Overview
Strategy, best characters to use, etc.
Intro
This guide will (hopefully) help you learn each character’s strengths, and which characters I recommend using for each boss!
Spoiler warning!
Character Overview
In Friends to the End, you can switch between three playable characters at any time, being Sky, Bolo, and Rottytops.
Bolo, to the left, is your jack-of-all trades, with decent attack and range.
His Magic Special is to throw a spiked ball straight at the ground, after which it bounces from the ground up, ricocheting off the ground/ceiling. Good for angles, and doesn’t take much magic.
As Bolo levels up, his bolo chain can be sent out further, and deals more damage.
At Level 1, he deals 3 damage.
At Level 2, he deals 4 damage.
At Level 3, he deals 5 damage.
At Max Level (4), he deals 6 damage, and his chain can go pretty far.
Bolo’s specialty is grappling. He can grapple on to pegs and rings, and swing from them. His can be fired diagonally upward, or just straight up. It deals 2 damage, if it connects to an enemy.
Bolo has a sort of “air stall” as well, using his grapple in mid-air with nothing to grapple to halts him in the air. This stall restarts his falling speed and allows a pseudo-glide, and can be used to dodge some projectiles.
Rottytops, in the middle, is the fighter type, having very short range, but with the highest power.
Her Magic Special is to take out a brain and devour it, which recovers all hearts. Can be used twice per full Magic Meter.
As Rottytops levels up, her leg swing deals more damage, and executes faster.
At Level 1, she deals 5 damage.
At Level 2, she deals 6 damage.
At Level 3, she deals 7 damage.
At Max Level (4), she deals 8 damage, and can attack very quickly.
Rottytops’ specialty is throwing her head. She aim it, and then can throw it through Nightmare Barriers and other obstacles, but throwing her head into spikes or into a pit will cause her to take damage. Her head deals 5 damage when it connects, and gives her invincibility frames.
Sky, the rightmost character, is the ranged attacker, weak in power, but great distance for her attacks.
Her Magic Special is to summon what is essentially a Super Pike Ball, but made of baby birds. Each bird deals 1 damage, and three circle around her. Drains her Magic Meter at a constant rate.
As Sky levels up, her attacks don’t actually get stronger, but she can deploy more attack birds at once. Each bird flies out from Sky, deals 2 damage, then flies back, like a boomerang.
At Level 1, she can send out one bird.
At Level 2, she can send out two birds at once.
At Level 3, she can send out three birds at once.
At Max Level (4), she can send out four birds at once.
Sky’s specialty is platform generation. She can throw an egg, and when the egg throw button/key is pressed again, it hatches into a platform. She can throw at an angle that arcs, or straight up. If the egg hits an enemy, ceiling, or wall before hatching, it will break instantly, but hitting an enemy with an egg deals 1 damage. The platforms do not last very long, but they can be stood on by any character, allowing Bolo to reach certain grapple spots, or allowing Rottytops to throw her head further. Sky can only have one Platform Bird out at a time.
However, Sky has a second specialty to compensate for her lack of firepower: She can glide using Wrench. Holding the jump button when Sky is in the air will make her pull out Wrench, give her a very small vertical boost, and let her glide down, allowing her to cover more distance than the other two.
Boss One: P.O.O.P. T.O.O.T. (Tinkerslug)
The Tinkerslug is the first boss of the game.
To defeat POOPTOOT, you have to ring the bell in the lower left area of the stage, then climb up the chains and hit the explosive barrel into POOPTOOT, which will then be knocked to the ground, allowing your character to attack it.
Cannonballs and bullets will be fired at you, watch out when you’re climbing the chain.
Bolo or Sky are required to get to the barrel, but Bolo’s grapple is faster.
Recommended Character for Offense:
Rottytops, any Level
Bolo, Level 3 or higher
Bolo and Rottytops can make quick work of this boss, and using Bolo removes the need to switch characters at all.
Sky can work as well, but preferrably Max Level, and with her Pike Bird active while the POOPTOOT is stunned.
Boss Two: Giga Mermaid
The Giga Mermaid is the second boss of the game.
To defeat the Giga Mermaid’s first phase, the group has to destroy all the locks holding the Giga Mermaid captive.
The Giga Mermaid will shoot energy bubbles at you, which track you.
Bolo or Sky are required to get to the higher locks, but Bolo’s grapple is faster.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Rottytops, Level 2 or higher
Bolo, Level 2 or higher
While Sky’s range is good, it can’t reach across the entire arena, so someone who can destroy the locks quickly is better for the job.
Phase 2
The Giga Mermaid’s second phase has her switching from side to side, firing lightning and energy beams. She will create platforms with pegs Bolo can grapple.
To defeat the Giga Mermaid’s second phase, aim for her forehead in all of your attacks.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Sky, Level 2 or higher
Bolo, Level 3 or higher
You could use Rottytops for that extra damage, but a high-level Bolo can reach the Giga Mermaid and deal consistent damage, and Sky’s range allows for even more secure damage. Bolo’s Magic Special is also useful for nailing the Giga Mermaid when the platforms aren’t around.
Boss Three: Wilbur
Wilbur is the third boss of the game.
To harm Wilbur, you must knock an explosive rock into a cannon, then stand on the button that launches the cannon. Wilbur’s eye will detach, and start rolling, and you must hit his eyeball as it comes toward you.
Wilbur will launch eye fireballs, explosive rocks, and when his eye detaches, he will try to roll into you with it.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Sky, Level 2 or higher
Bolo, any Level
Unless you want to abuse invincibility frames until his eye detaches or need to heal, Rottytops is useless for this fight. Since Wilbur operates on “how many times you’ve done the cycle” rather than “how much damage you deal”, Rottytops’ offensive capabilities are rendered null and void.
Sky is the best option for this fight due to how far her birds can fly out, which guarantees a safe distance from you and Wilbur. Level 2 just ensures she can have two birds for each side of her when WIlbur speeds up his eye rolling.
Bolo is good for the same reason as Sky, his range, but he can’t cover as much ground as Sky, so she’s the better option.
Boss Four: Twitch and Vinegar
Twitch and Vinegar pair up to be the fourth boss of the game. They’re somewhat of a miniboss.
To defeat Twitch and Vinegar, simply just attack them. Eventually, one of them will go down, and the other will be left.
When Twitch (the shorter one with goggles) is alone, she will throw bombs at you.
When Vinegar (the taller one with stripes down her eyes) is alone, she will fire many projectiles at you.
Occasionally, their ships will merge together and shoot a large energy beam in the top, middle, and bottom sections of the arena.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Sky, Level 3 or higher
Sky is the best character for this duo, due to her birds and her Magic Special. The way the magic carpets you’re on move don’t do too well for Bolo or Rottytops especially, but Sky’s range allows her to bypass most problems.
Boss Five: Ammo Baron
Ammo Baron is the fifth boss of the game.
To defeat the Ammo Baron, take out the troops he surrounds himself with, and attack him as much as possible.
Ammo Baron summons troops, with more troops summoned the more damage he takes, and can order them to do a plethora of things.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Sky, Level 2 or higher
Rottytops, Max Level (4)
Bolo’s abilities are sadly not that useful for this fight. Sky’s birds and Magic Special cut through each enemy, and Rottytops’ leg has almost an area of effect aspect to it when fighting the Ammo Troops.
Boss Six: Squid Baron
holy wow it’s him it’s the sq uid baron he runs around! he flies around! he poops on you!
squiad barobn does it all! also he throws a temper tan trum
you just gotta keep b eating him until he stops breathing ok
Recommended Characters for Offense:
the bird lady, level 3 or better
zombieface, max level aka 4
the headband guy can be useful tho like when squiddo is in the air you gotta use headband guy’s magic special to hit him from the bounce back
anyway zombie can deal lots of damage and bird lady can glide over squid boy when he runs around or can create a bird to stand on when he runs
The Squid Baron is the sixth boss overall. He’s a miniboss.
Squid Baron is harmed via normal attacks.
Squid Baron can run around and try to slam into you, or he can take to the skies and drop energy on you for a little while before coming down to land at a diagonal angle. Squid Baron can also jump around rapidly before jumping high and slamming down.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Sky, Level 3 or higher
Rottytops, Max Level (4)
While Bolo might not be able to easily jump over Squid Baron, his Magic Special can allow him to hit Squid Baron when Squid Baron flies above and drops energy rain.
Sky, on the other hand, and easily jump over Squid Baron and can hit him when he’s in the air via her Platform Birds.
Rottytops, as usual, has the best damage output and her head can just barely hit Squid Baron when he’s in the air. (Note that using her head is kind of cheesing the fight, but it still works.)
Boss Seven: Dual Barons
The Dual Barons are the seventh boss overall.
They are similar to Twitch and Vinegar in that each Baron has individual health. Squid Baron charges around like before, but he will also jump and slam down, creating a shockwave that goes across both sides of the map.
Hypno Baron flies around in an infinity pattern, throwing fireballs. Touching Hypno Baron himself is actually quite dangerous, and deals a good amount of damage. Hypno Baron also fly to a top corner of the arena and shoot a spread of energy balls.
Hypno Baron is the greater threat, but try to defeat Squid Baron first, as after Squid Baron is defeated, Hypno Baron will ONLY fly in the infinity pattern and throw fireballs.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Rottytops, Max Level (4)
Bolo, Max Level (4)
Sky, Any Level (Hypno Baron)
Rottytops is the best character for this fight because of her massive damage potential, but Bolo is a close second. As usual, Rottytops can throw her head at the Barons if you seem to have a hard time hitting Hypno Baron, and Bolo has his Magic Special, so long as you didn’t use all of your magic in the Squid Baron fight.
Alternatively, Sky is also a good choice for Hypno Baron after Squid Baron is defeated. Get Sky in one of the corners, then create a platform directly above her. Throw Rotty onto it, then go back to Sky and bombard Hypno Baron with birds. Done properly, Hypno Baron shouldn’t be able to hurt Sky at all!
Final Boss
Spoilers for the final boss below!
Final Boss: ♥♥♥♥-Shantae
♥♥♥♥-Shantae is the final boss of Friends to the End, and is the only boss that isn’t directly in Shantae’s memory. ♥♥♥♥-Shantae fights similarly to the Shantae boss fight in Pirate Queen’s Quest, utilizing her transformations to her advantage.
Monkey: Spins around and flies at you with the Monkey Bullet.
Elephant: Tries to stomp you.
Fiddler Crab: Creates two waterfalls on opposite sides of the arena and charges at you through them.
Mermaid: Jumps in the air and shoots a load of Mermaid Bubbles.
Spider: Rains Spider Venom before crashing down, trying to crush you.
Mouse: Hard to see, ♥♥♥♥-Shantae runs around, transforming back and forth from herself to the mouse.
Harpy: ♥♥♥♥-Shantae swoops about, trying to hit you.
Bat: The arena becomes pitch-black, save for a small circle around ♥♥♥♥-Shantae. Hitting her in this form makes her drop Gems.
Recommended Characters for Offense:
Anyone, Max Level!
Everyone’s advantages come into play in this fight. Rottytops can deal massive damage (and cheese the fight), Sky can attack ♥♥♥♥-Shantae at a range if you’re low on health or don’t want to take damage, and Bolo can hit her when she’s high up and can deal decent damage at a safe range. Mix it up a little!
(steam censored the final boss’s prefix lol)
Outro
That marks the end of this guide!
Hopefully I helped you out a bit with any bosses you were having trouble with!
Big thanks to user Christopherweeblingjr for the alternate strategy in the Dual Barons fight!
