Ancient Warrior

Location

Ancient Warrior is located at the top of the Pillars location.

Its arena consists of a large rectangular room with four pinwheels, two aligned vertically on each side, and three platforms.

The outer platforms are larger than the middle, at a ratio of 3 to 2. These platforms are at a height where they can only be reached from the ground via a double jump into a spin attack, or by pogoing Ancient Warrior. They are one dodge of distance apart, so a dodge at the edge of one will have you land on the next.

In phase 2, the ground is set on fire, dealing damage to the player should they land on it.

Abilities

Ancient Warrior has two attacks in its first phase.

Fire Breath: Fires three sets of flame balls. These sets target the location the player is at at the moment of attack.

• The fastest set has three balls, one directly towards the target and two at 45 degree angles in either direction.
• The next set is also three balls, one directly towards the target and two more a slight angle away in either direction.
• The slowest moving set forms a pyramid-like structure of five balls, moving in parallel toward the target but offset backward at the edges. The back two of these balls will, if they hit the floor, move across it until they hit the wall.
• This attack is performed twice per charge period, and three times in phase 2
• The flame balls be destroyed, except by hitting a wall.
• This attack can be launched when the Ancient Warrior is in a wall. When this happens, all flame balls are instantly destroyed.

Energy Ball: Fires a single large energy ball toward the player. This ball has seeking properties. The "core" of the energy ball moves toward the player, emitting energy around it. This core moves faster in phase 2.

• Like the flame balls, the energy ball cannot be destroyed with the player's sword. However, if the core contacts the player, even if the player is invincible (via Homing Dash, Roll, or i-frames from taking damage), the core and energy field will disappear.

In its second phase, Ancient Warrior gets a third attack

Energized Scales: Ancient Warrior charges energy along its body, then rushes the player for about six seconds. During this time, its movement speed is increased.

Strategy

It's critical to get good at either Homing-Dashing or rolling through the energy ball attack, especially in the second phase when it's much faster and harder to avoid.

The more space you have from the flame balls, the easier they are to avoid as they spread out. Note that the first set's 45 degree balls move at such a speed that they will hit you directly if you move only laterally in one direction. Don't hold in one direction, either stop moving for a second or dodge through them to avoid damage.

The first set of flame balls is much easier to avoid when the attack is aimed at a wall. The player can either fall to get outside the arc of travel, or use the pinwheels to rise. Pausing is still recommended, to prevent pinwheeling directly into one.

During Ancient Warrior's second phase, the second swing of the player's horizontal strike becomes more dangerous to use, as the knockback can easily push the player off their platform. Similarly, using one's double jump too early can leave the player bereft of mobility to return to a platform. Careful positioning will prevent needless damage from the fiery floor.