Boss Hunt is a game mode that can only be accessed from the Story Quests and the Mystery Portal inside the Town Hall as a limited time mode. There are two Boss Hunt missions in Story Quests: one involves Captain Smasher, and the other involves the Royal Hypno-Flower. From the Mystery Portal (which was added with Trials of Gnomus DLC), a battle against a variety of exclusive bosses can be accessed.
On Story Quests version of the mode, the player can select up to three AI helpers and can swap the control between them during the gameplay like in Solo Ops. Mystery Portal version of the mode, however, can only be played with online players.
Defeating a boss through Mystery Portal events yield coins and specific event tied reward hats. There are 6 hat variants in total:
- Normal: (Original), Silver, Gold, Diamond
- Hard: Gem
- Craazy: Scrumptious
Phases
Boss Hunt has three phases, with the latter two repeats until the boss is defeated. After the boss arrives, the player must defeat it in the limited time (shown as Hunt Time). The player is given 20 minutes against Captain Smasher and Royal Hypno-Flower, 25 minutes against the normal and Super Sasquatch (normal and hard Sasquatch respectively), 30 minutes against the Epic Sasquatch (Crazy version of Sasquatch), and 25 minutes against Yeti King (30 Minutes for Crazy difficulty)
There are no time limit of revival in Story Quests version of the mode; the player can revive their characters as long as at least one character is still alive and has enough Hunt Time left. When fighting against Sasquatch, the downed player automatically respawns after 30 seconds, as long as at least one teammate is alive.
Bait Defense phase
To attract a boss, the player must place some bait on a table to attract it. When placing a bait, the game displays a menu which allows the player to select what bait to use. On Story Quests there is only one type of bait (Jolly Rogers Candy for Captain Smasher, and Strong Coffee for the Royal Hypno-Flower) and the game difficulty is selected from the missions menu. Against Sasquatch, however, the player can select from three types of tacos which differs in difficulty: The Perfect Taco for Normal, Enchanted Taco for Hard, and Scrumptious Taco for Crazy.
After the player places the bait on the table, two waves of AI plants or zombies, depending on the mission, will try to attack and eat the bait. The bait has significantly less health than a garden and a tombstone so the player must properly guard it.
After successfully defending the bait, a short cutscene will play, which involves the boss destroying the bait and the table it lays on while rising/growing out of the ground. After the cutscene ends, the player is allowed to face the boss and the Boss Fight phase begins.
Boss Fight phase
During this phase, the boss can be attacked by the player. The boss will frequently call reinforcements which will spawn multiple regular enemies. Every time a boss loses a fourth of its health, the boss will activate a curse that affects all player characters in some way, and the Curse phase begins. When the boss loses all of its health, the player wins and the player automatically escapes the battle. If the player wins against Sasquatch, an achievement based on the completed difficulty (Boss Battle, Boss Battle Specialist or Boss Battle Boss) will be unlocked.
Curse phase
This phase is activated every time a boss loses a quarter of its health. During this phase, the boss becomes invincible against the player's attacks, and the player must complete an objective to cure the curse. Each boss have a unique curse. Once the curse is cured, the Boss Fight phase resumes.
Curses
- Captain Smasher spawns several Cursebearers and the player must kill all of them in 90 seconds, otherwise all player characters die instantly.
- Royal Hypno-Flower transforms all characters to a goat, and the player must eat all Poly Leaves on the map to restore their original form.
- Sasquatch spawns many Healing Burgers and the player must destroy all of them in short time, otherwise Sasquatch will restore some of its health. After the players successfully destroy the burgers, Sasquatch starts charging an attack called "Hunger Pang's Inferno" that will kill the players in one hit. The players must locate a yellow circle that appear somewhere in the map and capture it to grow a garden (protects the players in its area) before Sasquatch unleashes the inferno. If Sasquatch's health is low, it will spawn many Gargantuars and will not start spawn Heal Burgers until most of Gargantuars are defeated.
- Spooky Squash spawns in a Hungry Bucket that you must use and you must collect all Sour Candies in 50 seconds.
- The Champion Explody Gnomes uses a curse that slows you down and not able to use your abilities, the only way to remove it is by going to the Gnome Shrine (located in Rome) and using the Gnome Brand.
- The Yeti King will Dance, creating different popsicles all over the map which the plants must destroy in 24 seconds, otherwise all player characters get vanquished instantly.
Boss Hunt Event Timeline
| Event | Description | Date | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Banquet for Sasquatch | A Sasquatch has been reported in Sandy Sands - eating everything in sight, including the Ancient Ruins. Plants, you must put an end to this Sasquatch smorgasbord. |
September 22 - 25, 2016 March 30 - April 2, 2017 July 27 - 30, 2017 |
Sasquatch's Cap (Peashooter) |
| Tale of the Spooky Squash | The ghastly gourd of the Lawn of Doom, Spooky Squash has emerged from the earth under the glow of the giant doom moon. Zombies, squash the Squash before the Squash squashes you. |
October 27 - 30, 2016 April 27 - 30, 2017 August 31 - September 3, 2017 |
Spooky Squash's Bucket (Scientist) |
| The Brothers Gnomus | The Brothers Gnomus are staking out ground in Time Park. They've declared the park belongs to them, and that time must not be meddled with. |
November 24 - 27, 2016 March 2 - 5, 2017 June 29 - July 2, 2017 October 26 - 29, 2017 |
Brothers' Gizmo-crown (Soldier) |
| The King's Day Out | The Yeti King is on the loose, Barreling down the mountain to Frosty Creek. Stop him before he creates a never-ending winter, a cold, cold winter. |
January 26 - 29, 2017 May 25 - 28, 2017 September 28 - October 2, 2017 |
Yeti King's Crown (Corn) |
Gallery
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