============================================================================
¦ 0 2 0 ¦
============================================================================
BOSS FIGHT - BONE CLEAVER II
--- CUTSCENE ---
You enter the burning building to be confronted by what I mistook at first for
a Minotaur of Legend, but what it in fact a man wearing a Bull's Head Helmet.
Conan makes no mistake, however, and immediately identifies the warrior before
him as none of than Bone Cleaver - the enemy he defeated to obtain his first
gauntlet back on Baracha.
Bone Cleaver says he does not die so easily, and Conan offers to finish the
job he started so long ago.
--- END CUTSCENE ---
Yup, our boy is back and he's MAD. REAL mad. Bone Cleaver II has a number
of abilities similar to those he exhibited the first time we fought him,
and a new bag of tricks to keep us amused ...
As with every boss fight, his is divided up into sections, his being :-
BONE CLEAVER II BOSS FIGHT STAGE 1 - Meet and Greet
BONE CLEAVER II BOSS FIGHT STAGE 2 - The Old Ball & Chain
===========================================================================
NB. IF YOU ARE PLAYING ON NORMAL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT HIM IN THE SECOND
STAGE OF THIS FIGHT ... JUST STAGE 1 - THANKS TO EVERGREY06 FOR DRAWING
THAT TO MY ATTENTION !!
===========================================================================
==================================
BONE CLEAVER II BOSS FIGHT STAGE 1
==================================
Bone Cleaver isn't alone this time around, OH no. He's got a lion to keep him
company. Take out the lion first, and then we'll focus on Bone Cleaver. If
you're having trouble with the lion, then retreat to the camera (as in, as
near to us as you can get), grab one of the water vases and throw it at the
lion to automatically stun it. HOWEVER, be careful as, more often than not,
Bone Cleaver will take that as an opportunity to throw a Bolas at you and, if
it hits, the lion will have come to by the time you break free =./
Bone Cleaver's attacks at this point are :-
A) Kick (which stuns you);
B) MASSIVE Combo (includes an unblockable hit, and should be avoided
at ALL costs);
C) Ground Pound (raises his two-handed sword above his head and dashes
it to the ground, causing a shockwave); and
D) Bolas (he glows blue and then throws a bolas at you, which ropes you
to the spot - tap B to escape from it).
The best technique I have learned to adopt for tackling him in this stage is
as follows :-
1) Take out the lion (use magic if you have to - you can't really use
magic EFFECTIVELY against Bone Cleaver);
2) DUPE Bone Cleaver by feigning a strong attack, and then when he goes
to attack you faster, roll away and then capitalise on his mistakes.
He does try to block the occasional hit, and when he does so, you can hit him
with a whole string of strong attacks in a combo, so whip out the best one
you've got in your repetoire.
Whenever he goes for his bolas, roll away and, if you ARE hit, make sure you
jam on the B button as fast and frequent as you can - if he gets close enough
to you, you WILL be slain immediately.
==================================================================
ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTIONS FOR TAKING DOWN BONE CLEAVER II IN STAGE 1
==================================================================
Mahk23 has very kindly made contact with me to provide me with some great
suggestions for doing battle with Bone Cleaver II on HARD difficulty, but I
see no reason why these cannot be applied to other difficulties just as well.
He says :-
"Center Bonecleaver in the center of the room, on the brownish tiles.
Begin to abuse the right analog stick, evading constantly, try to learn to
evade around in a circle. The reason why this works is because normally if
you pace around Bonecleaver, he waits for your attack before he moves.
However, the evade roll really seems to p!ss him off, haha. He will attack
with all his moves randomly, even if you aren't near him and he is still in
screen. Using this to your advantage, start smacking him with the good 1-2
in the openings and he falls instantly.
"The evade roll gets you out of the "shockwave" effects from the sword/chain
slam, but the roll has to already be in effect, so you can't land RIGHT when
he hits. It's a low chance but it happened to me.
"Never roll toward/away from him in a line from an attack. Instead, always
roll side to side for best evasion.
"Using the constant roll is useful against the bolas, I would say 20% of
the time he hit me."
Cheers Mahk23 =)
====================
Unless you are playing the game on normal (in which case you get a B button
prompt at the end of Stage 1 and, upon successfully pressing it, Bone
Cleaver takes a DIVE like the BITCH he is), then when you knock Bone Cleaver
down to zero health, we move on to ...
==================================
BONE CLEAVER II BOSS FIGHT STAGE 2
==================================
Disposing of his two-handed sword and electing to use a ball and chain, Bone
Cleaver STILL means business (poor lad doesn't know he's already dead !!)
Ha ha.
In this stage of proceedings, his attacks are :-
A) Swift Strike (a quick once-around flick with the ball & chain - hard
to dodge, but try rolling away if you see it coming);
B) Ground Pound (different than the first time around as he's using the
ball & chain, so the move lags longer than it did with the sword
as he needs to wind up to it. When he strikes the ground it unleashes
a HEAUUUUGE shockwave, so roll or jump AWAY from him - don't jump up
if you're already in hand-to-hand *points up at the whirling ball &
chain and winks at you*); and
C) Kick (as before, but he will ALWAYS try and follow this move up with
a Swift Strike during this stage of play).
Best advise I can give you here is to try and avoid getting SPLATTED by his
ball and chain. Whilst he may be slower in bringing some moves to bear, he
is generally LESS likely to block during this stage, and poses just as much
a danger now as he did in the first stage, if not moreso. The radius of his
shockwaves is HUGE, and the game IS smart enough to work out that if you're
too close and you jump to get away from him whilst he's prepping a shockwave
attack, you WILL get chobbled up by his ball and chain above you, so BE
WARNED.
==================================================================
ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTIONS FOR TAKING DOWN BONE CLEAVER II IN STAGE 2
==================================================================
Again, Mahk23 has provided me with some great suggestions for this section of
the boss fight as well (if you're fighting Bone Cleaver II on HARD). He
says :-
"During the ball/chain mode, the best move to take advantage of is the one
your refer to as 'Swift Strike (a quick once-around flick with the ball &
chain - hard to dodge, but try rolling away if you see it coming);' During
that attack I found I could use the Y, Y, Y combo while using the one-handed
stance. This ended up doing massive damage to him during that fight
sequence.
"After using the X and Y combos a lot, I found that I liked using the Y, Y
combo for the 1-2's, and the Y, Y, Y combo for the situation stated above.
It seemed to produce more damage potential than the X combo variations."
Thanks again mon ami !!
Alternatively, if you're fighting Bone Cleaver II on one of the lower
difficulty settings, then you might like to put into practice the FOLLOWING
suggestion that I got from justacityboy, who says :-
"I was trying to fight him the same way I did in stage one (two handed
sword and triple-striking when he tries to block), and kept getting my ass
kicked, but then I switched to dual-wielding axes (they're in a rack on
the left side of the battle area) and it was a lot easier. You let him
kick you, and then roll behind him as soon as you can recover. You can get
3 good hard hits on him before he can recover from his swing with the ball
and chain. Makes the stage go by really quickly. When I switched to this
strategy I finished the half of the stage in about 4 more of his kicks.
If you're rolling right, you'll be just behind him on his left right
before he finishes his downward swing, so you won't take any damage from
it ... but he will from you."
Thanks justacityboy !
====================
Once he has taken 100% damage, press the B button when prompted to end this
combat and get yourself a
--- CUTSCENE ---
Just as you are about to deliver the final blow to Bone Cleaver, A'Kanna comes
RUSHING into the fight, begging you not to kill him. A voice answers her, but
it is NOT Bone Cleaver's.
"Crom's Bones !!" Conan exclaims as, before his very eyes, Bone Cleaver
changes into the form of ... Kalden !!
Conan protests that he was very much a demon, but Kalden explains that he was
not - he was simply possessed by his brother Graven.
He says that Graven wanted him to suffer and slay in his name, and so he did.
Whilst Kalden begs A'Kanna to back off as he senses a dark energy coursing
through him, she is unable to in time, and both Kalden AND A'Kanna disappear
from the room, leaving only Conan's Helmet behind.
When Conan touches the Helmet, he gets another vision - this time of him
engaging Kalden directly in conversation. Kalden confirms that A'Kanna has
fallen into Shadow, and that only by finding the Well of Dreams can Conan
find Graven and put an end to this madness once and for all.
Conan sets sail once again, for Parad Isle.
--- END CUTSCENE ---
Congratulations ! You have now completed Act Nine.
|
|
|
