Thomas Richards is a named boss encountered in the Coastal Jungle biome of Windrose. He is the primary boss of the "Revenge Is Best Served Cold" questline, which is given by Doctor Galen Skelton after the player completes I Need a Bigger Boat. He is tuned for gear tier 1 to 5 and serves as the first named major boss players encounter during the early hours of Early Access.
Questline: Revenge Is Best Served Cold
Thomas Richards lives in a Coastal Jungle dungeon. The fight is structured as a patience exercise: predictable two-hit patterns, a generous arena, and the boss does not regenerate health between your retreats, so attrition strategies are viable. In co-op play, one player should hold aggro and absorb the double-swings while the rest of the group attacks from the flanks and focuses poise shields.
Discovery Tracker Context
Community-built discovery trackers (such as windrose.tools/discovery) list a "Local Threat" discovery slot for each biome. There is community discussion about whether the Coastal Jungle Local Threat is Thomas Richards or a separate, currently-locked entry tied to 1.0 release. A Steam forum thread titled "Anyone found the Local Threat?" reports that the Local Threat discovery item is gated behind release-version content in some players' experience. Treat Thomas Richards as confirmed via his boss guide, but do not assume he is the Local Threat entry without in-game verification.
Gear Tier and Recommended Preparation
Recommendation | Details |
|---|---|
Gear tier | 1 to 5 (Common to low Rare) |
Recommended level | Late Coastal Jungle; typically Level 5 to 8 |
Armor minimum | Around 180 defense for consistent survival |
Weapons | A balanced damage-type loadout; carry a pistol or musket for opening shots |
Food buffs | Stack two long-duration buffs (e.g. +Agility or +Strength food plus a Health buff) |
Alchemy | Carry Minor Healing Potions; apply oils appropriate to the damage type |
Combat Approach
Thomas Richards uses predictable two-hit swing patterns per community boss guides. General Soulslite combat principles apply:
Lock onto the boss with T so your dodges and guard track the enemy
Watch for telegraphed windups; the two-hit pattern has a visible animation before impact
Use Perfect Blocks (parries) to stagger him when possible; parries do not consume most weapons' poise
Do not fully deplete stamina; recovery from zero stamina takes significantly longer than from partial depletion
Retreat to recover stamina between aggressive windows rather than trading blows
Red-glow unblockable attacks must be dodged, not blocked
Enemies do not regenerate health between your retreats, so attrition strategies are viable
Rewards
Defeating Thomas Richards advances the "Revenge Is Best Served Cold" questline and unlocks progression toward the next biome (Foothills). Specific drop data for his loot tables continues to be refined by the community during Early Access.
Lore Context
Thomas Richards is not a historical figure; he appears to be an original character created for Windrose's alternate Age of Piracy setting. The "Revenge Is Best Served Cold" quest name suggests a personal grievance motivation, likely tied to the player's shipwreck prologue or to one of the secondary characters encountered in the early game.
See Also
Procedural Biomes - biome progression and boss placement
Enemies - full enemy roster
Israel Hands - Foothills boss, next in the gear-tier progression
High Priestess - Cursed Swamps boss at the final tier
Combat - core combat mechanics
Doctor Galen - quest-giver for Revenge Is Best Served Cold