I'm currently playing through this mod as sekiro itself is a little too easy after 120 hours of gameplay. All the other bosses I've tested so far (Gyoubu, Butterfly, Genichiro, Owl, Sword Saint Isshin) are perfectly fine, feel much harder and more rewarding to play, are engaging and challenging, and make the game more enjoyable.
Guardian Ape, so far, is the exact opposite of that. He one-shots you even through Ungo's Sugar, his attack patterns are too all-in and there's very few openings except for his vanilla auto-stun, and he has this insanely annoying jump-grab attack that is IMPOSSIBLE to dodge given the current way he executes the attack through your mod.
This boss is clearly unpolished and underdeveloped and needs some serious attention and care to bring it up to the standard that you've set with the other bosses. I eagerly await your fixes and proposed solutions to these problems, as spamming fireworks and left-clicking (The best way to cheese him vanilla) doesn't work either, deflecting barely functions and is punished, and dodge rolling obviously doesn't work against the boss.
I don't remember him doing a lot of damage. I did not shift any damage values. The jump grab is dodged by either instantly running backwards or simply running to the left. It can also be blocked by the umbrella. Deflecting is much more encouraged, which is an odd shift I must admit. Deflecting the ape shouldn't be any more different than any other circumstance.
TLDR: I think the ape just needs only a few touch-ups. The damage shouldn't be an issue, as I haven't changed it. I'll look to see if there are any bugs with the damage scaling. I do agree that he has too few of openings, I struggle with that sometimes.
Personally I liked the guardian ape in this mod. I'm used to deflecting strats in first phase, it's an underappreciated fight in base game because people either just run around and poke him to death, abuse prosthetics to basically skip the phase, or abuse the hitstun loop.
That's not to say the mod's version didn't throw me for a loop either (ps, I played in hardmode for the entire playthrough). As for the grab attack you're talking about, simply run at and around him. He will also only do the move under certain conditions so you can know ahead of time when he will do it to begin with (but you can play reactively and easily make it in time as well).
Deflecting does function and doesn't get punished if you actually do it properly, and it's a good thing the cheeses were fixed lol. Fire is still good IIRC, just make sure you use it when you have an actual opening.
Hi! I agree that the guardian ape is much more difficult now. I'm aware that the damage isn't increased but thats not the point. It's just his speed rate. He's FAST! Much more faster that before and this makes the oberture of his guard smaller. No complaints on that. (Even so you could consider adding some self-harmful attack for him, if it's possible, like the Burning Bull. Like when he runs crashing into the wall and get exhaused for some seconds. I undestand that this could make the fight easier anyway anb maybe it's no interesting. Just my opinion here).
My strategy to beat this Guardian Ape: 1- Avoid it until he finishes a combo (the one that stays with the back on the ground, or the other when throws you his toxic poo), then use the Firecracker and attack. 2.- Run again and wait at least for 20 SECONDS. And repeat nº 1 until you get the 50% of his health. 3.- After this i've noticed that you must wait at least 30 SECONDS before using the firecracker, beause if you use it before 30 secs, the Ape will pretend he's scared and then he will 'Surprise(maddafackah)' You with a grab attack [very good on this one, you got me on that lol]. 4.- In phase 2 is the same as vanilla. Deflect, jump, use spear, attack and avoid screams.
I'd like to update you on my progress on the mod so far.
I've completed every boss in the game with the mod installed, minus Sword Saint and Owl Father, and I've been able to return to Guardian Ape and defeat him, learning how to dodge the attacks. To specifically recap:
I had the problem that his grab attack in a flurry pattern you added was undodgeable. This is false, I was able to learn that step-dodging to the side, which has both made me as a player better, and allowed me to understand how to play the modded version of this fight and beat it.
The second issue I had was that he had too much of an ability to spam me with attacks that I couldn't keep up with. My resolve to this was to start using the Flame vent, as I found the damage, mini-stun and posture-lock was incredibly useful at melting him.
The second phase is not changed much at all, and I first-tried it without noticing many changes. It seems like the second phase needs some extra attention, but seems fine regardless.
TL;DR: I discovered how to play around the issue I had, and was able to beat the boss. It felt fair, and I retract my earlier statement of the boss not being well balanced. I also apologise for not responding sooner: Nexus does not give me responses to my forums posts.
I'm glad you beat it! I addressed your comment to a feedback group previously and we ruled out that the Ape did not have enough openings. So I will be adjusting him in the next patch.
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Unbalanced Guardian Ape (6 comments)
Guardian Ape, so far, is the exact opposite of that. He one-shots you even through Ungo's Sugar, his attack patterns are too all-in and there's very few openings except for his vanilla auto-stun, and he has this insanely annoying jump-grab attack that is IMPOSSIBLE to dodge given the current way he executes the attack through your mod.
This boss is clearly unpolished and underdeveloped and needs some serious attention and care to bring it up to the standard that you've set with the other bosses. I eagerly await your fixes and proposed solutions to these problems, as spamming fireworks and left-clicking (The best way to cheese him vanilla) doesn't work either, deflecting barely functions and is punished, and dodge rolling obviously doesn't work against the boss.
TLDR: I think the ape just needs only a few touch-ups. The damage shouldn't be an issue, as I haven't changed it. I'll look to see if there are any bugs with the damage scaling. I do agree that he has too few of openings, I struggle with that sometimes.
That's not to say the mod's version didn't throw me for a loop either (ps, I played in hardmode for the entire playthrough). As for the grab attack you're talking about, simply run at and around him. He will also only do the move under certain conditions so you can know ahead of time when he will do it to begin with (but you can play reactively and easily make it in time as well).
Deflecting does function and doesn't get punished if you actually do it properly, and it's a good thing the cheeses were fixed lol. Fire is still good IIRC, just make sure you use it when you have an actual opening.
No complaints on that.
(Even so you could consider adding some self-harmful attack for him, if it's possible, like the Burning Bull. Like when he runs crashing into the wall and get exhaused for some seconds. I undestand that this could make the fight easier anyway anb maybe it's no interesting. Just my opinion here).
My strategy to beat this Guardian Ape:
1- Avoid it until he finishes a combo (the one that stays with the back on the ground, or the other when throws you his toxic poo), then use the Firecracker and attack.
2.- Run again and wait at least for 20 SECONDS. And repeat nº 1 until you get the 50% of his health.
3.- After this i've noticed that you must wait at least 30 SECONDS before using the firecracker, beause if you use it before 30 secs, the Ape will pretend he's scared and then he will 'Surprise(maddafackah)' You with a grab attack [very good on this one, you got me on that lol].
4.- In phase 2 is the same as vanilla. Deflect, jump, use spear, attack and avoid screams.
I'd like to update you on my progress on the mod so far.
I've completed every boss in the game with the mod installed, minus Sword Saint and Owl Father, and I've been able to return to Guardian Ape and defeat him, learning how to dodge the attacks. To specifically recap:
I had the problem that his grab attack in a flurry pattern you added was undodgeable. This is false, I was able to learn that step-dodging to the side, which has both made me as a player better, and allowed me to understand how to play the modded version of this fight and beat it.
The second issue I had was that he had too much of an ability to spam me with attacks that I couldn't keep up with. My resolve to this was to start using the Flame vent, as I found the damage, mini-stun and posture-lock was incredibly useful at melting him.
The second phase is not changed much at all, and I first-tried it without noticing many changes. It seems like the second phase needs some extra attention, but seems fine regardless.
TL;DR: I discovered how to play around the issue I had, and was able to beat the boss. It felt fair, and I retract my earlier statement of the boss not being well balanced.
I also apologise for not responding sooner: Nexus does not give me responses to my forums posts.