Nerf the Sentry Boss on Hard

[GarlicJelly]

I'm having some fun with the Spin2Win build in Story Mode and I'm now stuck on the Sentry Boss. I've only managed to kill this boss on Hard with Shadow Clone before and if I remember correctly I've always been saved by a level up during the fight where I get full HP and can just DPS race the last 25-30%. The problem with playing 2h is that the Wisps outrun your swing unless they are stuck up against a wall. Juggling 2 Wisps attacks at the same time is quite hard but not impossible since I keep getting close to 15% HP almost every attempt now but what bothers me the most are the Blue Crystals... When you spawn 3 Blue Crystals in a room with 2 Wisps there's not much you can do. I just feel like I have to spend so much time running around and not hit the actual boss at all after the 50% mark that I'll eventually die anyways no matter how skilled I am. Maybe I'm just really bad and really salty but I seriously think that this boss it too hard. I mean I've been stuck for over 50 tries now and Phaseman took me 3 tries.... The skill gap between the two bosses is massive. Please help?

 

[Own]

I've always viewed the Sentry Boss as a puzzle boss. He spawns a limited number of enemies. How do you survive?

You kill the ones that cause you the most problems and you let the least threatening ones survive. If you can get a bunch of crystals by weeding out the Wisps and Brawler Bots, you're set. The only crystals you really need to kill are the ones shielding the Sentry.

He adds more and more enemies as he gets increasingly damaged, so stacking the room in your favor and easing it into the next phases of the fight enemy by enemy can help immensely.

I'd argue that racing him actually makes it significantly harder for yourself.

If I had to make the fact that it's a puzzle boss and not a race boss more apparent, I might suggest it spawn black, non-moving 'Dud/Malfunctioning Crystals' that occupy enemy slots. Stack the room with enough of those and you win. But I'm not sure if it needs to be easier, maybe people do just need to take it smoother?

 

[GarlicJelly]

I've always viewed the Sentry Boss as a puzzle boss. He spawns a limited number of enemies. How do you survive?

You kill the ones that cause you the most problems and you let the least threatening ones survive. If you can get a bunch of crystals by weeding out the Wisps and Brawler Bots, you're set. The only crystals you really need to kill are the ones shielding the Sentry.

He adds more and more enemies as he gets increasingly damaged, so stacking the room in your favor and easing it into the next phases of the fight enemy by enemy can help immensely.

I'd argue that racing him actually makes it significantly harder for yourself.

If I had to make the fact that it's a puzzle boss and not a race boss more apparent, I might suggest it spawn black, non-moving 'Dud/Malfunctioning Crystals' that occupy enemy slots. Stack the room with enough of those and you win. But I'm not sure if it needs to be easier, maybe people do just need to take it smoother?

I've been trying to manipulate the types of monsters I have in the room but I just simply can't get through it. I keep getting 2 Wisps and once one of them gets shielded I'm doomed. I can't avoid killing the Brawler Bots that swarm me around the Boss Crystal. I've had such bad RNG that I've run around the room for several minutes without getting a single opportunity to attack the boss.. If you can beat the Sentry with a new character on Hard with only Whirlwind as your skill I'd be pretty impressed. I would also surrender and bow before the god of Grindea.

 

[Own]

Okay.







It was a fairly easy battle, I only got hit once and it was because I was trying to take pictures during each stage of the battle. I didn't spend any real amount of time grinding, I didn't do a single sidequest and I only bought gear from the shops. No potions were used and I never even had to cast Protection.

I just killed the Wisps as they appeared, killed any crystals that tried to shield the Sentry and knocked off the Brawler Bots as they approached me. I'd swipe at the Sentry a few times, avoid Green Crystal lasers, then continue after making sure no new enemies were spawning in.

The Sentry is a boss that punishes you in Hard Mode if you try to race. What you should be doing is controlling the room. If you build the room the way you want it, you can't lose.

I'd imagine I could do this fight with any skill or spell in the game and win with the same tactic. Except maybe those that kill things you might not want killed, like Insect Swarm could do.

I do kind of wish that Sentry was in the Hall of Memories, just so I could Hard Mode him with all the skills and spells. The only reason I race him in Arcade Mode is because I'm impatient by the time I get that far into Arcade and can do it while only taking a few hits.

Also, given that I wasn't trying to hurt it too fast, the +DMG stuff turned out not to be important. Go in with whatever gear you like. Just don't go fast.

 

[GarlicJelly]

How long did you "grind" to get 4 Crystals in the room? I've never had 4 crystals alive at the same time.

Btw... *Kneels*

 

[Own]

The entire battle took maybe 3 minutes, including the time to put those pictures into MS Paint.

You just really, really avoid whirling near crystals. I stunned the Wisps by spinning at them first, then swiping at them when they were stunned. Swiping first would just let them run from me.

It's a 1 in 3 chance every spawn for you to get a crystal, I think. Or in 1 in 5, if it has a chance to spawn all three crystals as different enemies. I don't think I killed a single crystal since I was careful with all my attacks.

I'd say Sentry is perfectly balanced in hard mode, which is called hard mode because some strategies from normal mode won't work. If people wanna beat it, let 'em control the room.

 

[GarlicJelly]

The entire battle took maybe 3 minutes, including the time to put those pictures into MS Paint.

You just really, really avoid whirling near crystals. I stunned the Wisps by spinning at them first, then swiping at them when they were stunned. Swiping first would just let them run from me.

It's a 1 in 3 chance every spawn for you to get a crystal, I think. Or in 1 in 5, if it has a chance to spawn all three crystals as different enemies. I don't think I killed a single crystal since I was careful with all my attacks.

I'd say Sentry is perfectly balanced in hard mode, which is called hard mode because some strategies from normal mode won't work. If people wanna beat it, 'em control the room.

It sounds like we're fighting two completely different bosses... I've never had Crystals Spawn that often. My attempts have never ended before 5 minutes and when they do I just play sloppy in the start and take too much damage. I'll do some more playthroughs next week to see if I still feel the same. I might just be bad at the game. Maybe it's because the fight is so much different in Normal compared to Hard that I find it so extremely painful since I didn't have a problem beating anything after that pretty much.

 

[UTech]

I'm having some fun with the Spin2Win build in Story Mode and I'm now stuck on the Sentry Boss. I've only managed to kill this boss on Hard with Shadow Clone before and if I remember correctly I've always been saved by a level up during the fight where I get full HP and can just DPS race the last 25-30%. The problem with playing 2h is that the Wisps outrun your swing unless they are stuck up against a wall. Juggling 2 Wisps attacks at the same time is quite hard but not impossible since I keep getting close to 15% HP almost every attempt now but what bothers me the most are the Blue Crystals... When you spawn 3 Blue Crystals in a room with 2 Wisps there's not much you can do. I just feel like I have to spend so much time running around and not hit the actual boss at all after the 50% mark that I'll eventually die anyways no matter how skilled I am. Maybe I'm just really bad and really salty but I seriously think that this boss it too hard. I mean I've been stuck for over 50 tries now and Phaseman took me 3 tries.... The skill gap between the two bosses is massive. Please help?

I beat the sentry with a fireball build including the slime hammer on hard. the way I beat the boss was a cheese, I went to the very left of the room, and camped it until all of the enemies were on the other side so they couldn't agro to me, then I just used fireball until it died. And the wisps do outrun the two handed swords on hard, but it's hard mode. You're supposed to restrategise the way you approach things. Hard mode isn't made to use whatever you want, ESPECIALLY since it's for a second playthrough in which you have a general idea of what you're up against. Honestly I think the sentry should spawn more enemies in Hard, except the fact that blue crystals can't shield the boss. juggling 3 wisps is easy if you rotate around the sentry as you fight him, and the crystals you just bank on not getting the sentry so you can juggle the enemies as you wail on the boss.

PS: phaseman is beyond easy because of exploiting his pattern to your fullest advantage, and when you fight the sentry your supposed to have learned the enemies attacks when the sentry puts that to the test.

PS2: I've noticed playing this game that normal is beyond easy. so maybe call it easy and have a normal mode that is a steady balance between easy and hard. because I only play hard for the advanced AI, not the 5 hits and your dead challange. Just a thought (still working on being able to buy the bag tier, I'm trying)

 

[GarlicJelly]

Nope. I can't beat this fight on Hard. Nothing is working, no matter how much I Perfect Block and kill enemies to create space am I able to hit the damn boss..... All my attempts end because of the Wisps. They keep a constant barrage of shots coming after me and I'm either just running around or I'm blocking until my shield breaks and this all happens while I try to avoid the Brawler Bots. I don't understand how you guys can even beat this boss..

I'm seriously pissed about the fact that I get stuck on one of the early bosses but I'm able to beat all the others coming after. I demand a strategy to beat this boss. There is no obvious way like on all the other bosses. There is just RNG and OP Wisps in this boss fight.

 

[Own]

If you upload your save file here, I'll try to use OBS to make a video using your exact equipment and build to beat it. Would that help?

Recording your own fight with it and uploading that might give a better idea of why it's so hard for you, though.

 

[GarlicJelly]

After spending 20 minutes just killing enemies until I only had Crystals in the room I was finally able to beat the Sentry... But seriously tho.... At least make the spawn pattern more predictable... Sitting in the room and only killing the enemies around the boss for several minutes is not fun or very skill requiring. I wish to see some form of improvement for this boss.

 

[GarlicJelly]

I'm not saying I hate this boss but... I hate this boss....

 

[GarlicJelly]

I'm not saying I hate this boss but... I hate this boss....View attachment 561

I'm the one who put Try in Sentry..... -.-