To get rid of that spider shooter just bring the Fire Flyer. Stand at its base and fire. When you hear it starting to reload, back out of its range.

Using the Fire Bomb makes the Snake Mount boring. Other weapons are fun, but the Fire Bomb makes the fight boring. It does, however, kill the snake in one hit if you aim it right.

Wait for it to come out of its hole, aim downwards, and fire! If you fire at the right time you will destroy all shell parts and then hit the head. This works for any part of the fight.

To absolutely cheese it if you want those extra two seconds off your speedrun time, bring along the Metal Buster. During its last phase, the last boulder drop, run along the roof and hold Fire. If you're lucky you'll manage to hit it while it's still up there, ending the fight.

If you're less lucky but want a 0.25 s deduction, run back to its hole, aim downwards, and use your nice ground-piercing Metal Buster.

This will absolutely cheese that boss and make that fight really a bore.

You only need one weapon for both midbosses (officially called S.A.M.U) and the endboss. The Wood Flyer.

Seeing as this is FN and not a particularly difficult level, you should be able to get lots of orbs from those gambling vending machines. This is just making sure you don't run out of ammo, but you have enough anyway.

Hold up to fire the bamboomerang (I take no credit for that name :P) upwards and into the face of the S.A.M.U. Just hold whatever your key for Fire is and providing you're out of the way of its punching, it should be destroyed before it makes a second attack.



Anyway, now you're up to the Robopanther. Milla gives everybody else health but she gives you rainbow orbs that restore lots of ammo for all weapons, no matter what element they are.

Hold Fire, but you'll need to attempt to aim and dodge.

Dodge his cough drops by whatever means possible. Jumping and then holding Up (to move the plane) will usually mean you're fine. His laser shouldn't worry you. As for his laser spam, your safest spot is beneath Serpentine himself (this applies to all characters). This also provides you with a good chance to hit that head. His rocket spam is nearly undodgeable, but he doesn't do it much, so do your best. You can make it very easy to dodge by moving to the left side of the screen before he's going to fire - then you can run off to the right side and he won't be able to hit you.

When he rears up - great! This is perfect! None of his attacks will hit you if you're at eye level, which is where you want to be to fire your Wood Flyer. (Aiming up/down also moves the plane, which you may or may not want).

I manage to trash him when he's reared up for the first time.

This has four bosses.

The Metal Ship boss is the purple flying thingy.
The Fire Ship boss is the Copter.
The Earth Ship boss is that green climber bot.

And the endboss is that peacock.

If you don't lose your ammo and have plenty of it, bring along the Fire Flyer and the other weapons to your taste. That will destroy all three ship bosses (well, the Copter is a bit of a wildcard) and the endboss.

If you're speedrunning and don't have lots of ammo, bring along the Wood Bomb and/or the Metal/Fire Buster.

Metal Ship: As soon as he comes up, fire the Fire Flyer. Move over to where he is and just fire. The most damage is done with this weapon not when they're a long way above you but when you are nearly at the same height as them, but just below. Use this to destroy the purple laser thingy before he gets his first attack off. (If I can do that and I'm not pro, so can you. :P)

Fire Ship: There's a bug with this, in that its bombs will hurt itself. Run into the arena and immediately run left, back to where you get the Ledge Taunt achievment. If you do that quickly enough, its rockets will miss completely, it will fly offscreen, drop its bombs offscreen, and kill itself. This works as all characters (excluding Lilac, who fights Spade there)
If that doesn't work first time round it won't work for the rest of the battle, so pull out your Metal Buster, stay right where you are, and shoot it. It will be at the perfect height for you to shoot it at your leisure.

Earth Ship: Hopefully you should have the Metal Shield. This is found just before the boss - it's impossible to lose it unless you backtrack - where those two swinging platforms are. Below that is a pit full of spikes. To the right of the pit, on the very end, is a Metal Shield that conveniently grants you immunity to spikes. And a whole bunch of attacks in SB.
Once again, enter the arena and let fire! You're immune to his small balls of orange something thanks to your shield and the gems are very very easy to dodge. Just make sure on your way out you don't hit them as they're coming up - if he drops his gem summoner and then dies, the gems will block the exit just as it opens.

You should do the ships in that order. Or at least, end up with the Earth Ship. This means you should have a nice shiny Metal Shield to fight Dail. The Metal Shield provides immunity to his big greenish balls and his yellow lasers (we don't know if the same applies in BG). This means you only have to bother dodging his charging.
Anyway, you have three weapons, all of which are very effective against him. Metal Buster, Wood Bomb, and Fire Flyer.
Whichever weapon you use, you shouldn't need to chase him. He moves around enough to run onto your lasers and as you don't need to bother dodging anything except his charge, you can effectively stay still.
Fire Buster - Dail will fly in a circle around you. Use this to your advantage, as he won't attack you for a wee while. In this time, you can burn off his feathers. The large ammo means you won't run out (unlike the Fire Flyer).
Metal Buster - Annoyingly, you need to aim. Use Up/Down to target him with your giant laser. It will go through a whole bunch of his feathers, especially as he runs onto the laser.
Wood Buster - Same as above. Aim and fire! The spread of this is useful for him, but in any other situation this weapon deals too little damage to make it viable. You can miss it out, as your Metal Buster will have enough ammo to take him out.
Fire Flyer: Same as above, but without the aim. Just fire. No matter what direction you face, it always fires upwards. Dail will frequently run into all this flame and get himself murdered.

Weapons that don't work so well:
Water Bomb: Its shrapnel is nice and the impact deals high damage, except that it has a nasty tendency to hit his head. This deflects all the shrapnel towards you and more importantly, away from some of his feathers.
Fire Bomb: It works, but not very well compared to the three I've outlined.

Before I get onto the bosses, I'll mention what's good against enemies. There are a lot of them and you can't take any weapon you like, unlike the earlier stages.

The Fire Bomb will one-hit-kill those red laser things that you find near the invincibility powerup and the green/red blocks if aimed correctly.
The Fire and Water Busters, if held, will take out a Shade Trooper (those pesky little two-life thingies that don't give you anything when ya kill them) just as he gets his first hit off if he instantly kneels down to shoot you.
The Wood Flyer is generally a very damaging weapon, but it's not great vs the Shadebeast and you really need the Fire Flyer for that.
The Water Bomb is useful solely because the initial explosion deals very high damage. Great vs Shade Troopers. The shrapnel is next to useless.


There's four bosses here - the Copter, the Absolution, the Spider Shooter from DV, and the Shadebeast (Dail's mount).
The Fire Flyer will smash all four, however you don't have enough ammo if you're speedrunning to take them all out.

For the Copter - anything really works. Your laser is quite useful in that you can get to a higher point and he'll be at your level. This makes the Metal Buster very useful in this stage, however the Fire Buster is a better weapon for taking out things that aren't bosses IMO. Take what you like - it's not very difficult to kill.

For the Absolution you want the Fire Flyer. While most weapons work well, the Fire Flyer has the advantage that because it goes up, it will occasionally hit the Absolution when it's jumping. This gives you extra damage at no free charge. As for dodging:
When you see the Absolution fly past just before it lands, jump and hover. That will keep you nicely out of its area effect and in a perfect position to shoot him. Always keep behind him - behind his front foot will work well. Use your boost to quickly catch up when he jumps - you'll soon find out what gets you hit and what doesn't. Try to stay around the center springs - this stops him from jumping into walls and being un-hit-able. (That's totally a word :P). For his carpet bombing with lasers. just stay to one side and wait until he's about to ram you. If you can't find any springs anywhere, Torque has enough energy and speed to hover out of the way providing you activate them instantly. Repeat this, try not to get hit, and you should be able to get rid of him fairly easily.

The Spider Shooter from DV is really quite easy to beat. The same tactic applies with the Fire Flyer - go to its base and fire upwards. Try not to get hit, but most things work quite well with the exception of short-range ones like the Water Buster, Fire Buster, Earth Bomb, and Water Bomb. Anything else will do you fine.

Now it's the Shadebeast! You'll be low on ammo and you'll need to use all of what you get after dying to beat him. Something important to note: Damage doesn't really matter. He needs to take three hits. Two on his shield and one on him. With his shield, it appears to have 3-4 health. This means high-damage like the Water Bomb isn't very helpful - it does 8 for the initial explosion. His invincibility frames are very long (during these he won't take damage) which makes some weapons useless.

Here's what works and what doesn't.

Wood Buster: To be honest, I've never found a use for this. Its spread is a novelty, but I've never needed to hit multiple targets at once.
Earth Buster: Works fine, however most of the time you need to be at his level. This isn't a problem, because you do so much dodging you'll frequently find yourself there. Also good vs the minions he spawns - you can take out multiple easily.
Water Buster: Not enough range.
Fire Buster: Not enough range. However, usefully high ammo.
Metal Buster: Works fine. Very useful vs those orange minions.

Wood Bomb: Surprisngly useful. It does just enough damage to do one hit to his shield. However, it's useless for the rest of the stage.
Earth Bomb: Good vs his minions, but everything is, and utterly useless vs Dail himself.
Water Bomb: Not useful. Its damage is high but as I outlined, you don't need high damage.
Fire Bomb: Useful. It's.... exactly that. Useful.
Metal Bomb: Too hard to control. If you can, great. If you can't, don't take it.

Wood Flyer: Outclassed by Fire Flyer.
Earth Flyer: Also outclassed by Fire Flyer.
Water Flyer: Very hard to aim and if you can get close enough to him with short range weapons, take the Water or Fire Buster instead. Once again, outclassed by Fire Flyer.
Metal Flyer: Yet again, outclassed by Fire Flyer.
Fire Flyer: Your weapon of choice!

The reason the Fire Flyer is so good is because you can not only knock off his shield during the monologue - you can also damage him, knock off his shield again, and then damage him once more. You don't need to waste any energy hovering - just jump. You should be able to see him jumping and you should thus be able to do some form of aiming.

With regards to dodging, the only attack you have problems with is annoyingly, the most common one - his three cards. Fly, be erratic, and generally run around. That's the best way to dodge them. His lasers from the sky are easy to dodge and also provide the benefit of some free hits. Make the most of when he comes down to the ground to fire his purple balls. Use whatever Buster or Bomb (don't waste your Fire Flyer) you like to deal damage. When the time comes to dodge, run to either side and jump over the ones that come straight for you.

Pick whatever weapons you like. You want the Water Bomb for the boss. The Fire Flyer also helps for getting rid of the flying Turretus, which are important in that they give you extra ammo - which you don't really need.

Other than that, pick what weapons you want for the stage.

As for the endboss - fire that Water Bomb! Don't worry about the shrapnel. You want the main bomb to hit Syntax. Doing so will deal ridiculous amount of damage and make the thing a cakewalk.
(Note: I've posted on the FP forums that the Water Bomb is OP, so expect to see this change. In which case, grab your Fire Flyer again!)

I hear a sigh coming up from all of you.

Well, FD2 is possible to beat on Hard. Okay, it took me 35 minutes, but it's possible. You just need some weapons.

Laser: I'm not joking, this is actually an important part.

Buster: Doesn't matter. You shouldn't use it.

Bomb: I mentioned Water a while back - some testing has revealed it works but is finickiy to aim. It also doesn't one-hit Serpentine, making it effectively equivalent to the Fire Bomb. The Fire Bomb works fine and is considerably easier to aim, considering Serpentine's head is almost always at the same height.

Flyer: Fire or Wood. Fire is best against the endboss and against a lot of enemies (use it as a melee weapon and watch the carnage), however the Wood Flyer is great vs enemies, but not so much against the boss.

While you're feeling glum, I'll let you in on a secret that's hardly secret but anyway - When picking your weapons, hold Up while pressing Start (to start the level or change weapons). It will give you a nice break from the monotone of FD2.

Fight your way through the hordes of enemies and you will be rewarded with Mega Serpentine! This boss, once I figured out what weapons I needed to use, is actually not too difficult compared to Milla (that thing took me 51 minutes to beat as her on Hard...)

You NEED:
Laser (it has a use!)
Metal Buster
Water or Fire Bomb (I prefer fire)
Fire Flyer
SOUND ON. You need to know exactly what attack he's doing even when he's offscreen. It also tells you when he's charging at you with his purple shield of DOOM.

Your first job is to fire your bomb. You only have 10 ammo, so use it carefully. Just after he fires whatever weapon, he sits around for a second or two. SNATCH THAT TIME! Fire your bomb into his face! If you do that properly, every two Fire Bombs he will take a point of damage. If you've seen two Fire Bombs hit properly, you know he's on low health. This is where your Laser and Metal Buster come into play. Shoot him from a distance until you hear that lovely sound of him taking a point of damage! Then, go back to your Fire Bomb.

As for dodging:
Purple charge - Jump up and over!
Yellow bolt he fires towards you - Jump! Be aware that on Hard he'll charge you immediately afterwards.
Laser Spam: Get out of range and wait for the smoke to clear, so to speak. It's not worth your while taking risks and attempting to damage him when he's doing this.
Flamethrower Spam: There's a specific tactic for this on Hard. You need to be a fair distance away, about half the platform. Then fly up and over! The reason you do this is so to a) dodge his flamethrower but also to b) dodge his charge. If you jump over next to him, you'll be out of hover energy and he can charge you. Hence you need to dodge both with the same amount of energy.
Keep in mind that on Normal he attacks differently, so this may not be such a good idea. In which case, up the difficulty! You'll be able to say to your grandkids in the future "I beat Mega Serpentine on Hard as Torque with his puny four health." :P

There is a different approach of attacking him. Most of Serpentine's attacks can be avoided by hovering at his eye height.
The laser replenishes energy when you hit something with it - enough so that you can permanently hover if you have enough to hit. While using this as your main strategy is asking to be trashed, it's a very good backup if you run out of bombs or want to do that tiny extra bit of damage. Providing he's not using his flamethrower or lasers this is actually surprisingly useful.

All going well, you should be out of ammo for your Bomb when he transforms into his RAGE STAGE. Now, you just battle him. No tactics, just blind dodging. If you have a choice between dodge and attack, dodge. You need your health more than he does, even moreso on Hard. Switch to your Fire Flyer and DON'T LET GO OF THE ATTACK BUTTON.

Obviously if you're playing as Torque you will know what FD3's boss is. If you do, read on. If you don't, don't read this - major spoilers!


FD3 is one of the levels I like and hate at the same time. Strife realised that FD4 would be a boss battle only and so no room for enemy spam... so he put 'em all in FD3. Add that to Checkpoint Starvation in the purple corridor and you have one of the hardest sections in the game on Hard. On Normal, it's considerably easier.

Pick what weapons you like to get through the stage. I reccommend:

Fire Buster
Fire Bomb (or Water Bomb, depends on whether it gets nerfed)
Fire Flyer (surprisingly good as a melee weapon and great vs those big jumpy blue things)

Now for the endboss. You will want:

Any buster you like (pick which one you think is best - keep in mind the Wood Flyer is your short-range weapon). With this in mind, the Metal Buster works fine.
Fire Bomb (easier to aim than Water Bomb)
Wood Flyer (a great weapon to hold Attack for!)

If you've kept your Fire loadout that's fine - the ammo will come in helpful from the stage. If you die, it's best to change weapons though. Treat the Fire Flyer as Fire Buster - short range but even higher damage - for the boss if you keep it.

Your job is to dodge as much as possible and shoot as much as possible. Due to Milla's attacks, you can't do both at the same time.

You start the battle and should be able to shoot her with something - the Wood Flyer will be good. Whenever she stands still to do an attack, shoot her with the Fire Bomb.

On dodging:
Shockwave: If you run to either side of the arena and crouch (hold Down) in the center of the smaller glass tube you have a 90% chance of not being hit. I've occasionally been hit, but otherwise it's a great way to dodge.
Cube spamming: Run to the very edge of the arena and wait out the storm.
Flying: Run to the right side of the arena if you can. If not, the left works too. The right is better because you have to do less dodging - for some reason two projectiles will come at you on the left, but only one on the right.

Hit when you can and dodge everything and you should be fine.



And well done! You have finished all of Torque's playable stages for the moment. I'm waiting on FD4 to see how Brevon will go....