Tenebrous Tideripper

- - -Tenebrous Tideripper- - -
"A watchguard squadron designed specifically towards guarding the waters against any trespassers, you won't be getting onto the main stage without a fight..." - Enemy Description
Mode Appearance	Haunted Harvest
Wave Debut	20
Statistics
Base Health	15,000 (Easy) 25,500 (Hard)
Defense	35%
Speed	Above Average
Cash Given	$2,500 every 15% health $5,250 on death
Hidden?	No
Flying?	No
Ghost?	No
Lead?	No
Attributes	Boss Immunities: Freeze Immunity Stun Immunity Poison Slowdown Confusion Thorn Slowdown Nuke Fallout Damage DJ Booth Slowdown Defense Dropping Hacker Conversion Hacker Slowdown S. Trooper Slowdown Time Dilator Slowdown
Abilities
Ability 1	Cursed Cannonballs - The Tenebrous Tideripper will launch 3 cannonballs from its cannon, stunning towers within a large radius for 10 seconds and dealing 150 damage to units for each cannonball whilst granting the Lantern attribute to any enemy nearby.
Ability 2	Cucurbita Company - The Tenebrous Tideripper will have 6 Pumpkids onboard, launching one onto the path randomly every 15 seconds and granting it either the Bloated, Nimble, Tank, or Hidden attribute and the guaranteed Lantern. This ability can be preformed whilst using another ability, and once all Pumpkids leave the Tenebrous Tideripper, it will be stationary for 5 seconds and re-supply whilst losing 35% defense during the duration.
Ability 3	Ballistic Brimstone Barrage - The Tenebrous Tideripper will lose 35% defense and 50% speed whilst aiming its massive cannon towards the base. After a windup of 2 seconds, it will shoot 2 projectiles, damaging the base for 15. If one boat has already left and the player has been granted the Cursed modifier, both projectiles will hit the base for 30 damage instead.
Ability 4	Ship Sustainability - For every 25% health lost, the Tenebrous Tideripper will drop by 8.75% defense (rounded up to 9) and increase its speed by 10%. If the Tenebrous Tideripper has lost 75% hp, it will be unable to perform the Ballistic Brimstone Barrage ability. If it has lost 100% hp, the Tenebrous Tideripper will sink and explode, stunning any nearby towers for 20 seconds and dealing 800 damage to units.

Overview

The Tenebrous Tideripper is the second major boss to spawn in the Haunted Harvest gamemode, the first being the Hallow Gourd. Appearing on wave 20, this enemy acts as a major difficulty spike and the final fight for Phantasmagoric Port. It possesses various abilities, including base-damaging attacks and constant spawns.

Unlike most bosses, it circles around the map constantly and cannot directly enter the base. However, it can chip down said base quickly, so long-ranged towers like Ranger or Mortar are vital options in dealing with this enemy.

This is due to the Tenebrous Tideripper's passive in which it takes 55% more damage from any explosion, so troops like Rocketeer are especially effective against it.

Tenebrous Tideripper theme.

Appearance

The Tenebrous Tideripper is a large, wooden boat with 6 Pumpkids onboard. It possesses 2 cannons, one used for the Cursed Cannonballs ability, the other used for Ballistic Brimstone Barrage. The Tenebrous Tideripper has multiple gold and bronze accents, along with a Cucurbita Coffin on the rear of the ship used whilst preforming the Cucurbita Company ability. With a single red flag on top, the Tenebrous Tideripper will sink and fall apart on death.

Route

The Tenebrous Tideripper's route.

The Tenebrous Tideripper follows a specific path. Unlike most bosses, this enemy will move around the map in a clockwise fashion. While it can't directly damage your base, its Ballistic Brimstone Barrage ability can deal up to 30 damage to it. One thing to note is its ability to intersect to the other side of the map, forcing it to slow down by 100% until it reaches the other side. Upon doing so, it will move counter-clockwise and vice-versa.

This ultimately means that your defenses can still hit the Tenebrous Tideripper, making it vulnerable to receiving damage on intersection.

Analysis, Ranking, and Strategy

Hey it's me, Noobs...! I'm H'e'R'e'_'t'O..._-_----____----

-This transmission has been interrupted by none other than...-

The one and only, Pumpking Ominous!...You haven't got BUT A CHANCE to defeat my unstoppable, almighty TIDERIPPER...!...NOT EVEN RANGERS CAN SAVE YOU-

.

...Oh wait...UH...DONT TAKE THE RANGERS!!!...

.

...Hey...sorry about my friend here. Noob's transmission is a bit tweaky right now, so I've gotta give the tips for now...

.

...This isn't really my cup of tea, but I'd say the Tideripper is...I kid you not, a 10/10 Threat. There are a few things to note about this enemy, but I'd say the main issue comes from its ability to move out of your defenses very quickly.

• The Tenebrous Tideripper is a long-ranged enemy, so towers with the same capabilities like Ranger are heavily advised to countering this enemy.
  • Troops with low range like Brawler will struggle against this boss, especially considering the Tideripper's stunning potential.
    • While this enemy forcefully outranges your defenses, the Tenebrous Tideripper is always forced to intersect to the opposite side of the map.
      • Take advantage of this weakness by placing your stronger defenses near the center of the map. Towers like Accelerator, Minigunner, or Engineer can greatly benefit from this.

LOOK ALIVE...!...THE BALLISTIC BRIMSTONE BARRAGE ABILITIES' A KILLER!!!...

• The Tenebrous Tideripper's Ballistic Brimstone Barrage ability proves detrimental to your base health.
  • While it cannot be countered per se, ensuring your secondary ship doesn't sail off before the Tideripper's appearance can mitigate the total base damage from 30 to 15.
    • Additionally, a max level path 2 Medic can heal your base and counter this ability, reducing the Tenebrous Tideripper's overall threat.

...STOP GIVING THE PLAYER TIPS YOU LITTLE-

• ...But it's my job...
  • Counter Pumpking Ominous by giving more tips.

Consider using explosive towers like Mortar or maybe even Rocketeer to deal with this enemy. Not only do they both have decent range, but explosions deal 55% more damage to the Tideripper. In other words, if the Rocketeer deals 275 damage, then it'll instead deal 426 to this enemy. Pretty good, right?

.

...Oh no...I almost forgot to mention the fact that the Tenebrous Tideripper will launch Pumpkids randomly on the map every 15 seconds...while this may not be too much of a threat, I'd still consider:

• Having defenses in the back of the map to take care of the Pumpkids. Towers like Crook Boss ensure these summons don't end your run prematurely.
  • However, do consider the random attributes granted on these summons. While these still won't be a threat, it's always worth considering how strong these leaks are.

...You still can't beat my beautiful Tideripper squadron!...

.

...Uhhh...in summary...just shoot this enemy, I guess!...

• Yeah, what she said.
  • Also consider Nuke(ing) this enemy in Easy mode, too.

Trivia

• The Tenebrous Tideripper was the first miniboss to be designed.
  • Second being Pumpking Ominous, third being The Gourdians, etc.
• The final boss of Phantasmagoric Port was originally going to be Gourdliath.
  • However, this was scrapped during early production.
• The Tenebrous Tideripper was originally going to have a corrupted form similar to the Ethereal Pumpkid called the Tumultuous Tideripper, but it was later scrapped due to it acting more as a "clutter" enemy than anything else.
• Hilariously enough, Jackie Lantern mispronounces the Tenebrous Tideripper's name, pronouncing it as "Tide RIPE-er" (despite it being pronounced RIP-er).

Update History

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