The Bosses need work

Yeah, a LOT of work. And i don't just mean the Erchanius mining facility boss

So whats wrong exactly? Lets go down a list

the first boss isn't even that bad of a boss, the balancing is okay but maybe it could use some tweaking. We don't know however because You have to start over from the beginning of the level if you die. This is a boss that clearly needs checkpoints. The level itself isn't hard but it becomes way too much of a drag to go through it over and over just because of the boss. Which is a shame because it's a really well made level, the way you progress and the tone is perfect but having to play though it over and over again just because of the boss makes the level start to loose it's charm and become more of a nuisance

Dreadwing- Actually he's pretty much perfect from my playthough, hard but not too hard or ridiculous

Floran Chief-EDIT: I thought he was a bit too hard but most people seem not to mind so I'm just gonna say he's okay for now

Penguin Mech- yeah this one is just BS. He's got WAY to much health. And his biggest problem is he attacks based on where his health is. This makes one of his early moves, the missile barrage, completely ridiculous for any ranged character. It's constant, you have to shoot at the missiles, and it doesn't give you any time for your energy to refill, so you can damage the suit.

So, what's everyone else's opinions on the bosses?

 

Since I never managed to get past the Erchanius mining boss after over 30 attempts, I'd say yes the bosses are way overpowered.

Of course, I can't get out of the starting system because of this so I can't say what the others are like.

 

Yea, The first testing facility is INSANE. Shootshootshoot, do some damage. Shootshootshoot, do a little more. OHGODITSTHE360ATTACK.

 

checkpoints? it takes like 60 seconds to get to the boss once you know the way.

instead of asking them to make it easier why dont you use all the tools you're given instead? using dash and block and bandages it was easy. id imagine if one took the time to get a second tech for pulse jump before doing it itd be even easier

 

Wow really??? Many people have posted the patterns and at this point I'm sure someone would even connect to you with multiplayer to help you past it.

Block the lasers with a 2-handed sword if you can't get perfect blocks with the shield.

 

Who cares? I blow though all of the missions without no problem!


Ya see? Is this hard for me? No.

 

The mech was a bit hard from my memory, but one of the problems I'd say is that the bosses and combat in general are all balanced around melee weapons and the ability to block. People who use rifles and pistols are at a major disadvantage compared to anyone who uses a shield or can block.

 

The Penguin Mech was a giant thorn in my side. idek how many attempts I made at it. Thank God I had a fire pistol, which made it easy to shoot the rockets. Without that Pistol I might still be at it...

 

a way to beat the rockets without shooting them
stand next to the wall and jump shortly before they hit you, they will crash into the wall with out hurting you. you have enough time to land and prepare to jump again
I would like to know a way of countering overload without using a shield

 

Agreed on Penguin Mech. Especially because I'm trying to kill him with Rubium armor, which DEMANDS perfection because most of his attacks just kill you in one hit if you don't manage to avoid them for whatever reason.

I'm trying to do this with a broadsword, too. So I can defend, but only for a second and then it cools down. I get slaughtered when he does the overload attack. It's nonsense is what it is.

Floran Chief, though, I can't say I agree. I took him out easily enough. I didn't even know he was a boss. I just thought he was a slightly stronger mook.

 

Yeah, I found the first boss rather tough. (and yes, walking back to him was a pain. )

To me the UFO was fine, though it did help that I had a really good gun.

The Floran Chief... I actually just ran past him, I didn't feel like fighting.


The Penguin Mech is a tough cookie, but with the right set up he is actually surprisingly easy-ish-er.
For those wondering, this was my set up.

-The Equipment-
Get the most protective armor you can make. (in this case, the Violium set.)
For weapons craft two Aegisalt 1-hand weapons. (the 1-hand Violium weapons may work too.)
Then make sure you have a thing of food, Red Stims, and ten or so medical kits.
It would be good to bring a shield or long sword for blocking.

-The battle-
Really all I did was charge the mech while spamming both 1-handed weapons,
when the mech jumps to deal thunderly pain, I would run to a corner and try dodging while holding the medical kits, blocking the thunder works great too.
When the mech starts using it's flamethrower, run right into the mech and spam the two swords again. (remember, you won't take damage from touching the mech.)

 

I didn't have an issue with the penguin mech, but maybe because I got lucky with some good guns I found.

 

I never really thought of the floran guy as a boss either. Not in the sense that the rest are.

 

...
There was a floran boss?

I didn't really have much of a problem with the Erichus boss, yeah, a checkpoint would definitely be appreciated on those long missions like the erichus facility and the floran party but otherwise the Erichus boss was pretty simple. With jump boost and energy dash I was able to relatively easily avoid the lasers. Hell, those cultists before him were way harder.

The UFO was a lot more difficult, but after a few tries I was able to defeat him.

The Floran Chief I didn't even realise existed. Though thinking back on it I guess the guy with the bone hammer would of been him, yeah he wasn't too terrible. Only real problem with that mission if the survivor who joined me in the mission decided she couldn't go on at a certain point. I felt bad leaving her behind </3

The mech... I just can't do, I had few if any major problems before now, but the mech, there's really nothing I can do. The closest I've come is when I was using my guns purely for shooting out the rockets and using melee/ energy dash to fight him up close... But even then, I can only take so much damage before I need to heal and then my hands will be busy healing and I won't be able to counter or block his incomming attacks. Of all the bosses he's really the only one I think needs a good nerfing

 

got the first boss on my 3rd Attempt. It was a welcoming challenge. Would be sad to see it nerfed...

 

The first boss took me probably 5 - 8 tries, not quite sure but either way I don't think it was too hard. I think they have provided us with the right tools to beat it, just takes some time to figure out the pattern to the boss, and the effective ways to stay alive with the new combat system. Blocking, parrying, new energy system its all different, so the ways we're use to doing things have to change. The way bandages work now are much better in my opinion, so make them your friend. I have yet to get to any other boss, I work too much for that, but soon I will and soon I'll have a further opinion.

cheers

 

Got past the first boss, about to upgrade my ship to explore the rest of the universe, and ERROR crash. Reload and I've got to do the mission all over again. FTG!

 

The floran guy is a boss? I let the other survivor kill him for me (after leading the survivor trough the flooded caves).

I didnt have that much difficulty with the other bosses (but il admit that i died a few times against the mech's super dash before learning how to avoid it, but thats just a fun challenge not something that should be nerfed).

The only things i think they (the devs) should consider are the following:

1. Buff the floran into a real boss (give him a leap ability or something and a pattern, perhaps combined with trowing some sort of spears or whatever). Off course they would have to rebalance his stats to fit his new abilities.
2. Lower the range of the mech's overcharge a tad (so that your completely safe in the corners, instead of being hit rarely).
3. Perhaps add a checkpoint before the erchius boss & floran "boss", basically any boss with a mission before reaching them (I dont personaly need it, but it would be nice for people that do, since i can sympathise with people being frustrated from having to replay the same mission over and over).

But just to point it out once more, this is merely my own humble opinion.

 

I found the bosses a little tricky, and I've played games for longer than some people here have lived.
I'm not that surprised that people are having trouble with the bosses.
They are very retro-difficulty, no doubt inspired by games the devs played as kids.
Makes me think of Megaman and Metroid... bit of Zelda, too.

So, here are my tips!


Pulse Jump and Dash are both excellent Techs and will make most fights much easier.
Remember: Pulse Jump doesn't use energy. Dash can be used while mid-air, repeatedly.
2-handed Sword's block is time-based and seems to have no damage limit.
(Wouldn't be surprised to see the sword block nerfed...)
Always have Bandages. Don't be lazy, make sure to have lots of them in hand!
Eating meat can help in a pinch. Omnom.
Learn to switch between Bandages and your weapons very fast.
The X button is your friend.
You will die. It's ok. Try again. Don't get frustrated.

Mine boss:
Pulse Jump and Dash negate fall damage when used close to the ground.
They also make you move way faster, making the lasers easier to avoid.
Having even just one of the Techs makes the fight much more manageable.

2-handed's sword's block allows you to fall or jump through a beam without taking damage, making the fight way easier.
Novakids will have a harder time, not being able to craft a 2-handed sword, but everyone can craft a basic shield at least.

I've also later heard that the boss has a blind spot somewhere below him, but I never even noticed it.
Apparently you can just go there and heal back to full before jumping in the fight again.

--
Dreadwing actually took me multiple tries because I kept thinking that the metallic sound meant that I wasn't dealing damage.
I kept searching for some special mechanic or weakspot.
Eventually I realized "Oh, so I just hit him until he dies? I don't need to use the tank wrecks? I don't need to hit him from above?!"
That's what I get for overthinking things!
I think I actually killed him with a mix of ranged and melee attacks.
Would likely be easier with pure ranged if you have a really good ranged weapon.
(Also somewhat off-topic, but I really enjoyed the last page of the Codex he drops! )

The tricky part is when he starts to slam the ground with his ship.
It hurts a lot and is pretty tricky to see coming.
Also, keep culling the little penguins.
They don't hurt much but the damage really adds up.

--
Floran Chief I considered more of a miniboss.
I tried fighting in melee (because it's a lot of fun!) but I also remember just Pulse Jumping and shooting him from above a few times.
Pulse Jump and shooting work very well together because Pulse Jump doesn't use any energy so you can keep doing it for a long time.
Using Dash Tech in mid-air is really good for getting past any melee opponents.
If you have trouble with him you could even just latch to the ceiling with a rope and use a 1-handed gun to shoot him from above.
That's of course a pretty cheap way to kill him... but the mission encourages using tactics.
If you find and read the hidden codexes one of them even mentiona luring the Florans into poison pools as an option.

--
Penguin Mech was a challenge. My favorite fight for sure!
Starts out feeling impossible, but once you realize that you can destroy his rockets in mid-air the fight becomes way easier.
Melee armor is a good idea, but he's definitely beatable in Rubium, too.
The missiles get destroyed when they hit a wall, so if you stand close to a wall and dodge up or down the missiles will hit the wall and you won't have to shoot or block them.

A good time to attack him is after he uses his dash and hits a wall.
Also use a bandage when that happens, good time to do so.
He very often busts out the flamethower right after recovering from the stun, so don't get too greedy if you are using melee.
Sometimes, though, you'll notice the bar under his health read "OVERLOAD" at which point instead of using the flamethrower he travels to the middle of the room to spread out bolts of electricity.
It takes him some time to first get to the center and then float in the air. This is also a good time to get some hits in.

If you want to beat him with a ranged weapon the tricky part is having enough energy after all the dashes you likely find yourself spending.
On the bright side you can attack him pretty much at any time and thus rarely need to get in the range of his flamethrower.
--

The bosses+missions were the things that impressed me the most in this update!
You are awarded for finding patterns instead of just spamming stuff.
It's what makes a game's combat feel good, having action and reaction. Just look at Megaman or Metroid.
Once you've got the patterns down the fights become a lot more manageable.

The one thing I'd maybe change is have the mine boss have some sort of checkpoint.
Well, once the game supports such, anyway.
The current missions were mostly built with a lot of Wiring tool use. (the NPCs of course must have taken coding and art work, though!)
Going through the stage is pretty fast after you know the layout but it'd still be nice to jump back into the boss fight.

 

well based on everyone's opinion I'll remove the Floran boss from the OP