Mohg, Lord of Blood, can be one of the most exhilarating fights in Elden Ring, but only if you counter his Nihil countdown. While you can face tank the attack like I did on my first playthrough, knowing how to counter Nihil is safer, more efficient, and, thankfully, fairly straightforward.
What is Mohg’s Nihil in Elden Ring and What Does It Do?
Nihil is Latin for “nothing” and takes place at the end of a health-gated countdown during the Mohg, Lord of Blood boss fight. After taking off about 20% of his health bar, Mohg will start counting down from three, also in Latin, so “tres, duo, unos.” Each time he names a new number, a red ring will form around your character, marking the number of counts he’s made. At about 60% of his total health, Mohg will raise his trident into the air and cry “nihil,” causing you to bleed out for 60% of your own health instantly. He’ll do this three times across three cries of “nihil.”
In short, Mohg’s Nihil not only deals damage but causes three successive bleedouts that will kill you if you don’t counter it. Or be thick-headed like me and brute-force your way through it with Crimson Flask healing.
After using Nihil three times, Mohg enters his second phase, gaining a massive pair of black wings with this weapon empowered by bloodflame. Every swing of his trident will spread puddles of the stuff, dealing bleed buildup over time whenever you touch it. His damage will also increase by about 25% per attack, and he gains additional attacks, to boot.
How to Counter Mohg’s Nihil in Elden Ring
To actually counter Mohg’s Nihil attack, you need the Purifying Crystal Tear, a special tear for your Wondrous Physick that absorbs most of the attack’s damage and completely negates the bleed buildup. To function, you need to have the Tear in your Physick and drink it before he begins the chant. You will still take a little damage as each blood ring disappears and the orb the Purifying Crystal Tear creates begins to crack, but you won’t be staggered and can continue attacking Mohg with impunity.
To find the Purifying Crystal Tear that counters Mohg’s Nihil in Elden Ring, you need to reach one of two possible quest outcomes. If you want relatively easy and fast access to the Tear, you need to follow Bloody Finger Hunter Yura’s quest all the way to the end.
You’ll end up in the Second Church of Marika, where Yura will die, give you the Nagakiba, and finally, you’ll be invaded by Eleonora, Violet Bloody Finger. Defeating Eleonora awards the Tear as well as Eleonora’s Poleblade. If you go through Yura’s questline, here are the steps you need to take:
- You’ve been invaded by Bloody Finger Nerijus at the Murkwater Cave in Limgrave, where Yura will help you.
- You’ve defeated Flying Dragon Agheel and spoken to Yura afterward.
- You’ve helped Yura by going to the Main Academy Gate Site of Grace in front of the Academy of Raya Lucaria and interacting with his Red Summon Sign there, exhausted Yura’s dialog after the fight. He’ll be near where his sign was.
- You’ve talked to Yura at the Second Church of Marika.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to deal with Yura’s questline, you can instead continue on the Elden Ring main story quest. During your journey through the Mountaintops of the Giants, you’ll eventually run into Yura, or rather, Yura’s body possessed by Shabriri. Speak to him to discover that Yura is, well, dead, then return to the Second Church of Marika, and Eleonora should spawn regardless of the progress on Yura’s quest (or lack thereof).
When you mix the Purifying Crystal Tear into your Physick, you can drink it during the first phase of Mohg’s boss fight, and it will counter Nihil completely. Mohg will still heal from every burst, but because you can attack him during the chant, you can cut into his recovery quite a bit.
Now you know how to counter nihil in Elden Ring. For more coverage of the game, check out the Elden Ring guides hub, which includes the best ways to farm runes.
