The Assistant Manager is an odd but difficult boss in Grounded. Here's how you can find it and take it down.
Being an assistant can be thankless work. You get your boss's coffee, handle the payroll, and more all just to be yelled at for missing a tie pin. Sometimes a group of children will show up to kick your butt. Maybe that second part is just the plight of The Assistant Manager in the fully-released game of Grounded.
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This boss is unique in comparison with its more deadly companions the Hedge Broodmother and the Orchid Mantis. Of the 3 heavy hitters, the Assistant Manager is the only boss that cannot be summoned again to engage multiple times. Once this boss is felled, it will not be returning.
Before players rush off to bash in this average office worker's head, they must know when to go. The Assistant Manager is located in one part of the Black Anthill Lab which may sound strange. All labs are connected in their little hubs so, of course, it's in one location in the lab. Well, the Black Anthill Lab is the only lab in the game that is broken apart into sections in its area. Not just little hubs as you work your way to the main section. It is literally broken apart due to the locals.
The Black Anthill Lab is also named for its location within the backyard, so that does help in securing the path to squaring off with the pencil-pusher. There are 2 main sections that need to be focused on during your walk-through of this 'office'. Section A can be opened up by hitting a shiny console labeled A. This is in a room in the area where gamers will unlock the corresponding quest for this lab before going through rooms and foes. Once Sector A is open, players can backtrack to a door that was previously locked at the beginning of the tunnels inside the lab. Here they will go through another series of rooms and more enemies to find the console with a big B on it. Hitting this will unlock Sector B which is where the boss will be fought.
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Working through Sector B will take a bit of time and patience. The Assistant Manager is in a locked room. Gamers will be able to get ready to fight by finding their way to a room with a locked door with a console in the back of the room. Interacting with this console will result in the door opening revealing some cracked glass. This glass is the last thing standing between you and this boss fight as the Assistant Manager is in the area just behind it.
Don't run off into the Black Anthill just yet! This isn't a particularly strong opponent in comparison to the other bosses in the game. It should still not be underestimated. Before discussing armor or weapons, another item players must bring in order to get to the boss is needed. Bombs. Grab several Splatburts or Bratbursts to get through some breakable areas including the glass the Assistant Manager is behind. Be careful with splashback from the explosions.
Somehow this robot hates salt and sour things, so make sure to bring something laced with sodium or citrus in order to help whittle away its health. It also is weak to Busting damage, so that can help knock the health down even faster. Don't rush off and augment a weapon just for this fight, though. While resistant to most forms of damage, the Assistant Manager has no resistance to generic or slashing-type attacks.
This makes the Salt Morningstar a viable option, but also means you can take in a sword with a salt augment which is helpful as bringing a shield is a good idea. Shields will deflect the boss's static attacks, and a slashing weapon can attack more often for less stamina than several of the busting behemoths. The ultimate choice is up to play style and what works best for individual people.
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Armor is in the same category for picking what works best for each person. Tier 2 armor that is enhanced can suffice, but it is better to bring in some Tier 3 armor that fits well. Healing supplies are also a good idea as you will be fighting through a lot of enemies in order to even get to this boss battle.
It's finally time. Blast through that glass and get ready to face off against the Assistant Manager in a one-off fight. Should you be the victor the first time, of course. The beginning of this fight is straightforward enough. The Assistant Manager will summon 2 TAYZ.Ts once in this stage and has only 2 attacks. Both attacks are static blasts with a long charge attack and a short charge attack.
You'll know when phase 2 comes into play as more minions will be spawned in the form of 2 more TAYZ.Ts and 1 ARC.R. Like before they won't respawn once beaten, so handle them first if possible. The Assistant Manager gains a new laser attack in this mode. A laser pillar will erupt from the ground after it screams and smashes the ground. The pillar has 4 arms that will need to be jumped over or ducked under accordingly.
One more set of TAYZ.Ts and another ARC.R will drop from the ceiling in the final stages of this fight. The laser pillar and previous static blasts stay in the Assistant Manager's arsenal, and a new attack is added. This is a blue variant of the laser pillar that covers all but a central plus shape in static blasts. Staying inside the safe cross area becomes hard when both lasers get activated at once. This will make for a very damage-heavy time if players don't pay close attention to all the chaos the pillars are causing. Keep your wits about you, and this boss will go down.
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TJ has spent a little over 8 years in and out of the writing/editing game. She spent most of that time ghostwriting and proofreading fictional pieces. These days she can be found writing with a cat at her feet. If she's not there, find her reading, gaming, drawing, playing music, and/or gardening.