At a certain point during Islets, you'll be tasked with gathering Ship Parts - with these, you can upgrade your ship and add a weapon to it, allowing you to break those pesky blocks apart and access new areas near Sky City.
This unlocks two new bosses fought in the sky, just like Sky Pirate - only this time, you have a weapon. One of these bosses is GrappleBot, a large, mechanical ball of doom that spews projectiles at you like there's no tomorrow. You'll need some premier dodging skills if you want to succeed at this fight.
GrappleBot's Attacks
GrappleBot only has three attacks and doesn't have an enrage phase at all, but that doesn't stop it from being a challenging encounter.
|
Attack |
Description |
How To Counter |
|---|---|---|
|
Clamp And Stamp |
This is a two-part attack. GrappleBot's clamp emerges for a few moments, before shooting it right at you. When the clamp hits a wall, GrappleBot will pull itself along the chain. It will shoot a stream of projectiles while it's traveling to the wall, and send out a ring of projectiles when it hits the wall. |
How easy it is to dodge this attack depends entirely on your positioning when the boss uses it. When the attack starts, try your best to move as far away from the boss as possible - the more distance you have, the more time you'll have to find the safest spaces to move. |
|
Bouncing Ball |
GrappleBot shoots two clamps out to the sides of the stage. Once in the center, it will start bouncing back and forth between the clamps, shooting out a burst of projectiles every time it hits a wall. |
Head to the furthest point from the GrappleBot - either the very top or the very bottom of the stage - to have the most room for dodging. When the attack is coming to an end, you can move around one of the sides to try and get a few close-range bursts of damage. |
|
Waves of Doom |
GrappleBot fires out four clamps at the corners of the stage, moves to the middle, and then sends out waves of projectiles in short lines. |
These waves come out in predictable patterns. Get a rhythm down and keep an eye out for the waves speeding up or getting closer together. |
How To Beat GrappleBot
This fight may very well be your first with a weapon in the sky. As there is no downside to keeping the fire button held down at all times, do so - you want to be constantly firing in these fights. Other tips for success include:
- While they glow red, it's not immediately obvious that GrappleBot's clamps and chains will harm you if you touch them.
- While your weapon fires when you're physically closer to your target, getting up close and personal with GrappleBot is a very dangerous game. Keep your distance and focus on survival. Staying close is a surefire recipe to get a clamp in the face.
- Eventually, you'll start to get into a rhythm of dodging these projectiles and get a good feel for your ship's hitbox. Practice really does make perfect in this fight.
Remember, your hitbox is the red circle within your ship, not the ship itself! Make sure you keep an eye on that and don't play too cautiously.