Tunic: How to Defeat The Heir (Boss Guide)

The Heir is the final boss in Tunic, and they’re also the most difficult to defeat. The first time players encounter The Heir will be after delivering the three colored gems to the Sealed Temple. The initial fight is meant to be lost, and losing it will send the fox back to the beginning spawn point on the beach. However, this time the fox is a ghost and must regain all of their stat upgrades by visiting the Hero’s Graves.

The Heir can be fought without restoring upgrades and regaining the fox’s physical form, but the fight would be extremely difficult. Instead, it’s recommended that players visit each of the six Hero’s Graves as a ghost to restore all of their upgrades in Tunic. This can only be done after going into the Cathedral and completing the combat trials to obtain the teleport dash ability. Once the teleport dash ability is unlocked, players will be able to reach the upgrade items that are floating on pedestals at the end of each Hero’s Grave path.

After returning to corporeal form, the fox can once again confront The Heir. The arena can be reached by using any of Tunic‘s fast travel warp points and activating the central platform. As soon as the fox spawns in, The Heir will immediately begin attacking, so players should make sure they have the right gear equipped before entering. For this fight, it’s recommended that players have their sword, magic staff, and any explosives equipped to the three gear slots. The Scavenger Mask should also be equipped to one of the open ability card slots in Tunic.

The Heir’s Attacks & Weaknesses In Tunic

The Heir has a mix of melee and magic attacks that they can use from the start of the battle, and a few additional moves during the second phase. Initially, The Heir will be able to slam their sword down causing rings of electricity to spread across the ground of the arena. This move is one of the hardest to dodge because players need to use the teleport dash ability to quickly warp in between the three rings. The Heir can also use a triple sword hit, lunge with the sword, hit with a slow but powerful strike, or trigger a series of lightning bolts with small damage circles.

In the second phase of the fight, The Heir will use health-draining attacks that have similar effects to the crystals found in Tunic‘s Quarry. Each of these attacks will have a familiar purple glow to indicate the effect. The best way to defeat The Heir quickly is to stock up on explosives like firecrackers or bombs. These items deal a significant amount of damage compared to other weapons in Tunic, and throwing them from a distance will allow the fox to avoid most of The Heir’s sword attacks. The Heir also takes some time to recover after sword strikes, so players can teleport dash to the boss and quickly hit them with melee attacks.

The magic staff should be used as a backup weapon in this fight when players need a moment to drink a health potion or recover stamina. The Heir will attempt to dodge the magic staff’s fireballs, which stops the boss from attacking momentarily. If the magic staff attack hits, it will only deal a small amount of damage, so it shouldn’t be used as a primary weapon. Alternatively, players can also equip Tunic‘s magic dagger to freeze The Heir and either recover or get a few melee hits in before the boss unfreezes. However, players should be aware that the dagger uses more magic points, so it can’t be used as often as the staff. At the end of the second phase, The Heir will fall and the ending will play out depending on whether or not players have collected all of the instruction pages in Tunic.

Tunic is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, macOS, and PC.

About The Author