The enemy roster in Risk of Rain 2 is pretty vast and it’s filled with plenty of creative and unique creatures that can take quite the chunk out of your health bar. On top of those nasty critters, it’s also got plenty of bosses that will bring down the pain on your party in seconds. One particularly tough monster mini-boss comes in the form of the Overloading Worm, a hard-hitting monstrosity that’s a holdover from the original Risk of Rain.
This behemoth erupts from the ground and lays down all sorts of horrible lightning attacks that can often bring what was an unstoppable run screeching to a halt. With a massive hitbox that also damages on contact, this lightning Leviathan is a headache to take down. But if you want to take down this overgrown Earthworm in seconds, then here are a couple of tips to keep in mind during the fight.
10 Keep Your Distance
The Overloading Worm is one you definitely should tackle from afar. It can put out a lot of damage in a short space of time and unless you want to soak all of that up, it’s worth putting some distance between you and it.
Keeping the boss far away means you can stay out of range ofhis lightning attacks. One of which involves a series of orbs that cause a lightning bolt to strike when they touch you. Therefore, try to pick it off with some good DPS buffs or stack some poison debuffs from afar if you can, just remember to keep it away from you.
9 Fight It Out In The Open
The Overloading Worm is someone you definitely don’t want to fight in a narrow space. His massive hitbox and constant diving around can turn any tight space into a meat grinder, so try to keep bouts with him out in the open.
Despite the levels in Risk of Rain 2 being quite large and sprawling, there are still a lot of narrow tunnels and caves you can find yourself trapped in. When you’re diving and dodging away from the worm, try to keep an eye on your surroundings and don’t get boxed in.
8 It’s Similar To The Magma Worm
It can be quite difficult at first glance to get a good grip on what the Overloading Worm does since it spawns extremely rarely in the game. However, if you want an idea of what you can expect with this boss then just take a look at the Magma Worm.
Encountered fairly common, this massive lava-drenched creature is another holdover from the original game and has the exact same move-set as its electricity enshrouded cousin. So a good tip to learning the quickest way to take down the Overloading Worm is to practice on the Magma Worm to figure out which type of attacks work the best.
7 It Has Two Main Attacks
There are a lot of pretty nasty attacks that bosses can do in Risk of Rain 2 and being able to tell when one of them is coming can mean the difference between a stage clear or a party wipe. Luckily the Overloading Worm has two main attacks and they are not too difficult to dodge around.
Its first method of chunking your health is to quickly leap in and out of the ground whilst releasing electric balls that call down lightning strikes upon touching a player. Its second move is to emerge and douse an area in lightning attacks, but you can easily dodge this as the worm won’t move. Once you’ve figured out what attacks coming next he’s not that tough to take down.
6 It Will Only Spawn On Extremely High Difficulty Stages
Surviving until the later stages in Risk of Rain 2, let alone the finale is an exemplary achievement as the difficulty can scale quickly before you know it.
It’s fitting then that the Overloading Worm will only crop up in those higher leveled rounds as it’s a real test of your ability to survive in those incredibly harsh stages. Generally, you can expect this monster to appear around rank 16 difficulty, although he has been spotted by people in the Community around rank 8 a few times or as a summon from one of the different Shrines in Risk of Rain 2 on some rare occasions. Therefore, be on your guard when that difficulty starts to creep up towards the double digits and make sure your character is strong enough to make it through the fight unscathed.
5 Items That Interact With Elites Won’t Work On It
There are a ton of unique and interesting items in Risk of Rain 2 that can drastically change your character for the better or the worse. Some of the most powerful of these boons carry traits that exploit an enemy’s status as an Elite or Special type.
Unfortunately in the case of the Overloading Worm, those powerful trinkets aren’t going to be that useful. This is because the creature is classed as a Unique Monster in Risk of Rain 2, which renders it immune to items that affect a powerful creature’s Elite status. If you have a build that’s geared towards taking down Elites, then you may have to quickly respec your character before the Overloading Worm flattens you.
4 Bring Along A Friend
Even though Risk of Rain 2 can be extremely difficult at times, it’s not impossible to finish the game solo. However, bringing along a group of friends can make the whole run more enjoyable and a lot easier, especially when it comes to taking on the Overloading Worm.
Having an extra party member playing another of the colorful characters in Risk of Rain 2’s roster means they can bait this massive monster away, providing you some breathing room. Use these openings to continually chip down at its absolutely massive health bar.
3 Beware The Minions
One of the main things that can take you down in a Risk of Rain 2 boss fight is the constant swarm of basic enemies. Dealing with their near-perpetual barrages can make any boss fight quite the headache, and combine that with the Overloading Worm’s area denial attacks and your screen will quickly become a busy mess.
When taking on the Overloading Worm, you should first clear out the area of smaller mobs or try to bait the big lad away from his smaller friends. Taking on him and a group of other enemies is definitely not recommended.
2 It’s Very Tanky
Taking on the Overloading Worm and winning requires equipping the strongest gear and items in Risk of Rain 2. Not only does he have a huge health bar, but the boss also likes to soak up damage like an incredibly dry sponge.
He’s a glutton for damage, but since he doesn’t regen you just need to keep the DPS constant. A good tip is to equip boons that stack debuffs like poison and bleeding to keep that damage ticking over. Also, having a high crit build means you can lay in the damage whenever the boss re-emerges from underground.
1 The Worm Doesn’t Like To Sit Still
One of the biggest issues you will likely encounter in the fight against the Overloading Worm is its high rate of movement.
Being able to chase this worm down to put a decent amount of damage into him can be a bit of a nightmare as he dives rapidly into and out of the ground. Using a character with a high rate of movement speed is a good counter for this as you will be able to chase this monster down before it can burrow away.
NEXT: Risk Of Rain 2: 10 Things You Need To Know About The Aurelionite
