===============================================================================
|| Super Smash Bros Brawl ||
|| Boss FAQ V1.0 ||
|| GameFAQs ||
|| By: Adam A.K.A. MogKnightAzure ||
===============================================================================
====TABLE OF CONTENTS==== Search Code
1. Introduction [100]
a. Version History [101]
2. The Bosses [200]
a. Master Hand [201]
b. Crazy Hand [202]
c. Petey Piranha [203]
d. Rayquaza [204]
e. Porky [205]
f. Ridley [206]
g. Meta-Ridley [207]
h. Galleom [208]
i. Duon [209]
j. Tabuu [210]
3. Character-Specific Tips [300]
a. Mario [301]
b. Luigi [302]
c. Peach [303]
d. Bowser [304]
e. Donkey Kong [305]
f. Diddy Kong [306]
g. Yoshi [307]
h. Wario [308]
i. Link [309]
j. Zelda/Shiek [310]
k. Ganondorf [311]
l. Toon Link [312]
m. Samus/ZSS [313]
n. Pit [314]
o. Ice Climbers [315]
p. R.O.B. [316]
q. Kirby [317]
r. Meta Knight [318]
s. King Dedede [319]
t. Olimar [320]
u. Fox [321]
v. Falco [322]
w. Wolf [323]
x. Captain Falcon [324]
y. Pikachu [325]
z. Pokemon Trainer [326]
aa. Lucario [327]
bb. Jigglypuff [328]
cc. Marth [329]
dd. Ike [330]
ee. Ness [331]
ff. Lucas [332]
gg. Mr. Game & Watch [333]
hh. Snake [334]
ii. Sonic [335]
4. FAQ [400]
5. Special Thanks/Credits [500]
6. Contact Information [600]
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[100] 1. Introduction
I can't believe I'm taking time away from this game to write this FAQ.
I guess it's because I love it so much and the fact that I've played it to
death that I had to share what I know about it. First of all, I assume that by
clicking on a 'boss' FAQ, you expect to hear about all the bosses of this game
and therefore any and all spoilers associated with them. Second, I'm going to
refer to everything as though you are using a gamecube controller. Sorry, I
know some people exclusively use other control methods but the most popular
choice is definitely the good ol GC. I'll try to use generic terms when I
talk about moves or attacks (like saying 'down aerial' instead of 'down A' or
something) but for the most part I can't break the habit of the GC controller.
Lastly, we need to get over a few key terms I'll use throughout this FAQ.
DI - Directional Influence. Considered an advanced technique but it's really
quite simple. DI is when you tilt the control stick to influence your
characters direction during a fall or an attack. A good example of this is
when you are hit with a smart bomb, you can tilt the control stick to move in
the explosion and control where you will be sent flying once it's over. Yep,
it's that easy, thats DI.
Dair/Bair/Fair/Uair/Nair - Aerial attacks, down/back/forward/upward and
neutral respectively. Nair is also sometimes referred to as a sex kick. Why?
Because most Nairs are typically kicks that are stronger during the initial
extension and weaker afterwards. Don't understand? I'll tell you when you're
older.
Air Dodge - Some people honestly don't know this, so I'll put this here.
Air dodging is when you press the shield button in the air, basically. Your
character will perform a momentary dodge that grants him/her a brief amount of
invincibility frames. Get used to it, you need to do this often if you hope
to survive these bosses, even on lower difficulties, actually. Since melee,
air dodging has significantly changed. In Brawl, you no longer shift the
direction you're holding when you air dodge, and instead keep the momentum
you had going into the dodge. Also, you are not vulnerable after an air dodge
and you can continue performing moves/jumping/more air dodges before touching
the ground. If you can't do this you have no chance in hell for boss rush.
Sidestep Dodge - Like the Air Dodge, only on the ground. You have to press
down and the shield button at the same time. Easier to air dodge and in most
cases air dodging is just the way to go. But this move is CRITICAL to your
success in boss rush.
Absorb - Ness and Lucas can absorb certain energy-based projectiles and in
doing so, restore health.
Reflect - Fox, Falco, Wolf, Pit, Mario, Zelda, Ness and Lucas can all reflect
projectiles one way or another. Causing the enemy to suffer their own attack.
Oil Panic - Unique to Mr. Game & Watch. G&W holds a bucket in front of him
and will 'hold' certain projectile attacks until the bucket gets 3 attacks.
The next time this move is used, G&W spills the contents in front of him for
damage equal to the absorbed charges times 2.8. Each charge can only be a max
of 20%. So at it's peak this attack does about 60% damage.
Counter - Marth, Ike, and Lucario can all counter with their down+b. Good
to use in place of dodging for some attacks.
[101] 1a. Version History
v1.0 - Bosses attacks, trophy descriptions, and general strategies.
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[200] The Bosses
There are 10 bosses in Brawl. As the difficulties increase, the bosses
get faster, hit harder, and have more health. I've noticed that 'intense' in
boss rush mode is not the same as 'intense' in classic or SSE. I suppose this
is mercy from the developers as you can't continue in boss rush mode. But I
mean it's a pretty big gap... try getting to master hand on intense and you'll
see what I mean. He can do his finger twist on you for at least 90% on classic
whereas in boss rush's intense it'll only be about 30-40.
If you want to practice against the bosses(except Master and Crazy
Hand), your best bet would be to engage them in the Subspace Emissary mode at
your own leisure, most of them are at the start of certain zones or at least
not very far in, with the exception of both Ridleys ;_;
Petey Piranha - Midair Stadium
Rayquaza - The Lake
Porky - The Ruined Zoo
Galleom - The Ruined Hall
Duon - Battleship Halberd Bridge
Ridley - The Research Facility (East)
Meta Ridley - The Subspace Bomb Factory (South)
Tabuu - The Great Maze
As far as general tips go... aerials and ranged attacks are your best
friends for all of these fights. Don't use attacks with large amounts of
downtime, you want to preferably be in control of your character at all times
so you can dodge when neccessary.
Also air dodge. ALWAYS AIR DODGE. It's never a bad idea to air dodge!
Anyway, lets get started.
**********************
[201] 2a. Master Hand
Trophy: A being tied to the link between this world, where trophies fight, and
the world beyond. The meaning of his existance is unknown, as are his
goals, but he seems to have obtained (and kept hidden) a power that
borders on absolute. He also seems to feel a certain joy in
challening certain warriors who've claimed many victories. He waits
even now in Final Destination.
Appearance: What do you think he looks like? It's a giant white right hand.
====ATTACKS====
[Handgun] (Get it?)
Pre-Animation: Pretty obvious. Master Hand forms a gun and aims it at you.
Description: Master Hand will fire at you after a couple seconds.
Avoid: Sidestep dodge or air dodge works fine, although you might need to work
on the timing a bit.
Reflect: Yes
Absorb: Yes
Oil Panic: Yes
[Finger Twist]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand will begin to twist and launch himself upwards.
Description: Shortly after, he'll come down and 'twist' on you, causing very
high damage and good knockback if you stay in it for the final
hit.
Avoid: He can only do this above the level, so if your character can fly then
flying away from the stage works great. Otherwise simply run to the
other side and roll at the last second to avoid this.
[Finger Lasers]
Pre-Animation: Happens almost instantly. Master Hand flexes and starts firing
lasers from his fingers.
Description: The lasers are solid and travel around the middle of the stage.
Avoid: If you're standing under Master Hand for the most part when attacking
him, simply stay there, it's a safe spot. In fact, this is a great time
to lay the beatdown on him.
[Angry Fist]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand makes a fist and hovers above you.
Description: Master Hand will either immediately shoot down as a fist, causing
an explosion that does good damage and good knockback, or he'll
pause for a moment to open his hand and crash down on you with his
open palm, causing good damage and embedding you in the ground.
Avoid: Air dodge it. Similarly to Petey's jump, if you can fly up to Master
Hand and attack him, go for it, the attack will miss as long as you're
above his knuckles. You can also simply try to roll out of the way.
[Rocket Hand]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand twists slightly and launches into the air.
Description: He'll appear in the background and perform a couple loops before
flying into the area. Causes great damage and great knockback.
Avoid: Air dodge. Too easy. Stay away from him when he starts this move up
since he takes off just like a rocket: with a small fiery explosion.
[Flying Fist]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand lifts off into the sky.
Description: He'll appear in the background as a fist flying towards you.
Avoid: Just like the rocket hand, air dodge it. Super easy.
[Slap]
Pre-Animation: Comes out almost instantly. Master Hand will swing a bit to the
right and open his hand.
Description: Master Hand swings his open self across the bottom of the level
very quickly. Good damage, great knockback. Happens pretty fast
so watch out.
Avoid: Air dodge. Happens pretty fast but still easy enough to avoid.
[Flick]
Pre-Animation: None, this is completely random and out of the blue.
Description: He flicks you. Only does this when you're close to him, and seems
to be completely random past that. I actually think this is just
his finger walk but it immediately goes into the flick since you
are so close to him.
Avoid: Good luck with that. It's too fast, you wont be able to anticipate it
in time to air dodge. Well, maybe if you're not on intense, anyway.
For this reason, try to attack Master Hand closer to his finger tips.
At least that way he might just miss you completely when he does it.
[Finger Walk]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand does a couple flips in the air.
Description: He starts walking on his index and middle fingers towards the
other end of the stage. If he touches you he'll flick you, great
knockback, good damage.
Avoid: Double jump over him. Air dodge if you have to, since you'll take
damage even if you hit his wrist.
[Sweeping Backhand]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand kinda goes limp for a second.
Description: He'll begin 'sweeping' the stage, swatting you out of the way.
Unlike the rest of his moves, the knockback and damage aren't very
high.
Avoid: Air dodge! Master Hand is the perfect boss to practice air dodging.
[Grab & Squeeze]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand will 'lock-on' to you. You'll notice this easily as
he'll start to basically follow you around.
Description: After a couple seconds, Master Hand will attempt to grab you and
squeeze the life out of you. If you stay in his grip for too long
he'll throw you and that usually means game over.
Avoid: Air dodge. Easy to time.
[Triple Poke]
Pre-Animation: Master Hand will point at you and follow you.
Description: After a couple seconds he'll poke three times. These attacks will
break your shield.
Avoid: Just keep moving, he'll stop moving to start poking and you'll be out
of his range.
====STRATEGY====
It's Master Hand from the past games! And he's got no new moves at all! This
is a super easy and great fight to practice your air dodging skills. Air dodge
basically solves all your problems here. Get used to it.
As for that 'flick' move... I'm PRETTY sure it's just the finger walk activated
when you're too close to him. It's really annoying how fast it comes out
though, that should be the only thing that hits you here. The only other move
that might come close is his finger twist. If you're having trouble avoiding
it still, do a running jump and try air dodging as he comes down. Your
momentum should carry you through his attack and to safety once your air dodge
is over.
*********************
[202] 2b. Crazy Hand
Trophy: A seeming manifestation of the destructive spirit in direct contrast to
Master Hand, who is the manifestation of the creative spirit. Crazy
Hand appears out of nowhere when Master Hand's power begins to ebb.
His repeated attacks evoke the bizarre. Those who must face Master
Hand and Crazy Hand at the same time face a long and painful battle to
the death.
Appearance: The Left Hand, looks angry if you can imagine what an angry hand
looks like.
====ATTACKS====
Crazy Hand is basically just like Master Hand. And similarly, Air dodge solves
all of your problems here. I'm only going to list the moves unique to Crazy
Hand here. Most of the moves Master Hand has, Crazy Hand can do.
[Bomb Drop]
Pre-Animation: Crazy Hand 'faces' the screen and floats over the middle of
the stage.
Description: Bombs suddenly drop like rain from Crazy Hand.
Avoid: It's easy to see it coming, simply don't stand under Crazy Hand.
[Writhing Hand]
Pre-Animation: Crazy Hand moves to the middle of the stage.
Description: It's pretty crazy. He starts flailing about wildly.
Avoid: Stay the hell away from him, he doesn't move anywhere from the middle.
Going near him is asking for death.
[Crawl]
Pre-Animation: Crazy Hand goes up a bit and seems to 'hang'.
Description: He'll crawl along the ground, much like Master Hands finger walk.
Avoid: Move away from him and jump twice to get over him.
====Strategy====
Crazy Hand is just like Master Hand: Easy. Same strategies apply here. Just
keep attacking with aerials and air dodge as neccessary. A little easier since
he doesn't have that annoying 'flick' that Master Hand does. But some of his
attacks are a little more deadly. Thats okay though, they're super easy to
dodge anyway.
************************
[203] 2c. Petey Piranha
Trophy: A colossal Piranha Plant. Unlike its pipe-inhabiting cousins, it uses
its legs to walk around. It can fly, too. As you might expect, it
often appears as a boss character in Mario adventures. This may come
as a surprise, but it also displays surprising dexterity in kart races
and ball games.
Appearance: He's just an overgrown piranha plant. Distinguishing features
include his polka dot head and matching polka dot underwear?
Wields two cages containing Zelda and Peach.
====ATTACKS====
[Cage Swipe]
Pre-Animation: Petey will reel back one of the cages.
Description: Petey will swing one of the cages across the ground and knock you
in the direction of the swing.
Avoid: Jump to avoid, or air dodge if you'd like.
[Massive Jump]
Pre-Animation: Petey will crouch down.
Description: Petey will jump either straight up or he'll jump to the other side
of the stadium. This is determined by where you're standing when
he decides to jump.
Avoid: Jump before he comes down and air dodge it. Easy timing.
[Enrage]
Description: Once one of the cages is down to half health, Petey will roar in
anger and glow red for a moment. After this, his attacks do more
damage. Other than that he's vulnerable for the whole animation
so get a few smashes in on him.
====STRATEGY====
Petey is a piece of cake, he only has two moves, both of which are easily air
dodged. Stick to one cage and bash the crap out of it. Preferably however,
you will want to use your attacks in such a way that you hit both Petey's head
and the cage you're concentrating on. Hitting Petey in the head damages both
cages, so if you hit him and one of the cages, the damage adds up pretty nice.
I personally prefer to use aerials on him even though he's on the ground, this
is because if you time it right, you'll be attacking while he's swinging the
cages and completely missing you. The only time you should pause your assault
is when he does his jump. It's too high for most characters to fly up and
continue attacking, but if your character can, by all means go for it, you'll
be safe as long as you are above his chin when in the air. Notably, Sonic can
do this.
As for the enrage, don't worry about it. Petey's easy, you shouldn't take any
damage from him unless it's like one mistimed jump and the cage hits you. Even
on intense he's nothing to worry about, just a little faster and dodging is a
bit more important
*******************
[204] 2d. Rayquaza
Trophy: A Sky High Pokemon. It normally resides high up in the ozone layer
where it flies endlessly, so it is rarely seen. However, when Groudon
and Kyogre begin to fight, it appeared to calm them down. It has the
ability Air Lock, which blocks all weather-condition effects. It has
exceedingly strong abilities, and its attack power is especially
remarkable.
Appearance: Long green dragon/snake kinda thing. If you watch Dragonball,
he's not unlike the dragon that they summon from the balls,
Shenron I think is his name.
====ATTACKS====
[Switch Sides]
Pre-Animation: Ray will tilt back slightly.
Description: He will dash across the ground to get to the other side.
Avoid: Jump once or twice.
[Energy Ball]
Pre-Animation: Rayquaza will rear back his head and charge energy in his mouth
for a moment.
Description: Ray will shoot a ball of energy out of his mouth. He will either
shoot it at ground level across the stage or higher up and shoot
it at the center that will create a small explosion where it hits.
Avoid: Either roll into Rayquaza or air dodge it. If your character can
reflect it then thats a good idea. Counter works too but you wont send
the attack back at him.
Reflect: Yes
Absorb: No
Oil Panic: No
[Tail Swipe]
Pre-Animation: Rayquaza will coil down for a moment, then spin.
Description: Ray will swing his tail across the ground which will reach the
middle of the stage.
Avoid: Jump or air dodge.
[Inner Explosion]
Pre-Animation: Ray’s eyes will glow for a split second. The animation is really
short and the attack is really fast so be ready.
Description: Ray will make an explosion appear wherever you were when his eyes
lit up which will hurt a lot. It also has heavy knockback.
Avoid: Move! Either jump fast, air dodge, or roll immediately.
[Dig]
Pre-Animation: This one looks similar to his switch sides move, but it’s a
little slower and his gaze seems more fixated on the ground.
Description: Ray will dive into the ground and pop out a second or two later.
He will pop out three times at low life.
Avoid: Stand still and wait until you see the dirt pile up. The moment you see
it, roll to either side. If your character can counter, use that
instead of dodging, easy timing.
[Extremespeed]
Pre-Animation: This animation is similar to Dive but he will disappear right
awayoff the top of the screen.
Description: Ray will dash across the screen really fast. If he hits you it
will hit hard and possibly knock you into the wall for a KO.
He will do this three times at low health.
Avoid: Roll, sidestep dodge, or counter. Jumping is risky, but you could
probably air dodge this one as well.
[Dive]
Pre-Animation: Ray will curl up and fly in the air and roam around the top
of the screen for a bit.
Description: After flying for a bit he will go even higher where you can’t see
him. He will then dive into the ground where your standing.
Avoid: Either roll quickly the second he attacks or counter.
[Thunder]
Pre-Animation: Ray will fly up and form a circle with his body.
Description: He will zap you with lightning less than a second after the
animation begins. This move is very fast, but not deadly.
Avoid: Shield. It happens so damn fast you'll likely get hit by it, and lasts
too long to air dodge it. There's no knockback though so don't worry.
If you're fast enough and you're on the ground when he does it, just
throw up your shield quickly and it'll null the damage.
[Roar]
Description: Rayquaza roars. Small black pulses are seen from his mouth when
he does this but as far as I can tell they do no damage. This
move does nothing and is a great time for you to strike.
====STRATEGY====
Well, Rayquaza has a lot of moves, but the ones that are hard to avoid are not
very threatening anyway. You'll probably suffer some damage here but you
should be alright if you stick to the air and pound him with aerial attacks.
A character with the ability to counter is fantastic against Rayquaza,
particularly against his dig, dive, and extremespeed. The only things to look
out for are his tail swipe and inner explosion abilities. Tail swipe is easy
enough to avoid but it comes out pretty quick and likely while you're attacking
so like Petey's cage swing attack, simply attack with good timing and you'll be
in the air while this attack comes out. Inner Explosion is fast, just takes
practice to notice it and dodge it fast enough.
I usually get hit when he goes down for his dig attack, the animation comes out
pretty fast and usually while I'm attacking. No big deal, it doesn't do a lot
of damage and the knockback is insignificant.
****************
[205] 2e. Porky
Trophy: A self-centered, rotten brat who lives next door to Ness. As the
events of the game progress, he's rapidly led astray and becomes
Giygas's right-hand man. Afterward, he goes missing in time and then
reappears in the Nowhere Islands of Mother 3. He leads the Pig Mask
Army invasion but is eventually defeated by Lucas and friends.
Appearance: It's a fat kid in a heavily armed spider tank.
====ATTACKS====
[Walk and Poke]
Pre-Animation: He will start the attack instantly. The top of the tank will
start to spark red while he's walking.
Description: Porky will slowly walk towards you and poke you if you get in
melee range. It won’t hit very hard and won’t knockback, but any
damage will cause problems later so it’s still important to avoid.
Avoid: Keep walking away until he’s well on the side then jump over him until
he decides to stop.
[Porky Bombs]
Pre-Animation: Porky will raise two claws over the top of his head and pop
these little guys out.
Description: Porky releases mini clones that will walk around and explode.
The explosion will only shoot upwards for about the width of the
clones, which isn’t very big. They do medium damage and very high
knockback if you have a lot of damage.
Avoid: Just stay in the air. You can try to jump on Porky’s container but it’s
hard to not slip off. Don’t go too far from him because he might Jump on
you before the clones are gone.
[Jump]
Pre-Animation: Porky will crouch down a little and start vibrating.
Description: After he’s done shaking he’ll jump very fast in the air and land
very fast. He will never land where he previously was so if you're
attacking him when he starts this, you should be safe.
Avoid: If you're right next to him, just move a little away in case he jumps
close. Otherwise, jump towards him and air dodge when he comes down.
[Claw Jab]
Pre-Animation: He will walk slowly towards you without the lightning on his
head. This is usually a sign that he wants to stab you.
Description: Porky will jab away with his claw very fast. It will start in the
air and then quickly stab towards the ground. It has pretty far
range so you want to have good distance from him. If you're near
him when it starts, you have no chance of running away on intense
mode because it’s so fast. This attack has extremely high
knockback. If you have 50%+ your probably done when he does the
final jab.
Avoid: If your medium distance just stay away. If you get caught in the attack
try to DI out of it by aiming towards Porky and the ground. You can
also try to use a counter move to get out of it.
[Laser]
Pre-Animation: Porky will raise two of his claws over his head, similar to his
porky bombs attack, but this time he’ll create an orange ball
of energy.
Description: The orange ball of energy will shoot a laser and then move it
around the screen very fast. It will almost always cross over you
twice and do loads of damage. This attack will sometimes cause
knockback depending on where you are when it hits you.
Avoid: It's pretty annoying to avoid. Try jumping when he begins this attack
and the laser should sweep upward to hit you. Air dodge through it then
jump and air dodge again since the laser will likely becoming down on
you again.
[Float and Zap]
Pre-Animation: Porky will rise into the air and begin to float across the
screen.
Description: He will follow you with a spot light for a few second and then
shoot straight down with a powerful lightning attack. He will do
this two or three times at low life.
Avoid: For some reason it's easier to stand on top of him during this, I don't
know why. But DONT DO IT. When he fires the laser he discharges a bit
of electricity on his head, and it has plenty enough knockback to send
you off the top of the screen. Stay on the ground and roll dodge this
one. Be sure to stay away from Porky when he's done since he comes
stomping down after.
[Tackle]
Pre-Animation: Porky will do a very very short hop and vibrate.
Description: Porky will dash across the stage in your direction. This attack
has high knockback and if you get hit by it near the middle of
the stage with high damage you may die. If you get hit by it near
the edge of the screen even with 0% you may die. Fortunately it’s
very easy to see coming and avoid.
Avoid: Double jump over him. Air dodge if you have to.
====STRATEGY====
Porky is a bit of a pain. His attacks are difficult to anticipate, he has a
bit more health than the other bosses (excluding Duon), and a couple of his
skills have high knockback and are difficult to avoid. Stay close and attack
with your aerials but be sure to keep a sharp eye on his movements. If he
starts to walk without any electricity over his head, he's probably about to do
his quick jabs, either stay low to the ground if you're a short character, or
just get away from him. The other main skill you have to look out for is his
laser. It's very difficult to avoid, even air dodging is annoying. I find you
take more damage from the end of the laser than you do if you fall into the
middle of it though, so if you can't avoid it easily just do that. Counter
from Ike and Marth don't seem to help against it, but Lucario's Double Team
works on it. Still, even if you manage to counter it once, the downtime you
suffer after is enough for the laser to sweep back and still hit you. It's
just a pain in the ass.
Just beat him down hard and fast, avoid the Porky bombs after he's dead because
they'll still hurt you if they're there. You should only expect to get hit by
either the quick jabs or the laser.
*****************
[206] 2f. Ridley
Trophy: The leader of the Space Pirates. He looks like a pterosaur but has
high intelligence and a brutal nature. He plans to steal the baby
Metroid from Samus for his own use. Ridley utilizes wings for a full
range of flight and attacks with fireballs from his mouth and whips
of his tail. As the culprit behind the murder of Samus's parents,
the connections with Samus run deep.
Appearance: Like the trophy says, he's a big purple pterosaur/dragon.
====ATTACKS====
[Dash]
Pre-Animation: Ridley will turn around and fly semi slowly off screen.
Description: He will fly across the screen wherever you are extremely fast.
Avoid: Air dodge. Sometimes he flies by fast and sometimes he goes a bit slow
I'm not sure why. It's still relatively easy to air dodge though.
[Tail Drill]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Ridley will drag his tail across the ground making sparks, jump to
avoid and smack him a couple times while he’s doing it. He’ll do
this twice at low life.
Avoid: Jump once. Yep, no air dodging needed here. Attack him during this.
[Ground Slam and Fly Tackle]
Pre-Animation: Ridley will slam on the ground near the edge he was just at.
Description: After he slams the ground he’ll fly straight up and do one of two
attacks. If the stage is still and quiet, he’ll slam the ground
again wherever you are. If the stage shakes and gets heavy with
wind and you hear Ridley roar, he will fly all over the place in
the background and then zoom across the bottom of the stage.
Avoid: For the initial slam, air dodge or just move out of the way. If he does
the second slam, wait a few seconds then dash across the stage until he
does it, or simply do another air dodge. If he does the flying one, air
dodge as he flies in.
[Switch Sides]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Ridley will go to the other side, dragging his claw on the ground
on the way.
Avoid: He does this pretty fast so you might get hit. If you catch it jump once
or air dodge.
[Roar]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: This will do damage if you are very close to him when he first
starts it up, after that he just blows strong wind at you and you
are free to beat on him if you can push through the wind.
Avoid: Kinda difficult since he seems to do this quickly without warning
sometimes. But you do have to be pretty damn close to be hit anyway and
if it does hit you it's low damage and low knockback. So it's not a big
deal.
[360 Swoop]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: This is Ridley’s only annoying move. He does it instantly and
usually while your still attacking him. It does pathetic damage.
Avoid: Jump once or air dodge if you catch it, but you usually won’t.
====STRATEGY====
Hey it's Master Hand in a Ridley costume! No seriously he's just as easy and
is not threatening at all. Just constantly assault him and he'll go down in
no time. Dodge appropriately.
**********************
[207] 2g. Meta Ridley
Trophy: The meta form of Ridley, revived using the Space Pirates' genetic
engineering and cybernetic technologies. His thin chest plate
--and weak point--is protected by a highly resistant membrane. Meta
Ridley is highly mobile and features a multimissle system, a bomb
launcher, and powerful wings. Ice attacks are particularly effective
in dealing damage to him.
Appearance: A big metal pterosaur/dragon!
====ATTACKS====
[Swoop]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Ridley will swoop across the ship.
Avoid: Air dodge while he's off the screen, before he comes back.
[Growl and Swoop]
Pre-Animation: Ridley will growl during the period where you can damage him and
will do the attack right away instead of flying off screen
first. 75% of the time Ridley will start the fight with this. So
as soon as you can move, jump to the back of the ship and stay
on the back edge.
Description: Ridley will use his swoop attack but it will only cover the front
half of the ship.
Avoid: Stand as close to the edge on the back of the ship as you can without
falling off. You can jump if you wish.
[Rapid Fire]
Pre-Animation: After flying off screen Ridley will come back and roar.
Description: Ridley begins pelting the great falcon with fireballs, and will
eventually sweep across the entire ship, even the back end.
Avoid: Stay on the back end of the ship and wait until his fireballs begin to
sweep to where you are, then time a jump so you avoid it, simple. Don't
forget to throw an attack in there, aim for his ass too otherwise you'll
take damage near his face. If you are Fox/Falco/Wolf stand just in
front of Ridley and activate your reflector to inflict great damage on
him.
Reflect: Yes
Absorb: No
Oil Panic: No
[Ship Smack]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Ridley will smack the back of the ship and cause some damage if
you're standing on it.
Avoid: Air dodge while he's off the screen, before he comes back.
[Triple Fireball]
Pre-Animation: Ridley will grab on to the back of the ship and hang on it.
Description: While Ridley is on the ship he will slowly drag it down and shoot
three fireballs slowly. You can stop him if you have time to get
to him and attack him but it's pretty risky.
Avoid: As stated, you can attack Ridley to knock him off, but it's risky if you
don't get there fast enough as he'll spit a fireball at you. These
fireballs are big and do big damage and big knockback. Run to the front
end of the ship and wait, before the ship sinks down completely, double
jump and air dodge. The ship should come up and take out the third
fireball before it hits you. If you have a reflector, stand on the
right edge of the back of the ship and activate it to send it back at
him.
Reflect: Yes
Absorb: No
Oil Panic: No
[Giant Fireball]
Pre-Animation: Ridley will float slowly over the back of the ship and you’ll
see dark red lava coming out of his mouth.
Description: Ridley will fire a giant fireball at the ship once you've gotten
close enough to him.
Avoid: I haven't seen this happen very often, if you're standing on the back of
the ship he'll immediately launch the fireball and it'll completely miss
you. I don't know if it can be reflected but I'd assume it can since
all of his other fireballs have been reflected easily.
[Ship Dive]
Pre-Animation: Ridley will fly upwards off screen.
Description: Ridley will slam down on the ship dropping it off screen. If you
don’t jump it will KO you.
Avoid: Double jump.
====STRATEGY====
It's quite simple to dodge Meta Ridleys attacks. He always flies in from the
left for a moment, this is your chance to get in some hits on him. Then he
flies off the left side and comes back with some attack. It doesn't matter
what attack it is, all you need to do is jump and air dodge and you'll avoid
anything that happens. If his attacks have lasting effects like the rapid
fireball or triple fireball then simply react accordingly. You should always
stand on the back end of the ship to attack and defend.
The only thing you need to watch out for is that you're constantly being pushed
back ever so slightly by the force of the wind against you as the great falcon
races out of the tunnel. This may screw up your balance on the back end of
the ship.
******************
[208] 2h. Galleom
Trophy: An enormous, transforming robot and Subspace Army warmonger. Galleom
is characterized by various attack threats, including jump stomps,
beefy arm bludgeonings, and even missles fired from its back. It also
has a Subspace Bomb set in its head, which it can use in times of
desperation to blow itself up and drag the player into the darkness of
Subspace. It's one tough robot!
*NOTE* There's two trophies for Galleom, one for capturing him in a trophy
stand, and another for beating boss rush on intense. The other trophy in
question is his 'tank form'.
Trophy: Galleom with its arms and legs neatly compacted into tank form. In
this form, it can get around the combat field at high speed. It can
quickly change into humanoid form to take advantage of awesome combat
capabilities. Its last defense and most threatening trait is a built-
in Subspace Bomb. In tank form, Galleom can still attack with body
slams and missles. It never runs.
Appearance: Kinda like a giant mecha-gorilla. Missle pods on it's back. Can
transform into a tank thats basically... well... a tank.
====ATTACKS====
[Missile Launcher]
Pre-Animation: One of Galleom’s launchers will raise up.
Description: Galleom will fire two pairs of missiles at the ground. These will
land medium or far and usually won’t hit you if you're near
Galleom.
Avoid: If you're near Galleom they won’t hit you. If you're far away jump
towards him and air dodge.
[Quadruple Hop]
Pre-Animation: Galleom will do a quick crouch.
Description: Galleom will do four short hops across the stage. If they hit you
they will bury you in the ground.
Avoid: Air dodge through him. Easy to time.
[Ground Slam]
Pre-Animation: Galleom will do a long crouch.
Description: Galleom will do one huge jump, stall slightly in the air, then
come down hard. Unlike the smaller hops, this will cause massive
knockback.
Avoid: Air dodge as he comes down. He sometimes gets a little hangtime up
there depending on the difficulty so be careful with your timing.
[Body Slam]
Pre-Animation: Galleom will stand up straight and put his arms at his sides.
Description: Galleom will fall over forward on the ground. Think Luigi.
Avoid: Air dodge. Easy timing.
[Uppercut]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Galleom will drag his fist on the ground then uppercut you into
the sky. This attack has huge range and is very powerful.
Avoid: Air dodge. On lower difficulties you can roll through him to get on his
other side. On higher difficulties this attack comes out pretty fast so
be ready on that shield button.
[Earthwave]
Pre-Animation: Galleom will raise his arms straight up then spin for a second.
Description: After the initial spin he’ll slam both fists on the ground and
create a wave of dirt that will continue across the stage.
Avoid: Double jump over the wave of dirt.
[Stomp]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Galleom will stomp the ground with one foot very fast.
Avoid: This attack comes out really fast, if you're in the air attacking him
you might be high enough to miss it completely. If your reflexes are
sharp, air dodge it. For the most part though you shouldn't be close
enough to get hit with this.
[Double Fist]
Pre-Animation: Galleom raises his arms above him.
Description: Galleom will slam his fists on both sides of him. Basic attack,
medium range.
Avoid: Not too fast, so it should be easy enough to air dodge if you're close.
[Spin]
Pre-Animation: Galleom will spread his arms out horizontally.
Description: A basic spin move which just does damage and a little knockback,
you won’t see it much if you don’t stay in melee range.
Avoid: If you're in melee range, dodge roll away and hope you're fast.
Otherwise it won’t hit.
[Tank Form: Dash]
Pre-Animation: Galleom will transform into a tank.
Description: He will dash across the screen and then do one of two things. He
will either appear immediately on the other side, or there will be
a short delay and he’ll drop out of the sky and land wherever you
are.
Avoid: Double jump over the dash. If he doesn’t appear right away, start
running until he drops.
[Tank Form: Missiles]
Pre-Animation Galleom will transform into a tank, then raise a launcher.
Description: He will shoot 5 or so missiles straight at you.
Avoid: Double jump over them, air dodge or up+B if you can't clear them.
====STRATEGY====
Galleom is strictly a ranged fight. Unlike the other bosses he does not pause
for very long between his attacks. Not to mention he's huge and powerful and
most of his moves will obliterate you. I hope you brought a character with a
ranged attack at his/her disposal.
The only honestly safe times to go in and melee him would be after a body slam,
during missles, after his quad hop(or during if you can manage it), and while
he's transforming out of tank form after a dash. At any other time you risk
getting caught by a stomp, double fist, or spin attack. They come out fast and
like I said, he doesn't wait long between attacks. I strongly suggest sticking
to a ranged attack exclusively for this fight no matter how long it takes.
***************
[209] 2i. Duon
Trophy: A robot with two upper bodies sharing one set of wheels. The blue-
bodied half uses sword attacks, while the pink one uses lasers from its
head and arms for offensive power. Whichever side is facing you will
attack. Duon also threatens with homing missles and the blade on top
of the blue half.
Appearance: 2 Robots on one pair of wheels. Both have missle cannons on their
shoulders. Blue robot has blades for hands and a giant blade on
its head. Pink robot has laser cannons for arms and a giant laser
cannon on it's head. Goofy, but annoyingly difficult.
====ATTACKS====
[Switch Sides]
Pre-Animation: Duon’s wheel will start to spin with sparks and he’ll reel back
slightly. This is very obvious to see.
Description: Duon will dash across the stage to the other side.
Avoid: Double Jump and air dodge through him or up+B to ensure you get over
him.
[Jump]
Pre-Animation: Duon will crouch down.
Description: Duon will jump across the stage and land on the safe spot your at.
Avoid: This attack is pretty slow even on intense. Just dash under him to the
other side.
[Spin]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Happens often only when you're in melee range, Duon will trap you
in a spin attack that does some decent damage.
Avoid: DI away from Duon to try to get out of it. Otherwise simply keep your
distance and he'll never do it.
[Triple Slash]
Pre-Animation: The blue half will roll towards you slowly.
Description: Once Duon gets to you he will slash 3 times.
Avoid: Walk up to him slowly and dodge roll backwards when you're in range to
make him start his combo.
[Slash Wave]
Pre-Animation: Blue half will cross his arms in front of him.
Description: Blue half will make a shockwave with his hands.
Avoid: If you're in range, try to spot dodge. If you're attacking at a distance
like you should be, no worries.
[Headbutt]
Pre-Animation: Blue half will rear his head back for a moment.
Description: Blue half will headbutt the ground with his axe head. He will only
do this if your near him.
Avoid: Air dodge if you can, but you should never be close against the blue
half.
[Bomb Rain]
Pre-Animation: None, but it’s a slow attack.
Description: The blue half will throw bombs in the air. While these are usually
easy to avoid, Duon likes to start his next attack while you're
still dodging them.
Avoid: Depends where and how he throws them, its always different. Either jump,
or roll dodge, or spot dodge, or just move. Whatever works the best.
Don't get too close to Duon since he may slash you.
[Rapid Fire]
Pre-Animation: The pink half will aim his right arm at the ground.
Description: The pink half will shoot energy bullets at the ground and slowly
move them towards you. Or it will shoot them in a fast arc from
bottom to top.
Avoid: If you can reflect or absorb shots then do so. Otherwise stand at a
distance and double jump with good timing to avoid the first possible
shot pattern. Do nothing if it's the fast arc, they'll all miss you.
Reflect: Yes
Absorb: Yes
Oil Panic: Yes
[Blue Lasers]
Pre-Animation: Duon will charge a dark blue ball of energy out of the pink
half’s cannon on his head.
Description: He will shoot 3 powerful lasers that do a ton of damage and have
heavy knockback.
Avoid: Air dodge/roll to avoid these. You cannot reflect, absorb, or oil
panic these shots.
[Missiles]
Pre-Animation: None but it’s extremely slow.
Description: Duon fires 5 or so homing missiles in the air which will arc
towards you. These missiles do major damage to Duon if they hit
him.
Avoid: Run towards Duon and jump over the missiles after they get near the
ground. You can also try to run the missles into Duon but it's risky
because they do massive damage to you as well.
====STRATEGY====
Duon is a major pain in the ass, especially if you don't have any ranged
abilities. Like Galleom, he doesn't wait long between attacks, and a lot of
his attacks come out pretty fast. Personally I think he's the hardest fight of
the 10 on intense mode.
First, stay the hell away from the blue half. When it's facing you, keep your
distance and dodge all of it's attacks. You should only be running up to melee
it after a jump if it's blue half is facing you.
When it's pink half is facing you, use aerials but don't jump too high. If you
jump too high and he uses his blue laser attack, you'll be sent flying from the
blue orb that appears on his head cannon. Honestly even fighting the pink half
up close is dangerous but better than fighting the blue half.
If you have no ranged attacks whatsoever... you're in for a rough time. I
would honestly go for the missle kill.. just dodge everything and when the
missles come, take the risk and run those suckers into Duon.
If you have a well-explained strategy for melee-exclusive characters for this
fight I would gladly hear of it.
****************
[210] 2j. Tabuu
Trophy: The ruler of Subspace and master of operations. Tabuu controls Master
Hand with chains of light to excise this world and build up his great
maze. He used Shadow Bugs to form Subspace and manipulates the
servants of Master Hand to his heart's content. Born in a vastly
foreign realm, he also possesses great leadership powers. Tabuu... No
name is more suitable.
*NOTE* Like Galleom, there's another trophy to be had here. Beat boss rush
with all characters to get Tabuu(Wings).
Trophy: Tabuu with wings extended. The dreadful energy surges cast from these
wings instantly turn all fighters back into trophies. Knowing this,
King Dedede assembles all able-bodied troops and sets a timed device on
each of them. This device is a brooch that, after the designated time
runs out, revives all fighters wiped out by Tabuu.
Appearance: Neon blue humanoid. Kinda like Tron... He really does look kind
of... digital.
====ATTACKS====
[Red Rings of Doom]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu appears in the background with angel wings, he closes them
around himself.
Description: Tabuu will spread his wings and unleash 3 deadly shockwaves that
WILL KILL YOU no matter what. Regardless of your percentage, you
will die if you're hit by just one of these rings. Unless you're
playing on easy mode or something.
Avoid: Sidestep dodge. Thankfully you have plenty of time to prepare when you
see this move coming. Stand on the ground and wait, once he spread his
wings, sidestep dodge, then wait a half second, and sidestep dodge
again, another half second, and finally, another sidestep dodge. It
will take a bit of practice but it's actually really easy once you get
the timing down.
[Golden Chain Whip]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu will warp to either side of the stage and pull out
something yellow.
Description: Tabuu will quickly lash out at the stage with a long whip, if you
are caught in it he'll swing you around and slam you down on the
stage, causing huge damage and huge knockback. This can kill you
even at pretty low percentages if you're on intense.
Avoid: Double jump or air dodge, or both. The trick is reacting fast enough
when you see it but otherwise it's not hard.
[Exploding Warps]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Sometimes when Tabuu is warping around the room, he'll leave small
explosions in his wake.
Avoid: Well, he usually hits you with this if you're attacking him. Once you
notice it happening though, stop attacking until he stops warping. He
seems to warp 3 or 4 times.
[Sonic Slashes]
Pre-Animation: None
Description: Sometimes after a series of warps, Tabuu will warp to where you
are and start a series of quick and powerful purple slashes.
Avoid: It's tricky, usually the best policy is to just stay away from him when
he's warping around. If you do get caught in the attack though, you can
easily DI out of it by holding the control stick up and towards him.
[Neon Blade]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu warps to a location in the air on either side of the stage
and starts waving his arms around.
Description: A bright pink blade forms at Tabuu's arm and he swoops down
through the stage.
Avoid: Jump. You can even counter with a dair if you want to, only the front
end of him is hazardous.
[Enormous Eye Lasers]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu will suddenly expand himself.
Description: Tabuu's giant head floats in from one of the sides and shoots two
lasers from his eyes that sweep most of the stage.
Avoid: Only the point where the lasers touch the ground hurts you. Stay in the
air and pelt his big ass head with aerials.
[Dragon Beam]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu will appear on one of the sides and fly up, arms extended.
A large dragon head will appear under him.
Description: The dragon head will charge briefly before firing a white beam
across the ground of the stage.
Avoid: Double jump. The laser lasts about a second or so. If neccessary use
your up+B to compensate for timing.
[Golden Bracket Trap]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu will turn into a pair of golden brackets?
Description: The brackets will sweep the stage once, if you're caught in them
they warp to the middle and slam down fast and hard. The damage
is pretty good, the knockback is killer.
Avoid: Air dodge.
[Exploding Clones]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu stops warping anywhere he pleases and moves his arms to
his sides.
Description: A pretty rare move if you ask me, thankfully. Tabuu suddenly
spawns several clones that fly out from him and explode on contact
with you. Insane range.
Avoid: Get as far away from Tabuu as possible when you see this happen and air
dodge any clones that fly your way. This is a pretty annoying move.
[Diamond Saw]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu warps to one of the sides at ground level and raises an
arm in the air to manifest a giant saw.
Description: Tabuu throws the saw along the ground. It'll sweep back after so
be careful.
Avoid: Tabuu has too many ground-based moves like this. Just jump/fly/double
jump, whatever tickles your fancy. It's so fast in intense you might
want to try avoiding both passes of the saw in one jump, use your up+B
if you have to.
[Electric Shield]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu warps to your location and glows purple.
Description: 3 orbs of electricity fly out and encircle Tabuu. They do pretty
good damage and knockback.
Avoid: It comes out fast so you have to react quickly, simply run away from
Tabuu and see if you have time to get a couple of ranged attacks in if
you got any.
[Spear Head]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu warps to one of the sides at level with you and turns
into a giant spear head aimed towards the opposite side.
Description: Tabuu will quickly charge forward in this form. Immense knockback.
Avoid: Air dodge. Easy timing.
[Pinpoint Explosions]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu warps to one of the sides at ground level and waves his
hand in the air. Tiny flashes of light appear at random spots
across the stage.
Description: The flashes of light indicate where explosions will happen.
Shortly after he waves his hand he'll trigger the explosions in
those locations.
Avoid: Air dodge or simply pay attention to where the explosions are going to
occur and plan a safe spot after that.
[Needle Rain]
Pre-Animation: Tabuu warps in a seemingly random position unrelated to you and
throws his hand high into the air.
Description: Tabuu will thrust his hand towards you and fire a barrage of tiny
blue bullets. The damage adds up if you get caught in it, no
initial knockback, but afterwards he fires a massive fireball at
you which WILL cause great damage and knockback.
Avoid: Stand underneath him if you can and roll in the opposite direction of
his attack. If you get caught in the barrage, no big deal, just DI out
of it.
====STRATEGY====
Red ring of doom is the only real threat, and it's easily avoided. Tabuu isn't
that hard once you realize that he just puts more emphasis on dodging his
abilities. You can easily 0% him if you just practice. Air dodge is your best
friend.
Since his attacks are very flashy and most of them occur off-stage, only attack
him when his arms are crossed and he's warping around. The only exception to
this is his eye laser attack. Run to the edge where he is and lay into him
with powerful aerials, time your jumps so you dodge the lasers on the ground.
===============================================================================
===============================================================================
[300] 3. Character-Specific Tips
To be done later
===============================================================================
===============================================================================
[400] 4. FAQ
Yep, later. I'm going to finish this game first, 11 more challenges to go as
of this writing. Plus I got college to worry about. Maybe next weekend I'll
fill in a bit more.
===============================================================================
===============================================================================
[500] 5. Special Thanks/Credits
Thanks to oraku52389 for his write-up on boss rush intense mode with fox. I
used a fair bit of his descriptions of the bosses attacks and edited em around
a little to sound more generic instead of fox-specific. Saved me a ton of time
on this, I appreciate it!
The staff at GameFAQs for accepting this FAQ.
And thanks to everyone who reads this.
===============================================================================
===============================================================================
[600] 6. Contact Information
This FAQ is for GameFAQs. If you would like to post it somewhere else please
ask me first and I'll likely say yes. If you want to use my information
elsewhere please credit me in your document. If you have any questions,
concerns, corrections, suggestions, or additional information you'd like to
tell me, you can contact me at:
azure.rebirth@gmail.com
This is my first FAQ actually so I'd really appreciate whatever you have to
say about it.
Explore the galaxy in the franchise's first open-world game.
