Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Guide by Ian Watkins (Nai255) Version 1.2: 03/10/2017 ! This guide is spoiler-free ! ---CONTENTS--- {0. Guide Information} [0a] - Version History / Credits [0b] - About This Guide [0c] - Legal Bits [0d] - Contact Info {1. Game Information} [1a] - Story [1b] - Controls [1c] - Status Display [1d] - Inventory Screen [1e] - Item Shop Price Guides [1f] - Dance Mode Reference Chart [1g] - Notes For Speedrunners [1h] - Hard Core Mode {2. Main Walkthrough} [2a] - Prologue [2b] - Main Street [2c] - After Main Street [2d] - Mermaid Falls [2e] - After Mermaid Falls [2f] - Tassel Town [2g] - After Tassel Town [2h] - Cape Crustacean [2i] - After Cape Crustacean [2j] - Hypno Baron's Castle [2k] - After Hypno Baron's Castle [2l] - Endgame [2m] - Risky's Hideout {3. Endings and Unlockables} [3a] - Hero Shantae Mode [3b] - Ending Pictures {4. Item Location List} [4a] - Scuttle Town Square Items [4b] - Main Street Items [4c] - Mermaid Falls Items [4d] - Tassel Town Items [4e] - Cape Crustacean Items [4f] - Hypno Baron's Castle Items {{{ 0. Guide Information }}} *** [0a] - Version History / Credits *** * Version 1.0 - 12/20/16 * Initial Release. * Version 1.1 - 01/07/17 * Added an Item Location list separate from the main walkthrough. Updated the Notes for Speedrunners to include par times and confirmation for when the in-game timer stops. Clarified directions for Mermaid Falls and it's Blobfish locations. Various other tweaks and typo fixes throughout. * Version 1.2 - 03/??/17 * Added information on Hard Core Mode. Fixed a typo relating to the location of Gallery Key #5 in Tassel Tower. Additions and corrections made to some Boss descriptions. Corrected some enemy names. Various other tweaks and fixes throughout. * Credits * Yomirua: for the correct time requirement for Ending Picture #4. *** [0b] - About This Guide *** This is a general walkthrough for "Shantae: Half-Genie Hero", the fourth installment in the Shantae series. Having followed Shantae since her humble beginnings on the Game Boy Color, I was naturally excited to hear about this new take on the series which came about as the result of WayForward's first ever Kickstarter. Funnily enough, I had wondered a mere day or two prior to their Kickstarter announcement if WayForward would in fact pursue this route for their next Shantae game. So yes, wishes DO come true. At least when Half-Genies are involved. Looking for a particular section? Open your browser's search function (Ctrl+F), then just type in the appropriate bracket code as shown in the Table of Contents. Example: for "[2f] - Tassel Town", type: [2f] *** [0c] - Legal Bits *** Shantae and all related elements (C) 2002-2017 Matt Bozon, WayForward. This guide (C) 2016-2017 Ian Watkins. If you wish to use this guide on your website, please contact me and request permission in advance. Hosting this guide without giving credit is a violation of copyright. Websites currently authorized to use this guide: * GameFAQs.com * Shantae.net * NeoSeeker.com * CheatCC.com *** [0d] - Contact Info *** Comments and suggestions are always welcome! E-Mail: DoomedQuaker (at) hotmail.com Steam: Nai255 {{{ 1. Game Information }}} *** [1a] - Story *** Long ago, a race of magical beings known as Genies once existed among humans. Some of these Genies fell in love and gave birth to Half-Genies. One such Half-Genie is Shantae. She is the guardian of a small fishing village known as Scuttle Town. Shantae has succeeded several times in protecting not only her town, but all of Sequin Land from the evildoings of Risky Boots, the nefarious lady pirate. Shantae has lived a comfortable life in Scuttle Town with her friends through the ups and downs of her adventures throughout the land. However, she never knew her Mother growing up. Shantae hopes to meet her Mother someday, even now in her dreams, as this latest adventure begins to unfold... *** [1b] - Controls *** (Default controls for XBOX / Windows Gamepad) Directional Pad or Left Stick: Moves Shantae. Press Left or Right to run, Up to enter doors and climb up chains, and Down to duck and climb down chains. While ducking, hold Left or Right to crawl. A Button: Jump. Hold A for a high jump, or tap A for a small jump. Press A while holding Down to drop through thin platforms. X Button: Attack with Shantae's hair whip. B Button: Talk to people and examine objects. Can also be used instead of RT to use your currently selected magic. Y Button: Enter Dance Mode. Press Y again to cancel. Press while transformed to return Shantae to her normal form. LB / RB: Switch between your available magic powers. LT: Backdash to avoid enemy attacks (once purchased). RT: Use your currently selected magic. Start: Pause the game, opening up the inventory screen. Also used to skip cutscenes and character dialog. *** [1c] - Status Display *** Track Shantae's status with the displays in the corners of your screen! * Life Hearts * The two hearts represent your life energy, which will decrease when you take damage. If your life runs out, the game is over, and you will have to continue from your last save. Life can be recovered by picking up hearts, using recovery items, or resting at the Bath House in town. Look for Heart Holders to extend your maximum life throughout the game. You can have a maximum of 14 life hearts. * Magic Meter * The green meter measures your magic, which fuels your magic attacks and some dances. The magic you currently have selected will appear in the circle just above the meter itself. Magic can be recovered by picking up green magic jars, using a Mega Potion, or resting at the Bath House in town. * Gems * The number in the upper-right corner shows how many gems you have, which are used to buy items. Big gems are worth 5. You can carry up to 999. *** [1d] - Inventory Screen *** Press Start during the game to access the Inventory screen. From here you can review all of the items and dances you've collected. You can also use Sky's Whistle and any consumable healing items here from the top-left menu. Different tiers of magic items and relics can also be toggled on or off from the lower-left menu. Key items will be displayed on the middle-right. The following items can be used to restore your life. You can carry up to 9 of each: Orange........restores 1 life heart Monster Egg...restores 2 life hearts Roast.........restores 6 life hearts Gator Steak...restores 8 life hearts Mega Potion...restores all life hearts and magic *** [1e] - Item Shop Price Guides *** * Scuttle Town Item Shop * * Mega Potion (25 gems, or 3 for 60 gems) Fully restores your life and magic when used. You can carry up to 9. * Fireball (25 gems) Shoot a fireball for attacking enemies from a distance. * Triple Fireball (75 gems. Requires Fireball) Tier 2 Fireball magic that shoots in a 3-way spread. * Flamethrower (350 gems. Requires Triple Fireball) Tier 3 fire magic that fries foes up close while the Magic button is held down. You will hover in place when this magic is used in midair. * Pike Ball (30 gems) Orbits around you while active, damaging any enemy it touches. * Super Pike Ball (100 gems. Requires Pike Ball) Tier 2 Pike Ball magic that has three balls spin around you at once. * Scimitar (300 gems. Requires Super Pike Ball) Tier 3 Pike Ball magic that surrounds you with five swift swords. * Storm Puff (40 gems) Summon a storm cloud sentry in front of you to strike enemies with lightning. Can be pushed sideways with your hair whip. Up to 3 can be placed at a time. * Mega Puff (125 gems. Requires Storm Puff) Tier 2 Storm Puffs that act like timed mines, exploding after being set. Can be pushed sideways with your hair whip before they explode. Up to 3 can be placed at a time. * Super Mega Puff (250 gems. Requires Mega Puff) Tier 3 lightning magic that channels a thunder beam which pierces enemies while the Magic button is held down, and can be steered with the Directional Pad or Left Stick while in use. You will hover in place when this magic is used in midair. * Bubble (50 gems) A magic barrier that protects you from most enemy projectiles while active. * Mirror (100 gems. Requires Bubble) Tier 2 Bubble magic that reflects enemy projectiles back at them. * Invincibility (300 gems. Requires Mirror) Tier 3 Bubble magic that prevents you from taking damage while active. Uses up magic very quickly. * Attract / Super Attract / Max Attract (75 gems each) Automatically draws nearby hearts and gems towards you. Each additional tier of Attract increases the range of this effect. * Backdash (30 gems) Grants the ability to backdash and avoid enemy attacks. * Metronome (50 gems) Increases the speed at which your dances are shuffled through in Dance Mode. * Magic Bracelet (200 gems) Reduces magic consumption by half. * Bikini Armor (200 gems) Reduces damage taken by half. * Silky Cream / Super Silky Cream / Mega Silky Cream (100, 200, 300 gems) Increase the speed of your hair whip attack. * Shampoo / Super Shampoo / Mega Shampoo (100, 200, 300 gems) Increase the damage of your hair whip attack. * Warp Dance (200 gems) A dance that lets you warp between areas of an already cleared world. * Snake Merchant * (Located in Mermaid Falls 2, Tassel Town 3, and Hypno Baron's Castle 2) * Mega Potion (25 gems, or 3 for 60 gems) * Warp Dance (200 gems) * Revive Dance (250 gems) A dance that uses magic to restore life. Requires a large amount of magic to activate. * Super Revive Dance (500 gems. Requires Revive Dance) Improved Revive Dance that uses magic to fully restore your life. Requires a large amount of magic to activate. * Obliterate (300 gems) A dance that uses magic to heavily damage all enemies onscreen. Requires a large amount of magic to activate. * Dryad Dance (100 gems) A dance that turns you into a Dryad which uses magic to create Oranges for restoring life when the Attack button is pressed. * Blobfish (traded for the Obliterate Dance, and vice-versa) A dance that turns you into a Blobfish, which simply bounces around. * GemJug (traded for the Warp Dance, and vice-versa) A dance that turns you into a gem jug which uses magic to create gems when the Attack button is pressed. Has a rare chance to create big square gems worth 20. *** [1f] - Dance Mode Reference Chart *** Upon pressing the Dance button to enter Dance Mode, Shantae's available dances will automatically cycle through onscreen if you have at least one dance for more than one Set of dances. Dance Sets will cycle through one at a time, from Set 1 to Set 2 to Set 3, then loop back to Set 1. Dance Sets you don't have at least one dance for will be skipped over. The Metronome item sold at the Scuttle Town item shop, while turned on, will increase the speed at which the Dance Sets cycle through. Set 1:..................Set 2:..................Set 3:.................... Bat Harpy (Super) Revive ^ ^ ^ Elephant <#> Monkey Spider <#> Mouse Dryad <#> Obliterate v v v /Blobfish Crab Mermaid Warp /GemJug *** [1g] - Notes For Speedrunners *** I have attempted to write this guide with both casual play and speedrunning in mind. Some of the game's optional items can be gotten earlier than when they are listed here, instead grouped together to where they can all be found with as little backtracking as possible in mind. 100% item completion counts the following: * All 12 Heart Holders * All 10 Gallery Keys, and the Magical Tiara from the Mayor for unlocking all 10 doors * All 10 Sunken Souls, 5 Scrap Metals, and the Magical Polarizer from Mimic's endgame sidequest * All items found in chests: dances, relics, etc. * All purchasable items, magic, and dances (except Mega Potions). If you are going for a 100% completion speedrun, you may want to take time to grab extra gems while revisiting areas instead of using the Warp Dance to skip past sections with lots of gems, so that you can be on track to buy out all the items sold in Scuttle Town AND from the Snake Merchant before long, reducing the amount of gem farming you may have to do during the endgame. Likewise, if you're going for an any% speedrun, feel free to ignore the following optional items: * Heart Holders (as many as you dare) * Gallery Keys * Sunken Souls * Scrap Metals * Bat Dance and Spider Dance * Mouse Bite, Harpy Talon, Bat Sonar, and Spider Venom * Waterfall Relic * Green Stone and Red Stone The in-game timer only stops while the game is paused and the inventory screen is open: time does NOT stop while dancing or during cutscenes. This is not meant to be a pure, fully optimized speedrun guide, but is made more with simply meeting the unlock criteria for the different ending pictures in mind. Below is a list of times I logged while doing these speedruns to give a rough idea of how long it should take to clear each section of the game as outlined in the main walkthrough. (PAR TIMES after each section) (Any%) (100%) Prologue 0:02 0:02 Main Street 0:07 0:07 After Main Street 0:08 0:08 Mermaid Falls 0:16 0:16 After Mermaid Falls 0:23 0:23 Tassel Town 0:34 0:35 After Tassel Town 0:41 0:44 Cape Crustacean 0:52 0:54 After Cape Crustacean 0:59 1:10 Hypno Baron's Castle 1:06 1:16 After Hypno Baron's Castle 1:10 1:23 Endgame 1:11 2:12 Risky's Hideout 1:27 2:27 These times assume you are not doing a Hero Mode or Hard Core playthrough. *** [1h] - Hard Core Mode *** Hard Core Mode is a separate mode that remixes several elements of the game to make it more challenging. Of particular note: * New, bigger groups of enemies * Bosses get more HP and have some new attack patterns * Enemies and bosses do much more damage, typically 4x as much * Enemies and bosses move and attack faster * Faster auto-scrolling segments * Healing items limited to 6 each, down from 9 * Most magic items use up magic more quickly * The Magical Tiara recovers magic over time instead of providing infinite magic Other significant changes and alternate strategies have been included in the main walkthrough where appropriate. {{{ 2. Main Walkthrough }}} Note: items required to beat the game, or that cannot be skipped are listed in {CURLY BRACES}. All optional items are listed in [BRACKETS]. *** [2a] - Prologue *** Take the rope down from the bedroom and go outside through the door on the right. Keep going right, and you'll end up in Uncle Mimic's Workshop. Take the trapdoor down into the cavern below. Go down to the bottom, then right. You are unable to attack at this time, but keep moving right nonstop and the purple Bats will just miss you, burning themselves on the torches nearby. At the end of the cavern, a cutscene will play, after which you'll be in Scuttle Town. * Scuttle Town Square * To the far left is a Save Sage you can talk to in order to save your progress. He will also let you save between area transistions, including the one from the Prologue just now. To the right, you will find the following facilities in this order: Workshop - Uncle Mimic resides here. Sky's Hatchery - Sky resides here. She will be your means of travel across Sequin Land. Bath House - Restore your life and magic in the bath's waters. The woman inside can also provide hints for your adventure. Item Shop - Purchase items here with your gems. Art Gallery - Concept art and fan art can be accessed here using Gallery Keys hidden throughout the game. Speak with Uncle Mimic first in his Workshop. He will ask you to find Bolo, who is in the Bath House. Speak with the woman inside the Bath House to get the {SALES SLIP}. Take this to the Item Shop owner and trade it for the {MAGNET}. Give the Magnet to Mimic back at the Workshop. After the cutscene, visit Sky in her Hatchery. She will give you the {WHISTLE}, which can be used anytime to call Sky and take you back to Scuttle Town. For now, have her fly you to Main Street. *** [2b] - Main Street *** Ready to dance through the danger? This area is simple, albeit teeming with Tinkerbats. They will come down in cannonball pods from the skies, emerging in groups of three. Give yourself some distance from the pods as they crash down, then strike the lot of them as they emerge. You can destroy the pods with multiple hair whips to keep additional Tinkerbats from coming. There will be sections with wooden platforms over water that fall away when you jump on them. Keep moving and jumping across the water. If you mess up, the platforms will come back, and it is safe for Shantae to swim atop the water, which you will have to do at the third body of water anyway. For now, move forward and whip any jugs and Tinkerbats along the way for extra gems. Besides the Tinkerbats that attack from the air and the ground, some will also sail in from the foreground. Other Tinkerbats will attack from a distance by throwing torches that burst into flame when they hit the ground. These flames travel along the ground which you can jump over. Upon reaching the tall wall, a crate will fall behind you. Give it a few good hair whips from the left to push it over towards the wall to climb up and over. A second crate will be waiting later on in the stage that can be used in a similar fashion. The Tinkerbats in general are pretty puny and can be taken care of with a single hair whip. The ones on the stairs, however, may require you to crouch down in order to reach them with your lavender lock of justice. HARD CORE MODE: The Tinkerbats will be out in far greater numbers, mainly between the second and third cannonball pods where they sail in and swarm from the background. They also take two hits from Shantae's default hair whip instead of just one. Keep your distance as you start whipping a Tinkerbat to land both hits before it can move in to attack. * Main Street 2 * Things are heating up as the Tinkerbats shake the very foundation of the town walls. Platforms sticking out of the background will alternate positions. Wait for the platforms to shake, then jump to where the next platform will appear. Climb up the chains and use these platforms to move upward. Ignore the girl atop the first structure for now, and watch for Tinkerbats emerging from barrels as you descend the stairs. Small purple blocks can be found around this area which will disappear when whipped, though the ones here aren't hiding anything interesting. At the end of this area, you'll meet a familiar face who's quite the heel... HARD CORE MODE: The platforms in the walls shift positions more quickly, but that's about the only major difference besides the flames on the ground being slightly faster and stronger. * BOSS: Tinkerslug * Risky's Tinkerslug has two big cannons as it's main means of attack. One shoots cannonballs one after another, aiming from right to left. The other shoots fireballs that ignite into flames you will have to jump over. Ring the bell in the lower-left corner with your hair whip to bring in a red powder keg up on the top-left. Climb the chains up to the powder keg, but watch for Risky to shoot at you with a 3-way spread shot. Dodge between her fire and whip the powder keg to send it at the Tinkerslug, which will keel over and become vulnerable to a good series of hair lashings to it's face. After the Tinkerslug recovers, be ready to dodge another one of Risky's spread shots, and any additonal cannon fire while the device in the top-left returns to it's ready position. Then ring the bell to call in another powder keg. After 3 or 4 rounds of powder kegs and hair whips, the Tinkerslug is toast. HARD CORE MODE: Risky and the Tinkerslug will attack more often. Her pistol's spread shot is especially quick. The Tinkerslug itself has the same amount of HP, but recovers more quickly when stunned by powder kegs, so you'll have to stun it at least 4 times instead of 3. Risky will surrender for now and you'll get the {DYNAMO BLUEPRINTS}. A warp pedestal will appear here and at the end of every other world, which will take you to a room with a treasure chest containing a new Dance to try out. Inside the chest in this room is the {MONKEY DANCE}. Dances can be used to transform Shantae into one of many different forms, each with it's own unique abilities. As a Monkey, Shantae can move faster, jump higher, and climb walls best of all. Practice using the Monkey Dance by pressing the Dance button, then press Right to transform. Enter the light at the top of the room to finish this level. *** [2c] - After Main Street *** After the cutscene back in town, talk to the panicked girl on the far right of town and accept her request. She will give you the {MERMAID FALLS MAP}. Take this to Sky to unlock a new area, but don't forget to buy a few items over at the Item Shop. You should have at least about 150 gems by this point. At the very least, I would suggest getting the Fireball and Bubble magic, and some Shampoo or Silky Cream if you can afford it. Also, try saving up 200 gems for the Warp Dance by the time you finish the next area. With your shopping done, have Sky take you to Mermaid Falls. HARD CORE MODE: Consider investing in Storm Puffs before Bubble magic. They're quite handy early on in Hard Core Mode for dealing with the Voltbats in Mermaid Falls 2 and the Giga Mermaid, among other things. The Bubble and Pike Ball magics, while still handy, use magic more quickly in Hard Core Mode. *** [2d] - Mermaid Falls *** This place is crawling with Crabs. They're no more dangerous than the Tinkerbats, but you'll need to crouch down to hit them with your hair. And it wouldn't be Mermaid Falls without Mermaids. They emerge from set locations as you approach, shooting a spread of bubble bullets a moment later. If you don't have your own Bubble magic to shield yourself, get in a couple hits, then back away before the bullets come out, allowing time to hop between them. Finish them off as they return, or just run past while they're still gone. Make use of the Monkey Dance to reach any distant areas and gem jugs along the way, transforming back by pressing the Dance button again while transformed to fight back when needed to crack open any gem jugs and crabby critters. Shantae will also automatically transform back if she enters water in a non-aquatic form. This area follows a zigzag pattern. Travel right, up, left, up, and right. Use Monkey Form and the moving platforms to access any places that are out of reach as a non-Monkey Half-Genie. There are a lot of things here in this area that can't be reached just yet and should be ignored for now. Ignore the chest in the lower-right corner, the warp door and white light closed off towards the middle, the warp door below this area's exit towards the upper-right, and the narrow passage just above the exit. As for the purple blocks, ignore those too: here, and in the next area. HARD CORE MODE: A few Nagas will be here early. They can soak up a lot of damage, and now fire a second round of shots if you try to jump over them as they first start firing. If you don't have Bubble magic, take your time with them, getting in a hit few and retreating away when they stop to fire. A few Bats will also attempt to ambush you, sometimes from off-screen. Remember, EVERYTHING is a threat in Hard Core Mode: it's rare for anything to do less than two hearts of damage, including the Crabs. Consider getting the Heart Holder from Main Street 2 you need to be a Monkey to reach if you're not speedrunning. * Mermaid Falls 2 * Shantae can grab onto the ring-shaped hooks to jump on and ride so long as they're clasped together and not... occupied. Use a combination of the hooks on the conveyor lines and the ones floating in midair to safely cross the waters and avoid the fish that jump out of the water. Inside this area are Gator Guards that will give chase if they catch sight of Shantae. They can be beaten, but take a lot of hits and are generally easier to just avoid by jumping over. If you need to jump over one facing the other way, whip it once first to get it's attention, then jump over as it charges. That being said, you can get a {GATOR STEAK} from a Gator Guard by finishing it off with a Fireball. Gator Guards have about 30 hit points, so whip them 5 times (4 if you bought Shampoo), then hit them with two Fireballs. Gator Steaks can be used from the inventory screen to restore a lot of life, but save at least two to trade for a key item later. The next area to the right is wide open and roughly zigzags from the bottom-left to the upper-right. Make your way onward and upward using the hooks on the conveyors while in Monkey Form. You can reach the second floor by taking the conveyor hooks on the far right of the first floor, or by catching a hook the moment it appears in Monkey Form off the left wall at the beginning of this area, and up onto the platform sporting two big gem jugs. At the right end of the second floor, switch to Monkey Form and grab a conveyor hook as it travels up and to the left. Jump between the two walls just above and climb up through the thin platform. Grab more gems from the jugs along the rightmost wall, and use Monkey Form to crawl along the left side of the floating wall with a few hooks in midair to the left. Jump from the lower-left corner of the wall and you should catch one of the hooks. While still in Monkey Form, jump as high as you can from the thin platform above the midair hooks, and catch the edge of the structure beneath the thin platform above, and climb up. Or take the conveyor going left, then the next one above it going right. Continue up and to the left. You're now towards the upper-left part of this area. Ignore the huge gem jug and warp door above, they can't be reached yet. Take the conveyor going right and up to a platform with a Gator Guard, and three tiers of conveyors above. Carefully jump up from one tier to the other, watching for occupied hooks so as not to fall. Ride the third conveyor up and to the right, going into the next area. Drop through the platforms (hold Down and press Jump) to take cover from the pair of Gator Guards up ahead. Just past them is a purple jar. Whip it to call forth the Snake Merchant. She can be found in various locations throughout Sequin Land and specializes in unique dances, most of which require magic to activate. The dances you must trade for can be traded back and forth as much as you like once they've been purchased. For now, buy the Warp Dance from her and be on your way. HARD CORE MODE: Gator Guards have 50 HP on Hard Core Mode, which amounts to 9 default hair whips and 2 Fireballs to get a steak off one. Voltbats will also be here early and will not stop sparking, meaning you must use ranged magic to defeat them. A couple more Mermaids are also present in the wide open area. Consider loading up on Gator Steaks here, and any other time you have to return to this area. As for the Warp Dance, you may find more value in something more defensive instead if you're not speedrunning, such as the Revive Dance or a few Mega-Potions. * Mermaid Falls 3 * Time for some belt-scrolling action. As you move down the line, you can still move left and right, jump, and use your hair whip on the occasional Gator Guard that swings in from left to right. If not dealt with, they'll toss fish your way in an arc that must be avoided. Mainly though you'll be jumping over giant cans as they roll in from either side of the screen, along with a few pits that aren't too hard to clear. Let the gems inside the bubbles be your guide to making these jumps as you collect them along the way. Also in this area are [ORANGES], which will be added to your inventory when collected and can be used anytime to recover a bit of life. Stay towards the middle to best anticipate anything this ride has to throw at you. At the end of the line, you'll do battle with one whale of a mermaid... HARD CORE MODE: This section scrolls more quickly, and the cans do more damage if you crash into them. * BOSS: Giga Mermaid * The Giga Mermaid is bound by six locks, three on each side. Attack each lock multiple times to break it open, using the platforms and chains to reach the upper locks. While working on the locks, be ready to dodge any of the Mermaid's three different attacks. She can fire a big ball of lightning that slowly chases you from the top of the screen, several smaller balls of lightning that periodically home in, or a beam of lightning from one side of the screen crossing other toward the other. To avoid the beam, jump down towards the side opposite where the beam begins and it will pass. For the big lightning ball, just keep away from it at ground level and it too will eventually fizzle out. The Bubble magic will protect you from the smaller lightning balls. Once the Mermaid is free, congrats... ...you've finished Phase 1 of this fight! Now the Giga Mermaid will come at you from either side of the screen, calling down lightning marked by targets on the ground. Run to anywhere there isn't a target, then when the storm passes, the Mermaid crashes down to either side, followed by a structure of platforms and hooks that emerge from the background. Climb up the structure and attack the gem in the Mermaid's forehead with Fireballs from the highest point, or jump towards her and whip the gem. She will shoot a beam of lightning shortly after the structure comes up. The actual hitbox on the lightning beam doesn't come out until a split-second after, so be ready to jump or dodge as necessary. It is also possible to hit her from the ground when she dips down low enough. When she's not repeating this process, the Giga Mermaid may try to smite you with her tail from the background. Just run away off to either side when the tail stops moving and this attack will miss. After a few good hits, the Mermaid will snap out of it, and everything is lovely once again. Wonderful. HARD CORE MODE: Not only is the Giga Mermaid stronger, but so are the locks binding her, which take a lot more hits. Play defensively, going for the locks only while you know you've still got time to get away from the Giga Mermaid's attacks. The small lightning balls she fires come in bigger groups, too. Monkey Form can make you a faster, smaller target during Phase 1, and the increased jumping height makes it easier to jump up towards the upper locks. The lightning she calls down in Phase 2 is especially nasty. For the lightning columns that comes down between each other one after another, move to where one of the first lightning columns was IMMEDIATELY after it strikes down to avoid the second set. Storm Puffs can be useful for tacking on additional damage during either phase while you focus on avoiding her attacks. After the battle, take the warp pedestal to a room with a chest. Inside the chest is the [CRAB DANCE]. As a Crab, Shantae can dive underwater. Pressing Down in midair (midwater?) will allow you to sink quickly. On the ground, holding Down will let you take cover from enemies inside your shell. The Crab Dance is assigned to the Down direction in the Dance Menu. *** [2e] - After Mermaid Falls *** Back in town, Mimic will request some Copper Ore. A few new faces will be present in town as well. Outside Sky's Hatchery will be a thin woman who wants a Monster Egg, but this can't be found yet. Inside the Item Shop will be a Birdkeeper. Keep him in mind for later. Then back inside Sky's Hatchery will be a little girl who wants a Salted Caramel. On that note, speak with Sky and have her return you to Main Street once you're ready. The (Super) Pike Ball is a good purchase if you can afford it at this time. HARD CORE MODE: The Super Pike Ball magic can wait until Cape Crustacean, where it will still be useful, if not invaluable, against Ammo Baron. It's also possible to get the thin woman's Heart Holder early if you have a Monster Egg leftover from one of the Nagas at Mermaid Falls. * Main Street 1 * A new enemy will be here on your second visit: the one-eyed Starfish will charge at Shantae and stick to her, hampering her movement. Rapidly press buttons and directions to shake them off if they catch you, or take cover in Crab form by holding Down to tuck into your shell to repel any Starfish underwater. If you have the Super Pike Ball magic, you can use it to effortlessly run through the Tinkerbats while the Pike Balls do their thing. This magic isn't strong enough to defeat the Starfish in one shot, however. Use your hair whip on them, instead. At the first body of water, use the Crab Dance to dive down and enter a pipe to the left, which leads into a cave with a chest holding a [HEART HOLDER], the first of 12. These are hidden all throughout Sequin Land, and will increase your maximum life by one heart, fully restoring your life in the process. At the second body of water, use Crab Form to dive down and into a pipe on the right that leads to a cave with a warp door. Through the door is a room with a chest containing the [GREEN STONE]. With this relic, you can whip green gems to convert them into magic-restoring jars. Ignore the other bodies of water for now, and use the Warp Dance to move on to the next area. The warp Dance (and any other store-bought dances) will show up in the Dance Menu under a separate set of directional commands that are automatically shuffled through while dancing. It is set to the Down direction on the second set of commands. If you want extra gems or don't have the Warp Dance, continue to the right on foot. HARD CORE MODE: More enemies all across the board. Starfish are still harmless, though have more HP. If you don't have a Shampoo upgrade, pick them off with Storm Puffs, or attack and jump over them as they charge, then hit them on the way back around. Underwater, tuck into your Crab Form's shell to repel Starfish if they try to latch on. There are also more Mines underwater: don't dive down faster than your eyes can see them. * Main Street 2 * You can now reach the girl atop the structure here with the Monkey Dance. Talk to her. She will ask you to defeat 30 Tinkerbats in her restaurant nearby. First, head right and use Monkey Form to crawl up the wall with the gem jugs atop it by the stairs. On the other side is a warp door. Inside is a room with a chest holding the [MONKEY BULLET] relic. With this, you can do a dash attack in Monkey Form by holding away from a wall you're clinging to, then pressing Attack to dash forward. Head below the shifting wall stones to the right of the warp door and go left into the restuarant. Defeat the Tinkerbats as they emerge from the three windows in the back. The 30th one you defeat will drop the {HEALTH PERMIT}. Make you way left back towards the girl atop the structure. On your way, use Monkey Form to search the thin dark-colored spot towards the top of the wall just left of the restaurant and up the stairs. This is a secret passage that leads to a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #2. Trade the Health Permit to the girl for a {SALTED CARAMEL}, then use Sky's Whistle to return to Scuttle Town. HARD CORE MODE: Storm Puffs can provide additional firepower inside the restaurant where the Tinkerbats jump in: lay them down next to each window. * Scuttle Town * Trade the girl inside Sky's Hatchery the Salted Caramel for the {BIRD SEED}, then give this to the Birdkeeper inside the Item Shop for the {COPPER ORE}, and give the Copper Ore to Mimic at his Workshop. It's up to you what you want to buy at this point, but the Scimitar (Tier 3 Pike Ball) and Mirror (Tier 2 Bubble) magics are among the most useful magic attacks, in my opinion. If you're uncertain, you can never go wrong with a hair upgrade or two via Shampoo or Silky Cream. After the cutscene, speak with the Mayor on the far right of town to get the {TASSEL TOWN MAP}. Give this to Sky and you're off to Tassel Town. HARD CORE MODE: Bubble magic will start to come in extra handy here. Try to have 130 gems for the Super Pike Ball before finishing Tassel Town. *** [2f] - Tassel Town *** Sand in your navel? That's the least of your worries here. The small Spikebugs launch a spread of spikes in a similar fashion to the Mermaids from the last area, and can be guarded against with Bubble magic, but they take longer to attack, so it's easier to get in and whip them good before they can retort. Just remember to duck down to reach them first. They also have a chance to drop an Orange when defeated for restoring life. The tall Sandworms act mainly as obstacles and don't fight back, but hurt for a whole heart of damage if touched, and cannot be passed through even if you have temporary invincibility from taking damage. Whip them anywhere several times to send them sinking back into the sand, then safely jump over before they rise again, or duck and keep whipping them while they're still sunk to finish them. Best to do this against those later in the level where the desert winds blow, so you don't get pushed back into one as it's coming back up. The Sandworms also break into pieces when defeated, which can be attacked for extra gems. Birdmen also patrol the skies here, dropping in Spikebugs and bombs. A single hit will take care of them, plus they have a chance to drop a [MONSTER EGG], which can be used to restore life from your inventory, but save the first one you find for the thin woman back in Scuttle Town. Best to farm for that spare egg here instead of later on in Tassel Town 3, as the Birdmen there fly over bottomless pits, making the eggs a bit harder to harvest. If shot with a Fireball, the Birdmen may drop a [ROAST] instead, which can be used to restore more life than a Monster Egg. At the first wall, whip the sandstone block with an eye pattern from the left to climb over, or just Monkey your way on up. At the first body of water, use Crab Form to sink to the bottom and grab a [SUNKEN SOUL], the first of 10. Jump over the Killer Fish or hide in your shell as they pass by. The winds are too strong beyond the second body of water, so use Crab Form to dive in and head right, jumping across the platforms and over the Mines. On the surface, continue right. The winds are still strong, but sporadic. So long as you're running against a solid wall, clinging to a wall as a Monkey, or even stuck in quicksand (jump rapidly to escape!), they won't push you back. Past the windy section will be a warp door, but ignore it for now. HARD CORE MODE: Spikebugs will now shoot as soon as you approach with no windup time. Let them shoot first and jump between their shots before attacking them. Birdmen will also fly in much more frequently. If you don't have Bubble magic to guard against their bombs, wait until they're at the highest point of their flight before running under, or whip them down if they're too close to the ground. * Tassel Town 2 * Proceed to the right, and get ready to do a bit of climbing. Make good use of Monkey Form here to give you the speed and mobility you need to keep up with the sandworm giving chase from the bottom, transforming back only to whip away any purple blocks and sandstones. Try to avoid the Skeletons, they can soak up a good deal of damage. The statue heads that shoot fire cannot be damaged. Wait for an opening between their shots, and run through. Jump up off a chain, grab it at the peak of your jump and jump up off it again if you need to climb it more quickly. You'll come across a chest, a warp door, and a big blue block during your climb. Ignore these for now. As for the gem jugs, feel free to detour and grab as many as you dare, just make sure to keep a decent distance between you and that sandworm. Getting eaten counts as falling into a pit so you'll only take 2 damage, but have to start this section over from the bottom as well. In the area with Skeletons climbing on four chains, the second one from the left is the safest. Don't jump-climb up the chain, or you may bump into the Skeletons above. You'll need to be in Monkey Form to jump up to a hook towards the top where the passageway upward starts to narrow. Exit through the opening on the right below the spiked walls. HARD CORE MODE: The sandworm is much faster. Even in Monkey Form, you can't really afford to detour for many of the extra gem jugs. Past the pairs of sandstone blocks you whip onto spiked floors, use Monkey Form to quickly jump up the leftmost wall and Monkey Bullet to the right at the top above the three statue heads: you should pass them safely before they can fire. Stay in Monkey Form past the hook you need to be a Monkey to reach to best deal with the last three statue heads in a stair formation: Monkey Bullet through the first statue's fireball, then jump onto one of the steps just below the second or third statue, where you can safely wait for them to shoot their fireballs before jumping past to safety. * Tassel Town 3 * A whole load of bottomless pit here, along with shifting platforms like those on Main Street. The lighter colored platforms stay in place, however. If you fall, you'll lose half a heart and be sent back a bit. Monkey Form can make these jumps a bit trickier, but also lets you make them from further away. Experiment between Monkey and non-Monkey if the platforms are giving you trouble. Jump past the blue Leapers after they come down: they cannot be harmed. The Archers are best dealt with by ducking under their barrage of arrows, then getting in close and whipping while crouching. Archers may drop Roasts when defeated. The Bubble shield also works on their arrows, as well as the Birdmen's bombs. With the Monkey Bullet, it is possible to dash across the sides of the platforms below to get to the chest nearby. Start to run off a platform, then steer backward the moment you start to fall off and you should grab the edge. Now quickly hold away from the wall and press Attack to dash across. Inside the chest is a [GALLERY KEY], the first of 10. These can be used to unlock the rooms in the Scuttle Town Art Gallery, but even if you're not a connoisseur of the arts, it can still be to your benefit to collect all 10. P.S. If you need a good laugh, have a peek at what I scribbled together behind Door #9. The long brown platforms will fall away when stepped on, but will come back after a moment. When you reach the next chest, deal with the pair of Archers to the right first, then use Monkey Form to jump up and cling to the right edge of the falling platform closest to the chest, then quickly Monkey Bullet towards the opening leading into the chest's hiding place. Climb up and through to the right to claim [HEART HOLDER] #3 inside. A Snake Merchant can be reached further ahead with Monkey Bullet if you want any more of her wares. HARD CORE MODE: Archer arrows travel more quickly and are fired in sets of four compared to three. * BOSS: Wilbur * Wilbur opens up with a round of eye bullets from the background. These are easily avoided by just staying on the move and away from the targeted areas. Next, Wilbur will shoot a series of rocks from it's mouth that will rain down in random locations. Watch for their shadows on the ground to avoid the blue rocks, and run towards the red rock. Don't touch it or you'll take damage. Instead, whip the red rock to load it into one of the nearby cannons in the floor. Then run to either floor switch between the cannons and stay put while the cannon does the rest. Once shot with the red rock, Wilbur's eye will fly out and be vulnerable. Stand off to the side of where the eye comes down, and it will start rolling. Be ready to whip it as it rolls back towards you on the other side, then again, and again, getting faster with each whip. After enough hits, Wilbur's eye retreats and this battle routine repeats. The eye will start rolling immediately upon flying out the second and third times, so be ready to jump over it if you have to. Victory is yours once the fourth red rock connects. HARD CORE MODE: Wilbur's eye bullets are fired in random locations and are an actual threat this time around, but this fight is basically the same besides the eye bullets and the rocks doing more damage. After showing Wilbur what for, you'll enter a room containing a chest that has the {ELEPHANT DANCE}. As an Elephant, Shantae's movement and jump height are limited, but she can charge forward with the Attack button while on the ground. This powerful move can be used to smash through cracked blocks, and shove aside other types of blocks. The Elephant dance is set to the Left direction on Set 1 of the Dance Menu. *** [2g] - After Tassel Town *** Back in town, Mimic will request a Dark Shard next. If you have a spare Monster Egg for the thin woman, give it to her and she will trade you [HEART HOLDER] #4. Towards the right end of town will be Rottytops (the green zombie girl, you can't miss her). She's looking for two tickets to the big race at Cape Crustacean. The pair past Rottytops on the right are Twitch and Vinegar. They're willing to part with one of their extra race tickets if you can get them two Gator Steaks. Have Sky return you to Mermaid Falls once you're ready, but before you go, the Metronome at the Item Shop is a good investment at this time as your dance collection will only continue to grow from here. If the increased speed at which it shuffles through the dances is too much, you can always toggle it off from the inventory screen, along with any higher-tier magics you have purchased. * Mermaid Falls 1 * Use the Crab Dance to enter the first body of water and find [SUNKEN SOUL] #2. Nagas have replaced the Mermaids in this area. These armored snake women have high defense, but even their rapid-fire bullets are no match for the Bubble shield. Or better yet, reflect their shots back with Mirror, the Tier 2 Bubble. No magic? Wait for them to stop and ready their attack, then jump over and strike from behind as they're firing. Oddly enough, their shots do far less damage than making contact with them. Nagas may also drop Monster Eggs when defeated. Ignore the rest of the water in this area for now. Inside the warp door just below the area exit in the upper right, use Elephant Form to shove the block with a square design aside. Inside the chest behind the other warp door is the {MERMAID DANCE}. As a Mermaid, Shantae can swim freely underwater in any direction. It is assigned to the Down direction on Set 2 of the Dance Menu (the Warp Dance, and any other purchasable dances will now be on Set 3). Warp Dance or proceed to the next area. HARD CORE MODE: Nothing too different here. Remember that Nagas on Hard Core Mode can fire a second time if you try jumping over them as they first fire. * Mermaid Falls 2 * The yellow Voltbats new to this area don't move, but will shock Shantae if she tries to hair whip them while they're giving off electricity. Wait for them to stop, or pick them off with magic. Voltbats may also drop Roasts when defeated. If you didn't get two Gator Steaks earlier, now is the time. Soften up a Gator Guard with a few hair whips, then use Fire magic to land the finishing blow to get it to drop a Gator Steak. Head right until you reach a big purple block in the lower-right corner of the wide open area. Use Elephant Form to smash through the blocks to find Grandma Blobfish on the other side, using Monkey Bullet from the upper-left wall to reach her perch. Talk to her and accept her offer, then she'll give you the {CRAB CLAW}. This relic allows Shantae to attack in Crab Form, and can be used to clear away grass blocks underwater. Back outside, use Crab Form to enter the water next to you just to the left of Grandma Blobfish's room and snip away the grass block on the right to find a {BLOBFISH KID}, the first of 5. Return to the surface, jump over the next small body of water, then use Crab Form to dive into the next body of water to the left. Snip away the grass blocks in the narrow passage to the left to reach [SUNKEN SOUL] #3 on the other side at the bottom. You can attack the underwater Mines with your Crab Claw, though you'll both take damage, so just continue to avoid them. Return to the surface and go left outside the wide open area and into the main hallway. Use Crab Form to dive into the second body of water from the right to reach {BLOBFISH KID} #2 on a ledge to the right. Just below this ledge, use Crab Claw to snip through the grass blocks in the narrow passage on the right to reach {BLOBFISH KID} #3. To the left nearby is [SUNKEN SOUL] #4. Return to the surface. Head left past the blue flower and there will be two bodies of water. Use Crab Form to enter the bigger body of water on the left. Dive down and head right through a narrow passage to reach {BLOBFISH KID} #4. Return to the surface and use Crab Form to enter one of the small bodies of water just left of the big purple block. In a narrow passage down and to the right is {BLOBFISH KID} #5. Go back to the right and return the kids to Grandma Blobfish, then she'll give you the first {RACE TICKET}. Before you Whistle back to Scuttle Town, use Monkey Bullet towards the top-left of the wide open area to reach the huge gem jug, then climb up to the warp door above. Inside is a chest with the [BAT DANCE]. As a Bat, Shantae can hover in place while moving horizontally. The Bat Dance is assigned to the Up direction on Set 1 of the Dance Menu. HARD CORE MODE: More Voltbats on land and Mines underwater to deal with. Nagas will also be where the Mermaids were from here on. * Scuttle Town * Give Twitch and Vinegar their Gator Steaks in exchange for the second {RACE TICKET}, then chat up Rottytops to trade the Race Tickets for the {DARK SHARD}, which goes to Mimic at his Workshop. After the cutscene, Mimic will give you the {CAPE CRUSTACEAN MAP}. Give this to Sky and have her take you there. HARD CORE MODE: You DID buy the Super Pike Ball for the Ammo Baron fight, yes? A Mega-Potion may not hurt, either. *** [2h] - Cape Crustacean *** Climb aboard your carpet and get ready to race! And by race, we mean hopping across everyone else's carpets, pouncing on them with Pike Balls. There will be the occasional set of hooks and airships to jump between. For the multi-tiered airships, just keep jumping upward as they go down, jumping to the next one in line when possible. If you fall, you'll take some damage before bouncing back up. HARD CORE MODE: Falling means starting this section over from the beginning, even if you fall during the boss! This section scrolls forward faster as well. * BOSS: Twitch and Vinegar * You'll have a set of three carpets to take on these two as both the girls and your carpets rotate in place, switching their rotational directions now and then. Keep towards the front and get in your licks while the girls are rotating in place, then be ready to avoid their assaults when one stops and the other retreats into the background. The girl in the long ship shoots sets of rapid-fire rounds in a line at varying heights, while the girl in the tall ship throws bombs towards you in arcs. Eventually the two will combine and fire big beams across the screen at varying heights. The carpets will slow down and alternate directions to help you stay clear of the beams. Bubble magic won't stop these beams, but will stop their regular shots and bombs. Once either girl goes down, the other will take her place attacking non-stop without retreating. After beating both of them, you're off to the next area. HARD CORE MODE: Don't fall! Take damage if you have to, but don't fall. The girls get their HP back if you have to start this section over again. They also use their individual attacks more frequently. Storm Puffs can help tack on damage while you focus on avoiding their assaults. * Cape Crustacean 2 * You've got a whole fleet of warships to hop across from here on. When you reach the end of one, wait for the next one in line to get close enough to jump on. Be patient, you may miss your jump if it's still in the foreground or background. And where there's warships, there's Soldiers. They charge forward and have high attack power, but a couple quick hair whips will set them straight. An Elephant Charge will knock these Soldiers out in one hit, including the endless lot that pours in from an airship above. The Grenadiers sit in place tossing grenades in an arc. Get in close and whip them as their grenades fly harmlessly overhead. As for automated defenses, the Kitty Cannons fire from a distance, and can be safely dealt with up close just like with the Grenadiers. Then there's the Flame Turrets that pop in from the floor, spitting hot fire. Duck under or jump over the flames on your way to scrapping them proper. Finally, watch out for the lightning rods. Wait for them to stop sending lightning down from above to pass by. If they zap ya, you'll be sent back a bit, the same as if you were to fall off the ships. The black floor hatches like those you'll see Soldiers emerge from can be entered by holding Down and pressing Jump while over them to access the insides of the ships. The first ship you can enter has a few gems inside, but nothing else that can be reached just yet. Inside the second ship, use Monkey Form to take cover under the floating platform once the moving lightning rod goes towards the far left. Once it comes back right and sweeps under the platform, hop up to the chest that holds [GALLERY KEY] #2. The third ship you can enter contains a chest blocked off by several lightning rods in a row, that let up only for a brief moment. With a well-timed Monkey Bullet off the side of the floor where the door is located, you can nab [HEART HOLDER] #5 in the chest on the other side. Inside the last ship coming up is some gems and Soldiers. Use the hatches here to safely pass by the pair of lightning rods, as they will not stop sending shocks down your way. Enter the hatch on the last ship at the end of the line down into the next area. HARD CORE MODE: Because the Soldiers have more HP, you won't be able to charge into them as an Elephant without taking damage. The Grenadiers and cannons attack more often, but are still best dealt with by getting in close after they attack so their other attacks miss. Crawl under the Flame Cannon shots to safely approach them as they fire. * Cape Crustacean 3 * The gray metal boxes inside this area can be shoved aside in Elephant Form with a good charge from either side, to the dismay of any Soldiers caught in the box's path. Shove the first box forward a few times, then use Monkey Form to climb up the upper-right ledge, then back to Elephant Form to break through the box in the wall into the next room. Your Elephant Charge will also work well on the Soldiers here. Just wait until one gets close before charging so you can get him and anyone behind him during the same charge without getting hit. Proceed right, then down. Ignore the platform above between the spiked walls for now. Wait for the laser beams to let up before running past. Like the lightning rods in the previous area, they will send you back a bit if they zap you. Continue down and to the right past more beams. Beneath the thin platform leading down is some gems, but nothing else can be reached in the watery area to the right, so climb up the platforms and to the left. You'll be dealing with an array of beams, soldiers, and chain saws as you make your way left, up, and right. If possible, pick off the soldiers with ranged magic behind the beams before pressing on. In the upper-right part of the room, smash the box apart with Elephant form and charge through the Soldiers on the other side. On the way down is a small passage to the left which leads to a warp door, but ignore it for now. Keep going down and right past the spikes, soldiers, and chains (oh my!). There's several Grenadiers in the next room that attack from high above. Focus on one of them at a time, and proceed whenever it's safe. Towards the right side of this room are three metal boxes. Use Elephant Form to shove the top one on the left to the right and down below. Then shove the box on the right to the left and down below, stacking atop the first box. Now shove aside the third box inside the wall into a secret room. Use Monkey Bullet to cross between the tall moving platforms and dash across the spikes to the other side where there is a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #6. Back outside the Heart Holder's hiding place, use Elephant Form to smash through the container in the upper-right part of the room, then continue right and jump up outside to the main generator. Whip it a few times and watch the fireworks fly. Your life will be fully restored going into the next fight. HARD CORE MODE: The streams of Soldiers beyond each breakable box are much thicker, and are joined by Voltbats. Remember not to use Elephant attacks on them, and pick off the Voltbats with Storm Puffs while jumping over the Soldiers that run past. Jump in as close as possible towards the Grenadiers between their attacks and take them out first. Merely touching them causes heavy damage though, so be careful not to jump in too close. If you haven't noticed yet, damage from pits, spikes, and beams is the same 2 damage across both modes, so you can still afford to slip up once or twice against these particular hazards. * BOSS: Ammo Baron * The Super Pike Ball will be super-effective at quickly clearing away the soldiers Ammo Baron summons to his side to keep himself protected as they shuffle and swirl around him. When the Ammo Baron points, he'll order some of the soldiers to fly towards you (or simply point in vain if you've wiped them all out already). After taking enough damage, the Baron will order soldiers to dive bomb you from above. Move away from the targeted area, then be ready to move away again when the targeted area changes and there's a break between the air raids. This routine repeats a couple times, with the Baron summoning more layers of soldiers each time. Clear out the majority and go for the Baron once whatever few are left no longer pose a direct threat. Keep unloading on the Ammo Baron and he'll soon surrender. HARD CORE MODE: The air raids happen with hardly a break between each, and they are not telegraphed with targets on the ground. The Super Pike Ball is still very handy for this fight, but watch your magic meter! If you don't have a Mega-Potion or the Magic Bracelet, use Storm Puffs on the second group of soldiers and save your Pike Balls for the third, biggest group. Upon besting the Baron, you'll enter a room with a chest that has the {MOUSE DANCE}. As a Mouse, Shantae can navigate tiny maze-like passages (their entrances will sparkle from the floor). The Mouse Dance is assigned to the Right direction on Set 2 of the Dance Menu. *** [2i] - After Cape Crustacean *** The next item on Mimic's list is a Light Shard. A travelling Doctor can be found in the Bath House at this time. Keep him in mind for later. For now, have Sky take you back to Tassel Town. * Tassel Town 1 * The winds have died down for the most part, so make your way to the right, ignoring the bodies of water. The Sandworms can now be defeated with a single Elephant Charge. Keep going right until you reach a warp door. Inside, switch to Elephant Form and jump up onto the platform with the second warp door on the right. The winds will be unable to push you back as an Elephant. Behind the second door is another room with a chest containing the [SPIDER DANCE]. As a Spider, tap Jump in midair to extend a web upwards, which will catch onto the first platform or ceiling within range, pulling Shantae upward and allowing her to freely climb along that platform or ceiling once pulled up. Press Down to drop from a ceiling you're climbing. You also crawl more quickly as a Spider (hold Down and press Left or Right). The Spider Dance is assigned to the Left direction on Set 2 of the Dance Menu. Warp Dance or travel to the next area. HARD CORE MODE: Not too much new here. You can still one-shot Sandworms with an Elephant Charge, but make sure a Birdman isn't coming down from above with a bomb before you charge in. * Tassel Town 2 * Speak with the man just to the right. He's looking for five Remains hidden inside this tower. To help you out, he'll give you the {ELEPHANT STOMP}. With this relic, press Down in midair while in Elephant Form to perform a powerful stomp that can smash through structures from below and unearth hidden treasures from all those blue flowers you've been seeing around the place. Snakes now infest the tower, dropping from openings in platforms from above. Not much of a threat overall, and they drop Monster Eggs if you really need extra life on top of what the lot of gem jugs will provide. Birdmen carrying Spikebugs have also replaced the Skeletons. Reaching the Remains hidden here will involve charging through the statue heads with your Elephant Form. Starting from the bottom, charge through the first statue head in the wall on the right, then use an Elephant Stomp on the blue flower in the room beyond to find the first of 5 {REMAINS}. Climb up to the second head on the right wall, and use Elephant Form to charge to the right from the floor just beneath the purple blocks that form a T-shape. You'll sail across and smash through to the other side with a blue flower you can stomp to get {REMAINS} #2. Just past the whippable sandstone block will be the chest from earlier that was blocked off. Using Mouse Form, you can fit into the maze-like tunnel nearby and through to the other side with the chest that has [GALLERY KEY] #3. Past the next sandstone block and trio of hooks, climb the chain up and onto the first midair platform to the left. In Elephant Form, charge left from here and through the statue head into a hidden room with lots of snakes and gems you can get at using Mouse Form. Climb the chains up to the next statue head in the wall on the right by the narrow passages. Charge through and stomp the blue flower for {REMAINS} #3. Crawl through the first narrow passage back outside, and charge through the next statue head on the left for more gems. Just ahead is another blue flower, but it will only contain a few gems when stomped. However, the big blue box just above and to the right reachable with Monkey Form can be shoved aside with Elephant Form to access a chest that has [GALLERY KEY] #4. Past the four hooks, climb up to the platform atop the chain on the far left and Elephant Tackle through the statue head on the left, stomping the blue flower nearby for {REMAINS} #4. (!! Feel free to skip this paragraph if you're not going for 100% items !!) See the sandstone block on the purple platform just below the hook you need to be a Monkey to reach? Whip it to the left off the platform, then left again off the purple platform below, then left again off the next purple platform, then to the right off the next purple platform. The sandstone block will fall near a statue head below. Whip it towards the head, then Elephant Charge from atop the block and through the head into a secret area. There are four big blocks in this room you must use Elephant Charges to shove aside so they connect together with the maze path in the lower-right, from right to left. First: shove the lowest block all the way to the right. Second: the middle-right block goes left, falls down and goes right. Third: the top block goes right, falls down, goes left, falls down and goes right. Finally: the middle-left block goes right, falls down and goes right. With all the blocks connected, use Mouse Form to navigate this maze going right and leading down to a chest with [GALLERY KEY] #5 (phew!). Use Mouse Form to exit through the maze tunnel on the left. Past the hook you need to be in Monkey Form to jump up to, use Elephant Form to smash through the statue head on the left, then navigate the maze in Mouse Form to reach a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #7. Just above that statue head is another mouse maze with a warp door on the other side. Inside the door will be a room with a chest containing the [MOUSE BITE] relic. Shantae can now attack in Mouse Form with all the strength of a mouse. Keep climbing up towards this area's exit with the spike walls on each side, then use Spider Form to shoot a web up towards the center of the screen. You should catch a platform up above. Now move off to the right and catch the next platform with your web as you fall. Climb left atop the first platform and climb the rest of the way up with Monkey Form, over the platforms, up the wall to the right, and to the left where there is a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #8. Go back down and use Elephant Form on the floating platform below the warp door to tackle through the statue head in the wall on the right. Stomp the blue flower inside to get [REMAINS] #5. You'll automatically meet back up with the man at the bottom of the tower after collecting all 5 Remains. Talk to him to return the Remains, then you will get {SICK}. Guess we better see a doctor about that. Whistle back to Scuttle Town. HARD CORE MODE: Several guest stars in the tower this time around, including Archers, Nagas and even Bonelegs. If you thought the latter were bad news before... the Bonelegs will appear by the first, third, and fourth Remains. Wait for the first Bonelegs to move towards the right away from the flower, then drop a Storm Puff down to stunlock her, then quickly switch to Elephant Form and unearth the Remains while she's blocking the Storm Puff. Stun the second Bonelegs with a Storm Puff when she's on the far right of her platform, then jump over her in Monkey Form to the flower on the other side. Then Monkey Bullet off the top of the right wall and back to safety. You'll have to fight the third Bonelegs if you want the Remains she guards without taking damage: stay in the lower-right ditch and jump to whip her a couple times, then jump to whip her a couple times as soon as her blocking animation finishes, and those follow-up whips SHOULD hit. Repeat this process. * Scuttle Town * Elephant Stomp the blue flower on the far left of town to get some [SCRAP METAL], the first of 5. Talk to the Doctor in the Bath House. He'll rid you of your Sick and give you a {LOLLIPOP} for being a good patient. Now have Sky take you to Mermaid Falls. * Mermaid Falls 1 * Elephant Stomp the blue flower at the beginning of this area to get [SCRAP METAL] #2, and proceed to the right. You'll use Mouse Form to navigate mazes within the platforms in this area. Within the mazes are Caterpillars that crawl around. They can't be attacked, but don't do much damage either. Feel free to charge through them if you have the life to spare. On the second floor of the open area, use Mouse Form to enter the middle of the maze platform towards the left with a waterfall in the background. Head left once a moving maze platform meets up at the left end, and ride it to another moving platform to the left that goes up, to another platform to the left that goes left, and connects with another maze. Work your way up, and ride another platform to the right, going right to another maze. Head right until you reach a white light blocked off by big purple blocks, and leave the maze up through the sparkling exit. The white light will turn out to be a Wizard. Trade him your Lollipop for the {LIGHT SHARD}, and whistle back to town. HARD CORE MODE: The Caterpillars are more numerous and do much more damage, so you may want to try avoiding more than a few while worming your way through the mouse mazes here. * Scuttle Town * Give the Light Shard to Mimic. After the cutscene, you'll get the {HYPNO BARON'S CASTLE MAP}. Have Sky take you there next, OR if you're not speedrunning, the Red Stone relic is available at this time if you have the Spider Dance, which can be used to whip red gems to turn them into life-restoring hearts. If this interests you now, fly to Cape Crustacean, and Warp Dance two times to the third area inside the warship. If you'd rather get it on a future trip back, go to Hypno Baron's Castle now, and you can get it later. * Cape Crustacean 3 * (Optional at this time) Past the first breakable box in the upper-right and beyond the soldiers on the other side, jump onto the midair platform with the gem jug between a pair of spiked walls below. Use Spider Form to stick a web onto a platform offscreen between the spikes. Then use Monkey Form to climb up to the door above. Inside is a chest containing the [RED STONE]. This relic will let you whip red gems to convert them into life-restoring hearts. *** [2j] - Hypno Baron's Castle *** Slimegal hype! These pink beauties give chase in their slime form, then become human-shaped when they get close, grabbing Shantae if she stays around. Attack them while they're still slimes, as they can't harm you then. Then back away and give them space when they take on their human form to coax them into chasing you again. If one does grabs you, rapidly press buttons and directions to bust free and prevent them from doing further damage. The Skeletons from Tassel Town Tower are back, but shouldn't be much of a match so long as you've upgraded your hair to some degree. Whip at them when they come close, or jump over them as they pass by on foot. Also back are the Bats from the Prologue that will fly towards you when you get close. Pick them off with Pike Balls or a midair hair whip. Bats may drop Oranges when defeated. Also be careful of the blue lights that hang atop the ceilings in this area: they'll drop down when you get close to them and burst into flame. Finally, all but two of the chests in this area contain an Ikki instead of actual treasure. When the chests these ghostly gals hide in are opened, they will float around nearby, tossing projectiles at you periodically when they're not fading out to avoid your attacks altogether. Take out the chests they emerge from to prevent additional Ikkis (Ikki?) from spawning. Take the door in the wall on the far right, then take the pair of chains down and to the right through another door in the wall. (The chest to the left of those chains has an Ikki). Past the door, climb up the chain and go right until you reach another door in a wall (The chest near this door has an Ikki). Past the door, you will wind up towards the left just above the start of this area in a closed room with a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #9. Return to the left past the top of the chain, into a door in the wall. Continue left, down, and right into the next area. You may see a green zombie here. He's Abner, one of Rottytops' brothers. Nothing can be done with him just yet. HARD CORE MODE: The flames from the falling lights now hurt for three hearts of damage compared to three-quarters of a heart normally. This can be used to your advantage though by dropping these lights down onto Slimegals and other enemies which will take this increased damage from the flames as well. A Bonelegs also blocks the way just past the last wall door before the exit. As with the Bonelegs in Tassel Tower, stay below her platform and jump up to whip her a few times, then jump to whip her another few times as soon as her blocking animation finishes. * Hypno Baron's Castle 2 * The eye blocks here travel in the direction their eye is facing when you jump onto them, travelling a set distance. They will disappear a few seconds after they start flashing and fading out, so be ready to jump to safety. Always wait until an eye block is facing right before jumping onto it, unless otherwise noted below. If you have the Bat Dance, it's possible to float over this entire area by jumping onto an eye block when it faces up, then switching to Bat Form when it's towards the top of the screen. Jump on the first eye block past the Leaper, then onto the second one nearby. Past the pair of Bats, jump across the next set of three eye blocks, landing on each when they're facing right. The Bonelegs nearby is a dangerous spider woman that can easily block most attacks. She'll shoot venom at a distance, and swipe at you if you get in close or try to jump over her. Switch to Monkey Form and you'll be able to jump high enough to avoid her altogether. Jump onto the eye block past her, and press on. In the next section, jump past the Leaper and quickly across the falling platforms, landing to the right between the spike blocks. Jump onto the next eye block when it's facing right OR up, then onto the next two eye blocks when they're facing right. Past some more Bats and Skeletons will be another Bonelegs. Switch to Monkey Form and jump past her. Past four more falling platforms in the next section will be a Snake Merchant if there's anything of hers you've had your eye on. Ride the next eye block to the right, and wait until it gets close to the spiked wall to jump below to the next eye block, which should be facing right by then. Once on, quickly duck to pass below the spiked wall. Elephant Stomp the blue flower for some extra gems if you like, then jump onto the closest eye block when it's facing right OR up, then onto the next eye block when it's facing right, and then one last eye block in midair once it's facing right. Past the falling platforms and Leaper towards the end of this area is one last Bonelegs. Switch to Monkey Form, jump past her and be on your way. HARD CORE MODE: You will NOT be able to float over this entire area as a Bat due to some new spiked structures being in place. The eye blocks also change directions more quickly. The increased Birdman and Skeleton spawns pas the first Bonelegs can be a problem. Back away a bit as a Birdman drops a light down, and let the flames help you defeat the Skeletons on the ground before pressing on. A fourth Bonelegs will be waiting right next to the exit just past the third one. Stay in Monkey Form to jump over her as she approaches towards the left from below. * BOSS: Hypno Baron's Monster * The Baron's Monster will run in place, then charge forward, bouncing between the walls. If you have the Super Mega Puff magic, use it to stay above the Monster as it bounces about while getting in a few hits. Then it will bounce around some more while floating upwards, shooting projectiles down from one side to another. After a few passes, it will bounce around some more on it's way back down. Now the Monster will stomp around, which is when it's most vulnerable to some jumping hair whips. Watch for it to jump up high and come crashing down though once it's done stomping about, and be ready to run underneath to safety if it has you cornered. It will stomp about and jump up high one more time, then repeat it's routine. The circular shockwave when it crashes down from it's high jumps is only cosmetic and doesn't hurt, just don't let the Monster itself land on you. Upon it's initial defeat, the Monster will pair up with the Hypno Baron and attack you together as a team. First, the Baron will fly up high out of reach, trying to slam his Monster down onto you. Dodge out of the way and attack his Monster from the side. After a few slams, Baron and Monster will separate. The Baron will float around the room in a circle, then over to the other side, alternating between both sides of the room while throwing green flames that explode into tall pillars of fire, while his Monster alternates leaping down from one side of the room to the other, sending shockwaves along the floor when it lands. Focus on attacking the Baron's Monster during this phase. Bubble magic will stop the green fireballs, but NOT the flame columns they leave when touching the ground. Duck under the Hypno Baron if he tries to swoop down and run into you. Soon the Baron will retreat to one side while his Monster jumps into the air and crashes down, sending more shockwaves off to either side. Focus you attack on the Baron himself now during this phase, but also watch out for him to rise up into the air and shoot a spread of shots down from the upper corner of the room before flying off to the other side. Their battle routine will repeat from here. Keep up the good fight and this gruesome twosome will be sent packing, one-way coach. HARD CORE MODE: This fight is mostly the same on Hard Core Mode besides the usual increases in enemy damage, speed, and HP. Besting both Baron and Beast will net you a chest with the {HARPY DANCE} in the next room. As a Harpy, Shantae can fly by tapping the Jump button. The sky's the limit! The Harpy Dance is assigned to the Up direction on Set 2 of the Dance Menu. *** [2k] - After Hypno Baron's Castle *** Back in town, Mimic will request an Iron Slab and a Zombie Hamster (for reals). First, you'll be going back to Main Street. * Main Street 1 * Use Mermaid Form in the third body of water to swim down, right, and up into a sewer cave to find the Adventure Man. Talk to him to get the {VORPAL BLADE}, and return to Scuttle Town. * Scuttle Town * Talk to the Azure Knight inside the Item Shop and trade him the Vorpal Blade for the {FOXY GRANDMA HAT}. Trade this to Grandma Blobfish towards the right end of town for the {MERMAID BUBBLE} relic. Now Shantae can shoot bubbles as a Mermaid, which can break through big blocks underwater. With the Mermaid Bubble in hand, have Sky take you to Tassel Town. * Tassel Town 1 * Enter the second body of water in Mermaid Form, and swim down to the big block on the left. Use Mermaid Bubbles to break through to swim up and left to find [SUNKEN SOUL] #5 next to the nearby sewer pipe, which leads to a room with a chest containing the {IRON SLAB}. Back on the surface, head right until you see a big block in the floor nearby. Elephant Stomp through, then switch to Crab Form to crawl through the narrow passage and dive down to find [SUNKEN SOUL] #6 at the bottom. Just to the left through the sewer pipe, navigate the narrow zigzag path lined with statue heads shooting fire. Duck into your shell if the fire gets too close and it will harmlessly shove you forward. At the bottom, enter the sewer pipe on the right to find a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #10. Several gem jugs can also now be reached here by flying across the top of this area in Harpy Form. Whistle for Sky to take you back to Hypno Baron's Castle. * Hypno Baron's Castle 1 * Go straight ahead into the first door on the right, then use Harpy Form to fly up and to the right, onto the castle roof outside. A warp door to the left leads to a room with a chest containing the [BAT SONAR]. This relic will let Shantae see her surroundings in dark rooms while in Bat Form. To the right from the roof entrance is another opening in the roof which leads down to Poe, Rottytops' other brother. Speak to him to get the {ZOMBIE HAMSTER}, and return to Scuttle Town. HARD CORE MODE: Fly high over the Bonelegs on the roof of the castle in Harpy Form... fly VERY high over her. * Scuttle Town * Once you give Mimic the Iron Slab and Zombie Hamster, a cutscene will play. Afterwards, you will get {RISKY'S HIDEOUT MAP}. *** [2l] - Endgame *** It is now possible to have Sky take you to Risky's Hideout at this point, but you also have the option of doing favors for the four Barons now in town, each of which will give you one of four Clues which can be given to Mimic in exchange for a special item. The ending will change slightly based on whether you have this item, and you'll want to get it if you're going for a 100% item collection. The Barons are located in various parts of town. From left to right: * Techno Baron, outside Mimic's Workshop Trade him the Data Chip for [RISKY'S CUFFLINK]. * Hypno Baron, inside the Bath House Trade him all 10 Sunken Souls for [RISKY'S RIBBON]. * Ammo Baron, outside the Item Shop Trade him all 5 Scrap Metals for [RISKY'S PENDANT]. * Squid Baron, inside the Art Gallery Trade him the Squid Poster for [RISKY'S BUCKLE]. After giving Mimic all four Risky-related Clues, he'll give you the [MAGICAL POLARIZER], concluding this little sidequest. Also, if you speak with the Mayor inside the Art Gallery once all 10 doors are unlocked, he will give you the [MAGICAL TIARA]. This relic grants you infinite magic power! If none of this concerns you, feel free to skip below to [2m] - Risky's Hideout Either way, have Sky take you to Risky's Hideout once you're ret-2-go. HARD CORE MODE: The Magical Tiara no longer gives infinite magic power, but will still recover magic over time while equipped, and can now be used in combination with the Magic Bracelet. * Scuttle Town * Talk to the Squid Baron in the Art Gallery to get the [VELVET POSTER]. * Main Street 2 * At the very beginning of this area, use Harpy Form to fly straight up as high as possible. Hiding out in the upper-left corner is a chest with the [WATERFALL RELIC]. This can be used to travel up waterfalls by pressing Up while in Crab or Mermaid Form. Travel towards the far right end of this area where the screen stops scrolling and clear away the pile of five purple blocks. Elephant Stomp the blue flower hidden underneath to get [SCRAP METAL] #3. * Mermaid Falls 1 * Head to the waterfall towards the bottom-middle of this area, and use Crab Form to ride it up into an enclosed warp door. In this door is a room with a chest containing the [HARPY TALON]. Shantae can now attack in Harpy Form by rapidly shooting feathers from a distance. Ride the waterfall back down in Crab Form, and dive into the water on the left, heading down and right. Snip away the grass blocks blocking the narrow passage on the right with your Crab Claw to reach [SUNKEN SOUL] #7. Head to the surface, re-enter the water in Mermaid Form, and swim left of where you were in Crab Form, going up and left to find [SUNKEN SOUL] #8. Continue down to the bottom. Use Mermaid Bubbles to blast through the blocks to reach [SUNKEN SOUL] #9. Continue swimming to the right. Use Mermaid Bubbles to blast through another block and go up through the sewer pipe on the other side. Stand by the waterfall in Mermaid Form and tap Up to ride the waterfall into a room above with a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #11. Return to the waterfall and press Up as a Mermaid to ride it back down. Re-enter Mermaid Form on your way back outside. Swim away from the sewer pipe here in the lower-right corner of the water, going upwards along the far right wall, and up into an enclosed area above the water with a gem jug and a chest containing [GALLERY KEY] #6. Swim back down, left, and up to return to the surface. In the upper-left part of this area is a thin platform sticking out of a stone wall, just left of the platform with a Naga between two gem jugs. Stand onto the thin platform and use Bat Form to hover to the right, and through a narrow passage in the upper-right corner of this area. Clear away the purple blocks and use Mouse Form to navigate the maze up and to the left, riding the moving platforms to the left, into the maze inside the stone wall. Go down, left, then exit up into the closed area with a chest containing [GALLERY KEY] #7. Re-enter the maze and go left, down, and ride another platform to another maze on the right. At the end of this maze, ride another platform to another maze on the right. Go down and right, then exit up into the closed area with a gem jug and a chest holding [HEART HOLDER] #12. Your life meter should now be maxed out! * Mermaid Falls 2 * Elephant Stomp the blue flower at the beginning of this area for [SCRAP METAL] #4. In the wide open area, enter the water using Mermaid Form and swim towards the bottom-right. Use Mermaid Bubbles to break the block and get [SUNKEN SOUL] #10. This wraps up Hypno Baron's request. Head to the second floor of the open area. To the far right is a block you can Elephant Stomp to smash through and reach a chest with [GALLERY KEY] #8. Use Harpy Form to fly all the way to the top-middle part of this area, where there is a cave door between two torches. You'll make use of several of your Forms to navigate the spiky passages inside. First, use Harpy or Spider Form to get up onto the square structure to the right. From there, use Bat Form to hover to the left. Now drop down into the lowest section below and use Spider Form to grapple the ceiling and cross over to the right. Drop below and use Bat Form to hover to the left. Use Harpy Form to fly up, left, up, right, and left into the next room. Inside is a chest with the [DATA CHIP]. This belongs to Techno Baron back in town. * Cape Crustacean 2 * Enter the door inside the first ship with floor hatches. Inside, use an Elephant Stomp to break through the floor above the chest that contains [GALLERY KEY] #9. * Cape Crustacean 3 * (NOTE: If you got the Red Stone earlier, skip this paragraph) Past the first breakable box in the upper-right and beyond the soldiers on the other side, jump onto the midair platform with the gem jug between a pair of spiked walls below. Use Harpy Form to fly between the spiked walls and up to a hidden door. Inside is a chest containing the [RED STONE]. This relic will let you whip red gems to convert them into life-restoring hearts. In the lower-right corner of the room past a moving laser beam between two stationary beams, drop through the thin platform and Elephant Stomp the blue flower to the left to get [SCRAP METAL] #5. This wraps up Ammo Baron's request. In the next room off to the right, use Mermaid Form to dive into the water. Swim right, up and over onto the blue floor. Swim up the waterfall on the left, then the waterfall closest to you the right. Now take the waterfall on the far right, then the waterfall to the left just below, which will put you by a chest with [GALLERY KEY] #10. That's it for Gallery Keys. To leave, take the waterfall nearby back up, then the waterfall on the right, then the waterfall second from the left, then the waterfall on the left. Past the second breakable box is a narrow passage in a wall beyond some Soldiers down and to the left. Use Monkey Form to crawl through into a warp door. The room inside is dark. Use Bat Form and Bat Sonar to safely cross. First, float over towards a floating platform over the spikes. Jump on and float a little to the right. Exit Bat Form when you see the next platform below you. Switch back and float over to the right, under some spikes. Switch back when under another platform, jump up to the nearby platform up to the right, and to the next platform on the left where the gem jug sits. Switch to Bat Form and float to the right. Exit Bat Form once you're over another gem jug and drop down. Enter Bat Form, float to the right, and exit Bat Form over the next gem jug. Float right to the next platform, and switch back to jump up to the nearby platform where the next gem jug is. Finally, switch to Bat Form to hover to the far right wall, then switch back and drop down. Slowly go left, then right once you fall. In the next room is a chest with the [SPIDER VENOM]. This gives Shantae's Spider Form a ranged attack. (You will probably whistle for Sky now, though you can leave this room by checking your surroundings just outside the treasure room with Bat Sonar, then use Monkey Form to jump up and right onto the far right wall. Climb up the wall and jump to the platform marked by the gem jug in the upper-right corner. From there, use Bat Form to float all the way back to the left and drop down to get back outside.) * Hypno Baron's Castle 1 * Go into the door on the right, then keep going straight right past the chains into the next door at the end. Trade Abner your Velvet Poster for the [SQUID POSTER], which goes to Squid Baron back in the Scuttle Town Art Gallery. * Scuttle Town * Trade the Barons their requested items for the four Risky Clues, then give these Clues to Mimic for the Magical Polarizer. That's it for findable items. Remember though that for 100% completion, you also have to have purchased every item, dance, and magic from both the Scuttle Town Item Shop and the Snake Merchant (not counting Mega Potions). Tassel Town is a good spot to farm whatever extra gems you may need to make any remaining purchases, using Harpy Form to fly along the top of the area and break the gem jugs above with the Harpy Talon without having to transform back and forth. *** [2m] - Risky's Hideout *** Use Mermaid Form to enter the water. Swim into the sewer pipe on the right, and get your trigger finger ready for some Mermaid Shooter action. Use the Attack button to shoot at the Mines, Killer Fish, purple blocks... whatever stands in your way. Don't shoot the Starfish though, they will join your side and provide additional firepower. The Starfish appear in this order: top, bottom, middle. When a Mine is shot, it will explode a moment later, setting off any Mines nearby in a chain reaction. Any nearby purple blocks will also be cleared away. Don't be too close to the Mines when they explode. Tinkerbat Divers also patrol these waters, shooting harpoons that travel straight, which fork up or down to try and catch you when they pass above or below you. HARD CORE MODE: This section scrolls forward faster. You'll likely have to take a hit in the L-shaped corridor full of Mines before the Tinkerbat Divers start showing up, who are much more dangerous now doing four hearts of damage. Focus on dealing with them above any of the other water hazards here. * Risky's Hideout 2 * More Tinkerbats inside the hideout, including those that fly in place, shooting 3-way spread shots. They have the highest defense of the Tinkerbats, making Mirror magic ideal against them. When you reach the blue flower, use Elephant Form to give it three good Stomps, then jump across the now-lowered platform. Jump over the cannonballs burped out by the Tinkerbeast, and give it a good whipping between it's attacks. Up ahead, use Harpy Form to fly past the spikes. Be careful not to touch any spikes or fall into the lava below, as you'll be sent back. At the next blue flower, use Elephant Form to Stomp it twice, then Monkey Form to Monkey Bullet across from the side of the platform the flower sat on. The red Leapers that jump out of the lava can't hurt you during a Monkey Bullet. Past more Tinkerbats, use Monkey Form to grab the upper-left wall to the right of the flying Tinkerbat and Monkey Bullet through him. Crawl towards the bottom of the wall nearby and Monkey Bullet across to catch the side of the lowest platform with spikes pointing down underneath. Climb up the right side of the platform just above that has spikes on it's left side and Monkey Bullet from the top-right corner to the other side. Another Tinkerbeast waits ahead. After beating it and a few more Tinkerbats, you're off to the next area. HARD CORE MODE: The Tinkerbat Fliers are very dangerous now, also doing four hearts of damage. Use Bubble magic or the Harpy Talon from a distance to deal with them. Be careful not to get shot by a Tinkerbat Flier from off-screen as you fight the first Tinkerbeast. Before fighting the second Tinkerbeast, use Monkey Form to climb up to where another Tinkerbat Flier is nearby and deal with him first. * Risky's Hideout 3 * Past the first pair of Tinkerbats, you'll need Harpy Form to fly across a gauntlet of moving spiked structures. Stay high to avoid the first two, then wait for an opening to fly between the pair of spiked walls that slam shut. Fly high over the spiked square and deal with the next pair of Tinkerbats. Wait for the next two spiked walls to move down before flying over, and for the third to move up before flying under. Past another pair of walls that slam shut and a spiked block you can fly over, make a landing on the square platform without spikes and switch to Monkey Form. Monkey Bullet off the top-right corner of the square, then jump from the lower-right wall up to the upper-left wall. Line up a Monkey Bullet to shoot you safely through the spiked passage on the right. After one more wave of Tinkerbats, use Harpy Form to fly past a pair of crushing walls, under one wall, over another wall, and through a set of three pairs of crushing walls. Wait for the first pair to open up, then hover in place between the pair as the second pair opens. Quickly get between the second pair before the first pair slams shut, and repeat for the third pair. Beyond this is a pair of spiked blocks that rotate counter-clockwise. Try flying underneath once one of the blocks comes down towards the lower-left and on it's way right. Stay low to pass by one more spiked block once it moves up. Just beyond the lone flying Tinkerbat is a break room with a Save Sage and some jars with Big Hearts to top off your life guage. If there's anything else you still want to take care of, now or in the future, it is still possible to use Sky's Whistle to return to Scuttle Town, and use the Warp Dance to return to this spot on a future visit. Once you're ready, head right and prepare to do battle... HARD CORE MODE: The spiked walls shift and crush more quickly. Take it slow while flying under the last pair of rotating spiked blocks, but now too slow. Two Tinkerbat Fliers will be waiting by the exit. Use Harpy Talon to pick them off from afar if possible. * BOSS: Risky Boots * It's been too long since Shantae has got to fight Risky one-on-one like this. At least a good 15 years, eh? Anyway... Risky starts the fight jumping high into the air three times. She then stops and runs to one side before readying her pistol and shooting a single shot straight ahead, then follows up with a quick 3-way shot. The single shot sticks to the opposite wall and explodes shortly afterward, doing heavy damage unless you're on the other side of the room. Duck under the single shots while whipping Risky up close, and duck or jump the 3-way shots from a distance, or jump over her head right before she fires. After that, Risky will charge up a sword dash that must be jumped over. She'll take about one second to charge before slashing, and will do this three times. This is one of Risky's strongest attacks, doing two hearts of damage if it connects. If you have trouble timing your jumps over her sword dash, try using magic that lets you hover in midair, like the Flamethrower or Super Mega Puff. After the sword dashes, Risky high-jumps three more times, stops to run to one side, and jumps high up to fire a 3-way shot from above. After two more jumps, a 3-way shot from the ground, and another two jumps, Risky whips out her cannon, sending shots down from one side to another you must dodge between. Following the cannon attack, Risky crashes down a couple times on a giant anchor. Watch for it's shadow on the ground and move to safety, then whip her from the side. Risky will then swing back and forth on her anchor up above, tossing bombs that explode into columns of flame, all while Tinkerbats jump in from the background and foreground in pairs. Super Pike Ball / Scimitar magic will take out the Tinkerbats and let you focus on dodging Risky's firebombs. Eventually she will parachute back down into the fray and her routine will repeat. Bubble / Mirror magic will work on all of Risky's pistol and cannon shots, as well as her firebombs AND the columns of flame they leave behind. Get in your licks when Risky is holding relatively still, and you'll eventually give Little Miss Bossy Boots the ol' heave-ho. Though naturally, it's not over until the pirate lady sings. HARD CORE MODE: Risky follows a slightly different pattern. Two jumps, run aside, jumping 3-way shot, one jump, run aside, explosive shot, 3-way shot, three sword dashes, two jumps, 3-way shot, one jump, run aside, jumping 3-way shot, one jump, 3-way shot, one jump, 3-way shot, two jumps, run aside, two sword dashes, jumping 3-way shot, two jumps, then the cannonballs, anchor slams, and firebombs with Tinkerbats before parachuting down from above. * BOSS: Tinkerbrain * This fight has two phases. First, switch to Monkey Form and keep moving in one direction to charge one of the screws on the Tinkerbrain's eyes. The red portion will start to fill green, leading up to the eye and eventually short it out. At that time, five energy sources will rise up from the floor. Switch out of Monkey Form and attack them one at a time until they are fully lit up. You should be able to get 2 or 3 before they retreat. Return to Monkey Form, short out the eye again and attack the remaining power sources. Once they're all lit up, the eye that was shorted out will be destroyed. Repeat this process for the second eye: moving left for the right eye, or vice-versa. Watch for the Tinkerbrain's attacks during all this: laser pillars will come down from either side and give chase, just run in the opposite direction. Gears will also bounce in from the background, sometimes in sets of three. Stop to jump over them in Monkey Form when they get close. The power sources themselves also give off shocks that can hit you if you're between any active pair, but this shouldn't be a problem if you keep moving and don't attack the sources out of order. Once both eyes are gone, Phase 2 begins. HARD CORE MODE: The power sources take fewer hits to light up, but don't stay up nearly as long. With maxed-out hair, you'll be able to safely get up to two lit up before they give off shocks between all sources, regardless of whether they're lit up. These shocks are instant death unless you have Bikini Armor: even then you'll be out eight hearts if you're caught. Consider using Bat Form to safely cross between sources and Elephant Stomps to hit a power source from above. Five enemies will now float in place around the Tinkerbrain. Wait until one of their shields disappears, then whip them a couple of times to turn them into an energy ball. Now wait until a gap is exposed in the red shield surrounding the Tinkerbrain. Whip the energy ball to send it through the gap and into the Tinkerbrain in the background. The Tinkerbrain itself won't attack at this point. You need to watch out for attacks coming from the floating enemies when they raise their hands. If the energy between their hands is black, they will send dark shockwaves that travel quickly across the ground, or shoot spreads of standard bullets aiming down if the energy is white. Bubble magic will take care of the spread shots or you can stand off to the side, but you must jump over the shockwaves. They do two hearts of damage if they connect, so watch for them to appear at anytime from any one of the flying enemies when they raise their hands, including those in the background. Once you've connected with 10 energy balls, the Tinkerbrain will tap out. Now it's time to escape! HARD CORE MODE: The outermost bullets on the floating enemies' spread shots travel farther and can hit you from a decent distance. Give yourself more room against a floating enemy when it glows white. * Risky's Hideout: The Escape * The following escape sequence plays out like the slide section from Mermaid Falls. Nothing to attack though, just jumping over pits and gears. The hardest part here will be catching the hooks as they zoom by on the conveyors to cross the bottomless pits that cannot be jumped over by yourself. If you fall, or are caught by the wall of fire coming in from the left, you'll start this section over. Thus there's more on the line here if you're speedrunning. The gears aren't as big of a worry. If you hit one, it won't stop you for long. Here's a breakdown of the escape route's obstacles: Three small jumps, four small jumps, one gear, one gear, one big jump (the fire wall starts coming in here from the left), one gear, then conveyor hooks over two pairs of gears. Three big jumps, then conveyor hooks you must grab on to ride past a pit. Grab one, and be ready to jump to another hook on the next set below. Three pairs of gears, three big jumps. A small jump and a big jump. Then another small jump and a big jump. One last conveyor hook to grab and ride across the last pit into the clear. CONGRATS! You're a full-bodied Half-Genie Hero! {{{ 3. Endings and Unlockables }}} *** [3a] - Hero Shantae Mode *** Upon beating the game for the first time, you'll also unlock Hero Shantae Mode. Beginning a new game in this mode starts Shantae with all the main dances. This includes: Monkey, Crab, Elephant, Mouse, Harpy. *** [3b] - Ending Pictures *** Upon beating the game, you'll be presented with one of four bonus pictures after the credits based on your clear time and item collection: 1. Finish the game 2. Finish the game with 100% items 3. Finish the game with 100% items within 4 hours 4. Finish the game within 2 hours These pictures can be viewed in the Scuttle Town Art Gallery in Room #1 once you have met the unlocking requirements listed above. Unlock criteria can be met on any game mode. Unlocking pictures 2, 3, or 4 will place one of three stars under that mode on the file select screen. {{{ 4. Item Location List }}} The following list details the locations of each item separate from the main walkthrough. Most of these are optional, but those that are required to finish the game will be marked with by their names. ---Scuttle Town Square--- * 1 Heart Holder * 1 Scrap Metal * Mermaid Bubble ---Main Street--- * 2 Heart Holders * 1 Scrap Metal * Monkey Bullet * Green Stone * Waterfall Relic ---Mermaid Falls--- * 2 Heart Holders * 2 Scrap Metals * 3 Gallery Keys * 7 Sunken Souls * Mermaid Dance * Crab Claw * Bat Dance * Harpy Talon ---Tassel Town--- * 4 Heart Holders * 4 Gallery Keys * 3 Sunken Souls * Spider Dance * Elephant Stomp * Mouse Bite ---Cape Crustacean--- * 2 Heart Holders * 3 Gallery Keys * 1 Scrap Metal * Red Stone * Spider Venom ---Hypno Baron's Castle--- * 1 Heart Holder * Bat Sonar *** [4a] - Scuttle Town Square Items *** * Heart Holder * After clearing Mermaid Falls, a thin woman will appear near the entrance to Sky's Hatchery. Trade her a Monster Egg for the Heart Holder. Monster Eggs are dropped from Birdmen in Tassel Town, and Nagas in Mermaid Falls after beating the Giga Mermaid. * Scrap Metal * Do an Elephant Stomp on the blue flower at the far left of town to unearth the Scrap Metal. * Mermaid Bubble * After clearing Hypno Baron's Castle, enter the third body of water in Main Street 1 as a Mermaid to swim into a pipe leading into a cave with the Adventure Man. Talk to him to get the Vorpal Blade, then trade this to the Azure Knight in the Scuttle Town Item Shop for the Foxy Grandma Hat. Trade this to Grandma Blobfish towards the right end of town for the Mermaid Bubble. *** [4b] - Main Street Items *** --Main Street 1-- * Heart Holder 1 * At the first body of water, use Crab Form to dive down and enter the pipe on the left, which leads into a cave with a chest holding the Heart Holder. * Green Stone * At the second body of water, use Crab Form to dive down and enter the pipe on the right that leads to a cave with a warp door. Through the door is a room with a chest containing the Green Stone. --Main Street 2-- * Heart Holder 2 * Towards the top of the wall left of the stairway is a thin dark-colored spot. This is a secret passage that can be entered with Monkey Form to reach a chest holding the Heart Holder. * Monkey Bullet * Use Monkey Form to climb over the wall at the top of the first stairway with two big gem jugs atop it. On the other side is a warp door leading into a room with a chest containing the Monkey Bullet. * Scrap Metal * Towards the end of this area is a blue flower hidden under a pile of five purple blocks. Attack the blocks to clear them away, then use an Elephant Stomp on the flower hidden under them to unearth the Scrap Metal. * Waterfall Relic * At the beginning of this area, use Harpy Form to fly straight up as high as possible, to a chest containing the Waterfall Relic in the top-left of this area. *** [4c] - Mermaid Falls Items *** --Mermaid Falls 1-- * Sunken Soul 1 * Use Crab Form to enter the very first body of water and get the Sunken Soul below. * Scrap Metal 1 * Elephant Stomp the blue flower at the beginning of this area to unearth the Scrap Metal. * Mermaid Dance * Inside the warp door just below the area exit in the upper right, use Elephant Form inside to shove the block with a square design aside. Inside the chest behind the other door is the Mermaid Dance. * Gallery Key 1 * Use Mermaid Form to enter the water from the right side of this area. Swim down, right, and up into a nook above water with a chest containing the Gallery Key. * Sunken Soul 2 * Use Crab Form to dive into the water just left of the waterfall in the bottom middle of the main open area. Dive straight down, then use Crab Claw to snip through the grass blocks on the right and reach the Sunken Soul. * Sunken Soul 3 * Use Mermaid Form to dive into the water just left of the waterfall in the bottom middle of the main open area. From there, swim down, left, and up to reach the Sunken Soul in a nook towards the top-left of the underwater area. * Sunken Soul 4 * Use Mermaid Form to swim towards the bottom-middle of the underwater area, and use Mermaid Bubbles to break through the blocks surrounding the Sunken Soul. * Heart Holder 1 * Towards the lower-right corner of the underwater area, use Mermaid Bubbles to break through the big block and enter the sewer pipe to the right. In the next room, use the Waterfall Relic to ride the waterfall up into another room with a chest holding the Heart Holder. * Harpy Talon * Ride the waterfall in the bottom-middle of this area up into a small room with a warp door. Inside the door is a room with a chest containing the Harpy Talon. * Gallery Key 2 * In the upper-left part of this area is a thin platform sticking out of a stone wall, just left of the platform with a Naga between two gem jugs. Stand onto the thin platform and use Bat Form to hover to the right, through a narrow passage in the upper-right corner of this area. Clear away the purple blocks and use Mouse Form to navigate the maze up and to the left, riding the moving platforms to the left, into the maze inside the stone wall. Go down, left, then exit up into the small room with a chest containing the Gallery Key. * Heart Holder 2 * From Gallery Key 2's location listed above, re-enter the maze and go left, down, and ride another platform to another maze on the right. At the end of this maze, ride another platform to another maze on the right. Go down and right, then exit up into the closed area with a gem jug and a chest holding the Heart Holder. --Mermaid Falls 2-- * Sunken Soul 5 * Use Crab Form to dive into the body of water closest to the left in the wide open area. Use Crab Claw to snip through the grass blocks in the narrow passage on the left and reach the Sunken Soul on the other side. * Sunken Soul 6 * Use Crab Form to dive into the body of water second from the right in the first area, just right of the first blue flower. Head left from the bottom to reach the Sunken Soul. * Crab Claw * In the lower-right corner of the wide-open area, use Elephant Form to smash through the purple blocks and reach Grandma Blobfish in the room on the other side. Monkey Bullet off the upper-left wall in her room to reach her. Talk to her and accept her offer to find her missing kids, then she will give you the Crab Claw. * Bat Dance * Towards the upper-left corner of the wide-open area, use Monkey Form to climb up the wall, then Monkey Bullet to another wall on the right and reach a platform with a huge gem jug. Keep climbing up and you'll reach a warp door. Inside is a room with a chest containing the Bat Dance. * Scrap Metal 2 * Elephant Stomp the blue flower at the beginning of the wide open area to unearth the Scrap Metal. * Sunken Soul 7 * In the wide open area, enter the water using Mermaid Form and swim towards the bottom-right. Use Mermaid Bubbles to break the block and get the Sunken Soul on the other side. * Gallery Key 3 * Elephant Stomp through the big purple block towards the right end of the second floor of the wide open area to reach the chest containing the Gallery Key. *** [4d] - Tassel Town Items *** --Tassel Town 1-- * Sunken Soul 1 * At the first body of water, use Crab Form to dive under and find the Sunken Soul at the bottom. * Spider Dance * About halfway through this area is a warp door. Enter into the next room, then switch to Elephant Form and jump up to the platform on the right. The winds won't be able to push you back as an Elephant, so keep going right into the next warp door. Inside is a room with a chest containing the Spider Dance. * Sunken Soul 2 * Enter the second body of water in Mermaid Form, then swim down to the big block on the left. Use Mermaid Bubbles to break through to swim up and left to reach the Sunken Soul just above the sewer pipe nearby. * Sunken Soul 3 * About halfway through this area is a big purple block in the floor. Use an Elephant Stomp to break it away, then switch to Crab Form to dive in through the narrow passage underneath. The Sunken Soul is down below. * Heart Holder 1 * Just to the left of Sunken Soul 3 listed above is a sewer pipe. Use Crab Form to enter the pipe and navigate the narrow zigzag path lined with statue heads shooting fire. At the bottom, enter the sewer pipe on the right to find a chest holding the Heart Holder. --Tassel Town 2-- * Elephant Stomp * After clearing Tassel Town, a man can be found here at the base of the tower. Talk to him to receive the Elephant Stomp. * Gallery Key 1 * Climb the tower until you see a chest sealed off in a small room. Use Mouse Form to navigate the maze-like tunnel nearby to the other side with the chest that has the Gallery Key. * Gallery Key 2 * Continue climbing the tower until you see a big blue box in the right wall next to a few chains. Use Elephant Form to shove the box aside and access the chest containing the Gallery Key on the other side. * Gallery Key 3 * Look for a sandstone block on a purple platform just below the hook you need to be a Monkey to reach towards the top of the tower. Whip it to the left off the platform, then left again off the purple platform below, then left again off the next purple platform, then to the right off the next purple platform. The sandstone block will fall near a statue head below. Whip it towards the head, then Elephant Charge from atop the block and through the head into a secret area. There are four big blocks in this room you must use Elephant Charges to shove aside so they connect together with the maze-like path in the lower-right, from right to left. First: shove the lowest block all the way to the right. Second: the middle-right block goes left, falls down and goes right. Third: the top block goes right, falls down, goes left, falls down and goes right. Finally: the middle-left block goes right, falls down and goes right. With all the blocks connected, use Mouse Form to navigate this maze going right and leading down to a chest with the Gallery Key. * Heart Holder 2 * Just above the hook you need to be a Monkey to reach towards the top of the tower, use Elephant Form to smash through the statue head in the wall on the left, then use Mouse Form to navigate the maze and reach the chest holding the Heart Holder. * Mouse Bite * Look for a warp door closed off in a small room towards the top of the tower. Use Mouse Form to navigate the nearby maze and reach the warp door on the other side. Inside is a room with a chest containing the Mouse Bite. * Heart Holder 3 * At the top of the tower next to this area's exit with the spike walls on each side, use Spider Form to shoot a web up towards the center of the screen. You should catch a platform up above. Move off to the right and catch the next platform with a web as you fall. Climb left atop the first platform and climb the rest of the way up with Monkey Form, over the platforms, up the wall to the right, and to the left where there is a chest holding the Heart Holder. You can also fly up there using Harpy Form. --Tassel Town 3-- * Gallery Key 4 * Towards the beginning of this area is a chest on one of three platforms. Starting from the platform on the right, use Monkey Form to run off the platform, then quickly hold back towards the edge of the platform as you fall. You should catch the side of the platform. Now you can Monkey Bullet to the left and catch the edge of the second platform. Do this again from the left side of the second platform to reach the chest on the third platform that has the Gallery Key. You could also use Bat Form to hover across. * Heart Holder 4 * About halfway through this area is a second chest. Use Monkey Form to jump up and cling to the brown platform closest to the chest. Then quickly Monkey Bullet from the side over to the narrow passage leading to the chest. Climb up and through to reach the chest holding the Heart Holder. You could also use Bat Form from atop the platform to hover through the gap to the right. *** [4e] - Cape Crustacean Items *** --Cape Crustacean 2-- * Gallery Key 1 * Inside the first ship with black floor hatches, use an Elephant Stomp to smash through the blocks above the chest containing the Gallery Key. * Gallery Key 2 * Inside the second ship with black floor hatches, use Monkey Form to take cover under the floating platform once the moving lightning rod goes towards the far left. Once it comes back right and sweeps under the platform, hop up to the chest that holds the Gallery Key. * Heart Holder 1 * Inside the third ship with black floor hatches, do a Monkey Bullet off the side of the platform the door inside sits on as soon as the lightning rods turn off. On the other side is a chest holding the Heart Holder. --Cape Crustacean 3-- * Red Stone * Past the first breakable box in the upper-right and beyond the soldiers on the other side, jump onto the midair platform with the gem jug between a pair of spiked walls below. Use Spider Form to jump and shoot a web up to catch a platform off-screen, pulling you up to a hidden room. Use Monkey Form to climb up to the door above. Inside is a chest containing the Red Stone. You can also use Harpy Form to fly up into this room. * Heart Holder 2 * Along the right side of the wide open room with several Grenadiers towards the end of this area are three metal boxes. Use Elephant Form to shove the top one on the left to the right and down below. Then shove the box on the right to the left and down below, stacking atop the first box. Now shove aside the third box inside the wall into a secret room. Use Monkey Bullet to cross between the tall moving platforms and dash across the spikes to the other side where there is a chest holding the Heart Holder. * Scrap Metal * Between the first and second breakable boxes, in the lower-right corner of the room past a moving laser beam between two stationary beams, drop through the thin platform and Elephant Stomp the blue flower to the left to unearth the Scrap Metal. * Gallery Key 3 * From the Scrap Metal's location listed above, go right into the next room full of water. Use Mermaid Form to dive into the water. Swim right, up and over onto the blue floor. Swim up the waterfall on the left, then the waterfall closest to you the right. Now take the waterfall on the far right, then the waterfall to the left just below, which will put you by a chest with the Gallery Key inside. * Spider Venom * Past the second breakable box in this area is a narrow passage in a wall beyond some Soldiers down and to the left. Use Monkey Form to crawl through into a warp door. The room inside is dark. Use Bat Form and Bat Sonar to safely cross. First, float over towards a floating platform over the spikes. Jump on and float a little to the right. Exit Bat Form when you see the next platform below you. Switch back and float over to the right, under some spikes. Switch back when under another platform, jump up to the nearby platform up to the right, and to the next platform on the left where the gem jug sits. Switch to Bat Form and float to the right. Exit Bat Form once you're over another gem jug and drop down. Enter Bat Form, float to the right, and exit Bat Form over the next gem jug. Float right to the next platform, and switch back to jump up to the nearby platform where the next gem jug is. Finally, switch to Bat Form to hover to the far right wall, then switch back and drop down. Slowly go left, then right once you fall. In the next room is a chest with the Spider Venom inside. *** [4f] - Hypno Baron's Castle Items *** --Hypno Baron's Castle 1-- * Heart Holder * From the start of this area, go right and into the door in the wall. Climb down the pair of chains to the right, and continue right through another door in a wall. Past this door, climb up the nearby chain and go right through one more door in the wall. You'll be in a room with a chest holding the Heart Holder. * Bat Sonar * From the start of this area, go right and into the door in the wall. Use Harpy Form to fly up, right, and up through a hole in the roof of the castle. From there, go left into a warp door atop the roof. Inside is a room with a chest containing the Bat Sonar. ~Fin