How exactly do I beat stage 1?

[Psychii]

I feel like a complete noob but the game says to defeat the "boss" to progress to the next level. I had an almost 40 minute game with my character being around level 35. I got achievements for killing certain bosses but how do I know I even finished stage 1?

I'm making sure I select stage mode and not endless, but I just feel lost.

[The Face]

Stage mode spawns the boss at 20 minutes, the small Ame ground pound boss. Killing that ends the stage mode

[RudiAn]

kill smol ame, the stage is ended when you kill her and the game suddenly black out and there is a notice saying stage cleared.

And from my experience, level 35 isn't enough to kill the small ame from stage 1. usually you need more (around level 50, just perfect for getting achievement)

[Kaitsu]

At 20 minute mark in Stage Mode, Smol Ame is supposed to appear and once you defeat her, it clears Stage 1. Perhaps for some reason Smol Ame never spawned and it kept you in a loop?

[Psychii]

Ah crap, I think I just ran too far, forgot about her and then died cause I ran into a fence.
I'll make sure to pay attention to that next time.

[DragonGuard]

Make sure you're picking up the exp too. Level 35 feels low for beating the 20min boss. It seems you may have ran into a difficult swarm of enemies and ended up running away from them instead of trying to circle around that to get that exp. And if you forgot about her like you said, yeah non stop running away doesn't help. You need to keep her in range to do damage and be constantly avoiding her ground pound attack. Because of your low level, the mobs may have got too much for you and they pick up at the 22min mark, forcing you to run away from the last boss constantly and making the stage unwinnable.

[RudiAn]

Originally posted by Psychii:

Ah crap, I think I just ran too far, forgot about her and then died cause I ran into a fence.
I'll make sure to pay attention to that next time.

unlike vampire survivors in which the boss spawn near you if you off-screen boss, holocure didn't spawn the boss near if you leave them. So you have to retrace your step back into where the boss possibly exist. this proves to be hard, especially at 20 mins mark, normal enemies are getting stronger and deal more damage than before.
so, running around in circle as DragonGuard said is the best you could do to avoid getting damage while not losing smol Ame

[Psychii]

Originally posted by DragonGuard:

Make sure you're picking up the exp too. Level 35 feels low for beating the 20min boss. It seems you may have ran into a difficult swarm of enemies and ended up running away from them instead of trying to circle around that to get that exp. And if you forgot about her like you said, yeah non stop running away doesn't help. You need to keep her in range to do damage and be constantly avoiding her ground pound attack. Because of your low level, the mobs may have got too much for you and they pick up at the 22min mark, forcing you to run away from the last boss constantly and making the stage unwinnable.

Yeah, too many enemies and I would have to get real close to pickup the drops. Guess my best bet is going in circles for the most part.

[JtDarth]

Originally posted by RudiAn:

kill smol ame, the stage is ended when you kill her and the game suddenly black out and there is a notice saying stage cleared.

And from my experience, level 35 isn't enough to kill the small ame from stage 1. usually you need more (around level 50, just perfect for getting achievement)

I beat stage one on the first run of the game I did, which was with Gura and I'm pretty sure I was at around lvl 40 when I beat stage 1. I didn't even struggle. I then tried level 2 and got dumpstered because of how cluttered it is.
It's possible I got RNGed to victory, but I think it's more about already knowing how these sorts of games work, and thus knowing what types of items tend to work and what ones don't. MOST characters can beat stage 1 pretty comfy with just their built in skills and 2-3 weapons that somewhat synergize, even without upgrades. It only gets easier once you start unlocking enchantments, stickers and such.

I literally just checked my achievements, 3 hours gap in favor of first victory compared to the level 50 achievement.

[RudiAn]

Originally posted by JtDarth:

Originally posted by RudiAn:

kill smol ame, the stage is ended when you kill her and the game suddenly black out and there is a notice saying stage cleared.

And from my experience, level 35 isn't enough to kill the small ame from stage 1. usually you need more (around level 50, just perfect for getting achievement)

I beat stage one on the first run of the game I did, which was with Gura and I'm pretty sure I was at around lvl 40 when I beat stage 1. I didn't even struggle. I then tried level 2 and got dumpstered because of how cluttered it is.
It's possible I got RNGed to victory, but I think it's more about already knowing how these sorts of games work, and thus knowing what types of items tend to work and what ones don't. MOST characters can beat stage 1 pretty comfy with just their built in skills and 2-3 weapons that somewhat synergize, even without upgrades. It only gets easier once you start unlocking enchantments, stickers and such.

I literally just checked my achievements, 3 hours gap in favor of first victory compared to the level 50 achievement.

Congratulations :)
Well i've just said level 50 as an estimation. I don't even remember at which level i first beating stage one yesterday lol, probably more or less level (steam screenshot doesn't work). Beating stage 1 as newbie, honestly depends on your item and weapon choice. Even after having collab weapon, if you don't think about the best possible collab choice, you couldn't clear it. So, level 50 isn't mandatory requirement.
And the difficulty spike in stage 2 is pretty enormous. Smaller area, more enemies number, and added to that, the random obstacle on field making stage 2 is quite difficult to tackle.
I personally stop moving to stage 2 and keep farming on stage 1 first to strengthen my stats (shop upgrade stats). Especially the recovery, defense, haste, and crit.

[Juno Brier]

Fortunately this will be less of an issue in later stages, which do a better job announcing the arrival of the 20 minute boss. And also, stages 3 and 4 won't let you run away.