Beating Sans

I know a lot of guides have been made for this fight already, but I think there are a lot of tips and ideas that could definitely be put in that I have not seen before on Steam.

Disclaimer(TM)

I know that a LOT of guides have been made for defeating Sans before, but there are a lot of really useful tricks/tips that I found in a bunch of different places, so I wanted to put them all in one guide. Feel free to check out the following things for more details, or just skip straight to it.

Two guides (and a video) that helped me beat Sans for the first time were the following:
- Really great Steam guide
- Some cool girl's Tumblr guide[jadenvanadium.tumblr.com]
- No-Hit San

OTHER NOTES:
- I am the original creator of this guide. Included for Steam reasons.
- Don't message me about any of this! Thanks.
- If anything is outdated, let me know in the comments and I'll fix it eventually... but not quickly. I don't play this game or use Steam anymore so it will take time.

Before the Battle

Fighting changes
Credit to most of this goes to the great Steam guide. But I decided to rewrite some things.

No Invincibility
You know how when you get hit by something, you don't take damage for like 3/4ths of a second? That doesn't happen when you're fighting Sans. Every frame you're touching one of his attacks, you take 1 damage. Undertale runs at 30 FPS. So basically, if you screw up and stick yourself into one of his attacks for an entire second or more, you're gonna lose 30 health every second. (Correct me if I'm wrong about that) But that also gets into something more interesting. Karma Retribution?

Karma Retribution
Karma Retribution, or KR, is an annoying effect exclusive to the Sans fight. But I guess I have to thank it. As I see it, instead of taking actual damage, however much damage you take is replaced by purple rather than yellow. Then that slowly eats away and you want to heck. It makes it a little hard to use healing items at certain times. The good part is that your health stays there longer, even if it's being succed away. (Yes I just used succ ironically)

Attack Dodging
As Sans says after you attack him for the first time, he doesn't just "stand there and take it". He dodges every single attack until your final attack, which is scripted to happen after his final attack. The good thing is that he only has 1 DF. point, so it's a 1-shot.

Extra Turns
To put it simply, you have to survive against Sans for one extra whenever you don't FIGHT. And even better, that includes if you don't press anything when you attack him. It can't hit him anyways, so don't waste it.

To put it slightly less simply, Sans has a certain number of scripted dialogue in both parts of the fight. To get to the next part, you have to hear all of these lines of dialogue. (They're in order.) Whenever you don't make an effort to attack Sans, he doesn't play one of these lines, but you still have to dodge attacks.


Sans is weird. Get used to it. It took me three days to beat Sans :P

Gearing Up
It's unbelievably important to have any items you need during the Sans fight. Now it's not so drastic that you should restart your game and go get them. These are what I would use.

Things that don't matter
ATK./DF. modifiers, or weapons and armor. If you really want to know what the "best" items are, the Burnt Pan and Stained Apron are your best bet. Why? Because one of them heals you 1 HP every turn and the other one makes food heal just slightly more. The difference is practically insignificant. But do what you want. My set of choice is just Empty Gun and Cowboy Hat. I don't really know why.

Things that do matter
Healing items. Keep in mind that none of the items are really necessary. I beat Sans for the first time without my BScotch Pie or any of the Snow Pieces. These are all of the items I would consider using.

Butterscotch Pie- The Pie, which you can obtain at the beginning of the game by sleeping in the bed Toriel provided you before you killed her in cold blood, heals all of your HP. All of it. Give or take from Karma Retribution. It's generally effective, and really helpful.

Instant Noodles- If you don't have the Pie, or if you do, these are the next best thing. They can be found in the fridge of Alphy's lab (I call her Alphy, judge all you want), and they heal 90 HP. Out of 92. That's still pretty good if you ask me.

Mettaton Face Steak- I usually only buy one of these for the reason that I need money for Legendary Heroes (listed below). It's pretty expensive for an item that only heals 60 HP, but it's affordable since you killed everything else. Found in the MTT Resort shop.

Snow Pieces- Before you get to Snowdin but after you're introduced to Sans, there's a snowman that you can forcibly take pieces of. It's location is up from the room that has a big sheet of ice for most of it. The first one you come across. Anyways, the Snow Pieces only heal 45 HP. Why complain? They're free.

Sea Tea- This is definitely the most unnecessary thing on this list, but I wouldn't have beaten Sans without it. Sea Tea speeds up your movement throughout an entire battle after you drink it, which makes it a lot easier to dodge certain attacks. Particularly the last part. Of the last attack. (Death count = 50+)

Legendary Hero- These sandwiches, also found in the MTT Resort shop, heal 40 HP and raise your attack by 4. Big help for an enemy we can't hit. :P
These are fairly cheap when you get to the point where you can obtain them, so fill up any free inventory space with them.

All of these items are totally up to you- Do what you want. If you want to rearrange your inventory, play around with boxes. You can use them to do that, thank god. They help when you just want to heal and there are bone attacks on the bottom of your turn interface. You can just spam click Z, and if you arrange them quickly it works every time. (I do from least to greatest HP restoration, but that's just me.)

Last Pre-Battle Notes
- If you're anything like me, you're going to screw up. A lot.
- Take breaks. Set up things to kick that won't damage other things. Or yourself.
- Drink lots of water in between attacks, until the meta bones show up. Finger cramps suck. Don't learn from experience. You get worse when you're tired, stressed, and cramped. Then you get discouraged. Then you want to give up. Just stay determined.
- If you're up at 3 AM trying to beat Sans, you're not doing yourself any good.
- Again, if you feel like adding me, I'm more than happy to help.
- My nose started spontaneously bleeding while I was writing the note above. All the reason to remind you- you're gonna have a bad time. bRB

(Comment if you think I should add anything, because I will. I am trying to keep this guide as simple as possible, so don't give me some page long copy/paste about the technical advantages and disadvantages of a Sea Tea or some bs like that, please)

Part 1 - The Organized Part

The entire reason this is called "The Organized Part" is because his first 13 attacks come in the same order. (I promise I figured this out before I read Jade's guide.) Picture/GIF credit to the Tumblr guide. Thanks, jadenvanadium!

So, in the first half, Sans only has 11 different attacks. (Names according to me)
1. Strongest Attack. oh boy. Multiple ways to deal with this attack. They're all really similar, though

2. Jump Rope. This one's pretty simple.

3. Blue Bones. I've seen pros have trouble with this one. Learn what to expect, and how to execute it well.

4. Crusher Bones. This is like Jump Rope but with varying heights. Bewarb!

5. Easy Platforms. This might not exactly be easy to some. Just compared to the rest of the platforms

6. Medium Platforms. It's like Easy Platforms but better. :V

7. Alternating Platforms. My naming isn't creative? Haha. Hahhaha. ihopeyoudon'tbeatsans

8/9. Hard/Harder Platforms. These two are so similar that Jade decided to use the Hard Platforms GIF. That's okay I guess. Not my problem

10. Pocket Bones. This is my favorite attack, because it's pretty slow and easy to learn. Just do exactly what the GIF does any you'll be alright.

11. Gaster Blasters v1. These annoying cannons gun you down like this every time. They get faster the second time you come across them. If the platforms divide the box into thirds, then stay in the bottom two thirds.


Luckily for you, the first 13 attacks always come in the same order.
1. Strongest attack
2. Jump rope
3. Blue bones
4. Crusher bones
5. Easy platforms
6. Medium platforms
7. Alternating platforms
8. Hard platforms
9. Gaster Blasters
10. Harder platforms
11. Jump rope
12. Pocket bones
13. Crusher bones
After 13, I can't help you. But, after you get through all of Sans' dialogue, you should have just survived Pocket bones if you didn't heal. Then just attack again. You're done afterwards.

The last dialogue for Part 1 is something along the lines of "all i know is that seeing what comes next, i can't afford to not care anymore."


EXTRA: The intermission
After the music stops, and Sans offers to "spare" you, don't hit spare. It's a bad idea. You die. All the hard work for nothing.

Otherwise, Sans won't attack you again until you attack him, so you have unlimited turns to heal yourself and Check Sans' OP stats. Only continue when you're ready. You have been warned.

These are the attacks in the order listed.

Part 2 - The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This has its name for a reason. After you attack Sans during the intermission, there will be five randomized attacks that are different each time.

Clips
Clips consist of a few different parts: Gaster Blasters (+/x), Bone Waves, a 1st-Half clip, and one or two new attacks that involves bones closing in on you fast. (You can jump over them)

Meta Bones or "Bone ♥♥♥♥♥"
Second name credit to me. Sometimes it can only be the ones on the bottom, some times the ones in the box, sometimes neither, and sometimes both. These don't count as attacks, as they happen during your turn, and they can never drop you below 1 HP.

Gaster Blasters v2
If anything, these are like Undyne's spear attacks where they come flying at you from random directions. Pro tip: Stay away from the cannons pointed at you. That always is a good idea.

Slam
I think this is the easiest attack because of a special trick I used. Sans only slams you against a wall 9 times (except for in the final attack), so keep count. To avoid the bones, just hold down all of the arrow keys until you're out of the 9th attack. Holding down the arrow keys is definitely the best way to go in this attack. I've only been hit with the attack once because I miscounted. :P

"Be The Leaf"
This attack still trips me up. If you drank a sea tea, one way to do this attack is to follow one of the bones baths up, and then go down on the other one. A cycle. Another way is as shown in the GIF.

Sans warns you with dialogue when he's going to use his special attack next move. The non-attack extra turns still count, so be mindful.

Last Attack
This attack can be divided into three parts. In one, it has a lot of attacks from both parts with small changes. In the second part, it's like slams, but bones come out of two sides of the walls. It's a lot easier than the final slam if you know what to expect. Don't hold down all the arrow keys. The third part begins with a single wall-bone on the left side, and then a bunch of Gaster Blaster line up in a circle to mess you up. That's what the GIF is. I died every time on this part until I used a Sea Tea. And until I just kept practicing.

After he finishes with the Gaster Blasters he'll slam you against a wall a lot of times, but he won't kill you. There's only one part left after this, and it's pretty easy, but boring.

Special Attack

His "special" attack does nothing. Sans says that he knows one of your turns you're going to kill him, so he decides it's never going to be your turn. Ever.

You can read the dialogue if you want. I like reading dialogue. But eventually, he'll stop talking and rest his eyes. Once he's asleep (Z's will come from his animation) you can use your soul to push your box to the FIGHT button. If you try before he falls asleep, Sans will just teleport you to the center of the box, and you have to wait again. Remember, closed eyes doesn't mean asleep.

Once you press the FIGHT button, Sans will dodge the attack. (What a shocker.) He will then begin to say something but the game automatically has you attack him again. Then there's some dialogue but I don't want to spoil it, in case you want to see for yourself.

The rest of the Genocide Route is pretty easy. 1-shot Asgore, kill Flowey, and meet... That thing at the end of the game. Whatever it is. Don't forget to take breaks and enjoy yourself. It's fun to see your progress. Last but not least, stay determined!

Credits

Again, huge thanks to Jadenvanadium's Sans guide[jadenvanadium.tumblr.com], Neonthefrog's Steam guide, and NoHit Runs's Sans video.

Special thanks to JellyRaven for helping me beat Sans for the first time.

Credit to all pictures to Jadenvanadium (Jade)[jadenvanadium.tumblr.com]

And extra special thanks to anyone who leaves 5 Stars on this review. It'd definitely be appreciated.


This guide hasn't been used in a while, but if you are seeing it now, nothing has changed. I'm able to kill Sans on 1 attempt after nine months with no work on him; So, practice really does make perfect. Stay determined.

[fadeb]

thanks for the sea tea tip, i wasnt able to do it until i drank that

[a91wmedic]

░▄ ▀▄▄▀▄░░░░░░░░░ This is Toby.
░█░░░░░░░░▀▄░░░░░░▄░Toby wants to take over Steam.
█░░▀░░▀░░░░░▀▄▄░░█░█He needs your help.
█░▄░█▀░▄░░░░░░░▀▀░░█Copy/paste Toby to help him.
█░░▀▀▀▀░░░░░░░░░░░░█If not, he will use the Legendary Artifact's power. On you.
█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█
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[brentmiley32]

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░░░▌░███████░░ THIS IS PAPYRUS EX
▄░▐░░░▀████▀ ░░
▀█▌░░░▄░▀█▀░▀ ░░ COPY AND PASTE HIM,
░░░░░░░▄▄▐▌▄▄░░░ SO, HE CAN BECOME A LEADER
░░░░░░░▀█████░▄░░ OF THE ROYAL GUARD
░░░░░░▐▌▀███▀▐▄░░WE MUST DEFEAT CURSED TOBY:tobdog:
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[sum knight]

why do you want to beat me ?

[SpiffyCat]

░░░░░░▄▄▄░░▄██▄░░░
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░░░▌░███████░░ THIS IS PAPYRUS EX
▄░▐░░░▀████▀ ░░
▀█▌░░░▄░▀█▀░▀ ░░ COPY AND PASTE HIM,
░░░░░░░▄▄▐▌▄▄░░░ SO, HE CAN BECOME A LEADER
░░░░░░░▀█████░▄░░ OF THE ROYAL GUARD
░░░░░░▐▌▀███▀▐▄░░WE MUST DEFEAT CURSED TOBY:tobdog:
░░░░░░▐▀░░░░░░▐▌░░
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[Vidoktor]

But it refused

[angrymunchkin42]

bad time, here i come

[MasterEtienne]

This is a great guide but I personally think that the tutorial for his special attack isn't needed as you are able to figure it out yourself if you try everything. Or you could black the bit for the special attack out and put a spoiler warning above it and explaining that the special attack is easier than the other and has a 0% chance of dying on. And its still there so that if the person can't figure out how to complete Sans' special attack they can always look at the guide. Despite all this, its still a very good guide, probably the best guides I've seen on steam.

[GaminBeest]

░▄ ▀▄▄▀▄░░░░░░░░░ This is Toby.
░█░░░░░░░░▀▄░░░░░░▄░Toby wants to take over Steam.
█░░▀░░▀░░░░░▀▄▄░░█░█He needs your help.
█░▄░█▀░▄░░░░░░░▀▀░░█Copy/paste Toby to help him.
█░░▀▀▀▀░░░░░░░░░░░░█If not, he will use the Legendary Artifact's power. On you.
█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█
█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█
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Polandball Jun 29 @ 2:27am

[jamesianfarber]

sans