Hard Mode Attack Patterns Guide (Level 9 + 12)

A guide to attack patterns to help people through this horrible power spike of a level. I spent 5 hours on this level for a stupid achievement, all of helltaker was 3 hours to 100% in comparison. I hate level 9 I hate level 9 I hate level 9

General Tips + Advice

I like to always restart the timers for the level 2 items immediately if I need them. The light blue "water" is used to make the dark blue science chip. The yellow bottle/pylon is used as a resource for the big red car battery.

So if a dark blue science chip and a yellow bottle were required I would start by grabbing water, bringing it to the dark blue science chip, THEN getting the yellow bottle. (If I already had a yellow bottle I would deposit it in the generator first)

Always set the timer for building a new yellow bottle immediately after grabbing one by pressing enter/z an additional time.

Level 9 Zmora Boss Patterns

Zmora has two attacks that she alternates between.

The first she does after spawning in the level where she charges at you after making line of sight (LoS), she then rapidly jumps above you and slams down, creating a medium + of electricity on the ground three times in a row.

The second is after doing the previous attack, she tries to follow you for a bit, and then when she regains LoS with you (or gets bored?), she does a very big AoE + into X into +, while summoning random lightning strikes all over the map, twice.

As long as you're constantly running around and not backtracking, the second mode is not a big issue, as you'll likely be in a different corridor or around the corner and not have to worry about the AoE portion of the attack. If you need an item and she's there, literally make a big circle around one of the sides to come back rather than returning direct.

For the first mode: For lightning specifically, remember that wherever lightning has just struck is safe.

It's helpful to think of the level map as a grid, with sections where the stage hazards are representing the edges of that grid. (so you don't accidentally shock yourself while dodging) You can move around the level and collect items while dodging this attack, but it's useful to use this idea of a grid to be safe while doing it, whether going back and forth or zigzagging. You want to move diagonally as the attack will hit along the same x/y coordinates you were just standing.

After sidestepping the first dash attack, move up and to the left, and then down and to the right, and up and to the left of whatever section of the grid you're in. It is fine to move into Zmora if she's already launched the lightning out as she'll jump back up rapidly.

Level 12 Enemies and Patterns

Level 12 is vs Dr. Strieger and her minions. Dr. Strieger will occasionally activate a buff on another enemy, which is indicated by spinning gears, allowing them to move/act/attack an additional time. She can target any enemy, but it only seems to affect the bull or dogs. She also summons enemies every so often.

My general strategy for this map was to follow a U or |_| when collecting items, focusing on one item at a time, and grabbing a water whenever convenient/possible so that I can just insta dump it into the a generator when I check its' requirements.

The Bull is an annoying enemy this stage as if you mistime your dash he can just kill you, and his hitbox is so big that he can kill you around corners. If he isn't the same height as you and isn't super close, you can usually walk in a straight line to the left or right and he'll miss you.
You can just walk through him while he's not charging.

The Skeleton Crew move from the left side of the screen to the right, or from the right to the left. They cannot hit you in the cubby areas with the battery/science chip at the top of the map. If you mess up your dash, all is not lost as there are different gaps in each formation that you can just walk through. In gameplay this feels mostly random to react to, but the ones that go from left to right have a gap between them and the bottom wall which is easy to line up.

The Skull throws up a bunch of debris after it explodes, but it's not random. Around 4 and 8 o'clock if you just keep going left or right the debris won't hit you. And if the skull is near the bottom (as pictured in the image), you can just walk under it while walking left or right, and the debris won't hit you. (no dash required, though you can dash through it and it will trigger the explosion)

The image upload for the dogs failed, so just imagine what they look like. The dogs will run up until they get close to you, then charge attack you. (like mini-bulls). The difference from the bull is that if they hit a wall they will die, and their hitbox is smaller (they can't get you around a corner if that situation comes up). The strategy for these is to keep moving forward in a straight line so they charge towards where you just were, they kill you if you backtrack.

[The Forges of Hell]

There's a dash??????

[Mageever]

I agree wtih Karu for the most part. I would avoid doing anything with the skulls until I clear out the dogs, but they're very easy to "defuse" by just walking into them, stepping out, and then dodging back into them.

Or commit, dodge through, and move down a wee bit.

I can vouch for the | _ | pattern for the final stages, although I personally was only using it to get rid of the dogs and bull.

Glad to see someone else recommends the strats I ended up using myself lol.

[Kāru]

from my experience its better to cause the skulls to explode prematurely and dodge into them. I'm really bad at memorising AoE projectile patterns so this was the better option

[AtomBohdan]

My man, you are a HERO!
I noticed the pattern with Zmora in level 9, but it seemed too random. But it seems like the player character's hitbox is pretty big (too much cupcakes).
Btw, does eating actually do anything?