As a seasoned veteran of the Neural Sim meta, I’ve seen my fair share of bosses that made me want to pull my hair out. But none have tested my patience and skill quite like Woden, the beefiest Sim boss to grace our screens. With its pre-nerf antics of teleporting and invulning while boasting an extra million HP, I can still remember the frustration and desperation that came with every attempt.

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An adversary with immense power emerged from the early stages of what was once known as Nascent Woden. This formidable being wields a force that has the ability to cause seismic activity on a global scale.

In my gaming experience, Woden, the new boss in chapter 13 of Skytopia’s storyline named “Suspense,” was quite a challenge initially. He was a two-phase battle that left many players, including myself, feeling the tension. However, within just 12 hours of his debut, the developers made some adjustments to make Woden a bit more manageable for us gamers. So if you’re up for a fight against this Sim boss, fear not – it’s now less intense than before!

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Attacks and Behaviour

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that Woden, the new character in this game, comes with two distinct forms. Surprisingly enough, they share some moves, including the impressive teleportation skill. With this ability, Woden can instantly transport to and from the center of the battlefield, making it a real game-changer. The best part? During these teleports, Woden gains an invincibility shield, ensuring that it’s one less thing for me to worry about while strategizing my next move.

…As well as just teleporting on the spot. Sure.

Bomb Threat

During the battle, Woden possesses three distinct types of abilities, which we can refer to as bombs for a clearer understanding. When you’re struck by one of his attacks, a bomb will appear beside you (only one per attack), but he may also use them as part of specific moves. It’s worth mentioning that getting hit by a bomb won’t result in an additional bomb being generated.

In simpler terms, during Woden’s assaults, bombs appear and explode instantly. However, when you’re hit, the bombs that emerge have a delay before exploding, approximately 9 seconds long. At increased levels of challenge, these bombs will chase after you before detonating. They don’t seem to explode prematurely if they get too close. Each bomb’s explosion varies slightly.

When the red bombs labeled “Eyes of the Past” explode, they’ll launch a circular ring of projectiles that spins and spreads in all directions.

Eyes of the Present (yellow (bombs) spawn three homing projectiles with decently strong tracking.

Eyes of the Future (blue bombs) just have a larger explosion radius.

Phase 1

Woden starts off the fight in its Incipient form, which has 2,064,656 HP.

Wave Burst

Woden emits a circular wave that shocks on impact, causing S-Energy depletion and spawning a blue bomb. The attack reaches out halfway into the second grass ring from the center. To avoid it, keep a safe distance beyond that boundary. Note that Woden can use this skill off-center as well, but I rarely encountered it in my gameplay.

Melee Strike

Woden rushes toward you, jabbing you with his spear. If this hits, he staggers back slightly. If he is already quite near, he may instead perform a sweeping circle slash.

In both situations, Woden has the ability to make a second diagonal slash that generates three consecutive blue bombs exploding instantly at increased levels of difficulty, or upon being struck by the attack. Taking a hit from either move will also result in the loss of S-Energy. Each attack can potentially produce a bomb as an additional effect.

As a devoted speedrunner, I would advise taking a step back and restarting the run if you find yourself face to face with Woden’s formidable attack. The proximity of this adversary can create challenges in accurately targeting its weak spot on the head.

Ray of the Present

As a gamer, I can tell you that when I face Woden, he builds up a laser charge which releases after a brief pause. If I manage to dodge it by not aiming down sights (ADS), then I’m good. However, getting hit by this laser will cause me to stumble back, lose some S-Energy, and set off a yellow bomb. At increased difficulty settings, Woden’s laser attack becomes even more challenging as it generates two explosive yellow bombs right beside him that explode instantly upon impact.

Bullet Barrage

Woden shoots a cluster of bullets straight toward you. You can usually dodge these, but it’s wise to roll to the side as well for extra safety. Being struck by his attack causes a loss of Spirit Energy and the appearance of a yellow bomb.

In passing, I discovered that getting struck by this assault while aiming down sights led to noticeable frame rate decreases upon impact – an issue I haven’t regularly encountered elsewhere in the game. It can be quite frustrating.

Bullet Scatter

Woden launches spiraling circles of projectiles outwards. A direct hit from this attack results in the appearance of a red bomb and the depletion of S-Energy. At increased difficulty levels, Woden additionally generates four red bombs in the map’s corners that explode instantly upon contact, potentially causing significant damage. While getting struck by one or two isn’t usually fatal, caution is advised.

Meltdown

Woden creates a zone marked by the first circle of grass. Within this zone, you’ll experience intermittent staggering, energy drain towards the SE direction, and the appearance of a red bomb. Similar to Bullet Scatter, additional red bombs will materialize in the map’s corners at increased difficulty levels, all detonating instantly. Managing this attack is straightforward – simply keep a safe distance from the affected area.

Phase 2

When Nascent Woden-Incipient’s health runs out, it will depart from the battlefield, making way for Nascent Woden-Demiurge to step in. Upon entering the scene, it unleashes a shockwave reaching as far as the second grass ring’s border, pushing you back upon being hit.

As the health of an Incipient dwindles, its remaining health may seem deceivingly high. Therefore, continue inflicting damage until you observe it becoming invulnerable before withdrawing your attack.

Nascent Woden – Demiurge has 2,890,518 HP.

Supersize Me

As a devoted admirer, I’d describe it this way: In my Demiurge form, Woden keeps every attack that came his way when he was in his Incipient form. However, these attacks now resonate with more power and magnitude, mirroring the increased size of the mighty Woden.

Wave Burst now reaches up to the midpoint of the brick circle located outside the second ring of grass.

Ground Strike

When I encounter Woden’s Demiurge in its Demiurge state during a game, it doesn’t just rely on its initial assault. It has an additional trick that catches me off guard. It marks my current position twice, and each marking summons a blue bomb. Plus, red bombs appear around the border of the map, and blue bombs emerge near Demiurge itself. There’s a waiting period before these marked spots and all the spawned bombs explode simultaneously.

Thunder Strike

If Woden’s health drops to 65% (approximately 1,878,836 HP), he will instantly transport back to the map’s center. Following this teleportation, Woden will execute three ground-attacks that both stagger and deplete S-Energy upon hit. Subsequently, he will unleash a massive burst of damage affecting the entire map. Evading at least one of the initial attacks triggers a protective blue circle, granting immunity to the concluding attack. While performing this sequence, Woden gains resistance to damage and becomes impervious to crowd control effects.

You can’t evade the last strike since its length surpasses the shield of invincibility during a dodge. Moreover, enduring this attack results in an automatic failure of the mission, regardless of your survival.

So no, you can’t cheese this.

Strategy

Nascent Woden – Incipient: 2,064,656 HP

Nascent Woden – Demiurge: 2,890,518 HP

Total: 4,955,174 HP

Woden stands out as the most robust Sim boss yet, resulting in lengthier battles due to its substantial health pool. Previously, Woden was a formidable foe with its frequent teleportations and invulnerability, coupled with nearly an additional million HP. Fortunately, it has been toned down significantly. However, be cautious not to unintentionally attack during its invulnerability periods; it’s effortless to make this mistake, especially on Lyfe – Infinite Sight, and I’ve terminated several runs due to such oversights.

For those finding it tough to counter Woden’s assaults, consider creating some distance between you and the boss. This will not only provide you with more reaction time against its attacks but also keeps you out of reach of specific moves. Stepping outside the second grass ring will help you avoid Woden’s Wave Burst and Meltdown attacks while in Incipient form, though you’ll need to retreat back into the tiled area beyond all rings to remain out of range of Wave Burst when Woden transforms into Demiurge. It’s important to note that Woden can still get closer to you if it chooses to do so. Additionally, its relatively stationary behavior means you won’t have to frequently adjust your position once you find a suitable spot. However, be cautious and prepare for potential advances from the boss.

During a battle, different types of bombs may appear. Recognizing which attacks cause bombs to explode will significantly improve your ability to avoid their explosions. Additionally, bombs that are triggered when you get hit will remain on the field long enough for you to spot them and move away before they detonate.

Did you know that the Woden boss in the team mode of Suspense of Skytopia’s Defiance of Divinity game in its current state retains the previous HP levels? (Pre-nerf refers to changes made to reduce the power or effectiveness of a character or item.)

Team Building

With Woden having a large health reserve, it becomes challenging for conventional DPS agents who focus on quick bursts to deal enough damage before Woden escapes. This opens up an opportunity for damage dealers who excel in prolonged attacks or for burst agents capable of self-healing, to make significant contributions in the Neural Sim environment that typically favors high burst damage.

• The obvious pick is Lyfe – Infinite Sight, being the operative that released with this boss. She’s able to take advantage of the Kinetic weakness and can apply multiple Insight marks (two to Incipient, three to Demiurge) to further amp up her damage.
• Chenxing – Ethereal Cloud also gets extra targets to mark with her slips (two to Incipient, five to Demiurge, making her a viable alternative as well. However, Woden’s attacks draining S-Energy means that Chenxing can run into skill uptime issues if she eats too many hits.
• Similarly, Katya – Blue Bolt is highly dependant on having S-Energy to maintain her DPS, and her standard skill locking her in place certainly doesn’t help either.
• Siris – Ksana suffers no such S-Energy issues and can freely ram Woden as much as she wants to put out competitive times.
• Cherno – Enigma also does not mind the S-Energy drain, but that 40% Chaos resist does put a bit of a damper on things, unfortunately.

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that promoting diversity in our team has proven to be quite powerful, with the exception of Tess who hasn’t found her place here yet. With Woden becoming less invincible, Mauxir – Shadow Ka emerges as a strong contender for bypassing Woden’s damage reduction during phase 2 Thunder Strike trigger. Enya – Exuvia is another noteworthy character to consider due to her support skill that lets us ignore all of Woden’s stagger attempts, and she works well with most top DPS choices. Lastly, Acacia – Redacted remains an invaluable budget pick for applying Slow from a distance, as it’s generally best to keep our distance from Woden.

As someone who has spent years writing technical guides for various audiences, I can understand the quirks and demands of different clients. And when one asks for the use of an unusual term like “Wodussy” in a guide, it’s not always an easy request to fulfill. But if we want to keep our client happy, we need to oblige. So, here goes:

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2024-07-20 15:30