Cult of the Lamb, the roguelite hit from Massive Monster games, is immediately managing to cement itself as an icon of the genre. Devolver Digital really knows how to pick what games to publish, as this adorably dark game seems to be well-received so far.
The game has four "dungeons" in it, Darkwood, Anura, Anchordeep, and Silk's Cradle. Each one of these dungeons has one of the game's four main heretical antagonists at the end. Today, let's look at the boss you'll likely fight third, Bishop Kallamar, the Heretic of Anchordeep, and how to beat him.
Who Is Kallamar?
Kallamar is the final boss of the game's Third Dungeon and is quite honestly probably one of, if not the most difficult boss in the game overall. As a character, Kallamar is essentially a twist on the Horseman of "Pestilence" as he inflicts a plague on the Lamb's Cult as they progress through Anchordeep. Also, surprisingly, Kallamar is pretty cowardly when it comes to talking about The One Who Waits, especially for an ancient eldritch "god."
This overblown and earless hunk of calamari holds four different weapons as he fights, a Staff, a Dagger, a Sword, and a Cruciger. For those confused, a Globus Cruciger has roots in Christianity and is basically a "staff-bearing orb" that shows one's authority in the faith. Now, each weapon has a different attack pattern tied to it and have visual tells when being used.
All Of Kallamar's Attacks
Kallamar has many different attacks compared to the other Bishops and especially to the smaller Bosses in the game, thanks to the four different weapons he uses. As such, he can feel a bit overwhelming a first, but you just need to keep an eye on his windups. This squid-like Heretic has moves such as:
|
Attack Name |
Description |
Visual Tell |
|---|---|---|
|
Teleport Ability |
Not used offensively, but Kallamar often "teleports" from one part of the arena to the other by sinking into the floor and coming up in another area of the arena. |
Hard to tell it's coming, but that's fine since it isn't an attack. Kallamar quickly sinks into the floor, disappears for an instant, then rises up out of the ground somewhere else. Commonly used after an attack has just finished to re-position for the next attack. |
|
Staff Summon |
Kallamar holds his staff up and summons mobs from within the pool of Anchordeep monsters. If there are already a couple of mobs spawned, the animation will play, but no additional summons will appear |
Kallamar holds the Staff at a diagonal angle over his head, closes his eyes, and shouts as if calling for his minions to appear. |
|
Sword Slash |
Kallamar uses the longer Sword in his upper-right hand to chase the Lamb and slash at them in a vertical arc on the left side of him. |
Kallamar quickly puts the staff away and uses his upper-left and upper-right hands to hold the sword above his head. He closes his eyes while swinging, but otherwise, there are no facial changes for this attack. |
|
Dagger Quick-Slash |
Kallamar punishes the Lamb for getting too close and uses a quick, close-ranged slash to damage them. |
The start of this animation looks a lot like he's about to use the Staff. But, the Dagger also is lifted up by his lower-left hand which is the tell that this particular attack is coming. Additionally, Kallamar's eyes are open during this and his mouth is closed, the opposite of when he's using the Staff. |
|
Globus Cruciger Projectiles |
Kallamar uses his cruciger (orb with a cross on it) to summon a variety of different projectile attacks against the Lamb, such as:
|
The easiest one to tell visually as Kallamar calmly holds the cruciger toward where his "mid-section" would be under the robe with his lower-right hand. During this attack, his mouth is closed as well as his eyes, and he seems to be quietly chanting something. |
Tips For Fighting Kallamar
Now, in general, tips for Cult of the Lamb boss fights boil down to re-phrasing two "core" concepts in different ways. These concepts are:
- Roll at the right time and punish after the enemy attacks.
- Don't get too greedy and attack too much, as you'll only take unnecessary damage.
These same tips apply to the Kallamar fight as well. But specific tips include:
- For the mobs summoned by his Staff, take them out when it's most convenient, as the Lamb does for just about every other boss fight with summons. Just be aware of which Anchordeep monsters are summoned, as he can summon any monster that appears in Anchordeep and some are easier to deal with than others.
- For the Sword attack, Kallamar doesn't usually swing until he "catches up" with the Lamb, so it's very easy to just stop, wait for Kallamar to get close, and dodge right when the swing starts.
- For the Dagger, this attack really only punishes those who are too close or are too greedy and attacking too many times in a row. Otherwise, this attack is so close-range that it doesn't hit often.
- And finally, for the Cruciger, it really depends on the pattern of the bullets, but in general, you want to roll away to get some distance, as it becomes way easier to time your dodges or roll through with a bit of space.
Just remember, unlike other bosses or enemies, Heretics don't get poisoned from Bane Weapons, don't stagger, and are really just based around learning their attack telegraphs and responding accordingly.