General Rootser
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General Rootser is a previously Xbox-exclusive boss that can be encountered in the Bergen Trail as part of the quest Out of the Box.
Appearance
General Rootser is a snowman wearing a red scarf, golden shoulder pads and a green military beret. He sits in the cabin of a circular purple and red airship with two purple wings around the cabin’s sides, a blue glowing ring around its lower part, a purple rear wing and an arrow on its front as a hint for the player, similar to the Huge Hostile Crab.
Combat
His airship is mostly invincible, so the only way to damage him is by attacking him directly. To do so, the player must destroy all the elemental spinners that surround him in each phase. These spin in a clockwise fashion around the boss’ airship and take more damage from attacks of the opposite element, but the boss can also activate all of them, making them attack the player with an ability that depends on their element. After all the spinners are destroyed, General Rootser moves to the center of the arena and crashes his airship, allowing the player to climb it from the front and attack the boss directly.
Phase 1
- Only two spinners surround him: a Heat one and a Cold one. Upon activation, the Heat one does a simple flamethrower attack and the Cold one summons a long stream of icicles towards the player.
- Stays in the top-middle of the arena and charges electricity, causing his spinners to deal contact Shock damage and spin further away from him. Then, two tesla coils extend from the bottom of the airship and shoot a lightning strike each, signaled by a purple aura around the one that is about to shoot and a purple dotted line indicating its direction.
Phase 2
- He has three spinners now: Heat, Cold and Wave. The Wave one attacks by shooting a Wave bomb upwards that falls near the player and deals damage in an area.
- He brings out four tesla coils instead of two. The first two shots are fired separately while the last two are fired closer to each other.
- Charges with a blue aura and the spinners begin spinning really fast around his airship, creating a damaging Cold border around it. General Rootser then flies in the player’s direction with slight homing capabilities and, upon hitting a wall, causes a massive Cold explosion that covers most of the arena. He chases the player and explodes twice.
Phase 3
- He has a spinner of each element. The Shock one shoots a single lightning bolt just like the airship’s tesla coils.
- Brings out six tesla coils. One of them shoots first, then the second and third close together, and finally the last three also shoot in quick succession.
- Does his icy chase and explosion four times instead of two.
Strategies
- Throw Combat Arts can take out the spinners quite easily if they are of the opposite element. You can use these to eliminate at least one spinner every time General Rooster finishes an attack.
- The Cold explosion’s range is insane, but there is a way to dodge it consistently. Since you can only walk around the bottom half of the arena, try to lure him to an upper corner and run towards the opposite corner, or instead, to a bottom corner while you run to the other side of the arena. The airship’s Cold border deals little damage and doesn’t push you, meaning that you can run through it if necessary.
- If you stick yourself to him when he activates his spinners, they won't be able to attack and he will stay stuck until you destroy them or get away.
Ragnarök can be used to jump on his airship and to avoid getting pushed away, completely breaking the fight. He still takes reduced damage if he isn't broken.
Locations
- Bergen Trail
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- 360 Y2 Test Chamber
Gallery
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The Heat spinner’s attack.
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Cold spinner’s attack.
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Tesla coils shooting lightning bolts.
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Wave spinner’s attack.
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Cold explosion.
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Shock spinner’s attack.
Trivia
- This boss' monster fibula entry might be a reference to the quote "Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book" from the movie Patton.