

7. Q: What spells are best to amplify?

A: It's really up to you.  There is no point in amplifying scyre or 
disspell, but beyond that its all a matter of opinion.  You may really 
love using the shield, or may hate it.  You might be a big fan of skull 
storm (like me), or you may find it a waste.  Experiment with all of 
the spells before you invest your amplifiers on them.  The only thing 
that I must insist on is that you put 3 points into shield.  Shield is 
probably the most useful spell and if you put in more than 3 points you 
will begin to obscure your vision.  If you like using the scythe, raise 
up your haste spell so you attack faster and move quicker.  Whatever 
spells you like, amplify them.  It's as simple as that.

8. Q: Why do all the workers still work at the mansion even after all 
of the haunting and killing?

A: Very good question!  Must be well paid.

9. Q: What are ether traps?

A: Ether traps are devices that you can use to capture spirits and send 
them to a place far, far away.  Try using them on Aaron's naked butt 
when he is running around the manor slicing at you with his chains.  
It'll make him go away for a little while.

10. Q: How do I kill skeletons?

A: Skeletons can be killed one way and one way only: the invoke spell.  
Cast it on a skeleton and he will disappear, never to appear again.  If 
you attack a skeleton with a regular weapon, he will fall only to rise 

11. Q: What are mana wells?

A:  Mana wells are power-ups that increase your mana by 10.  Like 
Arcane Whorls, they are very hard to find.  While 10 mana may not sound 
like much, if you find 5 of these things your mana has increased by 
50%.  Not so bad, eh?

V. Credits

I'd like to thank Clive Barker for taking time away from the books to 
create such a great game.  One of the first truly scary games to hit 
the PC, well done!

I'd also like to thank GameFAQ's for giving me another opportunity to 
waste so much of my time writing FAQ's, reviews, and talking on the 
message boards.  

Also, special thanks to all whom contributed to this FAQ.  All of you 
who helped me along the way have been credited somewhere up above, but 
I thought I'd thank you again.

One more time.  If you want to contact me for any reason, e-mail me at  I'd love to know if you have some ideas for 
improving this FAQ.  Thanks to you all for reading this, and enjoy your 
stay at the Covenant Manor.....

V. Legal Stuff

This document is protected by federal law. That means that you have to 
ask my permission before copying it onto any other website, message 
board, etc.  Feel free to print it out for your own personal use, 
provided that you do not claim credit for it.  E-mail me if you have 
any questions.

Rapskallion (Yes, with a K!!!!!)