Which is the hardest boss in Cave Story?

While this is almost right to me, I say 3rd is the easiest.

I'd agree. I'd rate the difficulty as 1 > 4 > 2 > 3.

The only reasons to get hurt in the 3rd form are if you're showing off or doing extreme speedrun tactics. It doesn't even have rudimentary aim like the 2nd form, and certainly isn't lightning-fast or bullet-spamming like the 1st and 4th.

i love the thing. what i hate is seeing redundant, pointless statements i.e. repeating something you just quoted and furthermore was just stated in the post above you.

You're a man after my own heart.

Also, irony.

 

i find it easier to get hit by Ballos 3 than 1, i just haven't found the exact spots on the ground where the eyeballs land all the time.
i'd go 2>4>3>1 for difficulty.
the only part of Ballos's first stage i can't reliably dodge is the fricking lightning. i always get hit by the shit unless i can Spur him dead before he starts

 

Ballos: Mainly because by the time I get there, I have next to no health. He always seems to hit me with the bone shockwave, too.

Monster X: Damn thing runs me over.

 

the only boss actually hard for me was ballos...
not because of the boss itself but the way you do to make it to him...
i still have some trouble with it. the undead core is easy...
all you have to do is not mind sue - when she starts spinning hit her and she falls.. 1 dmg will do. and just hit misery until she sends some creeps and get hearts from them - thats easy!

 

i find it easier to get hit by Ballos 3 than 1, i just haven't found the exact spots on the ground where the eyeballs land all the time.

But... they're predictable. Just don't stand on the right.

You can also just jump over him. I've done it.

i'd go 2>4>3>1 for difficulty.
the only part of Ballos's first stage i can't reliably dodge is the fricking lightning. i always get hit by the shit unless i can Spur him dead before he starts

Yes, Ballos's first form can be defeated easily with practice, as it's 100% predictable. However, it does take quite a bit of practice to get that good. After all, he has 6 chances to hit you per attack. If you don't have the Spur, it's also much harder to juggle shooting him and dodging.

Why do you think the second form's harder than the first? You do realise that you don't have to jump into its eye, right?

 

therein is the difficulty. in my strategy, it's hardest part of the boss to sucessfully do, because i always manage to take first form down before he spams lightning, and the third stage is "run back and forth and shoot shoot shoot", and although the fourth stage does involve jumping into the eyes again, he doesn't jump around and force you out.

 

Personally, I think Monster X is the hardest, with The Core second and Ballos third.

What are your opinions?

EDIT: The Core's only in second spot if you don't have the Booster 0.8.

That thing before ballos. I am stuck there!

Ballos: Mainly because by the time I get there, I have next to no health. He always seems to hit me with the bone shockwave, too.

Monster X: Damn thing runs me over.

Same here man

 

therein is the difficulty. in my strategy, it's hardest part of the boss to sucessfully do, because i always manage to take first form down before he spams lightning, and the third stage is "run back and forth and shoot shoot shoot", and although the fourth stage does involve jumping into the eyes again, he doesn't jump around and force you out.

The first one I put high because you have to time your jumps quite accurately, and because his attack pattern includes not one but three "gotcha"s even before he starts on the lightning.

The fourth one I put high because the jump-into-the-eye trick always deals at least 12 damage to you. It's by far the hardest of them all to take 0 damage on.

The second one can be damaged quite easily without jumping into its eyes if you aim carefully. You can even get the double-hit with the Spur without jumping into the eyes. There's also the fact that unlike the other forms, it sits in one place for quite a long time (long enough to jump into the eye, fire a Spur shot, charge to level 3, fire again, and get back out) at predictable intervals.

That thing before ballos. I am stuck there!

Heavy Press.

The key to Heavy Press is to forget everything you've learned in other boss fights. Against Heavy Press, jumping around the room avoiding damage and attempting to gain health back while kiting simply doesn't work, as you can only hit it from one specific spot, and Butes/Rollings are very hard to net gain health from.

Hence, simply sit in that spot and spam shots upward, only dodging if you'd otherwise be hit by a Rolling or by Heavy Press's gun. The three real choices are Spur (uncharged), Nemesis, and Missiles (of course, all of these are aided by Curly's Nemesis). It takes 14-15 missiles if you use those. The Snake would probably also work.

 

doesn't seem you need to be all that accurate on the first stage; just quick. and for the fourth, quick people can use the -2 spikes at the bottom iirc instead of taking the -12 (isn't it -14?) from the rotating eyes.

Well yes, jumping into the eyes isn't the only way to kill second stage, it's just the fastest afaik, especially if you use missiles.

 

doesn't seem you need to be all that accurate on the first stage; just quick. and for the fourth, quick people can use the -2 spikes at the bottom iirc instead of taking the -12 (isn't it -14?) from the rotating eyes.

It's -14 in 3rd form, but only -10 in 4th form.

You'll take -2, and then another -10 from the eyes before you finish him.

Well yes, jumping into the eyes isn't the only way to kill second stage, it's just the fastest afaik, especially if you use missiles.

Indeed.

It's not like anyone's making you speedrun, though.

 

you take damage while in his eye? i never saw any before i had him dead, although i did simply fly straight into his eye while the spikes were still appearing

 

you take damage while in his eye? i never saw any before i had him dead, although i did simply fly straight into his eye while the spikes were still appearing

When he transforms, the eyes close up, so that standing on his eye will get you clipped by their inner edges.

Compare:

It's difficult to see the number -10 above Quote's head since a) there are various other numbers for the damage dealt to the eyes and Ballos, and Ballos and the eyes don't provide much contrast anyway, b) Quote falls down once Ballos has taken 1200 damage and starts exploding, and the -10 falls down with him. If you take a close look at Quote while he's falling, though, you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

i'm staring at my HP bar during the fight because of the ammo counter above it.

 

i'm staring at my HP bar during the fight because of the ammo counter above it.

You only get hit when the eyes close in, which will be a fraction of a second before he's destroyed, if you're using missiles, since they close in when he transforms and becomes vulnerable. The HP bar won't have time to tick down as it usually does.

However, if you have less than 11 HP left when it happens, you will die before finishing him.

You can see what I'm talking about here. You'll need to pay attention, though.

 

the HP bar flashes lost life yellow before it acutally drains it.

 

the HP bar flashes lost life yellow before it acutally drains it.

And?

The vid I linked clearly shows Quote taking 10 damage.

 

minimum would be 10 damage for the fourth stage however, i just tried it the way i always do and had him dead before the -10 was actually removed from my health, let alone lost my invulnerability from the hit, so you could fly in after he transforms and nuke him before you take a second hit.
I just wasn't ever paying as much attention as i thought i was, that's how i missed it.

anyway just because a form is the hardest to avoid damage on doesn't make it the hardest to kill.
for example, let's say you can avoid 3 of every 4 hits that Boss A does at 5 damage a hit, but only 1 of 4 that Boss B does at 1 damage. You'd only take 3 HP damage from four of Boss B's attacks, although you got hit three times. On the other hand, you'd only get hit once by Boss A, but still take 66% more damage than the three hits you took from Boss B combined in that single hit.

It doesn't matter how many times Ballos 1st "gotcha's" when they all work the exact same way. jump and boost up when he starts moving along the ground at you, then boost right a bit, then drop and run left. not that hard.

 

anyway just because a form is the hardest to avoid damage on doesn't make it the hardest to kill.
for example, let's say you can avoid 3 of every 4 hits that Boss A does at 5 damage a hit, but only 1 of 4 that Boss B does at 1 damage. You'd only take 3 HP damage from four of Boss B's attacks, although you got hit three times. On the other hand, you'd only get hit once by Boss A, but still take 66% more damage than the three hits you took from Boss B combined in that single hit.

Well, you see, the average damage I take from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd forms is about 1/4 each, because I very occasionally get nicked by a bone or skull.

So the 4th is the one that does the most damage (although I've pretty much got it down pat with 0 damage as well now). That's a fair definition of "hardest" in my book.

However, my damage taken for the first form jumps up to 10 or more when I'm not using the Spur, while the 2nd and 3rd don't (they take longer, but that's it), as it's much harder to time your jumps if you're also shooting, and the 1st form is much less forgiving than the 2nd and 3rd.

So, since the Spur's not the easiest weapon to get your hands on, I'd rate them in the order 1 > 4 > 2 > 3.

 

it's not harder for me to jump and shoot at the same time, but i play far too many video games, so yeah.

 

it's not harder for me to jump and shoot at the same time, but i play far too many video games, so yeah.

My computer won't let me press X while holding Z.