GUIDE TO THE DEVOURER IN AETERNA NOCTIS

I’ve started playing Aeterna Noctis and the truth is that at the moment I’m really liking it and that’s why I’m bringing you its first guide.

It is a Metroidvania created by Aeternum Game Studio (a Spanish indie studio) with a fairly platform component in which we can decide if we want to play in a calmer way (Aeterna mode) or the way that many of us usually choose because we are a little masochists; yes, the hardcore mode (Noctis mode), which is what I’m playing at the moment (although one day I’ll try the Aeterna mode to see how it goes).

The case, that I bring you the guide of the first boss: The Devourer . It must be said that to be the first boss that we meet in our adventure, it is quite complicated (at least in Noctis mode). Nor would I say that the difficulty is crazy, but to be the first… well, things start strong. Anyway, if it’s giving you problems, you’ll see how with this guide things become more bearable, let’s go there!

Keep in mind that below you will have the guide for his second encounter, which will be much later in the game.

THE DEVOURER IN EAST WALL

Let’s start with the first encounter, which will be the first boss of Aeterna Noctis.

LOCATION

We will find the Devourer in the East Wall (Páramos de los Caídos, the first map), specifically on level 1 (which is the lower level), in the room that I have marked green in the photo. Getting to this area is not complicated at all, you will find it if you go all the time to the East (right) from Famished City (which is where our adventure begins).

You will reach an area where you will have to climb a lot of platforms (it is what I have marked with the green arrow) and when you reach the top you will be able to enter the large area that you see on the right of the photo.

ATTACK GUIDE

These are the Devourer’s attacks, combat has no phases:

• Platform Attack : Lava or something like that will appear on the ground (whatever it is, but if you fall there it will hurt you) while the Devourer will be on the ceiling in the central part without doing anything. We will have to move between some platforms that will go up (be careful because the ceiling will also have lava) while we try to hit the boss. It is one of the easiest attacks to carry in my opinion, it will be enough for you to move between platforms to hit it and when you are about to reach the roof you go to one of the platforms below and so on.
• Spiral Attack: Without a doubt the worst attack of all the ones he has in his kit, but… he has a trick. It will basically stay static on the ground and have kind of eyes that leave a big trail behind it orbiting around it that are very annoying. The idea is that you hit him while trying to avoid his eyes; I know it seems impossible because there are everywhere and the pattern is very erratic, but the trick of this is that the only thing that really damages us is the eye itself (the red part); that is to say, that great black trail is merely decorative, it does not harm you. Another trick that you can do (it worked for me before discovering the black wake issue) is to hit him hard (even if they are hitting your eyes) as if there were no tomorrow because the boss will be throwing potions at us in the meantime and we will be able to more or less (we will lose health) hold the guy while in turn we hit him the beating of his life. I know it sounds a bit suicidal, but it really worked for me.
• Horizontal Attack : This is another one of the attacks that shouldn’t give you too much trouble. The Devourer will perch on a side wall of the screen while a bunch of those eyes (same here for the black trail, it doesn’t deal damage) move horizontally across the screen. The idea is that you position yourself just below the boss to hit him and when an eye comes that is going to hit you, you dodge it, then go back on the offensive and so on.
• Eye Launch : And we end with an attack that, while not the worst, is somewhat annoying. In this one he will launch one of those eyes towards us (you dodge it with the dash) and after hitting the ground it will be created as a small explosion from which smaller eyes will come out in all directions (you will have to find the hole, if you are far away better, it worked for me to do the dash to avoid the eye that throws you and then do a small jump to avoid the eyes that come after). Here you will not be able to attack him, it is the bad thing.

BATTLE TIPS

We continue with a few tips that I think you should keep in mind:

• The issue of not seeing the life of the boss may seem somewhat chaotic, but there is a way to intuit more or less the life that he has left. Note that when you hit the numbers they sometimes come out in different colors … well, this is Aeterna Noctis’s way of telling us more or less how much life the enemies have (I don’t know the exact formula, but my theory is that it goes like this):
  • White: He has more than 66% of his life left.
  • Yellow: He has between 33% and 66% of his life left.
  • Red: Less than 33% health left.
• By giving x hits to the boss, he will drop a potion on us, something that we clearly must take advantage of. Be very attentive, let loose a few foolishly.
• Regarding build and others, for now we will go a little sparse, but for now as a priority you will need to increase your Weapon Damage and then your Critical Chance (less priority now, but important too). Forget Critical Damage because until you have a decent Critical Chance, you’re better off not investing in this stat.

Defeating him gives the feeling that we have not defeated him and instead he will run away, so if he appears again (right now I don’t know, but it looks like it) I will update this post.

RELATED REWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

This is the reward we will get for defeating him:

• We will unlock the first Vessel of Blood , which will allow us to heal with a system similar to that of the heal in Hollow Knight .

And in terms of achievements we have the following:

• I don’t like this place : We will obtain it by defeating him and continuing a little to the right, which is when we will leave Páramo de los Caídos.
• The Devourer Devoured : You have to make him a perfect, come on, kill him without giving you a single hit.
• Roadrunner : You have to defeat the Devourer in East Tower in less than 30 minutes from the start of the game.

THE DEVOURER IN WEST WALL

Much later in the game, we will have to face the Devourer again, but this time at the West Wall (and of course, it will be more powerful). We recommend that you do not go into this encounter until you have defeated the Forge Phoenix and the Cradle of Light Robot .

LOCATION

As we have already mentioned, it is located in the West Wall . Getting there will be very simple, you just have to go all the time to the left from the area where your game begins (where the store is, where the mirrors of the soul are delivered and all that).

Once you reach the West Wall, you will have to thoroughly investigate the entire area to get 6 keys that will allow you to access this new version of the Devourer. You will have to use these in the upper part of the area.

ATTACK GUIDE

Their attacks are generally the same; yes, quite powerful:

• Platforms Attack + : This time it will be the same except that the lava will be at the bottom and the platforms will rise very quickly. Hit him a little when you can and between the platforms below appearing, it was very good for me to hold down the ability of the crystal arrow (the teleport ones) to be able to see in slow motion if the platforms below appear and by the way teleport up to gain some height between them (between that, the dash and the double jump you will have to hold until they appear). To which they appear, well you come back, above all try to put a blow to it from time to time.
• Spiral Attack + : An attack that was already hateful before and is now even more so. It is possible to avoid it if we constantly throw the crystal arrow towards the ceiling (90th) and teleport a little before they hit us (you have to get the point, it costs a lot), this is repeated in each cycle of the attack. Be careful because first it starts in one direction and after a while the direction of the eyes will change (change in the clockwise direction). Honestly, it’s a horrible attack, which is why I used the “inelegant” trick again to defeat him, I’ll explain below.
• Horizontal Attack + : The same, it will throw eyes at us from the side of the screen, only this time it gets complicated. There’s a very simple way to avoid damage here, which is to shoot a crystal arrow at the ceiling (as close to the Devourer as you can, but not near the wall either), wait for the eyes to charge and when they pass by the crystal arrow you teleport so you don’t get hit. Then you put an arrow on the roof again and like that, it’s very easy.
• Eye Launch + : The same, it gets on the ceiling and throws eyes at us that, when they hit, smaller eyes come out in all directions. You will have to dodge it, it has no more. Dash to avoid eating the big eye and then sneak in as best you can in the hole left by the small eyes.
• Wall Attack : This is a new attack that luckily is not difficult to dodge. We will be “enclosed” on one side of the screen (we will have to stick to the wall) and if we fall to the ground we will receive damage. A kind of column will move to the opposite side to enclose us and damage us. You will have to go to the other side of the wall hitting the eyes on the ground to bounce (this will eliminate the column of fire that blocks your way), until you reach the other wall. From there, you repeat the process.

THE INELEGANT TRICK TO DEFEAT HIM

I’ll tell you how I defeated him in a very simple and inelegant way, but you know, in love and war all is fair. The problem is the spiral attack because avoiding everything is extremely complicated, the others can get along well and you will have to dodge them perfectly (and incidentally do some damage) because this strategy will only work if you are at maximum life or practically at maximum (it will depend much of how buffed you have your character).

Well you see, you will have to go with an extreme offensive build (the right part of the “talents” tree) because the idea is that when he starts with the spiral attack you start hitting him like there is no tomorrowand completely ignore the damage you will be receiving (full kamikaze). Of course, use the dark shield at some point to hold on a little longer, which will be a lot of damage you receive. If you do it right and go with the right build (right branch, yes or yes Critical Cut, good critical chance, some critical damage, all the weapon damage you can… etc) you will annihilate him. Be careful because even if you technically kill him, at this stage I think you can’t kill him completely (it’s like he dies when the attack ends even if you leave him with zero life, I think), yes or yes you will have to stay alive throughout the streak to achieve it.

ACHIEVEMENTS/TROPHIES/REWARDS

This is the reward we will get for defeating him at the West Wall:

• Soul Shard and Dark Material (to activate Dark Gems at the Blacksmith in the Forge).

And in terms of achievements we have the following:

• I’ve been here before : We will obtain it by defeating him, it consists of escaping from the Páramo de los Caídos again, this time on the West side.

Sure there are the typical ones to defeat him without taking damage and others, but I haven’t checked it yet.