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How did anyone seriously think this thing was fair or challenging?
It directly breaks the rules of the game world by healing for the full value of its hits; you are limited to a TINY portion of the damage you do, at best.
It is able to change direction and home in on you while doing a charge attack; just more outright cheating. :-E

The thing also ignores all stagger and stun, can attack in rapid succession, much like the character and can REMOVE magic that you put down.
It doesn't require any recovery time to cast magic, being able to constantly spam it.
Oh and it can summon a bunch of shadows which have LOTS of heath, so it can heal up for free by attacking them.

I can't believe anyone thought this cheaty shit was a good idea!
Even on normal, this thing is nearly impossible to kill! GRRR!
Post edited November 04, 2015 by ast486
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ast486: How did anyone seriously think this thing was fair or challenging?
It directly breaks the rules of the game world by healing for the full value of its hits; you are limited to a TINY portion of the damage you do, at best.
It is able to change direction and home in on you while doing a charge attack; just more outright cheating. :-E

The thing also ignores all stagger and stun, can attack in rapid succession, much like the character and can REMOVE magic that you put down.
It doesn't require any recovery time to cast magic, being able to constantly spam it.
Oh and it can summon a bunch of shadows which have LOTS of heath, so it can heal up for free by attacking them.

I can't believe anyone thought this cheaty shit was a good idea!
Even on normal, this thing is nearly impossible to kill! GRRR!
If you're playing on NG+ like I did, killing the Caretaker proves quite the challenge. Although I managed to kill him with no problems. Just use fast attacks and roll, use Aard every now and then (he sometimes staggers). And focus on the shadows he spawns. I swear they don't have much health.
You can kill all the shadows yourself, before he kills them and thus keep him from healing this way.
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ast486: How did anyone seriously think this thing was fair or challenging?
It directly breaks the rules of the game world by healing for the full value of its hits; you are limited to a TINY portion of the damage you do, at best.
It is able to change direction and home in on you while doing a charge attack; just more outright cheating. :-E

The thing also ignores all stagger and stun, can attack in rapid succession, much like the character and can REMOVE magic that you put down.
It doesn't require any recovery time to cast magic, being able to constantly spam it.
Oh and it can summon a bunch of shadows which have LOTS of heath, so it can heal up for free by attacking them.

I can't believe anyone thought this cheaty shit was a good idea!
Even on normal, this thing is nearly impossible to kill! GRRR!
I was really frustrated with this as well until I realised there is a pattern or sequence to when to hit this guy and when to run. You have to observe him and see when is the time to hit effectively. Once I realised all the bosses in HoS have their own pattern, it became easy. You have to just watch and see when is the right timing. A lot of wether it's easier or harder also depends on what weapon, armour and skill build you have. I played on "normal" on v1.10 and didn't have much trouble with the bosses. The shadows I killed one hit. I found it just challenging enough to be fun and not too enraging. Have fun! :)

(I find rolling away more effective than dodging.)
Post edited November 04, 2015 by CyniclyPink
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. :-)
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CyniclyPink: I was really frustrated with this as well until I realised there is a pattern or sequence to when to hit this guy and when to run. You have to observe him and see when is the time to hit effectively. Once I realised all the bosses in HoS have their own pattern, it became easy. You have to just watch and see when is the right timing. A lot of wether it's easier or harder also depends on what weapon, armour and skill build you have. I played on "normal" on v1.10 and didn't have much trouble with the bosses. The shadows I killed one hit. I found it just challenging enough to be fun and not too enraging. Have fun! :)

(I find rolling away more effective than dodging.)
I figured this out after awhile as well, so he is beatable... which is why I changed my initial 'hes impossible' to 'near impossible'.

I maintain, however that this guy is ridiculously bad... as in badly designed, because he can ONLY be beaten by utilizing built in pauses where he is literally unable to do anything.
You CAN'T fight this boss head to head, which is crap because you can fight EVERYTHING in the main game head to head... even the enemy generals, spellcasters and giant monsters.

Think about it... this opponent without those ridiculously long recovery times, would be literally invulnerable because of healing the full amount that he does in damage, with each and every hit, along with all his other strengths and immunities.
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Santiago: You can kill all the shadows yourself, before he kills them and thus keep him from healing this way.
this.
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Santiago: You can kill all the shadows yourself, before he kills them and thus keep him from healing this way.
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ReadR00ster: this.
Actually killing the shadows is a bad idea, because he ignores your attacks on his back, while walking over to attack them.
This is how I ended up killing him.
Post edited November 05, 2015 by ast486
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ast486: Thanks for the suggestions, guys. :-)
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CyniclyPink: I was really frustrated with this as well until I realised there is a pattern or sequence to when to hit this guy and when to run. You have to observe him and see when is the time to hit effectively. Once I realised all the bosses in HoS have their own pattern, it became easy. You have to just watch and see when is the right timing. A lot of wether it's easier or harder also depends on what weapon, armour and skill build you have. I played on "normal" on v1.10 and didn't have much trouble with the bosses. The shadows I killed one hit. I found it just challenging enough to be fun and not too enraging. Have fun! :)

(I find rolling away more effective than dodging.)
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ast486: I figured this out after awhile as well, so he is beatable... which is why I changed my initial 'hes impossible' to 'near impossible'.

I maintain, however that this guy is ridiculously bad... as in badly designed, because he can ONLY be beaten by utilizing built in pauses where he is literally unable to do anything.
You CAN'T fight this boss head to head, which is crap because you can fight EVERYTHING in the main game head to head... even the enemy generals, spellcasters and giant monsters.

Think about it... this opponent without those ridiculously long recovery times, would be literally invulnerable because of healing the full amount that he does in damage, with each and every hit, along with all his other strengths and immunities.
Of course you can kill him head to head. He does a few specific attack types. Only a few are 'area' attacks, and there are many where you can sustain dodge and strike tactics. With Quen up his hit doesn't cause damage and provides no healing. So getting in close is largely risk free.

I'd say that killing his health-packs is useful, but not to the extent of missing opportunities to directly attack him with Whirl. Take out around half of them and then concentrate on adding damage.
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Lieste: Of course you can kill him head to head. He does a few specific attack types. Only a few are 'area' attacks, and there are many where you can sustain dodge and strike tactics. With Quen up his hit doesn't cause damage and provides no healing. So getting in close is largely risk free.

I'd say that killing his health-packs is useful, but not to the extent of missing opportunities to directly attack him with Whirl. Take out around half of them and then concentrate on adding damage.
^This
Honestly, for me this was probably one of the most fun fights in the expansion :) I had some trouble with him at first, but once you figure out a good strategy, it's not that hard.
For me the key was keeping up quen at all times (avoid losing health at all costs) and nightwraith decoction to avoid getting stunned. Attack when he gets his shovel stuck (1-2 strikes), jump away, quen up again, repeat until dead...
Felt immensely satisfying, really, once it was over, can't wait to meet him again in the next playthrough...
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ReadR00ster: this.
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ast486: Actually killing the shadows is a bad idea, because he ignores your attacks on his back, while walking over to attack them.
This is how I ended up killing him.
I think if you hit one you kill all of them, or all of the ones nearby. It was the only way I could keep him from healing himself completely.
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ast486: Actually killing the shadows is a bad idea, because he ignores your attacks on his back, while walking over to attack them.
This is how I ended up killing him.
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ReadR00ster: I think if you hit one you kill all of them, or all of the ones nearby. It was the only way I could keep him from healing himself completely.
I tried killing them instead, but that doesn't work. He just insta spawns more as soon as the previous ones die.
You have to hit each of them in turn btw. they don't die as a group.
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ReadR00ster: I think if you hit one you kill all of them, or all of the ones nearby. It was the only way I could keep him from healing himself completely.
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ast486: I tried killing them instead, but that doesn't work. He just insta spawns more as soon as the previous ones die.
You have to hit each of them in turn btw. they don't die as a group.
I don't know. I only played him once and it took me a while to figure out what was going on and why he was healing. I guess if you stay kid of close to him, he will attack you instead of the shadows, and as long as you don't get hit or have quen on, he won't heal. So kill the shadows near you quickly and don't stray to far where he starts attacking a bunch of shadows out in the distance. I guess that is the best strategy.
Beat this dude and all other bosses on death march. Just saying
:D

I felt the increased difficulty in the dlc was both deliberate and desirable. I agree that this boss bordered on" too hard. " But I liked that after having already played the game for dozens of hours.
Post edited November 07, 2015 by fjdgshdkeavd