V Rising Putrid Rat location and how to beat it

V Rising Putrid Rat boss rat form — (Image credit: Stunlock Studios)

The V Rising Putrid Rat boss fight doesn't have a specific location - or rather, its location is up to you, as this is a boss that's not found, but summoned, meaning that the Blood Altar won't help much in tracking it down. It's done through an item called the Vermin Nest, but the whole process is a little complex, hence why I've put together this guide below. It's certainly worth doing, as you'll be able to unlock the Rat Form as a reward, but the game will make you worth for it. With that in mind, here's how you can summon and kill the Putrid Rat in V Rising.

How to find the Putrid Rat in V Rising

To find the Putrid Rat boss in V Rising, players need to go through these simple steps:

1. Build the Vermin Nest at your Castle

2. Supply the summon recipe for the Putrid Rat

3. Beat the ensuing boss fight for the Rat Form power

It's a pretty simple process, but it's the first point that clearly is going to throw people, as the Putrid Rat is the only boss - or "V Blood Carrier" - that has to be summoned in this way rather than finding it on the V Rising map, and the game isn't quick to explain this strange exception. Fortunately, once you know about it, things become fairly simple, but to expedite the process, we'll lay it all out clearly below.

Building the Vermin Nest

To build the Vermin Nest in V Rising, players first will unlock it automatically by levelling up their Castle Heart, as it'll appear in the Refinement section of the Build menu - a large tank attached to two grates in the ground filled with green liquid. To build it, you'll need:

Stone (x360)
Bone (x120)

Clearly these are fairly easy ingredients that vampires of any level can get without issue. Set it up somewhere with space - there's going to be a boss fight here later, after all - and check inside to see the various "recipes" for summoning different types of rodent. There's some recipes you don't have yet, but luckily, you're able to summon the Putrid Rat straight away. Problem is, there's a few tricky requirements.

Summoning the Putrid Rat

The Putrid Rat will only spawn here if you provide the Vermin Nest with the following resources:

Twilight Snapper (x1)
Fish Bone (x4)
Grave Dust (x8)

V Rising Scrolls

Find V Rising Scrolls for research in our guide here!

Clearly the Snapper is the trickiest one, but you can get that and the Fish Bone by checking out our V Rising Fish guide, where we've laid out how to get the Fishing Pole and catch your own marine life for the sake of rendering into resources.

Likewise, you can get the Twilight Snapper this way. However, as we understand it, the Twilight Snapper can be caught at any fishing spot and is not limited to specific areas. It's also not limited to any time of day, which is surprising but convenient considering its name. The problem is that it's a pretty rare catch despite all these elements - you'll be lucky if you catch one out of every ten fish. Basically, just keep fishing - eventually you should get one, and you'll get other fish along the way for the Fish Bones. Just put the spare fish in the Devourer you unlock for killing Lidia the Chaos Archer, and you can keep the Snapper for the Putrid Rat.

There's also the V Rising Grave Dust. This is a more combat-based resource that players need to get, but we've put together a guide on how you can get enough without ever having to leave the Farbane Woods. Once you have all the ingredients, head back to the Vermin Nest and get ready for a fight.

Putrid Rat Boss Fight

The Putrid Rat boss fight begins thirty seconds after you put all the resources above into the Vermin Nest. Make sure you're ready - the Rat is level 30 and you want to be able to match this, or at least come close with your own Gear Level. Make sure you've got some V Rising best weapons equipped, and all the best abilities you think you can use.

The Putrid Rat boss will spawn in on the Vermin Nest and immediately aggro as you get close. It's primarily a close-range fighter who does bite attacks, but will occasionally vanish for short periods of time and bring in large amounts of Giant Rats as minions. As a rule, you want to save your melee and targeted ranged attacks for the Putrid Rat, then use your AOE attacks and Blood Rite counter to quickly clear out the Giant Rats as much as possible before their leader can come back. Don't be afraid to duck out and heal if need be, and make sure you're not going to get caught off-guard by a sudden sunrise!

Eventually you should topple the Putrid Rat, at which point any remaining Giant Rats will despawn. Drink the Putrid Rat's blood (ew) to get the Rat Form power, which is exactly what it sounds like - the ability to turn into a small rat that enemies don't pay attention to, a very useful power for stealth and getting around stronger enemies without antagonising them.