Vertigo 2 – Boss Battle Guide and Tips

General Hints

The most important aspect of every boss fight in the game is to learn their attack patterns so you know how to avoid them. There’s no shame in letting yourself die a few times to catalog these attacks in your mind and figure out the best evasion tactics. In most cases, you will need to be able to teleport away or even under and past them to avoid getting hit.

Once you have that down the next most important aspect is to be able to counter-attack effectively while utilizing the best weapons for the task, and minimizing the need for reloading while quickly inflicting the most damage. This is especially important in battles with little to no cover. If you have auto-reload activated (it’s on by default), you will often find that the first weapon you used is reloaded already when you cycle back to it. Als, anderzijds, you do have ample cover, it’s fine to reload the best weapon for the task as much as you can.

Almostevery boss in the game is a bullet sponge, so expect to have to unload everything you have while simultaneously preparing for their attacks. Once you get that all down, you’ll have no problems dispatching them while taking minimal damage.

Keep healthfruits and health pens in your BAMM slots for easy recovery as you are likely to take some damage during the battles. Only the Igneosaur requires you to carry anything different which I will discuss below. Never bother with standard grenades for boss battles.

Mod your strongest weapons before reaching the bosses to help give you an edge when you get to them. Getting the Semi-Auto upgrade on the Annihilator (jachtgeweer) is probably the most useful and can be done before you reach the first boss.

Enable jumping in the options so that you can escape attacks with more than just teleporting. You can also teleport while in mid-jump for added evasion.

If a boss battle is too much for you, you can change the difficulty at any time and lower it accordingly. The remainder of the guide refers to the experience on Hard Difficulty on a fresh save slot (not NG+), so you will have only the weapons you could possibly have available at the time.
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List of Boss Battles

As mentioned above, you can select these individually from the Boss Battles list after defeating them.

Hoofdstuk 6 – Maurice

Hoofdstuk 6 – Igneosaur

Hoofdstuk 7 – Centaur

Hoofdstuk 9 – Saplord

Hoofdstuk 10 – Vladimir (when siding with the Collective)

Hoofdstuk 10 – Maharishi Grontho (when siding with the Collective)

Hoofdstuk 10 – General Sintho (when siding with the Church)

Hoofdstuk 12 – Fish Brain

Hoofdstuk 14 – Double Centaur

Hoofdstuk 14 – Hummingbird

Hoofdstuk 14 – The Seer

Hoofdstuk 17 – Joseph Jeffrey

Hoofdstuk 17 – Cyberjoseph
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Maurice

Maurice is a secret boss that you can find in Chapter 6 before you ride the Magma Flow Mixer to the Geological Station. Make a right as you enter the room and pass all of the conveyor belts. Turn right and press the skull button on the wall. Now head back up to the catwalk above the mixer and the next room will be open.

Maurice can be fairly difficult at this stage of the game because you only have 3 base weapons and 2 secret weapons, plus there is zero cover in the boss arena. Upgrades are key here.

Suggested upgrades:

Annihilator – Bottle Efficiency (hold more ammo)

Annihilator – Pellet Resonator (damage increase)

Annihilator – Semi-Auto (no need to rack the shotgun and great before both Chapter 6 boss battles)

If you follow my Weapon Mod Guide, you’ll have other upgrades as well, but these are the most critical.

To defeat Maurice, you have to repeatedly shoot him in the head (you can ignore the legs) while rotating around him to avoid his two scripted attacks.

Aanval 1 – Rapid-fire Fireballs (he machine-gun fires fireballs at you – fairly easy to dodge though he can rotate his head fairly quickly, so consider focusing on evasion and counter right after)

Aanval 2 – Energy Beam (energy discharge attack with AOE damage that can quickly track your position – Your best bet is to teleport behind him as he is about to fire and then counter)

Unload with the shotgun while circling him and teleport spam when the rapid-fire attack is deployed. Learn the timings for the energy discharge attack and teleport to the side or under and behind him to avoid it. You can also make use of the Nostalgia Pistol which is fairly powerful and never needs to be reloaded. Not much else to this one.
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Igneosaur

The difficulty spike when facing the Igneosaur for the first time is significant, but if you learn its attacks and prepare well, you will have little trouble with it. There is almost zero cover here so mobility is key.

The first trick is to stock up on Extinguisher Grenades before the battle in the room with the video playback of its escape. 2 filled slots for a total of 10 grenades will be more than enough on Hard Difficulty. If you don’t have them ahead of time, you need to acquire them in the midst of the battle. Zo ja, I highly recommend getting the ones from the bottom floor and not the ones up the stairways, as the Igneosaur will hit you with some painful attacks when you go up there. Also grab some health pens from the display before you enter the boss arena. Ten slotte, set your Trident into triple-barrel mode before entering the arena or any boss battle. You can one-hand the Trident even without upgrades because this boss is so large you likely won’t miss even with the recoil, but primarily you will use the shotgun because it does more damage at this stage and is easier to reload.

Nogmaals, you must learn the scripted attacks to know how to dodge them. I haven’t faced it since the most recent update that removed some of its attacks, so the below list might not be fully accurate.

Aanval 1 – Focused Lava Wave (two lowered hands thrusting a wide lava wave aimed at you OR two hands slamming close together after it emerges from the lava – run/jump/teleport to the side to dodge)

Aanval 2 – Split Lava Waves (two raised hands wide apart and slamming into the lava creating two lava waves on the sides – try to stay in between the waves while shooting)

Aanval 3 – Circular Sweep (it reaches out to one side of you and does a semi-circle sweep attack – back up to the wall to avoid)

Aanval 4 – Slam (standing tall with two hands raised close together as it reaches out and slams them down – run/jump/teleport to the side to dodge)

Aanval 5 – Fireballs (standing tall and opening and closing its mouth – these will be aimed accurately based on your movements so you have to mix them up to dodge, though teleport may work best)

Aanval 6 – Fire Beam (Its most deadly attack. A pre-fire beam will be aimed at you before the real blast shoots out over a couple of seconds and this attack is typically used when you climb the stairs or are elevated high up in some way – run/jump/teleport to the side to dodge)

Final Attack – After you disable it, it spins in a circle and shoots a beam of fire which you can duck to avoid.

Lots of potential attacks so take the time to learn them so you can time your evasive moves and when you can shoot. You will start off by shooting it as much as possible and dodging when needed, noting that it has no weak spots so it doesn’t matter where you hit it. Eventueel, it will be hurt enough and will produce a yellow shimmering shield around itself. Wanneer dit gebeurt, throw extinguisher grenades at it until the shield disappears. Hit it again with your weapons until this happens once more; rinse and repeat until it’s down.

Lava is slowly filling the room so you will have to climb one set of stairs and teleport into the hole that was formed. Continue through the fence maze while teleport dodging its Fire Beam attack till you get above it. You are perfectly safe here. Grab Extinguisher Grenades and then drop an armed Extinguisher Grenade into its open mouth to kill it. Once dead, you can dump all of the Extinguisher Grenades from your inventory as you will never need them again.
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Centaur

You will have to fight the Centaur in the P.I.T.S. but will have a train available for cover. Do not stand too close to the train as it’s main attack has AOE damage that can hurt you.

Aanval 1 – Rapid-fire (you will only see this when you are fairly close to it)

Aanval 2 – Beam (you will hear and see it charge up before it is discharged in your direction – be sure it hits an item of cover in between you and it and don’t be too close to the cover)

There may be other closer range attacks if you are right up on it but I haven’t seen any.

This one is fairly simple but will require some accuracy in the second phase. First you need to focus on the large glass shield protecting its head with the triple-barrel Trident, Altershock, or Ionizer. You likely won’t be close enough to use the shotgun. Simply shift cover between its attacks till you shatter the shield.

Their head will be red-colored now, and you have to be accurate and hit it with either the laser-sighted Altershock or more blasts from the Trident. Be mindful of your cover as the Centaur can do a barrel roll to shift position quickly. A few direct hits to the head and it will die. It also has difficulty turning around quickly, so you can exploit that for some close up shots while using teleport to evade, but since it’s vulnerable area requires you to be face-to-face, it’s safer to remain at a distance.
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Saplord

Like the Igneosaur, she is a massive bullet sponge so prepare to use all available weapons to take her down. There are bounce pads and 4 stone towers you can get on top of, but if you teleport well, you will never need to use them. The stone towers act as useful cover for several of her attacks.

Aanval 1 – Hammer Slam (she makes a quick grunt and slams it down in front of her – back off or teleport away)

Aanval 2 – Leaping Hammer Slam (She takes two steps, makes a grunting sound, and then leaps towards you slamming the hammer down – exploit this and teleport under her, then unload your weapons into her back)

Aanval 3 – Spinning Hammer (only seen if you get very close – just back off or teleport away)

Aanval 4 – Sap Rain (she raises her arms to medium level and then flings multiple sap projectiles into the air – watch the shadows on the ground to see where the projectiles will land and be elsewhere)

Aanval 5 – Sap Projectile (hard to predict as she quickly throws a small sap ball at you – dodge like any other attack)

Aanval 6 – Heavy Sap Projectile (she raises her arms high and forms a huge sap ball then aims it at you – teleport away to dodge)

The main thing here is to not get bogged down in sap which slows your movement. Gelukkig, you can teleport over sap without it affecting you, so I highly recommend using it a lot to dodge attacks and avoid getting stuck.

As you damage her, she will say multiple scripted lines which will let you know you are making progress. After a few of these, she will dissolve in place back to a skull form and you should quickly shoot out one of her eyes with the shotgun at close range before she recovers. When she re-forms, you will have to unload on her again, with more scripted lines indicating you are doing damage. Echter, you now have to deal with some saplings backing her up. I find it’s best to keep moving and focus on her primarily, while taking out a sapling or two to stop their numbers from getting overwhelming.

Eventueel, she will dissolve again and you just need to quickly teleport to her and shoot out her other eye. The moment she dies, all of the saplings will disappear so don’t focus on them and instead dodge them and kill her ASAP.

Be sure to grab the Heartfruit before launching yourself off the newly available giant pad.
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Vladimir

Vladimir is a Bonehead Monarch with some similar attacks to the regular boneheads. Be sure to shoot at the fleshy part of his body as any shots to the armored head will deflect off. There is minimal cover here so mobility is key.

Aanval 1 – Aanval (He lowers his head and charges straight at you – dodge and shoot)

Aanval 2 – Bite (if you are close he opens his mouth and will try to bite you – dodge and shoot)

Aanval 3 – Pounding Feet (he stops in place and starts pounding his feet into the ground – stay at a distance to avoid AOE damage and shoot)

Aanval 4 – Head Swing (if you are close he will whip his head in a semi-circle – stay at a distance to avoid damage and shoot)

Aanval 5 – Dust Cloud (after you have damaged him significantly, he will stand in place and kick up a duct cloud making it hard to see – unload on him while he does this to make dispatching him easier when it is harder to see)

I basically covered everything you need to know above. Use all of your available strong weapons and dodge his attacks to take him down.
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Maharishi Grontho

One of the hardest boss battles in the game, Grontho has numerous attacks, and after hurting him a bit he will have Holy Guards and Holy Soldiers backing him up. Fortunately there is a lot of cover to utilize, but several of his attacks bypass that cover so prepare to be mobile.

Aanval 1 – Holy Guard Quad (he will raise his 4 arms with Holy Guard staffs and fire wheel-shaped projectiles from each – teleport just as they are about to fire and shoot back but know that cover will likely not help with these)

Aanval 2 – Holy Soldier Quad (he will hold up 4 empty hands that shoot beams in your direction – dodge or use cover to block the beams then counter)

Aanval 3 – Holy Column (an energy column appears in front of him and then rapidly heads in your direction – dodge and shoot)

Aanval 4 – Expanding Energy Sphere (he holds 2 hands in prayer and a small red sphere appears in front of him, which then tracks you wherever you go as it expands – you will likely want to reposition yourself to the other side of the arena as it follows you until it dissipates. You might get some attacks in early but should focus on not getting caught up inside of it, though you can escape with fast movement or teleport)

Aanval 5 – Multi-directional Lasers (you will hear a high-pitched whine and see numerous beams forming around you and various angles, and then more will form after your initial evasive maneuvers – dodge carefully to avoid entering the path of another beam and prepare for more beams to target you from many directions as you do. Don’t expect to get many attack in on this one.)

Aanval 6 – Vertical Lasers (similar to the above but the beams are all vertical – easy to dodge and counter)

Aanval 7 – Spider Wave (a line of about 10 red spiders will spawn in front of him on the ground and chase you down slowly no matter where you go – shoot them all with the AK or they will keep coming at you)

To kill Grontho, you have to unload your weapons onto his head wrap which shrinks as you damage it, making it harder and harder to hit. Right after he pushes you back at the start of the battle, you have a good window of time to get this started. After one of his scripted attacks, you’ll have another window to lay into him.

After you’ve damaged him about halfway, he will say a line that starts with “you fight, not just against me…” after which several Holy Guards and Holy Soldiers will appear to support him. Dispatch the ones near you but focus on shooting Grontho. You can also draw them into the stairwells so that you can kill them without Grontho hitting you.

There are healthfruits on each of the upper levels so grab them as needed. Use the AK heavily as it does high damage and is very accurate. You do not need to hit the release button to remove the magazine; just pull it out and grab a new one, then rack it with the slide. The trident is useful at first but as his wrap shrinks in size more accurate weapons will be needed like the AK and altershock.

Once he dies, fall thru the opening on the floor and run to the elevator to escape.
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General Sintho

While Sintho has fewer scripted attacks than Grontho, he can be as difficult as Grontho since there is far less cover, and his 2nd phase is quite difficult. While he has a shield up, you will be unable to do damage to him with your weapons, so don’t try as it will deflect back and hurt you. Do not engage the sword’s attack option until he is stunned and his shield is down temporarily.

Aanval 1 – Heavy Electric Ball (Sintho raises his arms high and forms a large electric ball that tracks towards you slowly – deflect it back to him with your sword and it will damage him)

Aanval 2 – Rapid Electric Balls (he will hold his arms at his sides and fling 6 smaller balls at you – deflect each one back at him)

Aanval 3 – Pentagon Beam (he forms a pentagon-shaped barrier in front of him that shoots a powerful beam at you – dodge this)

Aanval 4 – Leaping Sickle (he will jump, pause in mid-air, then slam the sickle down where you are standing – dodge this)

Aanval 5 – Double Melee (he will walk up to you and swing both weapons at you – dodge this)

Aanval 6 – AK Barrel Roll (after you reach the second phase, he will shoot you with dual wielded AKs while barrel rolling to the side at times – use the rocks for cover and/or dodge while also dodging the helicopter attacks and shooting Sintho with the Enlightenment weapon)

Mostly explained above. Damage him by deflecting his energy balls, then get close to him and use the trigger attack from the sword when he’s stunned and unshielded. During the second phase, hit him with the Enlightenment as continuously as possible while leveraging cover and dodging. Don’t stand still or the chopper will wipe you out. There is some healthfruit behind the rocks but not much, so try not to take much damage.

When he is finally down, use the sword attack to finish him off.
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Fish Brain

The real enemies here are the phages coming out of 3 elevated tunnels. Avoid their direct phage blasts as well as the gas field that forms after a projectile detonates. The AK or Enlightenment works very well here.

Once you blow the door open to the brain chamber with the phage launcher, launch a phage into the brain to damage it. Position yourself in front of the entrance so you don’t have your back to any enemy spawn points and then move and shoot to avoid getting hit. After you wipe out the first group, rinse and repeat by hitting the brain with another phage launcher projectile until it dies.

Backtrack to the mouth of the fish and you will be able to escape.
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Double Centaur

Reference the Centaur section for its attacks. Here you will have a health station and an area providing cover, plus some destructible cover in the form of glass columns. One Centaur will drop down from above first and its best to try to focus this one down before engaging the second which follows shortly after. If you take too long, they will barrel roll to get a direct shot at the health station cover area, so use your best weapons to dispatch them quickly. As before, don’t stay too close to where their beam attack will strike as the AOE damage will hurt you badly.

I wouldn’t recommend using the Phage Launcher here as the AOE from it will smash the destructible cover.
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Hummingbird

This room has significant cover and 4 propulsor pads to help you get to the upper level when needed. Leveraging both will absolutely be required.

Aanval 1 – Laser Beam (it will charge up at its beak for more than a second and then shoot a straight beam at your position – move behind cover)

Aanval 2 – Wervelwind (it will spin around forming a purple whirlwind that will damage you severely – when you see this happening, shift your vertical position; if you are on the ground level then hit a propulsor pad to go up top or drop down if you were already high up. Shoot the Hummingbird after you have done so even if it is still attacking)

Aanval 3 – Egg Bombs (it will pump its tail dropping egg-shaped bombs at you – shoot the bombs or dodge and shoot the bird)

Aanval 4 – Beak Stab (it will move towards you slowly at first, pull its wings back, then dive at you trying to stab with its beak – dodge and counter)

You have the opportunity to stun the Hummingbird and interrupt its attack cycle, so try to take advantage of these moments to kill it quickly to avoid damage. Echter, if done right, you can get thru the entire battle totally unscathed unlike most other boss fights.

After you kill it, be sure to grab the Quantum Encryption Key from its body before leaving.
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The Seer

Probably my favorite boss battle because it forces you to focus on accuracy to target weak spots instead of unloading on a bullet sponge. After The Seer takes control of the statue, it will be covered with glowing eyes that you need to destroy one-by-one, before finally shooting the giant cyclops eye to kill it. My one complaint with this boss is that she is very slow, both in turning and attacking, so she is fairly easy to dispatch. The slowness can be a blessing as there is minimal cover and you have to stay mobile to avoid getting hit.

Aanval 1 – Staff Stab (she raises her staff fairly parallel to the ground and then stabs it towards you – dodge and keep shooting the eyes)

Aanval 2 – Staff Twirl Stab (Same as above but she twirls the staff above her and then stabs in a more downward motion – dodge and shoot)

Aanval 3 – Staff Swing (similar to above but she swings the staff downward instead of in a stabbing motion – dodge and shoot)

Aanval 4 – Cyclops Beam (the cyclops eye starts glowing multicolored and then a powerful beam tracks you – dodge and shoot)

The next attacks occur in phase 2 after you have destroyed about half the eyes and she stumbles for a moment.

Aanval 5 – Electric Pound (the staff electrifies and she pounds it into the ground, creating a medium-sized shockwave – move away from her and shoot)

Aanval 6 – Electric Wheels (the tips of the the staff become electrified and she swings twice sending two electricity wheels similar to the Holy Guard attack – dodge these then counter)

Aanval 7 – Electric Balls (she swings her electrified staff and sprays the ground will ball lightning – avoid the explosive balls and counter)

Aanval 8 – Electric Floor (she stabs the ground in front of her with an electrified staff, and narrow lightning beams appear on the floor, radiating in all directions, and then activate a moment later – do not be standing on top of the beams to avoid taking damage)

Aanval 9 – Bull Charge (she holds her staff vertically out in front and charges at you – dodge and counter)

Opnieuw, do not shoot the cyclops eye at all until you’ve destroyed all of the smaller eyes. Eenmaal klaar, focus on the cyclops eye and she will die.
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Joseph Jeffrey

The penultimate boss can be tricky but he is also very slow making him fairly easy to dodge and counter. Once he is formed up, you can start unloading with everything you have, especially your most powerful weapons like the Meat Nailer and Phage Launcher, followed by the AK and shotgun. Just keep shooting his giant head as there is no weak point. Almost no cover so you have to be very mobile, and can use the propulsor pads or purple zero-gravity fields if you so choose.

Aanval 1 – Stomping Charge (he stamps his feet and comes towards you at a higher speed than his slow walking speed, and changes direction as you do – teleport spam to avoid and counter)

Aanval 2 – Joe Jeff Ball (he forms 1 of 3 balls of Joe Jeffs on top of his head that fly towards you and deal heavy damage – shoot them before they reach you or shoot them as they form)

Aanval 3 – Leaping Stomp (he jumps in the air towards you – dodge and counter)

Aanval 4 – Faceplant (he falls face first on the ground – dodge and counter)

Aanval 5 – Faceplant Roll (he falls face first on the ground and starts rolling, tracking your movements – teleport to keep your distance and counter in the process)

Do your best not to turn your back on him as he will surprise you with a Leaping Stomp or Faceplant Roll. Once you learn them, his attacks aren’t so menacing and you shouldn’t have much trouble.
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Cyberjoseph

Much like the Joseph Jeffrey battle, Cyberjoseph involves you unloading your best weapons en masse on his giant head. Ignore Officer 13’s bubble at the top as it is not a weak spot. No change in cover so be quick and keep your distance. He can also be stunned at times which will interrupt his attacks.

Aanval 1 – Leaping Stomp (he anticipates your movements and leaps at you, pounding both fists into the ground – dodge and counter)

Aanval 2 – Arm Smash (he smashes both arms into the ground in front of him – dodge and counter)

Aanval 3 – Ground Ripper (he smashes both arms into the ground sending a shockwave in one direction ripping up the ground in its wake – dodge and counter)

Aanval 4 – Center Beam (3 tracking beams triangulate upon you from the center hole followed by a very powerful energy beam that hits you instantly – dodge or shoot the hole at the moment it fully locks onto you and you can damage him)

Aanval 5 – Shoulder Volley (a group of rockets are fired from the shoulder launcher that track you quite well, followed sometimes by a heavy artillery volley from the other launcher – teleport spam to avoid; you can shoot the rockets also but that is no easy feat with so many of them coming)

Aanval 6 – Crawl Smash (he crawls quickly towards you while smashing his fists into the ground as he does, tracking you as you try to dodge – teleport spam away)

Aanval 7 – Grijp (if you get too close he will grab you and then blast you to death with one hit from the center cannon – never get too close, but you have about 2 seconds to free yourself with a Meat Nailer or Phage Launcher shot, though the delay on the Phage Launcher blast may cost you)

Once you learn the attacks I find him to be a pretty easy boss as he never has a group of smaller enemies supporting him to distract you. Just stay mobile and cycle thru your many weapons so you don’t get hung up reloading. Use the propulsor pads as an alternative to teleporting, though I find that the control you get from teleporting is preferable.

After you damage him sufficiently, the music will shift, at which time just focus on dodging him. Once Brian tells you your firmware upgrade is complete, pull out your shotgun and unload on him with the anti-matter attack. You have to reload it as normal and dodge periodically. No other weapon will damage him at this point. Go thru several reloads and eventually he will be eliminated.

Do not kill Officer 13 when he is vulnerable as he will disable Planck Security forces for you, unless you want a bigger challenge in the finale.
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Feedback

If you think I got anything wrong, have better strategies, or have any feedback, please post in the comments. I made up all of the names for the attacks so feel free to come up with better ones and I’ll change them I think it fits.
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