Sine Mora: Boss Strategy Guide [WIP]

This guide is a basic guide including tips for how to defeat each of the bosses encountered in Sine Mora. Feel free to add feedback.

Preface: Anti-Boss Basics

Overview:
These are some tips that apply to all the bosses and enemies in general throughout the game. Note that some cases may have exceptions.

• Easier bosses go well with the Roll Back capsule (if not in Story mode); if you do get hit you can reverse time and earn a bonus for not taking any damage.
  
• The capsule of choice for most situations is Reflection; this capsule will drain your rating from A to C in no time flat, but can make the difference between life and death when hundreds of bullets are flying at your face.
  
• Be careful around bosses such as Leonard, Domus and Matouschka: All of these bosses possess attacks powerful enough to take you down in one hit.
  
• Don't be afraid to use your Sub-Weapon! The drop in rating is often times compensated by the reduced amount of time taken to eliminate targets.
  
• Boss attacks usually follow predictable patterns. Playing the boss a few times should help learn these patterns. But beware! Bosses sometimes act differently on Hard and Insane difficulty!

Boss 1: Sentinel Hexapus KOLOBOK

Sentinel Hexapus KOLOBOK

Background:
This mechanical monstrosity appears seemingly out of nowhere during Lynthe Ytoo's raid on Moneta Point Research Facility. Armed with a heavily armored turret, rapid-fire missiles and a powerful eye laser, this boss makes you hit the ground running with the Sine Mora experience.

Phase 1 Strategy:

• Kolobok likes to move all over the place. Watch out for this; being swatted by the Sentinel's massive bulk could cost you the fight.
  
• At the start of the battle Kolobok activates its eye laser. Immediately head for the top of the screen, but make sure you don't ram into the boss!
  
• The turret is a dangerous target. It fires in quick bursts, which can be hard to dodge. However, surviving without capsule activiation IS possible.
  
• After certain panels surrounding the eye are destroyed, the Sentinel will release a heavy burst of lasers in a swirling pattern. Immediately rush to the top of the screen and stay between the beams as shown.
  
• After most of the body panels are destroyed Kolobok will enter a state of idleness before retreating away. Use this time to destroy the turret; this will save you a lot of trouble later on.

Phase 2 Strategy:

• After a brief interlude in which you attack a bunch of incredibly weak tanks, Kolobok emerges from a canyon to attack you again, as Ytoo explodes in his famous outburst of "GOD F**KING DAMN IT! F**K!"
  
• Kolobok will activate the eye laser but will stay focused in one area. Stay below the laser if possible and focus on the tentacles.
  
• Immediately after the tentacles are all cut down, focus on destroying the turret if you haven't already. You must destroy this turret before it can fire too many projectiles at you.
  
• The Sub-Weapon should be used on the tentacles. Ytoo's Zebaoth Driller is ideal for this boss.

If these tips are followed successfully, then the imposing Sentinel Hexapus should be reduced to a flaming pile of scrap metal in no time!

Boss 2: Warder Submarine ACRIDOIDEA

Warder Submarine ACRIDOIDEA

Background:
This boss is a massive war submarine guarding the deep and dark Bokumono Prison. Ronotra Koss runs into this "watchdog" when trying to kill Regis Pyre, the gunner on board Cobalt King. Despite the intimidating appearance of this boss, Acridoidea is actually one of the easier bosses over the course of the game, being one of the only bosses I regularly use Roll Back on.

Phase 1 Strategy:

• The battle begins with the two cannons mounted on Acridoidea's "head" firing bullets at you. These bullets start slow but speed up, so be careful.
  
• Shortly afterwards, the top cannon will release a starburst pattern and the lower cannon releases a corkscrew pattern. Preferably take out the top cannon first, then move down. In this screenshot the top cannon has been destroyed already!

Phase 2 Strategy:

• The shoulder-mounted torpedo launchers are notoriously weak. The torpedos are supposed to fly overhead and explode, but in reality they can be destroyed by your bullets.
  
• When the lasers activate, simply head to the lower part of the screen. In several cases the launcher should be destroyed before this becomes an issue.

Phase 3 Strategy:

• The Warder will tilt onto its side and reveal an impressive arsenal of lasers. The lasers are slow, so the real danger lies in the central cannon on the spine: the bullets move faster than you'd expect after how slow the rest of the boss has been.
  
• Contrary to first appearance, each slot contains TWO lasers, and two sets. The second sets of lasers will reveal themselves once the first have been destroyed. Don't let this deception catch you off guard!

Phase 4 Strategy:

• This phase is an easy one, regardless of difficulty. Acridoidea brandishes a large side-mounted torpedo launcher. The torpedoes this time, however, are fired in large swarms, lock onto the target (that'd be you), and cannot be destroyed.
  
• Shortly before the first volley hits, dive to the bottom of the screen and head right. If you're using the GE-22 Liberator you should be able to hit the target even when below it using a level 9 or 10 primary weapon.
  
• Don't worry when the second volley appears -- the torpedoes are destoyed when the phase ends.

Phase 5 Strategy:

• In this phase the submarine appears to retreat, but instead reveals several water jets on its backside. These do no damage on their own, but slow you down greatly, making you easy prey for the bombs dropping inexplicably from above.
  
• This may seem like a difficult task, but remember that the bombs can be destroyed by both your primary and sub-weapons.
  
• Simply spam primary fire at the jets while dodging the bombs, moving out of the jet stream if necessary.

If you execute these tips then the once mighty Warder Submarine will be left to rot in the depths of Bokumono Prison with ease!

Boss 3: Perimeter Watchtower MELKOR

Perimeter Watchtower MELKOR

Background:
While Ronotra Koss is busy in the depths of Bokumono, Myran Magusa is busy waking up the surface defense network. After sinking Mega Battleship SCYLLA (a mini-boss so weak and insignificant I won't bother making a guide for) she encounters the Perimeter Watchtower, a massive guard post armed with flamethrowers, powerful lasers, and for some reason: tanks.

Phase 1a Strategy:

• Start near the top of Melkor and attack the front panels. Move up and down a little to note the movement of the searchlights.
  
• Shortly afterwards, the flamethrowers will activate. Immediately after that, the searchlights will stop moving and fire, traveling in instant beams unlike Acridoidea's incredibly slow lasers. Yowch!
  
• If done right, the flames and the lasers should be aiming around the same area, allowing you to hover underneath and destroy the lasers. Once they are destroyed focus on the flamethrowers: You don't want them causing trouble for you later!
  
• Whether both lasers are destroyed or not, the weapons platforms will then rotate to reveal dual missile launchers. The missiles fire very rapidly and are difficult to dodge, so don't be afraid to use your capsule if need be.
  
• After certain amounts of time Melkor's massive bulk will rotate back and forth until all the weapons on one side have been destroyed.

Phase 2 Strategy:

• Once the top turret has been destroyed your plane will slowly begin to move down to the main body. A strange rotating wheel thing will constantly spit out projectiles in a spiral pattern. They spread out as they move so dodging them shouldn't be too hard.
  
• Tanks will come out of a small hole on the deck (What idiot thought deploying tanks on a marine watch tower was a good idea?) and shoot their little peashooters at you. You can take them out, but it's not really neccessary; they are incredibly weak, do not extend your time at all if you destroy them, and are instantly replaced once destroyed.
  
• The real threat lies in the missile launchers that first chased you around in the cutscene. The missiles do not lock on to your plane; they instead fly overhead and explode, similar to Acridoidea's torpedoes. Note that these missiles cannot be destroyed by shooting at them.
  
• Given the danger posed by these missiles, it's generally a good idea to destroy the launchers before the spiral cannon as you may end up wasting a lot of your capsule trying to dodge the shrapnel. Reflection comes in handy a lot in this part.

Phase 3 Strategy:

• In this phase you fly underneath Melkor to destroy the platform holding the entire tower up. The platform above the main support will rotate around a thick cable, spraying quick bursts of bullets at you.
  
• If your dodging skills are proficient then you don't really have to bother with the turrets. Spraying a quick Sub-Weapon blast at the support and destroying the boss A.S.A.P. might yield a better ranking from the time saved. Remember, even if the Sub-Weapon drives your ranking down to a B, the rankings are helped by destroying the boss really quickly, not just spending all your time on Rank A!

With these steps and a little luck then Melkor should pose no more of a threat than its wimpy escort Scylla.

Boss 4: Hyper Guardian Train MATOUSCHKA

Hyper Guardian Train MATOUSCHKA

Background:
While Lynthe Ytoo is busy cursing out Kolobok above the surface, Akyta Dryad and Durak are busy trying to find information in Moneta Point's underground facility. Akyta runs into this massive locomotive, and acts as a distraction to allow Durak to escape.

Phase 1 Strategy:

• The rear car on the Hyper Guardian Train sports a large number of turrets. The turrets themselves don't pose an awful lot of a threat but can swarm you with their bullet spam.
  
• The central turret, the largest one, is the biggest threat. Take them out on both sides of the car.

Phase 2 Strategy:

• This car is an aircraft carrier, that has no direct weapons itself. Destroying the control tower will destroy the entire car.
  
• The little aircraft launched do not pose much of a threat on their own, but once three or four of them appear and start gunning for you, that's when things get tricky. Play it safe and take them out as soon as they launch!

Phase 3 Strategy:

• This time, the target is essentially a boxcar with an oblate spheroid mounted on the top. The cannons mounted in the boxcar are incredibly weak and are easy to dodge.
  
• The seemingly pointless spheroid, however, is in reality a turret holding a fairly powerful cannon within it. I would reccomend taking out one of the cannons in the main car and then switching focus to the turret.
  Oh, it's there, all right. It's obscured by the inferno blazing in front of it.
  
  
• Once the turret is gone the rest of the phase is easy. Take out the cannons and move around a little to dodge the bullets.

Phase 4 Strategy:

• I like to call this one the BFG: The Big F**king Gun. Why?... it's a giant gun. That can kill you. Instantly.
  
• The first shot fired is usually but not always a spray of dark orange bullets. These are fairly easy to dodge.
  
• The second shot type, however, fires a giant silver bullet that is capable of instantly destroying your plane. Frequently move up and down to dodge the slow-moving bullet.
  Overkill, yes. But isn't everything in this kind of game?
  
  Phase 5 Strategy:
  
  • This phase is mostly self-explanatory. The three parts are explained in the screenshots below.
    
    
    
    
  • Note that the spherical turret launches bullets in an "X" pattern. Destroy this ASAP before it becomes an issue.
    
  • To get the achievement Tempus Neminem Manet, you need to "find matouschka's weak spot". This can only be seen using the Speed Up capsule: the piston connecting the driving wheels is the weak spot. Take it out quickly using a Sub Weapon.

[♠ wnk ♠]

Very nice guide! :)

[alitogdl]

EXCELENTE!!!

[Simon Crazy Cat]

Nice guide, I would like me too to see more about the othe ( since for me this 4 boss are the most easy in the game ( I mean I can made this levels without a hit, it's more hard with the other boss ^^; ).

[Soshu]

I might. It's been a while, and time is a bit short, but I guess I have nothing better to do.

[Brzrkr]

Are you planning on continuing this guide? It's nice so far.

[Nax_o]

Great guide to some of the weirdest but IMHO best bosses i have seen in recent games.