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Lord Frakkus | ||
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| Hit Points: 24 | ||
| Method of attack: Ranged, Minions, Swooping, Full Screen | ||
| First Seen: Undead Temple |
Lord Frakkus is the boss of the Undead Level; encountered at the end of the Undead Temple. Physically, Frakkus resembles a lich: Ghastly, spectral and filled with powerful magic. His body appears to be solely comprised of a skeletal upper torso, draped in a deep purple robe that covers all of his features save for his arms and head. His head is encased in a Barbut-style helm, crowned with three large spikes, and blood runs from where his eyes should be. Further emphasising Frakkus' spectral nature is that of his death: He will explode in a cloud of Boo Barrys upon being defeated.
Attacks[]
Spectral Orbs[]
1 Hit Point of damage
The spectral orbs that Frakkus attacks the player with are his first and foremost attack. To initiate the attack, Frakkus will elevate itself towards the top of the arena, on the side that he is currently on, and will cup his hands together to begin the attack. Following this, Frakkus will fire three large, green round orbs of energy (with more energy trailing behind). The order and distance of the orbs is always constant, he will, in rapid succession:
- Fire his first orb below him, slightly in front of him, approximately just past the foot of the stairs that are closest to him
- Fire his second orb below him at an angle, this time at the foot of the opposite stairs; and finally
- Fire his third orb below him at an angle, directly in front of the opposite door to which he is positioned (i.e. if he is on the right he will fire this orb at the left door)
The orbs can be dodged by jumping over them, or rolling directly underneath him before he initiates the attack. While this can position the player well to attack him, it leaves them completely open to his next attack, initiated directly after the last orb has left the screen. Therefore, the safest, best tactic to both protect Volgarr and attack him is to, while at the opposite end of the arena to Frakkus, place two spears into the wall at standing height and double jump height, then use the highest spear as a perch to fire spears from (see the Strategy section for further details).
Swooping[]
1 Hit Point of damage
Lord Frakkus' second form of attack is to swoop down upon the bottom half of the arena, and cannot be avoided by the player if they are anywhere on the ground of his arena. To avoid this attack, the player must at least be perched on a spear that is lodged within the wall. They can then avoid the attack by double jumping over Frakkus as he passes by them. After first travelling off-screen, Lord Frakkus will swoop two more times across the screen, each time travelling from the direction he last left the screen to the opposite - For example, if he travelled off-screen on the left side, he will swoop again left-to-right, then right-to-left.
Frakkus' first swoop will not be open to attack, save for a perfectly positioned downwards thrust while jumping over him (followed by a double-jump to avoid any damage). Following this, the player can consistently damage him during his following two swooping attacks by crouching in the arena's centre (underneath the throne in the background), waiting for him to fly past and striking at the right moment (this is just as the bottom of his robe passes Volgarr's upheld sword).
Summoning Minions[]
1 Hit Point of damage per minion collision
The final 'attack' of Lord Frakkus occurs following his very first set of the aforementioned attacks - That is to summon either a Fleshwound (in his first two-to-three attack patterns) or a Mc Stabby (in his following attack patterns). These minions will travel towards Volgarr, increasing the difficulty with which the player will be able to avoid Frakkus' attacks. Lord Frakkus will always summon his minions in the centre of the arena. The player will be relatively 'safe' from the minions for the most part; as they will be able to double jump his swooping attack and then deal with the minion (whom of which should now be on the side of the arena they had just left).
The true danger of the minions is if they do not 'trigger' and proceed to stand in the centre of the arena, making the process of avoiding Frakkus' swooping attack without taking damage near impossible. As such, the player should stay on the ground briefly to wait for the minion to be summoned (they can still place their spears to be ready for the rest of the battle); then only climb the spears once it is walking towards them. If they happen to already be at the top of the spears and them minion is standing still, they simply and swiftly need to drop down to the ground then climb back up to trigger them.
Strategy[]
With Tyr's Villieldr[]
Ideal spear placement when fighting Frakkus
If the player has Tyr's Flame equipped, they will be able to finish off Lord Frakkus likely before he can summon his first minion. To start with, as soon as the door to the arena closes turn around and plant two spears in the wall: One at standing height and another at the height of a double jump (try to get the spear as high as possible, this is important). Climb up onto the highest spear and charge your spear throw: One is good but you should be able to hit him with two fully charged spears. Wait for Lord Frakkus to swoop down and jump over him, holding down to thrust and then double jumping immediately out of harm's way (If you do not wish to attempt a downwards thrust, simply double jump immediately to clear any part of his hitbox).
Once you have landed, stay dead centre in the middle of the arena, crouch down and wait to swing at him as he swoops past you. After swooping from one side of the arena to the other twice, he will appear on the opposite side to which he started on (If the player enters the fight from the main game levels, he will start on the right). Lord Frakkus will then summon a Fleshwound, before or during this sequence, place two spears into the opposite wall as before, climb upto the top and charge up your first spear.
Pay attention to whether or not Frakkus summons the minion in the arena's centre, or on his side. If it is in the centre, you should be safe after climbing over Lord Frakkus. If it is on his side, jump over him then double jump straight up to land safely away from it, then close in to kill it quickly so you can be positioned in the centre. Once in the centre, wait for Frakkus to swoop and attack him both times.
After throwing a second spear, and hitting him twice while he swoops (in addition to dispatching the Fleshwound if necessary) for the second time, he should fall quite quickly. If he does not fall within two rotations of his attack pattern (Orbs - Swoop - Swoop - Summon); the player should repeat this strategy as many times as necessary. Either way, with a full complement of equipment this fight will not take long.
With Baldur's Protection[]
Baldur's Protection is not as useful in this fight, due to a lack of opportunities at sword strikes, however it is assumed that if the player has Baldur's Protection that they are still in possession of the Hammer Shield, an integral item to more easily defeating Frakkus. As such, the strategy here is identical to the above strategy, however the player will require a minimum of three attack pattern rotations to kill him.
Without Upgrades[]
Volgarr, evading and attacking at the same time
Even more so than previous bosses, if the player does not have the Hammer Shield, at the very least, it is advised to reattempt the previous section while keeping possession of the Hammer Shield for this fight. That being said, Frakkus is not impossible to defeat without upgrades, but is still highly difficult. Similar to aforementioned strategies the player should begin by planting a spear at standing height and at the height of a double jump as soon as they enter Frakkus' arena.
Following this, instead of attempting a spear throw (which will not reach from where Volgarr is standing without a forward jump); wait for Frakkus to finish his attack pattern of spectral orbs before leaping over him, hold down for the first portion of the jump to attempt a downwards thrust and always double jump right before you hit him to ensure that even if you miss the thrust, you will not die. Wait in the centre as with previous strategies and swing at him while crouching as he passes by.
You will have to repeat this strategy for eight-to-twelve rounds, including facing all of his summoned minions. Do not attempt to throw a spear at him if he summons his minions, instead try to stay as close to the arena's opposite wall as possible to ensure that they will not trigger. If the summoned enemy does trigger, it is likely you will die upon leaping over Frakkus as they will stop in the centre of the arena.
Appearances[]
As with previous bosses, Frakkus will not reappear after being defeated at the end of the Undead Temple.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Lord Frakkus' helm is the totem used by Volgarr to break his portion of the protective spell on Fafnir's Tower
- Lord Frakkus may also be able to summon a Sergeant Crunch if the player takes too long to defeat him
- Lord Frakkus is one of few enemies that cannot be easily countered with Volgarr's sword
- Lord Frakkus is the second of two bosses that summon minions during their fight, the first of which is Lord Gyrgok