Suggested Level: 31
To the Fleet!¶
Immediately after the quest “ Aya: Blade of the Goddess “ ends, you’ll be treated to an interaction between Bayek and Caesar, the former of which is proven corrent in placing his trust in Aya. The signal given, Caesar and Bayek mount a chariot, and while Caesar drives you’ll be tasked with a more interesting role - shooting down Ptolemy’s cavalry as they chase you. There’s no real threat to Caesar or the chariot, so you’re really only shooting them down for your own sake, and since you have nothing better to do, and unlimited ammunition with your light bow, you might as well. After a while, larger fare will arrive to chase you; just keep shooting it with arrows followed by spears.
Shoot down the mounted archers who chase you (left) then attempt to ward off a somewhat more formidible foe (right).
Boss - Pothinus¶
Watch some more scenes of the battle playing out, and when Bayek is informed of a high-priority target, he can’t help but rush after it. Ignore the combat raging around you and head east into an area enclosed by a palisade, where you’ll find Pothinus waiting for you. He’s not much of a warrior on his own, so he’s come with a beast that more than makes up for any of his own inadequacies - a war elephant.
The good news? This is by far the weakest war elephant in the game, being only level thirty-one, and hence doing much less damage than its stronger kin. Still, even with a high-level Bayek and a fully (or almost fully) upgraded breastplate, the beast will probably knock off a life bar every two hits.
An elephant’s attacks vary depending largely on two factors; where Bayek is, and how much life the beast has left. If you’re far away, the elephant will likely charge and swipe with its tusks. If you’re in front of it, it’ll either stomp or try to gore you, while it deal with enemies at its flanks by turning and swiping with its tusks, or stomping. Against a foe that’s beind it… again, stomping. Stomps are easy to dodge, but when it charges you’re better off dodging diagonally towards the elephant to get to its side rather than trying to dodge away from it, as this will allow you to score a few quick melee hits afterwards. Also, since elephants can often swing their heads several times in succession, dodging towards and around them makes it less likely that any sequential attacks will hit you.
Use ranged attack to charge your Overpower meter (left). If you can circle around the beast, attacking its hind legs is relatively safe (right).
Other elephants have more attacks, as the crew riding the beast are usually more competent than Pothinus. Fortunately, he’ll largely stick to taunting you from above, rather than throwing smoke bombs or fire bombs at you, or shooting you with arrows. Since the elephant is all you need to watch out for, the strategy is simple enough. Stay away from it, take pot shots at with with any boy you choose (save, perhaps, a predator bow, which is rather unweildy for this sort of encounter) and when the elephant closes in during its charge, dodge, score a few hits, and repeat, breaking the cycle to use your Overpower attack as it charges. Here a sickle sword works wonders, as you can use it to score quite a few hits during its Overpower attack, especially if you can get behind it after one of its charges - or if it runs into the palisade wall during a charge and stuns itself.
As the fight wears on and the elephant’s health lowers, the elephant will get more frantic, attacking more frequently, and more times in sequence. Don’t rely on sleep darts, poison or fire, as none of them have any effect on an elephant, and if you’re running low on ammo, look for loot bags scattered across the battlefield, which randomly appear and will restock your ammunition.
Boss - Septimius¶
After you defeat the elephant, watch the customary dream-scene where Bayek confronts the target he’s just slain, and following that Caesar and Bayek will chat about what transpired elsewhere during the fight with Pothinus. Leave the palisade and head south to reach the location Caesar mentioned, where you’ll find another, cruder palisade. Ascend a wagon, which serves as a ramp and enter the arena beyond, where you’ll finally come face-to-face with Septimius.
Septimius fights with a flail and a sword, the former of which he’ll constantly spin around. He rarely moves vast, content to spin his flail and force you to brave the hazard. It can’t be blocked, but it also doesn’t do much damage if it hits, although it can stagger you and leave you vulnerable to some proper attacks from Septimius. Mostly, however, it just forces you to be wary of the thing as it orbits Septimius and time your attacks for when it’s not in a position to harm you.
Use Overpower attacks to deal big damage (left). Septimius has limited ability to respond to ranged attacks (right)
That said, Septimius is more susceptible to charged heavy attacks than many previous bosses, and if you get the timing down you can easily bypass the flail and land a telling blow, often knocking him back or down, opening him up to more damage. If that doesn’t succeed, just dodge back and avoid his inevitable counter-attacks, and failing that, use ranged attacks to injure him. He has no long-ranged options of his own and, again, he moves quite slowly.
When he’s reduced to half his health, he’ll starting swinging two flails, reducing the window in which you can safely attack. At this point, some finesse is necessary… but using ranged attacks and Overpower attacks also works fine. He’s also more likely to retaliate aggressively when you’re nearby or after his guard is broken, sometimes charging and often flinging a flail (or two!) at you. Put him down, confirm your “kill”, then watch the scenes that follow. This ends the quest “ The Battle of the Nile “ and begins “ The Aftermath “.
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