AKheon | God of War: Ascension - Castor & Pollux optimizations (NG+) @AKheon | Uploaded December 2022 | Updated October 2024, 3 minutes ago.
Some fight improvements that save a total of around 12-15 seconds while also reducing the fight's RNG by quite a lot.
0:10 - fight won't start until you throw the first rock.
To note, all boss fights in Ascension have long scripted periods when they're invulnerable to damage, so there's no reason to try attacking the boss during these times.
0:14 - the first opportunity to damage the boss comes after he is finished with his ground pounding action. Leaving lingering souls with Soul Rage beforehand is a good idea. Casting lightning magic right outside the range of the boss' attack sucks the boss in and begins damaging him as soon as possible. With bad timing (or rarely bad luck?) the boss may escape the range of your lightning magic, but I only saw this happen once.
0:30 - this is a scripted sequence where all you can do is wait.
0:38 - the next opportunity to damage the boss comes after the green force field dissipates and the ground collapsing scene is over. Again, casting Soul Rage twice before that is useful for some powerful lingering damage.
The boss moves around a lot and is difficult to hit with melee attacks. To make things worse, he may randomly place a time slowing barrier on top of Kratos which makes his melee attacks much worse to use.
Since his first attack in this phase involves teleporting around the area, sometimes close to Kratos, before doing a large downsmash right next to him, casting lightning magic at the right time for some localized area damage is quite effective. Try casting it when the boss phases out to the left during his attack sequence for best results.
Afterwards, the boss is almost guaranteed to do the action where he breaks all the pillars. He will stand in place for a few seconds during this time, allowing you to hit him with Cyclone of Fury (air) or Falling Helios (air) to finish off this phase.
0:52 - in the next phase, the boss will teleport on top of the pillars. You should quickly break at least one of the pillars before the short cutscene begins.
1:03 - Soul L1+t is a very useful attack for destroying the rest of the pillars since it homes in to the boss' location and instantly breaks the pillar he is standing on. Airborne Soul L1+t is slightly faster to cast than the ground version.
1:12 - casting Soul Rage too early here is counterproductive since with bad RNG, the boss' damage reaction will slow him from getting back up again.
Therefore, I only cast Soul Rage twice after the boss gets up, then follow up with another lightning magic for some localized area damage. Airborne lightning magic seems to reach the boss slightly better, and it's recommended in at least this phase. Although Blades attacks generally have a much better damage vs time ratio than magic, it seems magic is more reliable in cases like where the target is hard to hit.
Fire magic is technically the most powerful magic, but the short QTE that comes with it not only slows down Kratos and enemies but also the game world itself. Therefore, it has the potential to waste time in a way that no other magic does, even if it's only a second here and there. Even besides that, the multi-hit vacuum of lightning magic is a more consistent damage dealer to this boss than fire magic.
1:24 - another scripted sequence where you can do nothing but wait.
2:19 - for this phase, I suggest two Soul Rage followed by melee attacks, if possible. In this demonstration I miss with those Blades attacks, which wastes a few seconds.
2:28 - the part where the boss is hovering over the level is a scripted sequence during which he takes no damage.
2:37 - boss becomes vulnerable again upon returning to ground level. Until that point, it helps to have cast Soul Rage twice for lingering damage, then try to him him with Falling Helios (air) since he will always appear close by.
2:40 - I switch to lightning and cast magic right next to the boss. This doesn't hurt the boss since a cutscene begins, but it prevents Kratos from getting knocked away, leaving him in a better position for the finale.
2:58 - for this final phase, the only thing that matters is the number of hits you do to the boss. The fastest way to create the required number of hits to is double projectile Zeus' Despair (i.e. lightning L1+s) with full Rage. You must switch elements during this attack, this way you will shoot two projectiles for the price of one. So, that's one more second saved using a rather obscure detail in the game mechanics...
Some fight improvements that save a total of around 12-15 seconds while also reducing the fight's RNG by quite a lot.
0:10 - fight won't start until you throw the first rock.
To note, all boss fights in Ascension have long scripted periods when they're invulnerable to damage, so there's no reason to try attacking the boss during these times.
0:14 - the first opportunity to damage the boss comes after he is finished with his ground pounding action. Leaving lingering souls with Soul Rage beforehand is a good idea. Casting lightning magic right outside the range of the boss' attack sucks the boss in and begins damaging him as soon as possible. With bad timing (or rarely bad luck?) the boss may escape the range of your lightning magic, but I only saw this happen once.
0:30 - this is a scripted sequence where all you can do is wait.
0:38 - the next opportunity to damage the boss comes after the green force field dissipates and the ground collapsing scene is over. Again, casting Soul Rage twice before that is useful for some powerful lingering damage.
The boss moves around a lot and is difficult to hit with melee attacks. To make things worse, he may randomly place a time slowing barrier on top of Kratos which makes his melee attacks much worse to use.
Since his first attack in this phase involves teleporting around the area, sometimes close to Kratos, before doing a large downsmash right next to him, casting lightning magic at the right time for some localized area damage is quite effective. Try casting it when the boss phases out to the left during his attack sequence for best results.
Afterwards, the boss is almost guaranteed to do the action where he breaks all the pillars. He will stand in place for a few seconds during this time, allowing you to hit him with Cyclone of Fury (air) or Falling Helios (air) to finish off this phase.
0:52 - in the next phase, the boss will teleport on top of the pillars. You should quickly break at least one of the pillars before the short cutscene begins.
1:03 - Soul L1+t is a very useful attack for destroying the rest of the pillars since it homes in to the boss' location and instantly breaks the pillar he is standing on. Airborne Soul L1+t is slightly faster to cast than the ground version.
1:12 - casting Soul Rage too early here is counterproductive since with bad RNG, the boss' damage reaction will slow him from getting back up again.
Therefore, I only cast Soul Rage twice after the boss gets up, then follow up with another lightning magic for some localized area damage. Airborne lightning magic seems to reach the boss slightly better, and it's recommended in at least this phase. Although Blades attacks generally have a much better damage vs time ratio than magic, it seems magic is more reliable in cases like where the target is hard to hit.
Fire magic is technically the most powerful magic, but the short QTE that comes with it not only slows down Kratos and enemies but also the game world itself. Therefore, it has the potential to waste time in a way that no other magic does, even if it's only a second here and there. Even besides that, the multi-hit vacuum of lightning magic is a more consistent damage dealer to this boss than fire magic.
1:24 - another scripted sequence where you can do nothing but wait.
2:19 - for this phase, I suggest two Soul Rage followed by melee attacks, if possible. In this demonstration I miss with those Blades attacks, which wastes a few seconds.
2:28 - the part where the boss is hovering over the level is a scripted sequence during which he takes no damage.
2:37 - boss becomes vulnerable again upon returning to ground level. Until that point, it helps to have cast Soul Rage twice for lingering damage, then try to him him with Falling Helios (air) since he will always appear close by.
2:40 - I switch to lightning and cast magic right next to the boss. This doesn't hurt the boss since a cutscene begins, but it prevents Kratos from getting knocked away, leaving him in a better position for the finale.
2:58 - for this final phase, the only thing that matters is the number of hits you do to the boss. The fastest way to create the required number of hits to is double projectile Zeus' Despair (i.e. lightning L1+s) with full Rage. You must switch elements during this attack, this way you will shoot two projectiles for the price of one. So, that's one more second saved using a rather obscure detail in the game mechanics...
