You might have an easier time with it, too
Fans are flying throughCuphead: The Delicious Last Course, and I don’t blame them — it’s been a long time coming, and the new bosses are an audio-visual treat, as expected. The urge to burn through the gauntlet and circle back around to improve the grades is high.
That said, it pays to take it slow and appreciate the finer details. One of them, a secret alternate boss phase in theCupheadDLC, is low-key blowing my mind for a few reasons.
First off, it’s been a while; I forgot that alternate boss patterns wereeven on the menuforCuphead. Naturally, Studio MDHR would carry it forward forThe Delicious Last Course, right?
While I’m not sure what else is lurking out there (I’ve seen… some stuff, but I’m sure there’s more), players havediscovered at least one neat secretthat I never would’ve found on my own. Even if you know how to trigger it, it’s a little tricky to pull off.
Spoilers below
The boss in question isThe Howling Acesin “Doggone Dogfight.”
Rather than pilot a plane (like in the shmup bosses), you fight on top of one.
Here’s how the boss fight normally goes:
As it turns out, there’s a secret third phase for thisCupheadDLC boss.
Here’s how to activate it
In the second phase, instead of unceremoniously gunning down the jetpack dogs, you can whittle down their health until they’re all nearly knocked out. The keyword: nearly.
The trick is to shoot the dogs just enough so thattheir smoke trails turn from white to gray— but if you push it too far, they’ll spiral off the screen. I have a tip.
I’ve had the best results with theChargeshot. Try to fully power up your shots andhit each of the jetpack dogsonce, then hit them all again with a singleweaker, non-charged shot. That should do just enough damage to turn the exhaust gray without overdoing it.
There’s a lot of chaos, so it’s ideal to know precisely how many shots you need to take.
The Howling Aces’ secret alternate phase
Thanks to your extra effort in the second phase, instead of dealing with lasers and screen-flipping shenanigans in the final round, you’ll have a (comparatively) calmer time.
With the alternate phase, you mostly just have to worry about pineapples (try not to shoot them!) while you focus your shots on the ring leader, who pops up in different spots.
If you can play methodically, it’s easier than the default path. Neat game!
