Acolyte Guhe boss guide: how to beat the poison scarecrow

At a glance

Who is Acolyte Guhe

Guhe is the poison specialist of the four Acolytes — the scarecrow bosses whose masks gate the hidden area tied to the true ending. He is not a duellist. He stands back, fills the arena with venom, and lets the damage-over-time do the fighting.

That framing is the whole fight: if you try to out-trade him you will usually lose the exchange on the poison tick rather than on the hit.

Getting there

Head to Meigu Village’s east dock, then out to the island to the south. A scarecrow stands there surrounded by birds — that is the trigger. Interact with it and the fight begins.

He stands on the south side of the island at Meigu Village’s east dock — a scarecrow ringed by birds.

The clones and the poison

His opening pattern is to summon clones that throw poison orbs. The orbs themselves are dodgeable; the problem is what happens when one lands. Poison in this fight drains health extremely fast — fast enough that playing through it and hoping to out-heal is not a plan.

That gives you two jobs at once:

1. Keep moving out of the orb lines. The clones throw in patterns rather than randomly, so strafing beats standing still.
2. Carry a counter to the status. Either the poison-resist accessory or the Green Snake Potion — the potion clears abnormal status and raises poison resistance, which turns a lethal tick into a manageable one.

The green ring is the answer

The mechanic that actually decides the fight is the green ring that appears under your feet.

When it appears, a red flash follows. Perfect-dodge that flash and you teleport onto the real body — Guhe himself, not a clone. That teleport is your only reliable damage window, because every other target in the arena is a copy that costs you poison exposure to attack.

So the loop is:

1. Survive the orb volleys and keep your poison cleared.
2. Watch the ground, not the clones.
3. Green ring appears → wait for the red flash → perfect dodge.
4. Land on the real body → dump damage.
5. Repeat.

Miss the dodge and you stay in the poison cloud with nothing to show for it, which is how this fight turns into attrition you cannot win.

Rewards

What the mask is for

Collect all four masks, then go to the frozen fishing village dock northwest of Meigu Lake and find the bell shrine holding the Protector Four-Image Mirror. Interact with the mirror and the masks shatter its surface, opening a teleport into a hidden area full of collectibles.

The other three come from Acolyte Yanru (the scarecrow in the terraced fields north of Village of Lu, opposite the shield-puppet training ground), Acolyte Lei Ting (a lightning-wrapped scarecrow near Old Genweng’s house, on the cliff southwest of Pengzhen — you need the Blaze Mane Phantom Edge to burn the thorns blocking the path), and Acolyte Hansui, who is fought alongside the Puppet Scavenger deep inside the Crimson Mansion.

Notes

• Poison is the killer, not the hits. Bring the poison-resist accessory or the Green Snake Potion.
• Clones are never the target. Attacking them just keeps you inside the poison.
• The green ring marks the real body. Perfect-dodge the red flash and you teleport onto him.
• No wind-up. The scarecrow starts the fight on interaction — set up first.
• The mask is a key, not loot. It opens the mirror shrine at the frozen dock northwest of Meigu Lake.

Related

• Acolyte Yanru — the fire mask, and the first Acolyte most players meet
• The Puppet Scavenger — the fight where Acolyte Hansui appears
• Dusk the Puppeteer — the other memory-flower gate in Meigu Lake
• All bosses