The Forest King is the next boss in Well Dweller, and he’s the boss of the Autumn Forest area. He seems to be something like the king of the mice (although he’s way too big and doesn’t look like a mouse, but whatever), and they worship him. The fight starts because both Glimmer and Ilda bring him offerings he doesn’t like very much, and apparently this king is a bit of a snob.
He’s not a very hard boss, though I wouldn’t call him easy either. As usual by now, the phase 2 is where things really get a bit more complicated; in this case there’s just one attack that’s honestly pretty tedious, but you won’t have any trouble with the rest.
Table of Contents
Location: Autumn Forest
He’s in the Autumn Forest, an area you can only reach with the Hover ability through an entrance you unlock from the Night Garden and Hunter’s Cabin (the classic entrance that opens once you activate 2 switches from different routes).
One of the entrances is in the northwest of Hunter’s Cabin, and the other is in the northeast of the Night Garden.
Phase 1 Attack Guide
These are the attacks this boss opens with.
- Bouncy Platforming: Spikes appear on the floor, along with a couple of those mushrooms you need to bounce on, and every so often a sort of energy wall will sweep from one side of the screen to the other with a gap you need to slip through to avoid taking damage. The best thing you can do is use the mushrooms to keep bouncing and slip through those gaps with the Hover ability: bounce on a mushroom, hover through the gap, go to the other mushroom, hover through the gap… and so on. If you’re feeling confident, you can land a hit on him right after bouncing off a mushroom.
- On the Slab: The boss throws a sort of stone slab that sticks into the ground, and you’ll need to climb onto it, since shortly after, the floor fills up with spikes. Stay on the slab and keep jumping to dodge the projectiles that come at you from one side.
- Tears: He sheds a ton of tears that fall down and that you need to dodge. There’s not much to this attack.
- Side Walls: Out of nowhere, the Forest King creates a pair of vertical walls (you’ll be between them), and you’ll have to cling to them so you don’t fall down and get hurt by the spikes that appear below. Sort of horizontal energy walls will keep appearing, and you’ll need to dodge them by bouncing from one wall to the other. Hovering for a moment (just a tap of the button) when you jump to the other wall helps a lot.
Phase 2
The attacks are more or less the same, but as with other bosses in this game, they get quite a bit stronger in phase 2.
- Bouncy Platforming +: It’s the same, but now the gap you need to go through in the vertical energy walls keeps growing and shrinking. The only difference is that you’ll need to time it so you go through when the gap is big; better not try to attack this time.
- On the Slab +: You’ll have to dodge trickier projectile combinations. Just keep staying on the slab; that part’s the same.
- Tears +: He sheds more tears in different patterns. The bump in difficulty isn’t that noticeable with this one, honestly.
- Side Walls +: Without a doubt the boss’s worst attack. This time there’s only one wall, and the energy walls the boss creates form a pattern that forces you to stay on the solid wall and keep jumping to the right, then hover back to the wall again. You’ll have to do this the whole time while saving as much of your Wall Grab as possible, since it has a limit.
Strategy and Tips
Always put survival ahead of offense, and attack when you see a clear opening (usually between attacks); this boss has a lot of moments where it’s better to focus on dodging.
On top of that, and I know I’m repeating myself, but it’s really good advice: use the Flaming Vessel whenever you can, since it deals quite a bit of damage and really helps bring the boss down fast.
Oh, and make sure your health is pretty high in phase 2, since it’s easy to take damage when he uses “Side Walls +”, and most of the time, surviving that attack is what makes the difference between beating him or not.
Trinkets I recommend (the ones I brought to this fight):
- Silver Ring +2: Significantly increases damage dealt.
- Doll’s Head: Increases the range of your matchstick attacks.
- Golden Needle +2: Creates a circle of spikes around you when you’re below 100% health.
- Scrap of Fabric +2: Significantly increases attack damage while in the air.
- Cracked Marble +1: Moderately increases damage dealt when you’re at full health.
- Silver Spoon: Briefly surrounds you with a protective barrier when you heal.
- Rusty Fork: Slightly increases damage when your health is low.
- Skull Keychain +1: Emits a medium burst of burning embers when you take damage.
- Bundle of Hair: Your downward air strike creates a burst of embers.
Reward
Another of the 7 Golden Feathers you need to reach the Queen, who’s the game’s final boss.
And that’s it! Did the fight against the Forest King in Well Dweller give you trouble? Why do you think the mice worship such a disturbing and hostile creature? Leave a comment!
