The first mini-boss in the game, a converted Swordsman who lunges, spits acid, and summons Chaser Worms.
Amdusias is the first real test the game throws at the Lamb, and it fights dirty for a tutorial boss. The bagworm lunges the moment you get close, spits acid when you back off, and keeps spawning Chaser Worms to crowd the arena.
It is the first mini-boss of Darkwood, the opening Crusade region. Per the wiki, Amdusias was once an ordinary Swordsman enemy before Leshy converted it, and it now serves as the earliest lieutenant on the road to the Bishop.
The fight is built to teach add management. According to the wiki, Amdusias mixes a close-range lunge, ranged acid balls, and Chaser Worm summons, so the Lamb learns to juggle a boss and its minions before any of the harder fights.
This guide covers who Amdusias is, the Darkwood encounter, its lunge-and-acid moveset, how to handle the Chaser Worms, how to recruit it, and where it sits among the Darkwood mini-bosses.
A lunging bagworm that spits acid and spawns Chaser Worms across the arena.
Darkwood, the first Crusade region, as the very first mini-boss in the game.
Manage the worms. Its health is low, so clear Chaser Worms or out-race them while you focus the boss.
Recruit it. A defeated Amdusias begs to convert and joins the cult as a follower.Amdusias is the first mini-boss of Darkwood, and it did not start as a boss. Per the wiki, before being turned by 
Leshy, Amdusias looked like any other Swordsman enemy, wearing a black hooded robe with golden trim, a golden pentacle, and red slanted eyes.
It is a bagworm, the same species as Leshy. According to the wiki it serves the Old Faith and the Chaos Cult, and its name comes from the Ars Goetia in the Lesser Key of Solomon, the source of all three Darkwood mini-boss names.
It has four forms across the game. The wiki lists a Cultist form, a Boss form, a Boss II form for repeat encounters, and a Follower form, since Amdusias is recruitable. After the fight it pleads, "Convert me to your Cult, I will follow your teachings faithfully," and joins as a follower.
Amdusias is the first mini-boss the Lamb meets in Darkwood, the opening Crusade region. Per the wiki it is the first of the region's three mini-bosses, fought before Valefar and Barbatos on the road to Leshy.
Because it is the literal first boss, the encounter doubles as a tutorial. The wiki notes its low health, so the fight is short, but the Chaser Worm summons introduce the add-management the Lamb will lean on for the rest of the run.
Clearing the room ends that Crusade run, and a defeated Amdusias can be carried home and indoctrinated. It is the cult's easiest early recruit, so most players take the converted Swordsman home rather than leaving it behind.
Amdusias attacks three ways and picks based on your distance. Per the wiki it lunges when the Lamb is close, otherwise it moves around the map, and it occasionally throws acid balls and spawns Chaser Worms onto the field.
The distance logic makes it readable. According to the wiki, staying at mid-range pulls acid balls while closing the gap invites a lunge, so you control which attack comes out by how you position, with the Chaser Worms layered on top.
The closed eyes are the lunge tell. When Amdusias shuts its eyes, it is about to launch at you, so roll the moment they close. Bait the lunge, dodge it, and punish the recovery; that loop carries the whole fight once the worms are handled.
Beat Amdusias by deciding upfront whether to clear the Chaser Worms or race its low health. Per the wiki, as the first boss it has relatively low health, so a risky but valid plan is to tank most attacks and burn it down fast before the adds pile up.
Any starting weapon (its low health means even a weak weapon ends it quickly) Roll on closed eyes (the eye-close telegraphs the leap)
Clear or out-race (kill them if crowded, ignore them if you are healthy) Sidestep at range (acid balls only come out when you keep distance)The Chaser Worms decide your approach. Per the wiki, players who struggle with multiple targets should prioritize killing the worms as they hatch, while players low on health can evade the adds and stay focused on Amdusias, since the spawned enemies vanish the moment the boss dies.
It rarely takes more than one clean loop. In practice, the first-boss health pool is so small that baiting one or two lunges and punishing is usually enough, which is exactly why Amdusias works as the game's teaching fight.
Amdusias is the first of three Darkwood mini-bosses, all named after Ars Goetia demons and all recruitable. They are the lieutenants the Lamb clears before facing the Bishop of Darkwood.
The other two raise the bar. 
Valefar is the second mini-boss, a leaping bagworm with two fireball patterns, and 
Barbatos is the third, a burrowing Bobbit Worm. Amdusias is the gentlest of the three.
All of them answer to Leshy and carry the Old Faith allegiance until the Lamb turns them. For how these lieutenants feed into the Bishop fights, see every 
Cult of the Lamb boss in one place.
Amdusias is the first of three Darkwood lieutenants. These guides cover the weapons, the Bishops they serve, and the rest of the roster.
Game data and screenshots adapted from cult-of-the-lamb.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Massive Monster and Devolver Digital.