Askard, the Cult Leader
Boss · Chapter 1: The Cult Leader
Askard closes chapter 1 and then never really leaves. The campaign brings him back as a mutated version at the end of chapter 2, as a phantom from chapter 3 onward, and again in the chapter 5 and 6 story fights. The chapter 1 duel runs 2,000 HP; the phantom doubles that to 4,000.
The duel is built around a phase switch at half HP. Phase one is a mobile spell duel: he hovers, teleports between fixed points around the arena, and layers melee swings, ranged bolts and a warned laser. Phase two darkens the arena and hands the space over to his tentacles and homing fire.
His rematch arenas grow with him. The later cave versions add a blood rain hazard pouring in from both sides and widen his teleport network from seven points to thirteen, so the phantom fights force far more repositioning than the original duel.
He blinks between fixed points around the arena between casts. Chasing him wastes time; cut the arena in half and let him come to you.
A melee string with a second hit behind the first, used when you stand on top of him.
Aimed projectiles fired between teleports. Individually trivial, but they keep coming while you dodge everything else.
A beam with a visible warning line drawn before it fires. The warning is generous in phase one and much less so once the arena darkens.
A slam that bursts into a ring of projectiles on impact.
At the phase switch the arena goes dark around a fixed point and the fight's readability drops. This is where held resources should go.
Tentacles sweep along fixed lines across the arena, each with its own warning. They leave a gap around one radius; standing in it is the dodge.
Slow homing shots with a warning delay, layered over the tentacle sweeps so you cannot just hold the safe spot.
The phantom's own addition: a laser fired out of the darkness itself. In co-op it has a version that targets every player at once.
In hard mode every boss also draws from the pool of 10 modifiers listed on the bosses page, from flat HP and defense gains to elemental resists and ignoring your defense or evasion.
Defeating Askard for the first time adds these to the item pool: