While Naja is not the hardest boss, it’s easily the cheapest. In addition to having a variety of semi-predictable attacks, there are a lot of places to take damage or mess up in a way that doesn’t feel entirely fair. Thankfully, there are some tricks to make Naja less annoying.
Set up
For every fight I strongly suggest using the gauntlets. Not only are they fast and deal decent damage, the charged punch attack has invincibility frames that make players immune to energy based attacks. From there, no player should need potions outside of the last fight and upgrades are helpful, but only important if you want to win without taking damage. For this fight I also suggest wearing armor that increases movement speed, especially if you want to do a no damage run.
Guide
Naja has a total of six attacks that are indicated by which part of it’s body is glowing. Head means it will charge at you, with the next part doing a fan of bullets, followed by three sets of two bullets going in every direction, summoning flame enemies and lava puddles. There is also a final attack that has all the tail parts glow, indicating they will bounce around the room like a puck on an air hockey table.
The best way to handle Naja is to figure out which attacks you can’t deal with and focus on attacking that part of it’s body. After a certain point they will break and you won’t have to deal with that attack for the duration of the fight. Another is any piece attacked during the bouncing segment will stop moving and take damage, unless another piece collides with it. This is extremely useful if you want to eliminate a part without having to chase after the boss.
Perfect Run
If you’re trying to do a perfect run, keep in mind that any glowing part will deal damage to you and destroying a part causing steam to come out of the head and deal damage to anyone that touches it. Outside of that, play smart and don’t underestimate the boss.
