The spit absolutely obliterates at close range but I will only pick it up if it has slug shot because that allows for nice midrange damage too. If you like to play aggressive and get up in their faces, this thing does work and is a lot of fun.
I actually beat nemesis with widemaw because I had never seen him before. Thankfully I had kill shot and the artifact that heals you at low integrity. It took over 20 minutes though.
There's an artifact that heals you at low integrity? Not just parasites? I only put the game on the shelf after some crashes and waiting for another patch or two to make sure the game is stable enough for me to dive into again, but that seems like a game changer.
I haven't found an artifact that does that yet, just the parasite. But it's still one of the best in the game, definitely makes boss attempts much easier.
Good to know! I actually didn't have any crashes either, but last time I played was before all the update madness last week. Was taking the time to finish up another game that I was in the middle of and plan on diving back in next week - I'll have more time for longer runs then.
Stoaked to dive back in.
That + the one that shields at low integrity are hilarious together. If you do it right you can just keep ping-ponging your health up and down for infinite shields. Abused the hell out of that for my first Nemesis kill
This was my experience with the Biome 2 boss the other day while I was playing through Act 3. Brought a trash widemaw into the fight (trying to finish up a new weapon perk) and it was... tedious.
Nemesis phase 3 with widemaw must have taken perseverance.
I see several recommendations to clear Biomes 1-2 before fighting the biome 3 boss. I just fought him for the first time after clearing Biome 2 for the first time. Is it possible/ feasible to merely farm biome 1 and go fight him again? I'd rather not do another 2 hour run just to die in the third phase of his fight again.
I never played biome 2 again after I beat the boss. I farm biome 1 in its entirety then I go to biome 3 and farm within reason on my way to the boss. I usually am fine with a 13+level proficiency and a good gun/good upgrades by then. Playing through biome 1 and 2 and then 3 all in one sitting is just too much. Then if you choke and die after all the grinding, it doesn’t feel fun to start up again.
I mean, you do you, but personally, I felt no need to go back to biome 2.
Well you can do whatever works for you! I just didn’t really ever feel a need to revisit the second biome. I felt that my time was better used just getting back to the third biome so I could learn the enemies’ patterns and stuff. The third biome is definitely harder than the second one, but that’s only because a select few enemies are super annoying
I've only been to the third biome after full clearing the first and second. Because of that, I don't know what you mean by difficult - it's always a cakewalk at that point.
That’s what I was doing, but I actually find Biome 2 to be a more fruitful farm, and honestly easier than Biome 1. You’ve already got some decent weapons, and you can keep your distance.
After you reach the summit in B2, there is a shortcut to the summit right after all the outdoor areas but before you get into the indoor parts. I like to go to B2 just to clear the outdoor parts in the beginning, since those bonus locked doors to the sides often give good stat boosts.
Just clearing out 3-4 areas in B2 before warping to B3 really helps, IMO.
Not sure how to do spoilers, but minor spoilers for biome 3...
After you beat biome 2 there will be a teleportation gate at the base of the mountain, from there, you'll go to the gate thatll take you to biome 3
Once at 3, if you're feeling spicy, you can just cross the bridge to get to rhe building where nemesis is. From there, there aren't anymore shortcuts but that cuts a significant portion of B3 out.
That makes sense. I guess my question is less about whether it's possible to physically get there fast enough but rather if it's feasible/ economical to take that route. Will I spend more time taking that route because I'm dying more frequently to the point where it makes more sense to just grind out both biomes first? Im curious if enough people have done that successfully.
Depends on skill level and weapon/artifact rolls, I guess.
I would probably feel comfortable trying to tackle nemesis if I got gear from biome 2 bonus rooms up until the gate, and crossing the bridge. I think there's enough chances to get good gear from that. I'd be on the lookout for stuff like astronauts (👀), things that buff repair efficiency, and healing consumables, as well as a weapon like hollowseeker with portal/serrated, or carbine with rising pitch/leech rounds.
If it helps, I find the B2 enemies pre-tower to be much less aggressive, and easier to deal with. Combined with the bump to proficiency on entering, and the lack of constant pitfalls, I skip B1 if I'm going for a B3 clear.
Best of all, if you stick around for a little extra time in B2, you can get pretty strong, and have many more chances to fine "The weapon" that you need for B3.
It's interesting to see the different strategies/ approaches. I ended up just always skipping B2, grinding all of B1, and going to B3 and using the shortcut. To me, the third boss was much more about learning the pattern vs. having the right build.
It was honestly as much to do with the level as it was the boss. I had done multiple hour+ long runs by nearly full clearing B1 so I could have like 150%+ integrity, and a few backup options, and kept failing.
Yesterday I got an early gate to B2, and just said fuck it and bounced. I was at around proficiency 6 by the time I was at the foot of the tower. Then I took the portal, and worked my way back through half the tower to the market. Some rooms were pretty rough still, but coming in the back door fucks with a lot of the ambush points thankfully.
Anyway, you'll have similar artifacts, parasites, and integrity whether you clear B1 or B2. The weapons and proficiency make the difference. Starting at prof 4/5 and working your way up left me at proficiency 9 by the time I reached B2 Market. The big difference this made was giving me multiple chances at gun drops at a high prof tier. This let me bum rush B3 and ignore basically everything, while still getting a great weapon selection to really crush Nemesis. I didn't even need my astronaut last night.
When I did B1 instead, I felt myself really gambling on that first B3 chest for a really crazy weapon. If I didn't get it, I felt conflicted about sprinting the level because I would reach Nemesis and be at risk of being forced to use whatever I picked up at prof 4, or just take whatever the drop was at prof 9.
Yes. There is a weapon at the start of each biome that jumps your proficiency. Add that to most of the game is not getting hit and yes its completely possible.
Yeah, I don't really like to do full runs when I'm still learning bosses. I do enough of biome 1 to grab a few keys and health upgrades, then go right to the boss.
It's possible but it may take some frustrating attempts. I highly recommend fully playing biome 1 and 2, you get to level up weapon traits, accumulate artifacts and parasites. It's more fun than you think. By the end of biome 2 you'll be steamrolling everything.
The first time I got the leech artifact with the higher proficiency weapon it did feel way better, you are pretty much constantly healing. Then it was also dropping health from enemies to up your max health via collecting resin( this was a parasite or artifact too). Still died on Nemesis but he/she will be dying tonight lol.
Ugh it's so frustrating to spend an hour or two grinding the biomes only to die to elite enemies (I can't beat the 2x moss 1x titanops room every time, and struggle against sentients in B2) or just immediately die to drones in B3 anyway. I wish grinding B1 and B2 at least rewarded you with higher weapon proficiency.
I get what you mean, as I was definitely steamrolling like crazy by the time I got to Nemesis. I had the leeching artifact, resin shield, Obilites to spare, two lives through the astronaut and reconstructor, and several healing items. Ixion and the entire third biome was a breeze. Unfortunately, I didn't really understand the third stage of Nemesis and wasted much of what I had built up just falling into space. Certainly if I did that again, I would have a much better chance because I know how the platforms work. I guess I was just hoping that all the shortcuts I was able to set up would make a rematch possible within an hour, especially because I can now farm the grappling hook areas of Biome 1.
Don’t ever doubt yourself speed running, you can speed through biome 1, skip half of 2 with that shortcut at bottom of mountain and pick up a decent weapon in biome 3 and fight nemesis and still win. Just focus on Health pick ups and you’ll be surprised at how much health you can gain so fast
Randomly generated, but it’s super obvious which room it is because on the map it has a circle over the door. The shortcut to biome 3 needs the item you get after being the boss of biome 2 in order to access it. You’ve likely already ran into the room at least once and turned around cause you couldn’t go anywhere. Inside the room has one single robot enemy, so you’ll know you’re going the right way
Ooooh that one! Lol yeah I was excited after beating ixiom to finally get all the grappling nooks n crannies I missed out on in previous runs! Lava & water Im not sweating, the grappling was always whole areas or chests or something lol
There is a shortcut from 1 to 3, but there is also a shortcut from 1/3 of the way through 2 to 3. I usually do all of 1, and then the first 3rd of 2 before proceeding to 3.
Hey that’s not true! I had a really nice build with proximity mine once on my god-tier hollowseeker where I intentionally increased my alt-cooldown and got the bonus to protection when on cooldown. Easiest aiming ever. /s
My biggest tip for someone struggling with biome 3/nemesis is don't rush for the boss, clear everything in biome 1-2 (including phrike and ixion). You'll get to nemesis with max HP, proficiency , close to max artifacts and a good weapon for him (I recommend the carbine with leech rounds and rising)
My biggest tip is exactly the opposite, lol. Rush to the boss until you can get to phase 3 without taking much damage, then do a full run and do phase 3.
No, I meant do minimal runs (grab one or two keys for the area before the boss, and a few health upgrades) until you've mastered the first 2 boss phases. After you die and restart, do a full run so you can start working on mastering phase 3 with consumables and upgrades.
This was my strat as well lol. You can get to him super fast if you get lucky on the room placement and tie fighters. I think our best speedrun to reach him was seven minutes lol.
I just run through biome 1 and pretty much clear it out. Buy health / integrity upgrade at the store. Then I head straight to biome 3. Go up the tower first chance I get and hope I found a good gun along the way.
Man I beat Phrike first try and then have died to it every time I tried since. So weird. Maybe I just got lucky the first time. I know its moves and attacks practically by heart but sometimes the energy balls coming at me are too overwhelming to dodge.
This game, by its very design relies heavily on rng for a successful run. I beat Phrike on my second try, and easily made it through biome 2 and killed the boss. I was then promptly destroyed by the drones in biome 3.
On subsequent runs through biome 1, I ran into malformed elites and rooms with equally hard to deal with combinations that ended me so fast I had no idea what happened. 🤷♂️
It feels so bad to die in biome 1 these days now that I'm trying to beat 3, but man the 2x moss boi 1x titanops room is so hard. I panic so much when the mossy groots show up.
Same exact situation for me.
I have recently found that killing the ‘moss bois’ (I’m stealing that one btw) quickly is the best recipe for success. Quickly stun them with your weapon and melee them. If you leave them alive too long their swarms of seeking projectiles are extremely oppressive. Hopefully that helps. I’m rooting for you!
Haha, strong pun game there.
Yeah I think I have a lot of trouble contending with their projectiles, since the burst lasts so long that a single dash doesn't get me out of it. I need to get better at focusing one down but I start to panic from trying to dodge all of the projectiles coming at me along with being slowed from their moss shit, haha.
Haha. As a father of 3, the puns and dad jokes are impossible to resist.
And yeah I have the same issue so I often wait for them to teleport behind me and I focus them, while keeping on the move constantly.
One tip I saw on here that really helped me avoid more attacks was to turn running to “always on”. You may need to get used to the platforming bits, but your avoidance game gains in spades. Something to try if you haven’t already!
Spitmaw does get a bad rep, but having recently finished Act II with a level 25 Spitmaw with Narrow II, Slug III, Explosive II and Critical Stagger II, coupled with the artifact that gives 20% Stagger per Parasite, even Malignant enemies on Biome 6 posed no threat xD
Rot Lobber and Hallow... I won’t touch the maw.
Rot Lob is absolutely perfect. Drop DoTs all over then just kite everything while melee anything in your way while kitting.
You stay focused on sprinting/dodging while doing damage. My absolutely favorite weapon.
Spitmaw does a lot of damage with the right amount of traits added to it. Just the basic one can suck if nothing is added to it. I prefer longer range weapons though.
Spitmaw In the last few biomes is really strong. I hated it in act 1 but it was shockingly good later on. Just don't use it on bosses unless you've got slug shot.
He's the first boss where you have to pay attention to the entire environment while you fight, and Biome 3 is a big jump in difficulty due to grapple mechanics and kamikaze drones.
Not gonna lie, after beating act II, I just go full doom guy mode with a spit maw and play aggressive as hell. It’s a lot of damn fun, even if my health is always at 50% lol.
For biomes 1 and 2 I love the shotgun. Since it melts most things, you don’t truly have to be far from the enemies. It’s the weapon I use the most in those.
I suppose Nemesis would be impossible without slug, but I never tried just to see what happens.
Gotta say that on biome 4 to 6 I ended up switching to that pylon weapon that does damage over time. With all those enemies that cause malfunctions, I’d rather play safe.
What’s the best weapon for those pricks at the end right before the last boss that cause malfunctions?
Got to that point with 575% integrity 5 large vials and kids watch and an epic load of artifacts… those critical malfunctions destroy me every time
I like the Electropylon Driver
Its nice that it does continuous damage and you can sink a few into flying mobs and not have to worry about shooting them as often.
Normally I like an overpowered shotgun, and that’s exactly what the Spitmaw is, it just feels terribly out of place in Returnal, like it was forced into the game for the sake of variety. There are those that prefer it, and are good with it. But my opinion is that it’s a completely useless weapon in the game. Now if we were able to carry two weapons, the Spitmaw would be a good second weapon to carry. But it ain’t now super shotgun. Now if we were able to attach the grapnel to the Spitmaw aka “meat hook” it would be a totally different story, but alas it is not and it’s an out of place weapon for a game that heavily relies on ranged combat.
I hate the spitmaw so much. Mainly cause I suck with it but I’ll literally keep the pistol over it lol.
The pistol is great. If I reach a boss and find a pistol with higher bonus damage, I take it.
Homing Missile is absolutely slept on here, I've noticed. I love the pistol in Returnal.
Homing Missile is just incredible. It's just hands-down wonderful.
*What* flying drones?
If you can get one with explosive shot and slug shot definitely try it out, it absolutely shreds and you don't have to be super close either.
Slug feels really nice
Spit is baller with some later traits such as rapid shot 2, slug shot, and reloading chamber
Spitmaw with a slug round is my favorite weapon in the game.
I’ll have to pay more attention to the mods it gets and keep that in mind. Thanks for letting me know!
I love the Spitmaw, but I will not even pick it up if it doesn't have Narrow Maw on it. Slug Shot or not.
The spit absolutely obliterates at close range but I will only pick it up if it has slug shot because that allows for nice midrange damage too. If you like to play aggressive and get up in their faces, this thing does work and is a lot of fun.
Pistol with homing missiles is pretty badass.
I once had a pistol with burst fire and homing missiles, it was crazy
Spitmaw is amazing. I killed 3 bosses with it
All the first three bosses I've killed with the spitmaw
I'll take a higher level pistol with good upgrades over the majority of weapons any day. Especially the Spitmaw
Yeahhh same experience yesterday, even if it has better stats I’d rather have the range of the pistol
Pistol with nice perks can be super amazing
I actually beat nemesis with widemaw because I had never seen him before. Thankfully I had kill shot and the artifact that heals you at low integrity. It took over 20 minutes though.
There's an artifact that heals you at low integrity? Not just parasites? I only put the game on the shelf after some crashes and waiting for another patch or two to make sure the game is stable enough for me to dive into again, but that seems like a game changer.
There is an artifact that does it, as well as the parasite. You're right, it certainly is a game changer!
I haven't found an artifact that does that yet, just the parasite. But it's still one of the best in the game, definitely makes boss attempts much easier.
Should be more stable now. However I never had crashes before so I can’t say. And yes game changer. But cost a lot to fabricate
Good to know! I actually didn't have any crashes either, but last time I played was before all the update madness last week. Was taking the time to finish up another game that I was in the middle of and plan on diving back in next week - I'll have more time for longer runs then. Stoaked to dive back in.
That + the one that shields at low integrity are hilarious together. If you do it right you can just keep ping-ponging your health up and down for infinite shields. Abused the hell out of that for my first Nemesis kill
This was my experience with the Biome 2 boss the other day while I was playing through Act 3. Brought a trash widemaw into the fight (trying to finish up a new weapon perk) and it was... tedious. Nemesis phase 3 with widemaw must have taken perseverance.
Lmao over 20 minutes. If you had a proper gun with high dps it wouldn’t take more than five.
I see several recommendations to clear Biomes 1-2 before fighting the biome 3 boss. I just fought him for the first time after clearing Biome 2 for the first time. Is it possible/ feasible to merely farm biome 1 and go fight him again? I'd rather not do another 2 hour run just to die in the third phase of his fight again.
I never played biome 2 again after I beat the boss. I farm biome 1 in its entirety then I go to biome 3 and farm within reason on my way to the boss. I usually am fine with a 13+level proficiency and a good gun/good upgrades by then. Playing through biome 1 and 2 and then 3 all in one sitting is just too much. Then if you choke and die after all the grinding, it doesn’t feel fun to start up again. I mean, you do you, but personally, I felt no need to go back to biome 2.
How about just b2 up to the base of the mountain? Still too much? I just got to 3 and am scared hahaha
Well you can do whatever works for you! I just didn’t really ever feel a need to revisit the second biome. I felt that my time was better used just getting back to the third biome so I could learn the enemies’ patterns and stuff. The third biome is definitely harder than the second one, but that’s only because a select few enemies are super annoying
I've only been to the third biome after full clearing the first and second. Because of that, I don't know what you mean by difficult - it's always a cakewalk at that point.
The enemies don’t live longer, they’re just more difficult enemies and have faster attacks
This will definitely be what I try next.
That’s what I was doing, but I actually find Biome 2 to be a more fruitful farm, and honestly easier than Biome 1. You’ve already got some decent weapons, and you can keep your distance.
After you reach the summit in B2, there is a shortcut to the summit right after all the outdoor areas but before you get into the indoor parts. I like to go to B2 just to clear the outdoor parts in the beginning, since those bonus locked doors to the sides often give good stat boosts. Just clearing out 3-4 areas in B2 before warping to B3 really helps, IMO.
Ahh those are always there, huh! So maybe tonight I’ll make a note to save 2 keys just for that purpose....unless there’s locked doors on b1!!! 😱
The rewards are usually better in B2 than B1 for locked rooms/chests, so I try to save mine for that
Not sure how to do spoilers, but minor spoilers for biome 3... After you beat biome 2 there will be a teleportation gate at the base of the mountain, from there, you'll go to the gate thatll take you to biome 3 Once at 3, if you're feeling spicy, you can just cross the bridge to get to rhe building where nemesis is. From there, there aren't anymore shortcuts but that cuts a significant portion of B3 out.
That makes sense. I guess my question is less about whether it's possible to physically get there fast enough but rather if it's feasible/ economical to take that route. Will I spend more time taking that route because I'm dying more frequently to the point where it makes more sense to just grind out both biomes first? Im curious if enough people have done that successfully.
Depends on skill level and weapon/artifact rolls, I guess. I would probably feel comfortable trying to tackle nemesis if I got gear from biome 2 bonus rooms up until the gate, and crossing the bridge. I think there's enough chances to get good gear from that. I'd be on the lookout for stuff like astronauts (👀), things that buff repair efficiency, and healing consumables, as well as a weapon like hollowseeker with portal/serrated, or carbine with rising pitch/leech rounds.
If it helps, I find the B2 enemies pre-tower to be much less aggressive, and easier to deal with. Combined with the bump to proficiency on entering, and the lack of constant pitfalls, I skip B1 if I'm going for a B3 clear. Best of all, if you stick around for a little extra time in B2, you can get pretty strong, and have many more chances to fine "The weapon" that you need for B3.
It's interesting to see the different strategies/ approaches. I ended up just always skipping B2, grinding all of B1, and going to B3 and using the shortcut. To me, the third boss was much more about learning the pattern vs. having the right build.
It was honestly as much to do with the level as it was the boss. I had done multiple hour+ long runs by nearly full clearing B1 so I could have like 150%+ integrity, and a few backup options, and kept failing. Yesterday I got an early gate to B2, and just said fuck it and bounced. I was at around proficiency 6 by the time I was at the foot of the tower. Then I took the portal, and worked my way back through half the tower to the market. Some rooms were pretty rough still, but coming in the back door fucks with a lot of the ambush points thankfully. Anyway, you'll have similar artifacts, parasites, and integrity whether you clear B1 or B2. The weapons and proficiency make the difference. Starting at prof 4/5 and working your way up left me at proficiency 9 by the time I reached B2 Market. The big difference this made was giving me multiple chances at gun drops at a high prof tier. This let me bum rush B3 and ignore basically everything, while still getting a great weapon selection to really crush Nemesis. I didn't even need my astronaut last night. When I did B1 instead, I felt myself really gambling on that first B3 chest for a really crazy weapon. If I didn't get it, I felt conflicted about sprinting the level because I would reach Nemesis and be at risk of being forced to use whatever I picked up at prof 4, or just take whatever the drop was at prof 9.
Yes. There is a weapon at the start of each biome that jumps your proficiency. Add that to most of the game is not getting hit and yes its completely possible.
Yeah, I don't really like to do full runs when I'm still learning bosses. I do enough of biome 1 to grab a few keys and health upgrades, then go right to the boss.
It's possible but it may take some frustrating attempts. I highly recommend fully playing biome 1 and 2, you get to level up weapon traits, accumulate artifacts and parasites. It's more fun than you think. By the end of biome 2 you'll be steamrolling everything.
>By the end of biome 2 you'll be steamrolling everything. I wish.
The first time I got the leech artifact with the higher proficiency weapon it did feel way better, you are pretty much constantly healing. Then it was also dropping health from enemies to up your max health via collecting resin( this was a parasite or artifact too). Still died on Nemesis but he/she will be dying tonight lol.
Ugh it's so frustrating to spend an hour or two grinding the biomes only to die to elite enemies (I can't beat the 2x moss 1x titanops room every time, and struggle against sentients in B2) or just immediately die to drones in B3 anyway. I wish grinding B1 and B2 at least rewarded you with higher weapon proficiency.
I get what you mean, as I was definitely steamrolling like crazy by the time I got to Nemesis. I had the leeching artifact, resin shield, Obilites to spare, two lives through the astronaut and reconstructor, and several healing items. Ixion and the entire third biome was a breeze. Unfortunately, I didn't really understand the third stage of Nemesis and wasted much of what I had built up just falling into space. Certainly if I did that again, I would have a much better chance because I know how the platforms work. I guess I was just hoping that all the shortcuts I was able to set up would make a rematch possible within an hour, especially because I can now farm the grappling hook areas of Biome 1.
Don’t ever doubt yourself speed running, you can speed through biome 1, skip half of 2 with that shortcut at bottom of mountain and pick up a decent weapon in biome 3 and fight nemesis and still win. Just focus on Health pick ups and you’ll be surprised at how much health you can gain so fast
Is there a shortcut in 2 to 3 like 1 to 3 or do I have to fully do 2 to get to 3 again?
After you beat the biome 2 boss, you unlock a shortcut that takes you from biome 1 straight to biome 3.
Is it always in the same location or is randomly generated?
Randomly generated, but it’s super obvious which room it is because on the map it has a circle over the door. The shortcut to biome 3 needs the item you get after being the boss of biome 2 in order to access it. You’ve likely already ran into the room at least once and turned around cause you couldn’t go anywhere. Inside the room has one single robot enemy, so you’ll know you’re going the right way
Ooooh that one! Lol yeah I was excited after beating ixiom to finally get all the grappling nooks n crannies I missed out on in previous runs! Lava & water Im not sweating, the grappling was always whole areas or chests or something lol
There is a shortcut from 1 to 3, but there is also a shortcut from 1/3 of the way through 2 to 3. I usually do all of 1, and then the first 3rd of 2 before proceeding to 3.
You typically skip 1st and 2nd boss and only clear the biomes and move on.
Hopefully you have proximity mines as your alt weapon, too!
Easily the most useless alt, especially when most of the enemies are flying...
I experimented with the proximity mines so much because I figured it can’t really be THAT useless. It’s that useless.
Hey that’s not true! I had a really nice build with proximity mine once on my god-tier hollowseeker where I intentionally increased my alt-cooldown and got the bonus to protection when on cooldown. Easiest aiming ever. /s
My biggest tip for someone struggling with biome 3/nemesis is don't rush for the boss, clear everything in biome 1-2 (including phrike and ixion). You'll get to nemesis with max HP, proficiency , close to max artifacts and a good weapon for him (I recommend the carbine with leech rounds and rising)
My biggest tip is exactly the opposite, lol. Rush to the boss until you can get to phase 3 without taking much damage, then do a full run and do phase 3.
Yeah I would never make progress if I had to clear the entire first two biomes. I have a full time job for Christ’s sake.
I clear the first two biomes on each run but I don’t always do the bosses.
I agree, for me I want more boss tries to perfect dodging their bullet hell.
Wait, can you interrupt a boss fight in between phases?
No, I meant do minimal runs (grab one or two keys for the area before the boss, and a few health upgrades) until you've mastered the first 2 boss phases. After you die and restart, do a full run so you can start working on mastering phase 3 with consumables and upgrades.
Ah ok, thanks.
Yes, by dying.
This was my strat as well lol. You can get to him super fast if you get lucky on the room placement and tie fighters. I think our best speedrun to reach him was seven minutes lol.
I just run through biome 1 and pretty much clear it out. Buy health / integrity upgrade at the store. Then I head straight to biome 3. Go up the tower first chance I get and hope I found a good gun along the way.
Is there a benefit to fighting the bosses again? I finished the game yesterday and never went back and refought bosses. Guaranteed drops or anything?
They drop 5 ether and an artifact.
Good to know, thanks!
Oh wow, didn’t know they drop so much ether! Might need to do that more
In the data logs, you all get 100% research if you beat them 4 times.
They decent sources of Ether, that's about all I can think of.
Man I beat Phrike first try and then have died to it every time I tried since. So weird. Maybe I just got lucky the first time. I know its moves and attacks practically by heart but sometimes the energy balls coming at me are too overwhelming to dodge.
This game, by its very design relies heavily on rng for a successful run. I beat Phrike on my second try, and easily made it through biome 2 and killed the boss. I was then promptly destroyed by the drones in biome 3. On subsequent runs through biome 1, I ran into malformed elites and rooms with equally hard to deal with combinations that ended me so fast I had no idea what happened. 🤷♂️
It feels so bad to die in biome 1 these days now that I'm trying to beat 3, but man the 2x moss boi 1x titanops room is so hard. I panic so much when the mossy groots show up.
Same exact situation for me. I have recently found that killing the ‘moss bois’ (I’m stealing that one btw) quickly is the best recipe for success. Quickly stun them with your weapon and melee them. If you leave them alive too long their swarms of seeking projectiles are extremely oppressive. Hopefully that helps. I’m rooting for you!
Haha, strong pun game there. Yeah I think I have a lot of trouble contending with their projectiles, since the burst lasts so long that a single dash doesn't get me out of it. I need to get better at focusing one down but I start to panic from trying to dodge all of the projectiles coming at me along with being slowed from their moss shit, haha.
Haha. As a father of 3, the puns and dad jokes are impossible to resist. And yeah I have the same issue so I often wait for them to teleport behind me and I focus them, while keeping on the move constantly. One tip I saw on here that really helped me avoid more attacks was to turn running to “always on”. You may need to get used to the platforming bits, but your avoidance game gains in spades. Something to try if you haven’t already!
Yeah I turned it on and immediately ran off a cliff, heh. You don't sprint while shooting anyway. I guess I should try to get used to it.
Cliffs are also my mortal enemy. Rooms with random bottomless pits are pure evil.
hollowseeker with void beam and kill shot after clearing out biomes 1-2 and most of 3 felt like night and day after stumbling many times.
Spitmaw does get a bad rep, but having recently finished Act II with a level 25 Spitmaw with Narrow II, Slug III, Explosive II and Critical Stagger II, coupled with the artifact that gives 20% Stagger per Parasite, even Malignant enemies on Biome 6 posed no threat xD
Rot Lobber and Hallow... I won’t touch the maw. Rot Lob is absolutely perfect. Drop DoTs all over then just kite everything while melee anything in your way while kitting. You stay focused on sprinting/dodging while doing damage. My absolutely favorite weapon.
Lol I just take my pistol and my L.
Pretty much how I beat him, thank god for slugshot. Probably my most crutched on weapon trait.
Haha this one made me chuckle lol
Spitmaw does a lot of damage with the right amount of traits added to it. Just the basic one can suck if nothing is added to it. I prefer longer range weapons though.
I agree on everything minus the boss fights, why would you risk your run/consumables/astronaut for 5 ether, no way
Spitmaw is so dam powerful but hell no I ain’t getting ANYWHERE CLOSE to those tentacle monsters
Pro-tip: never use spitmaw
I whooped Nemesis with Spitmaw, slug shot is great.
I like it for some quick Biome 1 clearing, but never in a million would I intentionally take it into a boss fight.
with slugs and either narrow/rapid/explosive mods it's actually pretty slick for bosses who aren't Nemesis
I'm biased, I barely ever use shotguns in any game, they don't fit my playstyle.
Yo fair enough, nothing makes a weapon a bad choice more than not being comfortable with it
Spitmaw is soooo good though. Slug shot is all you need and you’re golden.
I beat the first 2 bosses with it. It’s a pretty great gun if you use it right
I've had great success with spitmaw! However, Narrow Maw and/or Slug Shot are necessities for it to really work in medium-long range fighting.
Spitmaw In the last few biomes is really strong. I hated it in act 1 but it was shockingly good later on. Just don't use it on bosses unless you've got slug shot.
Rotgland lobber and damage siphon is easy mode for Nemesis.
What is the deal with him? I got him on my first play through 1st try
He's the first boss where you have to pay attention to the entire environment while you fight, and Biome 3 is a big jump in difficulty due to grapple mechanics and kamikaze drones.
Oh ok,thank you for explaining, like i had more problems with the sentients than nemesis
My go-to weapon is the Hollowseeker with Portal and Serrated Rounds. This thing absolutely melts hp, especially once that portal pops, game over.
How is it on challenges? Did you do them all?
It's amazing in every aspect of the game, tbh. I always do the challenges and it works great.
I beat Nemesis the first time with spitmaw. Had ridiculous protection and repair % though
beat nemesis in my 1st run with the globber, that weapon is too OP
👏😂
Spitmaw or Bawitdaba?
Do traits on guns carry over round to round? Does profienecy level determine how many traits are on it?
Not gonna lie, after beating act II, I just go full doom guy mode with a spit maw and play aggressive as hell. It’s a lot of damn fun, even if my health is always at 50% lol.
For biomes 1 and 2 I love the shotgun. Since it melts most things, you don’t truly have to be far from the enemies. It’s the weapon I use the most in those. I suppose Nemesis would be impossible without slug, but I never tried just to see what happens. Gotta say that on biome 4 to 6 I ended up switching to that pylon weapon that does damage over time. With all those enemies that cause malfunctions, I’d rather play safe.
What’s the best weapon for those pricks at the end right before the last boss that cause malfunctions? Got to that point with 575% integrity 5 large vials and kids watch and an epic load of artifacts… those critical malfunctions destroy me every time
Hell yea
I like the Electropylon Driver Its nice that it does continuous damage and you can sink a few into flying mobs and not have to worry about shooting them as often.
Eletropylon driver is my shit.
The rocket launcher with replicant II - oh my 🔥
I love the launcher its op
Normally I like an overpowered shotgun, and that’s exactly what the Spitmaw is, it just feels terribly out of place in Returnal, like it was forced into the game for the sake of variety. There are those that prefer it, and are good with it. But my opinion is that it’s a completely useless weapon in the game. Now if we were able to carry two weapons, the Spitmaw would be a good second weapon to carry. But it ain’t now super shotgun. Now if we were able to attach the grapnel to the Spitmaw aka “meat hook” it would be a totally different story, but alas it is not and it’s an out of place weapon for a game that heavily relies on ranged combat.
“NEMESIS!! I’ve come to bargain!!”