For the weapon, see Weapons.
The Golden Lute is the boss at the end of Aria's Zone 1. Its head and body move erratically, with two Sarcophagi at the top, and the walls are lined with Roofpigs.
The Golden Lute begins with ten hearts and two randomly spawned minions from the sarcophagi. Throughout the fight, the gargoyles will spit fire either 1 row at a time every 8th beat (starting from the bottom and working toward the top, then repeating from the bottom), or in a wave starting from the top once per beat (this happens every third time you damage the Lute). The fireballs damage minions, but not the Lute. There are two bounce traps to help aid in defeating both the confused head and the skeleton knights.
The Lute's weak point is its head, which normally moves 1 square in an orthogonal direction every 2 beats (but restricted to a 2x3 rectangle top centered where the base of its neck is, pictured two squares above Aria). Attacking the head will damage it (to a maximum of two hearts, even if Aria's attack power is much higher) and cause it to be "confused" for 12 beats, during which the head will move on each beat. Attacking the head while it is confused will deal at least 3 hearts of damage; after 12 beats pass or the head is attacked, it will cease to be confused and cause one of three effects, cycling in a set order:
- Inflicting the player with confusion
- Summoning dragons (first a green and a red, then a red and a blue)
- A statue fireball barrage
Being lateral to the head may cause the Lute to charge and shoot a fireball, if the head is in the lower row of its restricted rectangle such that its neck is elongated. Bombs deal 0 damage.
Attacking the body will not result in a missed beat death. The body is a 2x3 rectangle, with the bottom center being located at the base of the neck. Every eight beats, the body will shake, and 1 beat later the whole body will move in an orthogonal direction. This will destroy monsters and damage players in its way. .
If the player reaches the Golden Lute with Winged Boots or Lead Boots, a pair of Explorer's Boots will spawn in the pre-boss hallway. If the player has Heavy Glass Armor equipped, Glass Armor will spawn in the hallway. This is because conventional fight strategies require the player to use the bounce traps in place of dig buffering, but this is not possible if the player is immune to bounce traps. However, using the bounce traps is not required if the player opts for the riskier strategy of deliberately attacking the body of the Lute for 0 damage in order to buffer.
The golden lute (boss) is immune to damage from the Golden Lute (Weapon)
Strategy[]
The fastest way to defeat the Lute is to attack the head once, quickly hit the body (to become "synchronized" to the head's movements, akin to defeating red bats), hit the head again for increased damage, and repeat. If maneuvering to hit the body safely is difficult, using minions or the bounce traps to become synchronized will work. If keeping track of things is difficult, removing the sarcophagi can help. If maneuvering while confused is difficult, hitting the head for one damage and retreating to a safe spot may help. Headless yellow skeletons can pose a hazard if they bounce back and forth between the bounce traps.
Another good strategy is to bring both the Temporary Shield spell and scroll to the fight. When close to the Lute's head, the player may cast either, spend the next 8 turns hitting the boss, cast the other spell, and finish the boss.
The Golden Lute can be defeated within 20 seconds if the player rushes it down to the back of the room, ignores all other enemies, and no skeleton knights spawn.