Looking for general advice with Overlord battle

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Alright so I'm nearly 30 hours in (also using DLC), and finally I'm starting to get decent. I can get to the Sanctum with usually like 15/15 health, and have a good number of weapon upgrades. Getting to the Sanctum is no longer a struggle, and in fact I'm thriving. But the Overlord battle. I beat him once by the skin of my teeth, but I'm not really 'getting better'.

Any advice or strategy with how I should build myself for this battle? I'm using a controller which feels a bit of a disadvantage, but that is fine. I sometimes wish we had a button for finer resolution movement.

Thanks in advance,

[SonicBoomNFA]

It's hard for me to give a solid strategy because it's sort of a combination of the brain and the body's reflexes, but here's what I know for sure I think about while playing (first some advice about the boss itself, then for your build:

The first phase tests your ability to find safe positions; I feel that way because there's a lot of move here, wait a sec. move here, wait a sec.. There's almost no dashing required (if any at all). That's especially important to think about with the pink lasers. When it starts doing the pattern where the lasers shoot out in a really organized pattern (do you know what I mean?), you have to realize that you're supposed to weave back and forth between them (practically between 2 positions). Make sure to watch out for when the big blast comes down the middle of the screen, and then be prepared to move back to the center when all the bullets start coming on the sides.

In the second phase, you're really tested on recognizing the trajectory of the bullets/lasers and moving accordingly. It's especially important to pay attention to when the lasers shot out and move at super curved trajectories; you have to react and move along the curves.
When the bullets start shooting in from the sides, you're more dodging up and down with a little side movement; really pay attention to where the bullets are going so that you don't run into them. Dashing probably won't do you any good since it's so clustered.
When he jumps and starts doing the thing where he fires a huge blast down the screen, gtfo with a dash immediately, but pay attention to the bullets that shoot out after each blast. You have to quickly get out of the way of the big blast, weave through the bullets (the Teleport Dash upgrade is pretty nice here), and gtfo when another blast comes, rinse and repeat.

The third phase is the most taxing on the brain, in my opinion. This is what you really want to save your bombs for. I don't really know what to tell you about the first part where Overlord fires a bunch of big and small orange projectiles; just make sure you don't get tricked by overlapping bullets and properly weave around at the bottom of the screen. When the second part comes and the blue projectiles start falling, you need to be REALLY good about moving left to right to weave between them. If your brain gives out, use a bomb, but just concentrate.

In general, the only surefire way to improve your chances is to play more. Your brain just needs to get better at being able to process what's going on onscreen. When the patterns start blending in your eyes and you lose focus, you're pretty much guaranteed to take damage unless you have bombs. Personally, I have enough bullet hell experience to not get mentally overwhelmed, but if you aren't like that, practice-practice-practice.

As for your build, I highly recommend you stay AWAY from gimmicky weapons (e.g. Drill, Sword), anything that's great for crowds but terrible for a single enemy. The damage output simply won't be good enough (especially since you might miss a lot of the shots). If you figure out how to get in close to Overlord with swords, go for it, but you probably aren't at that level just yet. I would also stay away from weapons that have the Widespread (idr what it's called) Keyword attached to them because your accuracy will be trash since you'll be staying at the bottom of the screen. Rapid-fire weapons or weapons that don't take 5 years to reload are the best, imo. Whatever you find to be the best is up to you, though.

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Hey thank you so much for the in-depth response. I'm going to use this information and see how it goes. Overall, I think everything you said makes good sense.

[Bob]

Learn to love bombs and use them leniently. Get into the habit of using them when you're feeling overwhelmed and think you might take damage soon, rather than just as you're about to get hit. It's generally better to "waste" a bomb than to potentially lose health for a number of reasons. Namely because they're guaranteed to replenish after the fact if you make it through, and more importantly they give you a way better safety net than brief invulnerability frames do.

Outside of that it's best to have a weapon with a high firerate that you don't have to aim with. Then you can focus purely on weaving through all the craziness on screen, and focus is what it all comes down to. Memorization and practice obviously help too, especially if there's a phase or pattern that consistently makes you mess up. And that's what bombs are there for. Good luck.

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Bob:

Learn to love bombs and use them leniently. Get into the habit of using them when you're feeling overwhelmed and think you might take damage soon, rather than just as you're about to get hit. It's generally better to "waste" a bomb than to potentially lose health for a number of reasons. Namely because they're guaranteed to replenish after the fact if you make it through, and more importantly they give you a way better safety net than brief invulnerability frames do.

Outside of that it's best to have a weapon with a high firerate that you don't have to aim with. Then you can focus purely on weaving through all the craziness on screen, and focus is what it all comes down to. Memorization and practice obviously help too, especially if there's a phase or pattern that consistently makes you mess up. And that's what bombs are there for. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Good stuff. I like the idea of a weapon that you don't have to focus intensely to aim with.