Fortress Woundwort is the boss of the last floor of the first chapter. The fight consists of two separate foes: the fortress itself and Goneril, the leader of the Woundworts. Not to be confused with Woundwort Fortress, the stage in which this boss is found.
Description[]
The Fortess
The fortress is made up of several buildings lined up against the top and bottom walls of the room. On the upper left, the building will periodically spawn a Collared Feral and will spawn two upon destruction. The main building with the HP bar, will fire multiple shots and periodically (but with less frequency than the left building) spawn a Brute. The upper right building will periodically fire little globes in addition to normal shots (screen slightly shakes when it fires a globe). All three buildings below will fire both chalk bullets and chalk clouds, and upon their defeat, will spawn 2 eternal chalk clouds.
To damage the fortress itself, the player must attack the top-center building.
After the main building's hp drops below half, it will stop spawning brutes.
Goneril[]
At about 25% hp left, Goneril will spawn.
Goneril has 3 attacks, she can charge at you swinging her mallets, she can quickly spin while chasing you and she can leap towards your current location and generate a ring of electric sparks on landing. Goneril will usually use the first two attacks (swapping between the two) while you're close and leap at you if you're far away.
Goneril grows as she takes damage. This increases the AOE and damage of her attacks. The electricity from the jump will always stay relatively weak but Goneril can inflict over 20 damage with her physical attacks towards the end of the fight. While this makes her quite dangerous it also makes her an easier target.
Only Goneril must be defeated to end the fight.
While defeating this boss for the first time will end the game, successive playthroughs will place you in Chapter 2.
Achievements[]
The Woundwort Fortress: Clear Chapter 1 - Unlocks Mud (Lesson)
Twice the Trouble: Clear Chapter 1 twice - Unlocks Goneril's Mallet (Item)
First Things First: Defeat Goneril before destroying any building - unlocks extra Class Period
Strategy[]
Unless you want the Lore described below, I strongly recommend destroying every unnamed building, because this will greatly reduce the room's bullet hell factor. Just remember that each destroyed building from the lower row will also spawn 2 non-homing but permanent gray chalk clouds. The best pattern seems to be: upper-left building, globe cannon, damage fortress itself, so it stops spawning brutes (below 50% hp, but above 25%), clear off the lower row of buildings, then return your attention to main building.
When Goneril spawns, you should finish off the fortress first, because that will free a lot of space to dodge Goneril herself. It will not annoy you with its projectiles anymore and it also gives XP upon destruction (if Goneril is defeated first it will simply despawn without rewarding you). Keep in mind that Goneril will be chasing you around the room, an as she get's bigger she can catch up to you more easily.
Lore Conditions[]
Lore upon first defeat :
- The cowering Woundworts emerged from the remains of their fortress to see Cordy standing over their former leader. They threw down their globes and chairs and erasers to see what the terrible girl would do next. Cordy's face flickered from expression to expression. Then it reformed into a smile no one could remember seeing on her before. She turned to them and spoke, and her voice was jagged and deep, and when she was done the Woundwort's picked up their weapons to be twice as mean and wild as before. The new queen's reign was more gruesome than the old queen's, until she in turn was killed by a quiet girl no one had ever paid attention to. So it went with Woundworts, and so it has always gone.
- Still, some of the more thoughtful ones grunted later that they'd seen something in her face for that second, a coin flipping over and over in the air, the hint of a memory, the promise that next time it could always be different.
Lore upon second defeat :
- The cowering Woundworts emerged from the remains of their fortress to see Cordy standing over their former leader. They threw down their globes and chairs and erasers to see what the terrible girl would do next. Cordy seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if she were trying to find a memory. Then she pushed quietly through their ranks, walking towards the next flight of stairs.
- And here one might think that the Woundworts would be ashamed, and forget their old ways, and pledge to help her on her journey. Unfortunately, being Woundworts, they were more prone to hatred and anger. They swore to avenge Goneril and to hunt Cordy up through every floor of the orphanage, or at least as high as they felt comfortable going. The Capulets lived above them, after all, and even Woundworts aren't altogether stupid.
Hard Mode[]
During Hard Mode, the lower buildings will spawn green chalk clouds in addition to white ones and a Chalk Clapper upon destruction.
The upper right building will shoot permanent spiked globes instead of small globes. Also, it spawns 2 permanent spike balls when destroyed.
Whenever Goneril lands from her leap attack, Cordy is briefly, but very strongly pulled toward her.
Trivia[]
- Goneril is named after King Lear's eldest daughter from the Shakespearean tragedy.
Video[]