At the end of each area, the player must fight a boss. Upon death, bosses unlock a door to the next level, which contains a yellow rare chest.
Cemetery
The Zombie Warlord is the boss of the Cemetery dungeon. An ancient, cruel, arrogant, and petty warlord whose name was forgotten to history and is now doomed to serve as Death's lieutenant for all eternity as penance for his vast crimes against humanity. He looks like an extremely tall and large humanoid clad in heavy armor that cover all of his body. He use a ball & chain as his weapon.
He has three different types of attacks:
- Walks quickly towards the player and throws his ball & chain at him over a long range, producing an explosion upon impact. This is repeated thrice.
- Extends his spiked ball about half-way of its maximum range and spins it in a circle, moving rapidly around the room, bouncing off walls and barrels he hits.
- Moves slowly around the room, spinning his weapon in a circle that first increases in size, then shrinks back down
In the first attack, the warlord will repeat this three times, and then will summon a zombie from every grave in the room. In the second and third attacks, the warlord will summon zombies after coming to a complete stop. The warlord will continue to call for zombies even after all the graves are gone (though no zombies will appear).
Strategy
The Zombie Warlord is very durable, barely flinches when attacked, and has extremely long range with his ball & chain, more than almost all of the game's weapons and thus, may appear overwhelming at first.
However, he three different types of attacks are predictable and always leave room for counterattacks. In the first type of attack, focus on dodging the attack - always move orthogonally to the warlord. The ball & chain attack has a very short animation, so if you are moving directly away from him you will be hit. Once the ball & chain start extending, move in to hit the warlord a few times, then move away shortly before the ball is fully retracted.
In the second type of attack, you may be able to hit him from afar, depending on the range of your current weapon. Get him moving horizontally or vertically so that you can easily predict his motion and stay out of range of his ball & chain. When he retracts the ball & chain, he will stand still for a few seconds - enough for 4-8 attacks (again, depending on your current weapon).
The third attack strategy is similar to the second, however you need to give the warlord more distance as the ball & chain goes out farther. Again, making the warlord movie horizontally or vertically makes it more predictable and easier to dodge. You will likely not be able to hit the warlord from afar during his motion, but it will be obvious when he's about to stop as the ball and chain will be spinning in a narrow radius. When the warlord stops, move in and shoot as much as you can.
In all phases, the warlord will initiate his movement coming directly towards the player. In this way you can control his trajectory in the second and third phases, including leading him towards cobwebs which will slow him down, making him easier to dodge or hit.
As the room will generally have multiple explosive barrels, if you can get the warlord to stop near one of the barrels and then hit it, the explosive will cause a significant amount of damage. Leaving the barrels may be dangerous, though, if you accidentally blow them up while you are too close.
If the player dies or was already a ghost, this battle will be much more difficult as the zombies will often spawn specters when destroyed and two bone piles will be present at the center of the room, spawning a large amount of specters. In this case, the player may want to forgo triggering the shallow graves early in order to focus on destroying the bone piles.
Weapon selection is not that important during this fight ; due to the Zombie Overlord's pattern, he will sport windows of opportunity that can be used regardless of weapon range. Still, due to the importance of crowd control, a weapon that can strike multiple opponents like the daggers or the trident might be a good idea. Alternatively, a long range weapon may allow to take advantage of the boss's vulnerability window during the third phase better. Even the Boom Spear may actually be useful, thanks to its explosions destroying multiple zombies and specters.
Forest
The Werewolf Ambush is the boss of the Forest dungeon. A vicious pack of werewolves who will ambush the player at the end of the dungeon in a specially prepared arena.
Strategy
The Werewolf Ambush technically include no boss monster but is still considered a major boss fight. Considering its arena, it is just as deadly as any other boss and should be taken seriously. The room's layout is that of an outer ring covered in spider webs, an inner box with solid corners, and a X pattern of spikes with one maneater in each corner and one in the center. A pack of werewolves patrol the outer ring and will ceaselessly pursue the player while the maneater snipe at the player.
It is vital to clear out the maneaters as fast as possible when one enter the room ; given the lack of room for dodging and the room's layout favoring the werewolves heavily, the player cannot afford to fight both types of enemies at the same time. Due to the maneaters' placement, any spoils they give will not be possible to access unless the player is using the wizard.
Once every maneater is destroyed, the player can focus on the werewolves. Like with any werewolf encounter, they will actively stay out of the player's way and try to line up a diagonal dash from as far as possible. Due to the pack's placement all over the room and the limited room to dodge, the player should keep track of each enemy's location at all time. The box favor the werewolves heavily as they will be vulnerable to counter-attack only while dashing through the middle of the room. Beware of werewolves wandering into the box ; with such limited space to dodge, they will likely collide with the player repeatedly if allowed to.
The player should avoid the outer limits of the box ; the spider webs all over it will slow down the player heavily and the narrow corridors will allow the werewolves to attack the player without giving the ability to evade or counter-attack.
This battle is a lot trickier than it appears despite the lack of an actual boss monster. Equipment-wise, the player will most likely want a long range weapon as to destroy the maneaters faster and make it easier to counter the werewolves during their vulnerability window. If the player is very skilled with bouncing axes, the player can also opt to try and bounce them around the corner of the rooms easily to catch the werewolf pack off-guard and then finish off the maneaters later. The player should be thoroughly prepared and have as much health as possible when entering this boss fight ; if the werewolf pack spawn near the arena's entrance, the player can take a very large amount of damage right away before he may be able to react.
Sewer
The Sewer Hag is the boss of the Sewer dungeon. A powerful demon who took over the sewers system underneath Death's capital, she will attack anyone who steps inside of her territory.
Her attack pattern is divided into two phases of attack:
- Appear randomly in one of the five water pools in either the center or the corners of the room and then fire three volleys of projectiles.
- She disappears, spores appearing over the floor randomly over the area, which will spawn into Mushrooms after the pattern loop.
Strategy
The Sewer Hag's room has a fixed layout on all runs, with one pool at the center, one at each corner, and oil drum torches against each wall alongside with a leaking sewer pipe near the center of each wall.
Her attack pattern consists of popping out of a pool, standing idle for a second or two, then firing projectiles aimed at the player. She fires a dual projectile 4-5 times and then dives back into the water. After she dives, a few (2-3) mushroom spores will appear on the ground, and will sprout into either exploding mushrooms or green poison mushrooms after a few seconds. Also, after a few dives an Iol eye will spawn with every dive.
If the hag is in the center pool, the projectiles can be dodged simply by standing against the top or bottom wall. The projectiles will pass to either side. If the hag is in one of the corner pools, the player will not be able to dodge just by standing near one of the orthogonal pools - the projectiles don't spread enough in that distance. However, the projectiles do not make it all the way across the room, so the player may stand diagonally from the hag when she's in a corner and not get hit. Hitting the Hag from that angle requires a long distance weapon.
There are several ways to tackle this boss however, unlike the Zombie Overlord, there are some equipment choices you may wish to make. First, if you can get it, the Antivenom Ring or Ring of Ultimate Protection are very useful as they negate the leaking pipes' threats and make the mushrooms far less threatening, allowing the player to focus on attacking the boss. Likewise, the player should consider a long range weapon for this fight. The Hunter spear and Arthur's Lance are both excellent choices for defeating the Sewer Hag. The player may stay close to the central pond and use the trajectory of the boss's first shot to locate where she is, allowing the player to snipe at her from beyond her range. Short range weapons are an extremely hazardous choice for this battle as dodging the Sewer Hag's projectiles and the shrapnel from the mushrooms at point blank range is extremely difficult. Likewise, the Axe, Gold Axe, and Death Scythe will not do well in this fight as the room layout will mean that the player will only do full damage when the boss appear in the center of the room unless the player can consistently line up awkward trick shots against the walls.
Be aware that the mushrooms and leaking pipes will stay active after the boss is destroyed.
Den of Thieves
The Zombie Merchant is the boss of the Den of Thieves dungeon. A cursed member of the thieves' guild, implanted into their organization by Death to eliminate them if they ever become a problem.
His attack pattern is as such:
- Head to one corner of the square of torches at the center of the room, throw an axe, and then quickly run to the other corner in a counter-clockwise pattern.
Strategy
As the second-to-last boss, the Zombie Merchant is a formidable opponent. He is essentially a beefed-up version of the angered Merchant NPC, sporting increased health, offensive power, and a trickier, more claustrophobic room.
The Zombie Merchant will always start the battle from the center of the room, in-between the four torches. He will then dash to one corner of the square of torches and run counter-clockwise around it, stopping to fire off an axe in the player's direction.
Each axe fly quickly and will bounce off the walls, remaining in the room for a significant amount of time before fading. Likewise, each of the four torches will be firing fireballs in the player's direction at random intervals. Due to this, the screen can quickly get crowded and if the player is not careful, he may get overwhelmed. It is important to keep calm and to focus on leading the boss's shots, moving only when necessary as to keep each projectile's trajectory predictable.
Due to the sheer speed that the boss move and its small size, making it difficult to kill, it is recommended to fight defensively. Do not pursue the boss and instead focus on dodging the axes and fireballs. Line up shots whenever the boss move close to the player, taking care to keep in mind how long the boss stand still before firing when still as to not be surprised.
Equipment-wise, the player may want to consider fireproof equipment as to reduce damage from the torches. Although a long range weapon may allow the player to strike the boss while it is at the other side of the room, its small size and quick speed may make this impractical and it is instead recommended to use a shorter range, more powerful weapon. The Killer Bees are an excellent choice for this fight, for example. The player should beware of using standard axes while fighting this boss as it may become confusing as to whom each axe bouncing around is when the screen fill with both the player's and boss's projectiles.
Crypt
Death is the boss of the Crypt dungeon. The embodiment of the concept of death who lost empathy toward the living ages ago. He is the main antagonist of the game and the final boss.
His attack pattern is divided into three phases of attack:
- Teleport in front of the player and then throw a single scythe at him.
- Teleport near his throne and then launch an arc of scythes in all directions.
- Teleport near his throne and then fire a spiral of either red or blue fireballs.
Strategy
When the battle begin, Death will be sitting on his throne. An aura that is either blue or red will appear around him and then he will teleport away, starting the battle.
His first pattern is, to the unprepared, the most dangerous one. He will teleport directly in front of whatever direction the player is facing, pause for a second, and then fire a scythe in the player's direction. If the player is moving forward when Death teleports in, the player will be telefragged, resulting in massive damage. Thus, the player should stand still and wait until Death has appeared before moving in order to dodge both Death and the thrown scythe. The player should be careful as each scythe thrown will stay on screen for a significant while and thus, moving back and forth on the same spot will result in being hit by a bouncing scythe. After a certain number of this trick, Death will try something else.
He will teleport around his room, with his aura showing where he will appear though he will never appear hugging any of the walls. Death will then draw a magical circle. The pattern on the magical circle will indicate in what direction his attack will be performed ; a cross means that he will fire two scythe north, east, west, and south. The player should thus dodge the attack by standing diagonally from Death. If the circle indicate a X, the scythes will be thrown diagonally. The player should stand horizontally or vertically from Death and then adjust his location to avoid them as they bounce all over the room. If the circle indicate a pentagram, Death will fire five scythes either to cover all the room or as a spread shot toward the player. The player should keep his distances and be ready to move out of the way.
After a couple of scythe shots, Death will start firing spirals of fireballs all over the room. The color of his aura indicate what type of fireball he will fire. Red ones do massive damage while blue ones will freeze the player upon impact. The room contain two chests and each chest contain a ring, with the color of the chest corresponding to the ring necessary to halve the damage of the red fireballs and to remove the freezing effects of the blue ones. The player should watch Death's fireballs carefully and stay away. Due to the length of the attack and the speed of attack, running around Death is not an effective way to dodge this attack ; the player must squeeze between gaps in each spiral's arm. After unleashing a few spirals, Death's attack pattern will loop.
Death is very difficult and may appear overwhelming at first. In particular, this battle demands that you keep in control at all times and not panic. The first attack phase, for example, is actually very easy to deal with but panicky, reckless movements may result in the battle ending very quickly via Death telefragging the player. Due to his varied pattern, the way to defeat Death vary on the weapon you are carrying. If the player is carrying a long range weapon like the Hunter spear or Arthur's Lance, the player might want to focus on dodging during first and second phase and counter-attack during the third phase. Likewise, a player with a short range weapon or axes will want to concentrate its attacks during the first phase, while Death try to attack at point blank range. In terms of equipment, heavy armor is recommended as Death rely on single, extremely powerful strikes to inflict damage. The ring worn by the player is not important as the player will likely swap rings during the battle using the ones given during the fight to keep up with Death's pattern on the third phase.
The chests in the middle of the room can either be a hindrance or a blessing varying on player preference. They count as obstacles for Death's scythes and as such, impact the way they bounce. Some players may prefer to get them opened as to make the scythes more predictable while others might like the relative safe spot they create. It is up to the player's decision when to open them.