Geared Serpent (or Machine Dragon) is a Challenge Mode boss appearing at the last wave Thunder Tower's hard difficulty. This boss follow the main mechanic of the map as well, as its body features multi-coloured gears which can be combined with other of the same color to destroy them.
Description
Just like Giant Predator, Serpent has a mechanical head; although his body is only made of coloured hexagon and other functional gears that roll on the tower's platform to pull him up. He's wearing an armoured helmet to protect its head from being too damaged, but once it is removed later on, it exposes soldiers to one of its most deadly attack.
Once Giant Predator and its core are defeated, another cut-scene rolls in and the snake will break into the tower via the Disposing Machine. He will slowly climb the platforms in an attempt to reach the top, destroy the wall and make it's way back to the bottom floor near the toxic waste and shall repeat this pattern during the entirety of the battle.
Attacks
Above 80% health points, he will not harm soldiers, he will simply move along and climb the tower, until it reaches below 80%; he will then jump back into the toxic waste and reappear from the hole below and then starts attacking:
- Laser Orbs: The dark sphere with blue lights will each send orbs that track players and lock its aim and blast away lasers for a couple of seconds; working similarly to some other boss with laser tracking based attacks.
- Poison Orbs: The green gear with the tubes will send out various poisonous orbs on the area above the mechanical fan and will attempt to get the soldiers off guard and remove 50 points of their current health.
After his health drop below 40% of his health, his armored helmet will explode and reveal its true face, showing of that it is now extremely mad and will therefore unleash a more powerful attack into the mix, along side the previous ones:
- Fire Breath: Occasionally, he will stop moving to turn his head toward the floor he's currently standing on and will fire a large fire blast that will cover the whole floor and any soldiers caught in it will instantly get killed.
Strategy
At the start, soldiers could randomly get the FAL Camo, but unlike in Crater's Hard Difficulty, it will only last for 1 minute (Which is lowered to 40 seconds due to Special Round splash screen and the boss cutscene). The F-Skill changes and now gives soldiers a Tec-15 Crossbow, which can be used to instantly break all corresponded colored hexagon gear, but it may only be used once until fully recharged.
To beat him under 3 minutes (Time attack), it's recommended to NOT use F-skill when Giant Predator is nearly dead - if you still have FAL Camo by the end of Wave 30, you won't be able to get the special FAL Camo. Immediately at the start, launch grenade toward his head as soon as he emerges - if done correctly, he should starts attacking within 20 seconds. Blast his head until the FAL Camo goes away, then split team into 2: One will shoot his head, the other will reduce his body by matching colored hexagon gears (similar to how the mechs are matched during initial gameplay).
This will deal more damage to Geared Serpent (high chance for Critital Damage), and if his body is reduced enough, he will have to stop to generate more gears, allowing soldiers to shoot his head easier. The gears are quite tough, so powerful weapons are required. Additionally, aiming at the center of the gear is the fastest way to break them apart. Once his HP drops below 40%, focus solely on shooting his head, only use F-skill to break his body part when it's available.
Taking care of attacking orbs as soon as they are summoned will prevent them to attack, although just like the other gears, they take lots of shots to get rid of them. Other attacks has to be avoided or dodged as they can be rather deadly and cost soldiers a lot of lives. Although additional lives are given to every soldiers, they may be gone fast.
The same suicide attack with AI Grenade can be applied against Greaed Serpent here. However, there must be at least 2 soldiers using this tactic for it to work because Geared Serpent moves around a lot so it's not easy to hit his head with AI Grenade. If he makes it to the top, there will be 20 seconds wasted while waiting for him to spawn at the bottom of the tower. Remember to use F-skill whenever you have the chance as well, because AI Grenade can fill the bar in 2 or 3 attacks.
If more than two players have Anti-Zombie Weapons, then they should concentrate on blasting Geared Serpent's head (Aiming at the little exposed area on his neck helps). Use the Crossbow only when he stops to breath fire, that gives you 100% accuracy and you can easily beat him in 2 minutes.Rewards
Like other maps with Hard Difficulty, defeating the boss within the three minute time attack milestone will grant every soldiers an additional token for defeating it, therefore speeding up the process of boss crates collecting, which after five will grant soldiers with a Geared Serpent boss crates with some new goodies to collect:
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Trivia
- In CF China, it's called 邪皇龙甲兽, and it's a little hard to translate due to its slightly mythological-styled name. The fully translation can be "The Evil Lord Beast with Dragon Scutes".