Flame, the Lion Dance Grandmaster: boss guide

Full name from the Steam achievement "The Lion's Spirit Lives On": Flame, the Lion Dance Grandmaster Confirmed · Steam.

At a glance

How the fight goes

Phase one: the dance

He prances around the arena and lashes at you with a spiked mane, with fast head movements. Then he spews fire. Footage shows close-range fire blasts, burning ground, a ring of flame at his feet and, to close the phase, a row of tall fire columns across the arena.

The trainees and the pole sequence

He summons small lion-dance trainees to wear down your health. Previews say they die easily. After that the fight moves onto raised wooden poles: you jump from pole to pole, dodge his fireballs and fire your own back, using the lion masks the trainees leave behind. One preview adds that Soul eats lettuce to power up the attacks. When one of your fireballs lands, he falls and is stunned. We have not confirmed which phase this belongs to.

Phase two: the Final Dance

The name plate changes to "The Lion Dance Grandmaster's Final Dance" after the fire columns. The reports call it a fireball of a finale. We have no reliable move-by-move description of it yet.

How to beat Flame

• Bring something that counters fire. Two previews say the right Phantom Edge (or, in one, a water-type weapon) extinguishes his flames and puts him at a disadvantage.
• In the official State of Play footage the player fights from his flank, close to the body, rather than standing in front of the mane and fire.
• Kill the trainees quickly; they are described as easy but they chip away at you while you fight him.
• In the pole sequence, keep moving between poles and trade fireballs; a landed fireball is how you stun him.
• Blue marks are parry targets and red marks are dodges. If you die in the second phase you should restart at the second phase, not the whole fight.

Blue marks mean parry, red marks mean dodge Reported · TheSixthAxis Reported · TheSixthAxis. The combat guide covers timing and the Sha-Chi meter.

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