Strayborough Deadwalk's first boss is janky.

[Ramiren]

So I'm not going to jump on the "these dungeons are all too difficult" hate train, a few weeks post expansion I'm actually enjoying most of the new dungeon content, with the exception of 'His Royal Headness Leonogg I' the first boss of The Strayborough Deadwalk, who by all accounts, just feels janky and unfun.

The erratic movements of his minions combined with the small amount of room to evade their oddly oversized hit boxes just make this a chore to fight. Not because it's too difficult, getting hit isn't exactly a death sentence, but because nobody likes feeling like they did what they were supposed to do, and evaded an attack only to be punished because actually the janky invisible oversized hit box says no.

So yeah, I'm really feeling like this boss in particular needs some tuning, and based on the comments of people in chat during my runs, I feel like people agree with me?

[ShiroeTengoku]

You're not alone on feeling the minion hitboxes are deceptive. Some good choices for fixing it would be to make the hitboxes more intuitive (aka shrink them to what we'd expect, if not that already) or don't pair it with the deploying balls to also dodge. Granted, someone will eventually just say to get good, and i have. I run the dungeon just fine, but I still groan when I get it over Tender Valley, because at least that one is fun all the way through.

[Connor]

It’s funny because the love hearts phase in M2 is essentially the same thing as in Strayborough, but I don’t find the one in m2 nearly as annoying as those asshole noggin things lol

[Ramiren]

It’s funny because the love hearts phase in M2 is essentially the same thing as in Strayborough, but I don’t find the one in m2 nearly as annoying as those asshole noggin things lol

Yeah you can dodge, duck and weave those things so tight, you'd think this was a Touhou game.

I suspect it has something to do with their lunging animation, the hitboxes have to be bigger than the actual enemy so they have room to lunge?

[Alice_Rivers]

It’s funny because the love hearts phase in M2 is essentially the same thing as in Strayborough, but I don’t find the one in m2 nearly as annoying as those asshole noggin things lol

There's also the fact that one heart doesn't have the power to end your run, you actually have to mess it up at least twice, you also have to completely fail the mechanic to have your agency removed. Strayborough can and will kill you for the slightest error.

[Arohk]

It’s funny because the love hearts phase in M2 is essentially the same thing as in Strayborough,

The hearts go out in a circle/spiral pattern, while the other ones seem to walk across the arena randomly. I am certain there is a pattern to them because there is always one, but it is hard to see.

[Jaxtaro]

They walk in a straight line. I just watch which direction they are moving at the edge and compensate from there. I fully agree that their hitboxes not matching their character models blows in every regard though.

[SkankyRoe]

I am certain there is a pattern to them because there is always one, but it is hard to see.

It's a simple bait pattern, they target the furthest player from them, then the closest player to them.

[LilimoLimomo]

I will agree that the Noggin Grabbers aspect of the fight seems to be tuned poorly. Their large, vague hit boxes wouldn't be a problem if there were fewer of them and players could just steer clear. And it wouldn't be a problem that there are so many of them if their hit boxes were easier to understand. But I've done that dungeon around a dozen times now and I still don't have a good idea of what I'm supposed to do to not get caught by them. I'm unsure whether their hitboxes are circles or some other shape, and I'm unsure how big they are. It honestly feels random, as sometimes I don't get caught when I'd expect to, while other times I do get caught when I feel in the clear. So it ends up feeling like pure chance, and that's a bad way to feel about a fight, one that results in engaging less (learned helplessness) rather than engaging more.

I think one thing that would really help is if at some point it showed their actual hitboxes. Like maybe when they grab you, for a brief second it shows the shape of the hitbox you got caught by. Then you can learn from your mistakes, instead of remaining confused.

[Espon]

I hope His Royal Headness Leonogg II is a boss in the first variant dungeon with similar mechanics and then criterion ramps up the mayhem even further.