Boss Battles of NQ3

5: Tsi-Do

Introduction:

You meet Tsi-Do in the Shenkuu stage of the game. He looks strikingly similar to Ramtor, but I'll leave that to the conspiracy theorists. (Crazy conspiracy theorists. They think that Garvill McGill pulled the strings on Krawk Island's disappearance. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is. Everyone knows that it was Fyora and her secret team of Dark Faeries that sunk Krawk Island.) Tsi-Do isn't a difficult boss per se, but he is early on in the game, so you'll have to be careful with where you spend your gold.

Tsi-Do is an optional boss, but I'd recommend fighting him. He offers good experience, and he blocks the path to Kotai Village, which has some useful equipment, notably the Katana. You can get the Katana close to the end of the Shenkuu stage, but it's quickly replaced at the beginning of the next stage, so it's better to get it here, where it's useful.

Preparation:

Ideally, you'll have acquired at least ten Drowsiness Potions, as well as ten Awakeness Potions. Tsi-Do is fast, so you'll want to slow him down and speed yourself up. Also, abandon plate armour in favor of your old leather armour. Tsi-Do is fast, but he doesn't deal a whole lot of damage. Plate armour slows you down, so you'll want to get rid of it to keep up with the boss. I'd advise having the Iron Broadsword, which packs quite a punch. No particular skills are needed for this battle, but I'd advise being level 16, and having Damage up to at least 6. A couple of points in Ice Strike wouldn't be amiss, but that skill is basically useless later on, so that's up to you.

Battle:

Tsi-Do is silent as you approach. And then, out of the blue, he attacks!

When I first entered this battle, I noticed something odd. Tsi-Do had the first move. I'd never seen anything like that before. I was about halfway through the battle when I decided to retreat and try again. More often than not, Tsi-Do had the first move. So don't count on being able to spend a turn getting your defenses in place. On your first turn hit him with a Drowsiness Potion. If you're lucky, you'll get a consecutive turn, and you'll be able to consume an Awakeness Potion as well. You should be moving about as fast as Tsi-Do now, but that's not enough. Tsi-Do has Stunning Strikes, which still get him some consecutive turns. He also has Magic Shields, which is why I suggested using the Iron Broadsword. After he's slowed and you're hasted, just swing away. But don't be stingy with the healing potions. All it takes is for Tsi-Do to get three strikes in a row, and you're down pretty bad (note that in NQIII, your health saturation actually affects your fighting ability).

4: Barrius

Introduction:

Barrius is pretty well the first major boss you meet. He's a palace guard that you have to get past to move on to the rest of the stage (I find it amusing that you actually start inside the palace, and fight him to get out.) Barrius, like Tsi-Do, is not difficult in his own right, but at this point in the game, you have only a wooden shield for armour, and a shortsword and magic stick for a weapon. I'd advise against using the magic stick, since any magical abilities you'll have access to at this point will be next to useless. Barrius is more or less the Zombom of Neoquest III.

Preperation:

Have your iron shortsword equipped. You'll want a full stack of lesser healing potions on hand, as well as a full stack of lesser damage potions. There's not a whole lot you can do to prepare. I'd recommend fighting him at level 6. Make sure you fight at full health, because Barrius can really give you a beating.

Battle

The most important thing in this battle is to keep healing. Barrius hits hard (at least, compared to your progress in the game), and you don't want to be caught off guard. The toughest part of this battle is that he can cast a wind spell, which lowers your strength by 32% (you should be dealing around 25 hp per hit, so this brings you down to 17 hp per hit.) Lesser damage potions are unaffected by this, thankfully, so while his wind spell is in effect, you can use them to deal a consistent 25 hp. But make sure to pay attention to your status. Don't use any more lesser damage potions than you need, because you won't be able to get more after this, and they dispose of Plains Lupes in the Tyrannia stage quite easily.

3: Thug Brute

Introduction:

Thug Brute is probably the physically strongest boss you'll meet. With the steel chain armour (defense 32) and the full gold shield (defense 16), he deals about 70 hp per turn. Unarmoured, that comes out at about 267 hp unarmoured (by comparison, Barrius deals 37 hp unarmoured, and the final boss deals 342, which is more, but you will have better equipment by then). By the time you fight him, that could kill you in two hits. Thank Fyora for armour!

Preparation:

As stated above, you should have the steel chain armour and the full gold shield for defense (though if you get something better from a previous boss, that wouldn't go amiss). Hopefully, you'll have gotten the poisoned dagger, since poison is unaffected by physical armour, and Thug Brute has no magical resistance whatsoever. If you don't have the poisoned dagger, a regular sword will do just fine. For a wand, I'd recommend using the Wand of Thaddeus from the previous stage. For magic, you should have access to regeneration level 6 (it's only 8-12 extra hp, but at level 6, you get it just about every third turn). Also, you might want to have wind block level 3, which lowers his strength by 8%. It brings his average hit to about 64. Fire strike would not go amiss, as it will definitely get through Thug Brute's armour.

Battle:

Once you get into the battle, cast wind block. He'll hit you. Drink a haste potion. He'll hit you. You'd want to heal here, but regeneration should hopefully grant you a third turn, during which you slow him. Then on your fourth turn (being granted directly after the third thanks to the slowing potion) swing away. He'll hit you. You should probably heal on the fifth turn. After that, just hit him back. If you have high level damage spells or potions, use those. If not, a regular sword will do just fine. Haste yourself and slow him at your leisure. In this battle, the first three moves are the decisive ones. If you get those, the battle's not difficult, just long.

NOTE: After proofreading this for me, my friend pointed out that you can use a bow on Thug Brute, which is faster. I reminded him that bows do less damage, and an arrow is about as effective as a wet clump of paper on someone as tough as Thug Brute. Then he reminded me that by this point, you have poison arrows. You can use those if you'd like, but I'd prefer the strategy I put down.

2: Uggessa

Introduction:

The main thing I didn't like about Neoquests I and II was their linearity. NQII is the worst offender. It had maybe three optional bosses, and that was it. In NQIII, however, this is fixed. There are now more side branches and alternate routes. I particularly liked the Tyrannian stage, because it offers a bunch of different routes, the number of which I don't particularly feel like calculating. My favorite route of the ones I played through was the cave route. Basically, stay mainly in caves, with a little interjection into a volcano. The volcano you can bypass, but if you don't, you get into the locked area from the Moltara stage. (It's absolutely useless, but I find it amusing for some reason.) I like the cave route, because it has a low population density of monsters, but the monsters you meet are stronger. So you get the same amount of training, without the constant battles every five feet (I'm looking at you, NQII). Uggessa is a... something with wings, and is the first boss you meet on my cave route.

Preperation:

Uggessa is on this list because she has two abilities, both of them passive, that can kill you if you're unprepared. Poison and dodge. She (I'm just guessing it's a she, because it has eggs and its name ends is 'a') doesn't hit hard, but is hard to hit, and while she's not being hit, the poison can peck away at your health. It's a good idea to have dodge at level 10. She poisons you about one tenth of the time, and you dodge about one tenth of the time. You've got a 1% chance of avoiding her poison blow. That doesn't seem very impressive, but if you can dodge any of her attacks, it'll slow down the poison's effect. Your health affects your battle performance now, remember?

Having a bow equipped helps, since a bow is fast. The more hits you get in, the fewer your opponent does. Also, it has been speculated (but not confirmed) that a bow is harder to dodge. I used the maple longbow, since it is very accurate. You can use poison arrows if you want, but the poison effect is so small, I'll leave that choice up to you. Go for lightweight armour to move faster, and if you have it, a high level of regeneration (11 or 12) will be good to help counteract the poison. I recommend level 35 for fighting Uggessa.

Battle:

Start by hasting yourself. Don't bother with slowing her, since there's a good chance it won't work. Then, rapid fire with your bow. Throw in whatever magic you can, since that's more likely to hit. If you're poisoned, don't panic, but keep a close eye on your health. You're probably going to go through a lot of health potions on this battle, so make sure to keep stocked. I died the first time I fought Uggessa, because I underestimated her poison, which seems to stack exponentially.

1: Lord Faeriegan

Introduction:

I have to say, TNT did really well with NQIII. It has an interesting but straightforward story, a branching game-play, and a complicated combat system with a simple interface. Lord Faeriegan is the final achievement of TNT during this game. For one thing, he's the final boss. For another, you can really tell that TNT went all out on him. He's got really nice artwork, and actually two or three extra poses that the other characters don't have. And he's not nearly as big as Terask II, so you won't be scrolling down as much (I liked Terask II, but I didn't like that you could never see his whole body). But I'm not here to compliment TNT on the good work. I'm here to ease you through the boss fights. That said, I am writing this part first, so I won't get bored and slack off on the most important and difficult boss battle of the game.

Preparation:

You probably have a regular battle strategy by now. After all, there are a lot more than five boss battles. Well, forget everything, because Lord Faeriegan has a strategy of his own. Or rather, he develops one. Hopefully, you'll have the King of Swords, but if you don't, make sure to get the Sword of Kings. Also have the fastest bow you have equipped, and the most powerful wand. Use your best armour and make sure you're fully stocked on all the best potions.

For skills, have damage and protection maxed out, as well as speed. Also max out regeneration (or you could substitute healing), fire strike and shields. You need to outsmart Faeriegan, and this is a two part battle.

Battle:

Faeriegan's first strategy is to hit you physically, then magically, and alternate types of hits until he determines what hits do the most damage. This is why you need protection and shields. Once you get shields in place, swing your sword at him. You want to get as much damage at him as early on as possible. But right before you get him down to half health, don't do it, but instead lug a slowing potion at him. Then hit him down to half health. At this point, he'll be on the defensive. His new strategy is to determine what hits do the most damage to him. Alternate getting in single shots with your sword and getting loads of consecutive, but weaker shots with your bow. Keep your magic in reserve. After a while, he'll get his shields in place. Then, lug the magic at him. Spell him. Throw damage potions. Whatever you've got. He should fall pretty quickly, but if he heals himself, keep lugging the magic. Then he'll switch his shields, and go back to your sword. Rinse and repeat. After maybe three rounds of this, Faeriegan is taking less damage, but he has loads less health. At this point, finish him off the way you would any boss.

That's all, folks! I hope you enjoyed this guide to the five toughest boss battles in Neoquest III. Until next time, so long!