Neverending Boss Battle - the Guide

    Welcome to the world of the Neverending Boss Battle, the newest game to hit the Neopian game room, that has players locked in a life or death struggle against the fiendish Dr. Sloth himself! So strap yourself into your cockpit of your favorite fighter spaceship, make sure there’s enough gas in the tank for this one last mission… to save Neopia and of its inhabitants!

    This guide will give players a basic overview of the game itself, and end with various strategies from readers just like you. Sit back, and enjoy.

    Overview

    The game has you pitted against none other than Dr. Sloth himself! With you as the only thing standing between this evil maniac and Neopian domination; you’ll have to try your best to not let the pressure affect how you play.

    Sloth’s ship has a variety of attacks at his disposal, and he’ll make sure to keep you on your toes every moment of the battle. While when used together, Sloth can create situations that will make even the most experienced of pilots nervous, learning to dodge them one at a time can save your shields, and your life.

    Sloth Attacks!

    Here is a list of the various attacks that Sloth will use to try and end your standoff. Being able to notice their tale-tell signs is only half the battle.

    Blue Sphere Blasts - Simple balls of energy that will travel in one direction and take off 20% of your shields.

    Homing Missiles - Dangerous to those not paying attention. These missiles will follow your spacecraft for approximately five seconds after they are deployed.

    Double Lasers - Fired in front of Sloth’s ship, these lasers come in pairs and are quite easy to dodge by themselves.

    Forward Laser Cannon - Very dangerous and very lethal. This laser cannon takes about seven seconds to power up, but once it does, you better get out of the way! This laser will destroy your spacecraft on contact.

    Top Laser Cannon - This cannon will spin at random, attempting to target your spacecraft. The cannon takes about five seconds to power up fully, and will cause a large straight beam to be fired.

    Powerups!

    Powerups are items that will appear at random throughout the game. These items are almost always helpful, and will aid you in your standoff with Dr. Sloth. Sadly, powerups only last for a limited amount of time.

    Shield - Very useful in the middle of a firefight. Shields will protect you from all of Sloth’s attacks, including the forward laser cannon.

    Fast Bullet Rate - This will increase the speed at which your ship will fire. This is very helpful in racking up large amounts of points in a short amount of time.

    Special Rebounding Bullets - This special item will cause your bullets to bounce off the edge of the screen and back towards the middle. Bullets will normally bounce twice, before sailing off the screen.

    Speed Boost - This will increase the flying speed of your ship a great deal, allowing you to avoid attacks with a much greater chance of survival.

    Warp - This powerup will activate itself whenever you are hit by one of Sloth’s attacks. It will not be used if you happen to crash your ship into the side of Sloth’s monstrous hull.

    Split Fire - Very useful for racking up fast points as well. For the brave of us, with this powerup in hand, you might want to near the spacecraft and open fire until the powerup runs out, or until you find yourself in danger.

    Strategies!

    Here are a list of various strategies submitted by readers of the Neopian Times.

action_jackson3000 - I always shoot while strafing left and right to avoid Sloth's blasters and missiles. I find hitting his ship from behind is always fun and harder for him to hit you. Of course he rotates and sends out homing missiles, but running away and strafing at the same time can usually lead to avoid them since they have a limited life span.

robbob05 - I like stationing myself in one of the corners and just fire away. The corners are the farthest points away from Sloth's ship, which makes it fairly easy to evade its attacks. Then, when his ship begins to face my direction, I flee to another corner (behind him, of course).

I've only found three really useful powerups: the Shield, Special Rebounding Bullets, and the Warp. I like the Shield for obvious reasons, as it protects you from taking any damage. The Warp has a similar effect, but adds the concept of teleporting you to another place on the field when hit. The Special Bullets (my personal favorite) allows your shots to ricochet off the boarders of the game, which can let you hit Sloth without directly facing him. This makes it much easier to dodge his hits while hitting him in return.

jeffc_7227 - I find continually flying behind Sloth’s ship to work the best. While continuing to position myself just behind his engines, you’re stationed just out of range of almost every single one of his known attack patterns. When the Homing Missiles come your way, just put your ship in reverse and hope for the best.

    Conclusion!

In all, the game provides a great time for players who have always wanted to go toe to toe with the great evil doctor himself. While the battle itself is futile, the time spent fending off the ominous ship is great, and the Neopoints awarded afterwards doesn’t hurt.

I find the game to be well worth the wait for those looking to pilot a spacecraft AND attempt to save Neopia from Sloth’s attacks.