Nodusfall Hands-On Roundup: Bosses, Classes & Divine Skills the Press Found

Sources: DualShockers, CGMagazine, GameRant, Gameblog (FR), IGN JP, 4Gamer, DenFamiNicoGamer. Names marked "press-transcribed" are how previewers wrote them down before HoYoverse published official ones.

Seven outlets played the same ~30–60 minute Gamescom demo. Read together, their reports fill in most of the picture HoYoverse left out of the trailer — the boss line-up, how classes actually play, and what the Divine Skills do.

The demo's boss line-up

#	Boss	What previewers report
1	Cleaver Fellstone (press-transcribed)	The opening contract — a huge winged beast fought in the open; DualShockers calls it a "Behemoth-looking lion with wings"
2	Qiongqi	Fought in an underground cavern; a horned, winged lion from Chinese myth that rushes specific players and summons tornadoes; GameRant found it the hardest of the three, with heavy AoE
3	Maldrake + its armored Knight	A black dragon plus a mounted knight; multi-phase, with the rider joining mid-fight. CGMagazine: the knight carries an aggressive spear; IGN JP: greatsword and debuff magic; GameRant compares it to Dark Souls 3's Nameless King

Previewers disagree on ordering (4Gamer saw Qiongqi first, then the dragon that devours it), which suggests the demo shuffled contracts or ran different builds. What's consistent: three contracts, each with distinct mechanics, and boss "relocations" that trigger new phases.

Classes: what the press actually played

HoYoverse hasn't published a class list, but previewers transcribed the demo roster like this:

Press-transcribed name	Role	Notes
Warrior / "Gramher"	Tank / DPS	Two-handed sword, taunts aggro; parry builds a meter for a tiered three-strike charged attack (DualShockers)
"Suixi" / archer	DPS (ranged)	Bow; basic attacks fill an arrow gauge spent on different shot types (Gameblog); rapid vs charged variants exist
"Hexsworn"	Support	Frost projectiles (infinite) + healing beam; GameRant compares the animation to Elden Ring's Glintstone Pebble
"Qiong" (disputed)	DPS (ranged)	CGMagazine's pick; other outlets don't use this name — treat with caution

All four ran with four active skills + one ultimate, fired by holding RB and a face button, each on its own cooldown (GameRant, Gameblog). Loadouts are open enough that Gameblog reports you can slot an area-heal even without the healer class.

Divine Skills: now we know two

Every character has long-cooldown "Incarnation"-style ultimates:

• Glimmerwolf Incarnation — transforms you into a giant wolf for massive bite damage (IGN JP)
• Infernal Incarnation — a winged state that launches you into the sky to bombard enemies from above (CGMagazine)

Two named Incarnations strongly implies one per class — a build axis, not a single shared ultimate.

Co-op is deeper than "four people hit a boss"

• Breakpoint combo attacks: at set moments, the team is encouraged to perform specialized cooperative attacks for huge damage (DualShockers) — the clearest mechanical difference from Monster Hunter.
• Healers matter: limited healing items and heavy chip damage make a support near-mandatory; DualShockers doubts solo runs without one.
• Mounts are used to reach the hunting ground (GameRant, Gameblog, 4Gamer).
• Hub: a treehouse-style base with a notice board for picking contracts, plus player interaction and appearance customization (GameRant, DualShockers).

What the press liked and didn't

Liked: boss scale, the third fight's phases, Divine Skills' punch, fluid controls, world detail — DualShockers notes local wildlife fights each other.

Criticised (early build): weak hit impact on normal attacks (Gameblog, echoed by others), the winged first/second boss heavily favouring ranged over melee (DualShockers), and animations that read as borrowed from FromSoftware/Capcom titles.

Monetization, in HoYoverse's own words

Press were given the same line: "Nodusfall will be a free-to-play, long-term game… characters are not obtained through random draws… unlock this core gameplay experience through continued play. Cosmetic [items are the focus]." — see is Nodusfall a gacha?.

Still unknown

Full official class names, the final boss roster, level structure outside contracts, launch content volume, monetization pricing, and whether the demo's teleport-based boss transitions survive to release.

Related pages

• Characters & classes
• Is Nodusfall co-op?
• The Qiongqi decode
• Maldrake, the demo dragon
• Godhood/Divine Skills explained

Nodusfall Hub is a fan-made site and is not affiliated with HoYoverse.