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Description

"Deep Blue Death!" is one of two possible options for the second boss fight in story mode. The stage starts with a normal battle against three Karkaros', then transitions into a boss encounter after they are defeated. The level itself is actually the boss, a colossal, island-backed crab called Decatun.

The level is made up of multiple islands in the middle of a vast expanse of ocean; one large mass with rocks and palm trees rests in the center, and a ring of smaller, featureless isles surround it. The largest isle is Decatun's back, while the smaller mounds are a combination of natural islands and sand-covered legs. The water surrounding them means instant death, even for monsters who can swim, since Decatun will seize anything that falls into his domain. Burrowing monsters cannot dig on any of the islands, as they are all either too small or too shallow.

When the fight begins, the center isle will rise from the sea, revealing Decatun's face and body. He will stay rooted in place, shooting homing waterballs at the player continuously. If they stay in front of him for too long or try to jump toward his face, he will abruptly lash out with his inner set of pincers and seize the player, crushing them for a few seconds and throwing them into the water. For this reason, it is obviously wise not to stick around his front side. If the player avoids his main body and jumps from small island to small island, they can easily flank him and safely board his back. This should be done quickly, however: once they pass his side and leave the range of his water balls, he will only stay raised for a few more seconds. The player needs to head for his face before he submerges and attack his eye-stalks. A dive-bomb attack, close range special, or heavy melee hit will deal the appropriate amount of damage, making him shriek and recoil. Whether this is done or not, Decatun will begin to shake for a few seconds, then plunge his body underwater, submerging the main island.

During this phase of the fight, Decatun will start to rotate, making the small islands rise and sink as his legs move beneath them. The player will have to jump from island to island to avoid falling into the water, and must do so until the phase ends, as there is no way to harm him with his body underwater. After a few seconds of doing this, the center island will rise back up. His eyestalks will poke out of the water a few seconds later to look around, offering a brief opportunity to harm him again. Whether this is done or not, his eyes will submerge and the center island will suddenly lift out of the water. A moment later, so will two of the smaller islands, which rest on top of his outer set of pincers; visually there is no way to tell them apart from the others, but since Decatun lifts his body first, the player can tell where they'll be and steer clear.

In this part of the fight, Decatun will not fire water balls, instead periodically lifting his main, giant set of pincers and slamming them down in the water. This is not an attack aimed directly at the player, but causes a tidal wave to spread out from the point of impact, washing over the islands. It is low enough to jump over, but he will repeat the attack continuously until another significant amount of damage is done to him. If it hits, it will send the player flying, potentially sending them into the sea. If they move to the remaining islands in front of Decatun, he will stop the wave-making attack and try to crush them directly. This attack has a long, obvious charge up, with one of his claws raising above his head and snapping angrily before it comes down. It can be avoided by jumping to the next island, but if it hits it deals a massive amount of damage and sends the player flying, almost certainly into the sea.

The key to ending this phase is goading Decatun into doing this attack. His eyestalks will not show up as targets from this distance, and if the player stays on his back for too long he will temporarily drop into the sea to drown them, making melee attacks far too risky. As he winds up for a claw smash, however, his pincer becomes a lock-on target and can be attacked. Special attacks (especially well-timed close-range specials, since they provide invincibility frames) are the easiest way to attack them, but two-handed boulders can also be found on his back, so fast-moving players can snatch them, jump down to a smaller island, and use these to throw at them.

If the player succeeds, the claw will visibly crack and Decatun will flinch, returning to the fully submerged, leg shuffling phase. He will cycle between these two phases, alternating between his right and left claw; both must be cracked twice, preventing him from using them and lowering his health enough to trigger the final phase of the fight.

With both claws mangled, Decatun collapses into his island form for a few seconds, then lifts his body out of the water and return to the waterball spitting phase he did at the start of the fight. This time, however, he will not allow the player to flank him: if they try, he will partially raise his ruined pincers, restricting them to just the few small islands in front of his face. If a flying monster tries to bypass him and head for his body, he will retaliate by shooting them out of the air with a small, accurate jet of water. The player must jump between the available islands to avoid not only Decatun's waterballs, but also a new, super-sized water jet attack. After every four times Decatun spits, he will open his mandibles wide and froth at the mouth before shooting a geyser of water at the island the player was last standing on. This is easy to avoid, but spells instant death if it connects. As the attack is charging, Decatun's mouth becomes a lock-on target and can be shot at with basic ranged or special attacks. If any rocks or boulders happen to be sitting on the remaining islands, they will also work.

The player will need to dodge Decatun's attacks and fire relentlessly into his mouth until enough damage is done to defeat him. Upon winning, a cutscene will play showing him in his death throws, frothing and gurgling until he completely collapses into the sea. The player's monster is dumped into the water and sent roaring toward the camera, riding the enormous tidal wave that follows.

Artwork © Chris Eye, 2016.

Description

"Deep Blue Death!" is one of two possible options for the second boss fight in story mode. The stage starts with a normal battle against three Karkaros', then transitions into a boss encounter after they are defeated. The level itself is actually the boss, a colossal, island-backed crab called Decatun.

The level is made up of multiple islands in the middle of a vast expanse of ocean; one large mass with rocks and palm trees rests in the center, and a ring of smaller, featureless isles surround it. The largest isle is Decatun's back, while the smaller mounds are a combination of natural islands and sand-covered legs. The water surrounding them means instant death, even for monsters who can swim, since Decatun will seize anything that falls into his domain. Burrowing monsters cannot dig on any of the islands, as they are all either too small or too shallow.

When the fight begins, the center isle will rise from the sea, revealing Decatun's face and body. He will stay rooted in place, shooting homing waterballs at the player continuously. If they stay in front of him for too long or try to jump toward his face, he will abruptly lash out with his inner set of pincers and seize the player, crushing them for a few seconds and throwing them into the water. For this reason, it is obviously wise not to stick around his front side. If the player avoids his main body and jumps from small island to small island, they can easily flank him and safely board his back. This should be done quickly, however: once they pass his side and leave the range of his water balls, he will only stay raised for a few more seconds. The player needs to head for his face before he submerges and attack his eye-stalks. A dive-bomb attack, close range special, or heavy melee hit will deal the appropriate amount of damage, making him shriek and recoil. Whether this is done or not, Decatun will begin to shake for a few seconds, then plunge his body underwater, submerging the main island.

During this phase of the fight, Decatun will start to rotate, making the small islands rise and sink as his legs move beneath them. The player will have to jump from island to island to avoid falling into the water, and must do so until the phase ends, as there is no way to harm him with his body underwater. After a few seconds of doing this, the center island will rise back up. His eyestalks will poke out of the water a few seconds later to look around, offering a brief opportunity to harm him again. Whether this is done or not, his eyes will submerge and the center island will suddenly lift out of the water. A moment later, so will two of the smaller islands, which rest on top of his outer set of pincers; visually there is no way to tell them apart from the others, but since Decatun lifts his body first, the player can tell where they'll be and steer clear.

In this part of the fight, Decatun will not fire water balls, instead periodically lifting his main, giant set of pincers and slamming them down in the water. This is not an attack aimed directly at the player, but causes a tidal wave to spread out from the point of impact, washing over the islands. It is low enough to jump over, but he will repeat the attack continuously until another significant amount of damage is done to him. If it hits, it will send the player flying, potentially sending them into the sea. If they move to the remaining islands in front of Decatun, he will stop the wave-making attack and try to crush them directly. This attack has a long, obvious charge up, with one of his claws raising above his head and snapping angrily before it comes down. It can be avoided by jumping to the next island, but if it hits it deals a massive amount of damage and sends the player flying, almost certainly into the sea.

The key to ending this phase is goading Decatun into doing this attack. His eyestalks will not show up as targets from this distance, and if the player stays on his back for too long he will temporarily drop into the sea to drown them, making melee attacks far too risky. As he winds up for a claw smash, however, his pincer becomes a lock-on target and can be attacked. Special attacks (especially well-timed close-range specials, since they provide invincibility frames) are the easiest way to attack them, but two-handed boulders can also be found on his back, so fast-moving players can snatch them, jump down to a smaller island, and use these to throw at them.

If the player succeeds, the claw will visibly crack and Decatun will flinch, returning to the fully submerged, leg shuffling phase. He will cycle between these two phases, alternating between his right and left claw; both must be cracked twice, preventing him from using them and lowering his health enough to trigger the final phase of the fight.

With both claws mangled, Decatun collapses into his island form for a few seconds, then lifts his body out of the water and return to the waterball spitting phase he did at the start of the fight. This time, however, he will not allow the player to flank him: if they try, he will partially raise his ruined pincers, restricting them to just the few small islands in front of his face. If a flying monster tries to bypass him and head for his body, he will retaliate by shooting them out of the air with a small, accurate jet of water. The player must jump between the available islands to avoid not only Decatun's waterballs, but also a new, super-sized water jet attack. After every four times Decatun spits, he will open his mandibles wide and froth at the mouth before shooting a geyser of water at the island the player was last standing on. This is easy to avoid, but spells instant death if it connects. As the attack is charging, Decatun's mouth becomes a lock-on target and can be shot at with basic ranged or special attacks. If any rocks or boulders happen to be sitting on the remaining islands, they will also work.

The player will need to dodge Decatun's attacks and fire relentlessly into his mouth until enough damage is done to defeat him. Upon winning, a cutscene will play showing him in his death throws, frothing and gurgling until he completely collapses into the sea. The player's monster is dumped into the water and sent roaring toward the camera, riding the enormous tidal wave that follows.

Artwork © Chris Eye, 2016.