HOW TO DEFEAT MANTIS LORD????????????

[Cheyre]

so im stuck on this boss battle... any suggestion or tips for defeating them? im tired of dying and lost all my geo's

[NiNJALOKi]

Go to CIty of Tears and find the Nailsmith to upgrade your Nail.

[Acolyte]

pogo on their heads when they dash on the ground. always be ready to jump if they come dashing, or alternatively to dash to the side if they fall from the sky, sometimes doing both. projectile attacks should be easy to avoid as long as you control your jumps and dont panic. some of their throwing attacks will be slow enough to allow you to heal before they hit if you're smart with your spacing. equip quickheal if you have trouble with it.

[GenSec39]

Kinda one of the easiest bosses for me. If you struggle already here, doing pogo types of attacks is the last thing I'd recommend in this case. Attack them only when they are doing vertical attacks: dash+few hits. That's clear, simple and safe tactic. And just avoid all other attacks. When she is doing throwing attack - stay on the other side, so you will have time for heal and safe dash/jump.

There is also a small room with life blood in the upper left corner of the battle arena. You need to break the wall and super dash there (if you got it).

[arceus03]

To add to what everyone said, you could try to learn their attack patterns. Most of the bosses in HK are very choreographed -- they have telltale signs that indicate what attack they will use. Try not to be too aggressive at the start and just focus on dodging their moves first (or maybe watch some videos to recognize their attack patterns).

Also, retrieve your shade before attempting to fight them again so as not to lose your Geo...permanently.

If you find them really hard... you could actually skip the fight until much, much later, when you have more abilities, HP, and nail upgrades.

[SlackMasterC]

What worked for me was to focus on how to evade their hits first, then once you have the pattern down, start adding attacks. (They only have three moves.) Accept that you won't be able to heal until you finish the first phase. And for sure, get your nail upgraded first. Also notice that Stalwart Shell isn't much help here, so swap it out for something like the 'more souls' charm, or thorns. Good luck!

[arceus03]

Originally posted by SlackMasterC:

Accept that you won't be able to heal until you finish the first phase.

If you have Quick Focus, you could heal in the first phase, if she attacks with her projectile. If it's high to low, heal first and jump, and vice versa.

[Anienonimowa]

This boss is not nescesary for any ending (except two very very hard ones meant for people who like challanges). You can even come back to them with and 100% complete inventory and crush them if you so wish. But yeah, the first nail upgrade does make a big difference.

[Cheyre]

can i ask where and how to upgrade my nail? and now i only need one more mask, where can i found the rest?

[Blook]

Originally posted by CeriaR06:

can i ask where and how to upgrade my nail? and now i only need one more mask, where can i found the rest?

Look on your map for a big looking guy towards the right of Fungal Wastes. His head is the same as the False Knight's head.

If you want to get one more mask shard, check Queen's Station, the two in Sly's shop, one at the far left-middle of Forgotten Crossroads, and if you rescued the bug at the bottom of Fungal Wastes, there's one in Dirtmouth. You can also get one if you've rescued 5 grubs, go to the top left of Forgotten Crossroads.

[Acolyte]

Originally posted by CeriaR06:

can i ask where and how to upgrade my nail? and now i only need one more mask, where can i found the rest?

You can upgrade your nail in the City of Tears, the area after fungal wastes. Go to the far right after reaching the ground and explore the area. You'll find the smith inside a house on a high ledge. The first upgrade will only cost geo, but the next few will require increasingly more "pale ore".

The mask shards can either be found as secrets, as well as 2 of them being sold by sly. If you want more, you should go for:

The one in queen's station, now that you have mantis claws

The one hidden behind a boss in a secret area in forgotten crossroads. It can be found as a breakable wall on the left side of the large room full of platforms that also connects the crossroads and greenpath

The one given by grubdad. Come to him after finding 4 grubs

Or the one in crossroads that required mantis claw to get. Found to the bottom right of the little arena with the flying aspids that shoot you, with the topright having that bench next to a hot spring.

[Efreet]

An alternative stategy that can help with the first kill is to focus entirely on evading attacks and either killing it with the Sharp shadow charm or a combo of Glowing whomb + defender crest.

[TheDragoonGamer]

Mantis Lords are probably the easiest boss in the game... if you learn their patterns.

Alright, that's unfair. They can be pretty hard for some people.
The Mantis Lords fall into a category of boss that require you to have patience. If you've fought them a dozen times, you can speedrun the boss battle. Otherwise, you need to focus on dodging.

If done right, the battle looks kind of like a well choreographed dance.
Each Mantis Lord has three attacks:

1) A dash attack. They appear next to you and then attempt to dash through you a bit later. Jump over them when they do this. They always end the dash in the same two spots, depending on which way they dash. If you jump so that you land next to them, after they've finished their dash, you can hit them once or twice.

2) A dive attack. They appear above you and dive downwards at you a bit later. Move to the side until they finish their dive, and you'll be okay. They home in on you slightly, so don't just move and stop. After finishing a dive, you can move next to them, and hit them a bit.

3) A scythe attack. They cling to the walls, and send out a blade of light. The blade has two patterns: high, and low. In both cases, it will cross to the other end of the arena, and then come back. The difference is how soon the blade reaches the other end of the screen. You can avoid this by jumping. You can move over to the side, and hit them during this attack, but it can be tricky to attack them and dodge at the same time, so just focus on dodging.


The first Mantis Lord is like a tutorial. You face her 1 on 1, so take all the time you need to learn her attacks.

The second and third Mantis Lords attack at the same time, and can be overwhelming at first. Focus on dodging them, until you've gotten your bearings. They can attack at the same time, but a diagonal jump almost always allows you to dodge any combination of attacks.
The one exception is the Scythe attack. However, they always do this attack at the same time, and always use the same pattern. Stand in the center, stand still (for the high pattern), or move to the side and jump over the rebounding blade (low pattern).
This is a fight that can be tricky to get your bearings in, but is easy when you've learned the patterns. It's also one of the most rewarding fights to pull of perfectly.