The Conductor is a new boss added in the Amplified DLC. She is fought in Zone 5 as the final boss when playing as Nocturna, after Frankensteinway is defeated.
Overview[]
The Conductor has two phases.
First Phase[]
The first phase starts with 4 random enemies already in the room. The Conductor will summon 2 enemies every 16 beats. In the four corners of the room are four instruments connected to electric lines. The player must walk along the lines to the instruments to disable their shields and destroy them. Attacking an instrument while its shield is still up does not affect it, but does not result in a missed beat either. Destroying an instrument does not require the weapon to have a strength above 0 will increase the difficulty of the enemies spawned by the Conductor. (For instance, the Conductor will start spawning enemies normally found in Zone 2 after one instrument has been destroyed, while destroying a second instrument will cause her to begin spawning Zone 3 enemies.) Destroying an instrument also spawns three enemies and a miniboss:
- Keyboard to the northwest: Ogre
- Electric guitar to the northeast: Blood Nightmare
- Cello to the southwest: Red Dragon
- Drums to the southeast: The Mommy
The phase ends when all four instruments are destroyed.
Second Phase[]
The second phase starts as the last remaining instrument is destroyed, spawning a miniboss. The Conductor moves around the top of the arena, but remains invulnerable to attack. Attacking her directly does not result in a missed beat.
Five batteries are placed in the room with 5-tiles long wires extending downwards. In order to drain and destroy the batteries, the player must attack summoned monsters while standing on the wires, using the electricity. Each battery starts with eight units of charge, and arcing electricity by attacking a monster drains 1 unit. When a battery is hit by a bomb or grenade, it loses 2 units. A water ball turning one of the wire tiles into water drains all of that battery's charge. When all the batteries are destroyed, the Conductor is defeated.
The Conductor's second phase follows a repeating pattern of 16 beats:
- On the 8th beat, the Conductor spawns 4 or 5 random enemies.
- During the 9~12 beats, she moves between batteries.
- She starts to activate one or two chosen batteries on the 13th beat. Attacks corresponding to the selected batteries then happen on the 16th beat.
- Leftmost battery: Set off the four fire traps facing each other on the east and west walls. This is telegraphed for 3 beats before the attack.
- Second battery: Place a bomb on the same tile as the player. The bomb can damage the batteries.
- Middle battery: Send a shock along the length of each remaining wire simultaneously. This is also telegraphed for 3 beats before the attack, and can hit monsters as well as players.
- Fourth battery: Summon a miniboss. The type of miniboss changes depending on the number of batteries left.
- Rightmost battery: Cast a Pulse attack from each remaining battery.
Strategy[]
- Water balls can appear among the summoned minions. If one creates a puddle on a wire, the wire along with its connected battery is instantly destroyed.
- The sheer amount of enemies make the ring of courage and/or the cutlass (for its parry) useful. The flail can also work in a pinch because of its knockback. Other ways to clear the area around the player, such as the blast helm, are also recommended.
- If using the cutlass, it should be kept in mind that only targeted attacks are parried. The red dragon's fireball, being pushed into an obstacle by a shove monster, and the conductor's attacks in the second phase can still damage the player. The ring of courage protects against all damage, but since it only works after a kill, this is best used with damage boosting items, and the player must be careful about blademasters and other enemies that don't die in a single hit.
- The Conductor herself can conduct electricity between the batteries; if she is currently activating two of them for an attack by touching both, any electricity drained from one battery will arc through the Conductor and through both batteries, and drain both.
Trivia[]
- The Conductor's name is a play on the word "conductor", which is a homonym referring to an electricity-conducting material or a person who directs a musical performance.
- Dealing arc damage using the golden lute does not result in a unit being drained from the battery.
- This is the only boss possible to beat as solo Dove.