Early in Titan Quest 2, you might encounter a giant, sea-born nightmare called Hippokampos – Devourer of the Lost. It is not a required fight, but it is one of the game’s first real tests, and players who wander too far too soon might learn that the hard way!
Hippokampos is one of the first optional bosses you can encounter in Titan Quest 2. It is basically a giant sea-horse, but out of the water, ready to send you straight back to Poseidon.
With multiple phases, a few powerful combos, and an annoying barrier system, Hippokampos is a major step up in difficulty from your standard mobs.
The boss was also presented during the early access deep dive from THQ Nordic. We will go over its mechanics with you, and give you a few tips on how to beat it easily! You can watch the boss fight on the official video here as well:
Hippokampos Mechanics
This first optional boss is all about powerful water and electric AoE attacks! And of course, where is the fun if you were not waddling around in water while he shoots lightning bolts at you. Everyone knows water and lightning make a good pair… Right?
You will have to pick up on ability patterns, and learn over time how to counter, dodge, or tank, each single one of them.
Hippokampos will use the following mechanics:
- Wave Slam – AoE shockwave with a wind-up animation. Hippokampus will send two water waves shockwaves one after another towards you. You can dodge through the waves and take advantage of i-frames.
- Water Beam – He will shoot out a powerful water beam right in front him, and spin towards the player’s location. Walk around him to evade the beam.
- Electric Break Combo Attack – This attack works in a combo with the Water Beam. Right before the water beam ends, you will notice Hippokampus is charging with electricity. This is when you have to prepare yourself to evade, as it will shoot an electric beam out right after.
- Water Missiles – Shoots out at specific intervals multiple water missiles. Dodge to evade those.
- Water Geyser – He will sometimes create a Water Geyser on the ground. You will see the AoE appear before it actually triggers.
- Barrier – As his health bar goes down, he gains a Barrier.
Hippokampus also has a few other minor attacks that you more easily dodge. As one of the early optional bosses, he will be much easier, and have simpler phases than future bosses you will encounter. So simply take it as a training to test your skills!
Tips & Tricks to Survive the Fight
- Dodge, but not too often.
- Do not panic-dodge. Wait for the right timing before acting. If you dodge too often, you won’t have it available anymore when you really need it. If you played souls-like games before, you will know how it works. You need to observe, learn the pattern, and then kill.
- Know your Strength and Weaknesses.
- If you are Tanky, soak the damage with barriers, or create a build that has the possibility to counter the boss. If you are squishy, learn how to dodge the attacks.
- Leap Abilities.
- If you can, pick Leap Slam. This allows you to literally leap over the wave attacks. This means you get to keep your dodge for the next attack. You can even increase your leap charges.
- The water beam and electric combo have a very small error window, so you need to time the dodge properly there. You will see the effect on the ground before it hits.
- Dodge roll under the boss.
- Certain attacks leave the back of the monster safe. You can take the opportunity to dodge roll towards him, passing under him, to land behind the boss. This way his attacks hit in the front, and you should not get hit while crossing between its legs! Be careful, he sometimes does turn around at the last second.
- Manage the Barrier.
- When the shield goes up, make sure to unleash your burst attacks in order to deplete it fast.
- Stay Mobile.
- Positioning is everything. Do not get pinned in corners. If you always move, you have less risk of getting hit.
As mentioned before, this boss is really optional, and one of the first ones, so really not the hardest! You should definitely fight it! On top of behind a good training dummy, Hippokampos rewards solid loot as well.