[GameSpot] - How To Beat The Hunter Boss In Kena: Bridge Of Spirits

[343iBot]

The Hunter waits at the end of the Hunter's Path as you work your way through the relics for Toshi, the village leader, in Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Of the three bosses you'll face in this section of the game, this one will likely take the longest, thanks to the Hunter's ability to fly and dodge-heavy fighting style. Avoiding its long-range attacks is key, as is countering with the bow yourself--but if you know how to hit the boss, you can open it up for big damage and take the fight to him.

Unlike most other bosses, and similar to the others you'll face in this section of the game, the Hunter really only has one phase--which means if you get your tactics down early, you'll be able to handle the entire fight. The trick is recognizing and avoiding the Hunter's big attacks and taking advantage of the openings. Get used to trying to snipe the boss as much as possible, because you'll need a few good shots to his face in order to bring the fight to him.

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Abilities You Should Unlock Beforehand: Sprint Attack Heavy, Perfect Charge, Focus, Enter The Fray, Rot Hammer, Rot Arrow, Spirit Dash

What's tough about the Hunter is that the boss flies through the air for almost all of the fight and is very fluttery. It'll dodge your shots quite a bit, baiting you into taking aim and then moving quickly sideways to avoid your incoming shots. You're going to want to try to wait for the boss to take shots at you before you fire back in order to land any arrows. What kind of shot the boss takes is also important for when you fire your return volley, so watching and understanding what attacks are coming is key.

The main attack the Hunter will throw at you will see it briefly charging up a pink arrow and firing a series of rapid-fire shots in your direction. These are pretty easy to run from, but after a short break, the boss will fire one last blast of five arrows at once that will spread out horizontally toward you. You can dodge these too if you hit the timing right, but because of the spread, it's tougher to avoid them. Try to use the many trees in this area as cover to block the incoming shots and you should be able to avoid damage.

If you can manage it, hitting the boss with a headshot right after it fires this main volley can knock it out of the air, bringing it to the ground so you can close in and hit it with some melee strikes. When that happens, try to use Spirit Dash to close ground quickly and get in a big hit with Rot Hammer, as well as a couple of regular melee shots to charge your Courage. Be careful, though--after a few seconds, the boss will briefly glow red and then shoot back into the air, releasing a small explosion that will throw you if it hits you. Get in close, knock out a few hits, and then dodge away to avoid damage.

While the boss is flying, he'll do several other attacks that can be a pain to deal with. If the boss briefly stops but does not take aim, that means he's about to barrel toward you in a flying swoop move that's tough to avoid. You can dodge clear of this but he comes in very fast, so be on the lookout. The trouble with this move is that it's tough to anticipate because the boss will sometimes briefly stop and not attack, so you really need to be ready to get clear. Usually, the Hunter does this move at a certain distance--around 20-30 yards away--so if he's at midrange and not moving, he's probably preparing a swoop.

There are two other arrow attacks the boss will send your way and you really want to watch for them for opportunities to get in hits. The first charged attack will see him aiming straight at you. This shot will come to you and explode, so you need to dodge clear, but if you can either fire right before or right after the Hunter fires and hit him with a headshot, he'll drop out of the air and open himself up for damage. This is a tough one for timing, because dodging away to avoid damage can mean you'll miss your chance. Try to dodge forward rather than sideways in this case, as it'll give you more of a chance to run over and hit the boss with either a Heavy Sprint attack or a Sprint Dash.

The other charged attack leaves the boss open for significantly longer. He'll aim the arrow straight down, and when it hits, it'll release a purple globe of energy that expands outwards toward you. The boss is open for a long time during this attack, and with a headshot, you can cancel it and turn it into an attack opportunity. If the boss does fire, you can Spirit Dash through the energy field and still usually follow up with a quick shot to the Hunter's face to bring him down.

If the boss comes to the ground, be on your guard. He'll do this in two cases--sometimes he'll just drop and either take aim at you for a rapid-fire strike or rush you with a close-range dagger. It's easy to lose track of the boss when this happens, so keep your eyes open and your shield ready. The Hunter will also sometimes shoot straight up into the air and disappear above. This means he's preparing a strike where he comes straight down on your head with an area-of-effect burst you can dodge away from, which he'll follow up with several melee strikes that are very tough to avoid. Watch for a marker on the ground that signifies where the boss will drop, dodge away, and ready for a parry. The first attack in the melee combo is the slowest and easiest to time, with the boss winding up for a long while before striking you. But he'll follow up with two more faster strikes that are much tougher to block. If you can parry that first strike, you can stop this whole attack group; if not, try to dodge and block through it and don't worry about counter-attacks.

There's one last thing to keep an eye out for--traps. Scattered around the arena, particularly in the back corners near the healing items, are pink laser beams you've seen in the village in your run-up to this battle. They'll trap you in a forcefield if you trigger one, which can leave you open to attack, but they're easy to escape with a Spirit Dash. You can also just Spirit Dash straight through the trip lines themselves to trigger the traps without getting caught in them. There aren't many of them, but when you're running around trying to avoid the boss's attacks, they can be a problem.

Keep on the move and use cover to stay alive in this fight, and watch for your openings. Your whole goal here is to land headshots at the right moments, so don't bother shooting the boss when it's moving and instead try to counter and cancel its attacks. If you're quick and use your opportunities well, you'll ground the Hunter once and for all.

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