| “ | A battle royale, then? Marvelous! Who will go first?
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The Battle Royale is the boss encounter that takes place in the Tower of Fate: Ascent in both Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows. It is a massive showdown, boss rush style, with all the knights of the Order of No Quarter fought in a semi-randomized order. Once the battle is over, each knight will comically remain suspended, in order of defeat, at the edge of the stage, forming a human chain.
Story[]
According to Yacht Club Games, the reason why the exact events of the Battle Royale differ between the two campaigns boils down to a matter of perspective, as both stories are told from Shovel Knight or Plague Knight's point of view, and Plague Knight in particular is not a totally reliable narrator.
Shovel of Hope[]
In Shovel of Hope, Shovel Knight plummets into the dining hall, accidentally interrupting the Order's meal. Still furious of their previous defeat, the knights decide to attack him. Once they are all defeated, Shovel Knight is given the choice to leave the stage immediately, or take his time to rescue them, providing additional dialogue by doing so.
Plague of Shadows[]
In Plague of Shadows, the Battle Royale takes place under different circumstances, as this time it is Plague Knight, who interrupts the Order, shortly followed by Shovel Knight, who plummets into the room, knocking himself seemingly unconscious in the process. Taken aback by his appearance, but undeterred by it, the other knights of the Order still decide to attack Plague Knight in retaliation for his betrayal and previous assaults. As such, the first seven boss fights still normally follow, only for Shovel Knight to fully wake up and challenge Plague Knight as the eighth fight. After Plague Knight's apparent victory, Shovel Knight knocks him out from behind, ending the battle in a familiar way. Shovel Knight will then leave the dining hall, remaining deaf to the pleads for help of the Order and leaving Plague Knight to escape on his own.
Overview and Strategy[]
The Battle Royale is, in many ways, a simple rematch with each member of the Order of No Quarter in a row. While the order of the fights is mostly random, there are a couple of exceptions, as Polar Knight will always be fought in the first half, due to him being the only boss who has an instadeath attack, in the form of Snow Spikes and, in Plague of Shadows, Shovel Knight will always be the last opponent. Between each fight, the challenger is given a platter with a Chicken in it (and a large jar is also included every other fight).
For the most part, the boss battles are replicas of the earlier fights with the bosses: for example, Specter Knight makes two platforms appear and Treasure Knight fills the stage with water. There are, however, a few subtle differences in some of the fights: Plague Knight and Shovel Knight do not have the special destructible blocks beneath them, which makes the arena more predictable, while Propeller Knight doesn't have the small pits on either side of the stage and his airship can now only call down the small bomb volley, not the large cannonballs that destroy the stage.
This battle is made more difficult in New Game Plus by replacing every other Chicken with a bomb. While the bomb can be used to damage the bosses, this halves the amount of healing available.
Tips[]
- If a food platter is still on the screen when a new boss shows up after the defeat of the previous one, a new platter won't arrive, making it advisable to always consume the food before a boss's defeat, preferably after taking some damage first.
- That also means that platters with a Bomb on New Game Plus won't be replaced with a Chicken platter if they remain covered.
- If Shovel Knight is wearing the Dynamo Mail, he can Shovel Drop onto the platter to build up charge attacks.
- Tinker Knight's first phase still retains his weakness to the Mobile Gear.
- It is advisable that Shovel Knight enters the stage with filled Troupple Chalices with either the Ichor of Renewal or the Ichor of Boldness, while Plague Knight should do so along with a substantial quantity of Health Tonics in tow; in both cases, it must be kept in mind that these will not refill if they die.
Dialogue[]
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Trivia[]
- Although the Battle Royale parallels the boss rushes found in the Mega Man series, the developers' intention was to have the players rematch each of the Order of No Quarter boss with all the upgrades they've acquired at that point.[1]