Shadow of the Beast is the last mission of rank 3-2 and is located in the arcade in the second half of Teir 1 in a random gate. it begins at floor 5 and ends at 7. The levels are known as the "Gloaming Wildwoods" and are pre-made levels, meaning that they will always contain the same layout and all monsters (with the exception of monster spawn crates). This area conatins the first true boss "The Snarbolax" and is required to obtain 2-star certification and Teir 2 access.

Gloaming Wildwoods is a Beast-type stratum. This means that the most common enemy is likely to be a beast. Beast monsters are weak to Piercing and include wolvers and chromalisks (Those are the wolfs and lizards, respectively). There are also construct monsters that are weak to Elemental through out the first two floors (The golem creatures and the gun puppy turrets). Lastly there are a few shadow creatures, but only a few, and shouldnt need to be considered when prepareing.

(I will only be discussing the 2* versions of weapons and armor)

Swords: Piercing damage is the ideal type to have, giveing a damage bonus to all beasts, includeing the boss. The Flourish is one of two sword familys that do piercing damage, with the other being a reward from this boss. Brandish, Calibur and Spur all do normal damage, and are decent choices. Trokia is a slow weapon, and is harder to land hits with. Searing edge and Shocking edge are at a disadvantage, doing reduced damage to all beasts. Cutters are a special case, being hard to use throughout the levels, but have an advantage at the boss.

Guns: First, I want to say that wolvers are able to dogde bullets, so it will be slightly more diffacult useing them. The Alchemer lines (except shadowtech) do pure elemental damage, which is weak to beast, but strong to construct. Blasters and shadowtech both do reguler damage to everything. Autoguns cause you to stand still, and leaves you open to attakcs.

Bombs: Most bombs at this point have a small range, but can still be used effectively. Splinter bombs are the best choices of the bombs. Status bombs like Vaporizers can be a good supportive weapon. Dark Matter, Blast and Shard bombs only do reguler damage. Crystal bombs are elemental and do reduced damage.


Balanceing what weapons you will use is important. Taking a Shocking edge and a Dark matter bomg isnt a very good idea, but taking a Flourish and a Splinter bomb isnt a great idea eaither. Its best to have weapons that do diffrent types of damage. A Flourish and a Blaster would be good, or a Brandish with a Haze bomb.

Wolver creatures do piercing and normal damage, while chromalisks do pure normal. Golems and Turrets do Elemental damage. The Snarbolax does a combination of piercing and normal attacks.

(Ill only be talking about full armor sets, meaning both the helm and armor of one set.)

Wolver, Jelly and Cobalt: All three sets have Normal and Piercing Defence, and are good choices if you are haveing problems with the beasts.. Wolver gear also give you a sword damage bonus.

Magic, Volt, Firebreak and Icebreak: These sets are Normal and Elemental defence, which will protect better against turrets. Their status resisit stats dont matter here, since none of those status usually appear.

Skelly suit: This set is Normal/Shadow Defence, and is fairly weak in this area. Due to so few shadow enemies, this set shouldn't be used.

Spiral Demo: This is another Normal/Elemental set, but also gives a bomb charge bonus. If useing bombs as a main weapon, this set shoudl be used.

Spiral Plate: The Spiral Plate set only gives pure normal, but much more then the other sets. The downside is that is slows your attack speed. This is a big disadvatage here, and should be avoided.

Vitasuit Plus: Don't use it. The health bonus is not nearly enough to make up for such a low defence.

This section will cover all the enemies, their attacks and how to avoid them.

Wolvers: Wolvers are the msot common enemy on this floor, and you will see alot of them. They are weak to Piercing damage and resistant to Elemental. Wolvers have 3 actions. The first is an attack; the wolver growls and then lurches forward and bites, causeing piercing damage. This can be avoid by runnign to the side of the wolver before it leaps. The second is a dodge; when shot at by guns or sometimes while being attacked, a wolver will dash to the side in an attempt to avoid being hit. The third is a howl; The wolver will sit, then howl loudly without moving, calling nearby wolvers to help. This is the best time to attack.

Alpha Wolvers: Alpha Wolvers are the wolvers with brown fur on their back. They are stronger then wolvers and do more damage. Alpha wolvers have 3 actions. First is its attack; Beginning like the wolvers animation, the Alpha growls before attacking, but lurches forward and bites 3 times in a row. The second action is its dash; The Alpha can dash multiple times in a row, and is faster then the wolvers dash. The third animation its its howl; While calling nearby wolvers, the Alpha howl also gives a damage boost to all nearby wolvers and itself.

Chromalisks: Chromalisks are the green lizard enemies. They are weak to piercing and resistant to elemental, same as Wolvers. Chromalisks have 2 actions. The first is an attack; after waiting a moment, the chromalisk shoots its tounge at medium range, avoidable by running back or to the side. The second is an ability; Chromalisks are able to turn nearly invisable, with a faint outline being visable. attacking one will remove its invisability.

Gun Puppys: Gun Puppys are the turrets that appear through out the levels. They are weak to Elemental and resistant to Piercing. Gun puppy have only one action and that is to shoot bullets. Gun puppys will shoot one bullet straight at the closest knight, or the last one to damage it. The attack animation can be canceled by the last hit of most sword combos, if its timed to hit right before they shoot.

Lumber: Lumbers are the wooden golems that have a slow attack. Lumbers are weak to Elemental and strong to Piercing. Lumber has one action, its attack. Once it obtains a target and is in range, Lumbar will pull its arm into the air and strike down in front of him, causeing knockback and a chance to stun. After the attack he idles for a moment, which is when you should attack.

Dust Zombies and Kats: These enemies appear only 3 times in all the level, and are not important enough to be described in detail. Both are weak to Elemental and strong to Shadow, with Piercing damage being neutral.

So you picked out a decent armor set and some good weapons to go with it. Next you need to find a party. Joining a party or createing one works fine. Before starting make sure that you have your weapons and armor equipped properly and not in costume slots. Its also a good idea to try to use diffrent weapons from your allies. It wont make too big of a diffrence gamewise, but its good to be able to change strategys. Once everythings ready, step onto the elevator to start the expedition.

The first level of the Gloaming Wildwoods begins in Terrilous Trail. This is your last chance to change your equipment. Start the level by running south to the first enemys.


1. Three wolvers will spawn and attack. Avoid the thorn bushes nearby, as they will damage you. Kill the wolvers and continue on to the next section. Here the thorn bushes will create a path in the middle where more enemies will spawn. 2 Wolvers, 1 Chromalisk and 1 Slikwing attack. Kill the silkwing before attacking the other creatures.

2. After this fight you will come to a gate. The switch it on the path to the north. When activated 2 wolvers will appear in the pathway. Push them against the wall to keep them in one place while attacking. Once defeated, continue on thorugh the gate.

3. You will come to a room with a bell. near the next gate you can see the snarbolax before he runs away. 3 more wolver will spawn and attack. The bell in the center of the room, when hit, will make a shockwave around it, stunning all beast-type creatures. Ont he right side of this room are 2 Minerals and the button to open this gate.

4. Next is a room with a party switch in the middle surrounded by thorn bushes. when activated, 3 Dust zombies will spawn, Two on the right and one on the left. be caueful not to push them into the thorns, or they might drop items in them. once the zombies are killed, Five kats will appear around the party switch and attack. Shield against their bites and attack. After the kats are dead, the final wave will appear. 3 Gun puppys will spawn, One on eaither side of the button, faceing away, and one above it faceing down. Once defeated the next room will contain 2 heart boxes.

5. Moving on you will come to a room with blocks in front of you. The red boxes are monster spawner boxes, and contain a random enemy. you can walk past them without destroying them if you are low on health. Youll come to another bell and the first Alpha wolver (and 2 normal wolvers) of the Wildwoods. Use the bell to stun them before you attack. Once defeated there is a wall of thorn bushes with explosives nearby, and turrets behind them. Detonate the blocks from a distance to avoid being hurt by the explosions. Follow the narrow walkways to a small room with 3 more minerals, and then on to the last arena of this floor.

6. When stepping onto the party switch, keep your shield up. Once activated, the Snarbolax will rush down the center of the arena, through the button, stunning any unshielded knights it hits. The first wave will be 4 wolvers, lure them to the bottom of the arean to avoid the thorn bushes. The second wave will be 1 Alpah wolver, 2 normal Wolvers and 1 Gun puppy. if you stay to the left side when they spawn, you might be able to keep the turret from activating. The thrid (and last) wave is 2 Gun puppys and 2 Lumbers. Take out the Gun puppys first so that you only have to avoid the slow attacking lumbers.

After this fight, proceed on to 6 prize boxes and the elevator to the next floor, Roarsterous Ruins.

Roarsterous Ruins is the second level of the Gloaming Wildwoods.

1.Once you step off the elevator, follow the path to the fork, where there will be 3 Chromalisks.Fight them off and countiue on the top path first. You'll come to a key gate and a ghost block, with the key on the bottom of the cliff. Destroy the ghost block and press the button. The gate in front of the key will open, and 2 Wolvers will appear nearby. Kill them and head back to the fork in the path.

2. This time continue down the lower path. 2 Wolvers and 2 Gun puppys will spawn behind the thorn bushes. Take out the Gun puppies first and then the wolvers. Grab the key and return to the key door on the upper path.

3. Once the party switch is activated, you'll enter a room with one bell on each side and a key gate. 2 Alpha wolvers and 4 reguler Wolvers will appear and attack. Use the bells to stun the Alphas and take them out first. Once they are all defeated, the gates on both sides of the arean will open to reveal two areas and 5 minerals.

The left path: on this side you will find thorn bushes arranged into 3 boxes with a closed gate at the top. go to the south-west to find a small section witha button in it. When pressed, the gate will open and 3 Gun puppys will spawn inside the thorn bushes.

4. When you enter the gate, keep your shield up. As you step into the room the Snarbolax will rush at you again, stunning any knights who were not protected, and 5 Dust Zombies will spawn. Once defeated, destory the stone blocks until you find a button. The gates will open to reveal the spike traps. Follow the right path up to avoide being hit, and grab the key. Follow the left path to get back out and return to the center room.

The right path: The first thing you will see is a gate with heart block behind it. You won be able to get past it form this side, so contine to the spike traps. To get past these, you need to fire a bullet at the explosives before the spikes retract, then run across. If you dont have any ranged weapons, you should use vials. at the last trap is a ghost block with normal blocks around it. This one respawns faster so be careful.

5.The area you enter into is like a maze. 3 Chromalisks will spawn around it when you enter. destroy the stone blocks in front of you and kill the first chromalisk. run up and press the button to unlock the key room. You now have 2 options:

The easy way: run back down and around the outside of the maze. destroy the stone blocks and leave all teh explosives/ monster crates. When you hit the ghost block, the entire maze should vanish, including the mosnter crates.

The profitable way: destroy the explosives next to you to opne the two crate, one of which might die fom the explosions. follow the path down and destory the second monster crate and explosives. Go up and through the stone blocks on the right side and open the monster crate there too. When you hit teh ghost block, only the right side will vanish.

Once you enter the room with the key, more enemies will spawn. 2 Wolvers will appear near you and 1 Gun puppy will spawn in the center. After defeating them, take the key and return to the center room through the gate with the heart boxes. When you return to the center room from the right path, 2 Dust Zombies will spawn and attack. after defeating them, unlock the key doors and continue to the party button.

6. In this room there is a row of spike traps with explosives behind them. On the left is a gate with a key and button behind it and on the right is a switch behind a wall, with a nearby vase. Set off the explosives first and wait until there is room to run past them. Shoot the switch on the right to lower the spikes for a few seconds.run left and open the ghost block, which will remove any explosives touching it. Run in ad hit the button to open the gate, and summmon 1 Alpha wolver and 3 normal Wolvers. Fight them off then lower the spikes and take the key to the gate.

7. This next room is an arena, and the last arena before the boss. There is a bell on the left and right side, which shoudl be used for Alphas. Once the switch is triggered, 4 enemies will spawn. 1 Alpha wolver to the north,12 reguler Wolver to the east, and 2 Chromalisks to the west and south. The second wave contains 2 Alpha wolvers and 2 reguler Wolvers. Use the bell to clear them quickly. The final wave is 1 Alpha wolver and 3 Gun puppies. Take out any Gun puppys that are fireing before taking out the wolver. Once cleared the gate will open to 6 prize boxes and the elveator to the final floor of the Gloaming Wildwood; Lair of the Snarbolax.

This is the final floor and the boss lair of the Gloaming Wildwoods. Once you exit the elevator, you will come to 4 healing tiles. Heal up to full and proceed onto the party button to begin the fight. In this arena there is a bell in the center, which is very important and is the only way to damage the boss.

The Snarbolax is invulnerable while it is black and red. Any attack on it will be useless. The snarbolax teleports arounf the arena, appearing in eaither a corner or in the center of any side. When is pops out of the groud it send 4 spikes out in seac direction, doing piercing damage. While underground it may burrow across the arena to a now spot, shooting spikes up through the groudn above it as it moves. After 3 or 4 burrows it will charge an attack, and shoot a wave of spikes towards the center of the areans. after this attack it will burrow and reappear, haveing a chance to use a bite attack. A sign of this is that it will run away from the edge of the arena toward a player. When this happens, try to lure it near the bell in the center. Once close enough, strike the bell. If you're lucky the Snarbolax will become stunned by it, loseing its black and red armor and becoming stunned. It will become a brown color, which means its vulnerable to attacks. Run up to it and attack as fast as you can. After a few seconds the Snarbolax will return to its black and red colors and regain its invincibility. Once it returns to black/red, it will return to its normal attack patterns. After several stuns and attacks it should be defeated. Congratulations! You defeated the first boss of the game! After it explodes a large token will drop near the gate. Pick this up to obtaion between 2 and 4 Frumious Fang tokens. Contine on to reach some prize boxes, minerals, a recon artifact and the elevator.

I hit the bell when the snarbolax was right next to it and it didn't stun!

Sometimes the bell wont stun the Snarbolax. This can be cause by several things:

- The snabolax was hit before the bell in the same attack. This happens if the snarbolax ends up right on the bell as you try to ring it. the animation from hiting an invincible enemy will block the stun.

- The range of the bell to the south isnt as far as it looks. The bells shockwave looks like it reaches past the party button, but it actually doesnt go that far.

- The bell was rung as the Snarbolax enetered its range. If the Snarbolax isnt in the bells range as its hit, it wont be stunned. The animation looks like it travels a distance, but its effect is instant in its entire range.


The Snarbolax wont use its bite attack. How can i get it close to the bell?

The Snarbolax wont awlays use its bite attack at the same time. Sometimes it will burrow instead of attacking. Normally it will use its bite attack soon after, or after the next spike wave attack. However, its not unheard of to go through several cycles before he does. An advanced trick to make it vulnerable is shield bumping. Stand on eaither side of the arena, behind where he would burrow to. When he jumps up next to you, deploy your shield. If you did it right he should be sent right into the range of the bell.