How to Beat the Headbanger in Windblown

Of course, with its different casts of opponents to face up against every time, Windblown certainly ranks among the best roguelite games of 2024. That said, The Headbanger is one opponent that every player will have to face.

Windblown: How to Beat the Headbanger

Right at the very, very end of The Factory is an enemy that will instantly shut down a run if the Leapers enter into it unprepared. The following is an overview of what to expect and how to counteract it.

strategies for taking on Windblown's Headbanger

When the players draw near enough, The Headbanger will appear on the screen after a brief blackout and fight them off. One of the most famous features of any boss encounter is the appearance of a big health bar on the screen, alerting the players to the forthcoming difficulty of the fight. Once players know what gear will help them out in this case, they will be wanting to get the correct Upgrades for their runs.

You are reliably using a ranged weapon to attack while you can safely dart back on defense with a melee weapon. If things get too heavy and the player must deal with some of Headbanger's canisters, one of their two weapons on hand should be a ranged alternative.

What follows is a rundown of all the strikes Headbanger is likely to unleash, along with some advice on how to best prepare for battle.

Double Tap & Headbutt

Of course, two of the most predictable attacks are the Headbanger's swipe and headbutt. Quite often, a headbanger will lower one of its hands or even its head before launching into one of these attacks. In order for a player to get out of the way from a swipe, dashing in any direction works, while a side dash is best for dodging a headbutt.

This is because his headbutts will cause a forward-moving earthquake. A typical combo attack for a headbanger will be headbutt > 2 swipes. Each of these can be punished with melee damage through a quick side dash, and after a headbutt, a longer combo will yield more damage.

Dash

You can never be a pro rushing around with Headbanger. This is the reason why, after Headbanger finishes any of these animations, players should always keep their distance from it. Only when a melee weapon is allowed to prepare for a follow-up attack should players close in with it. Thankfully, unlike the players, it won't spam this dash.

Smash It!

Occasionally, this boss does a flying jump. If so, players should move to safety immediately as he is going to fall. Due to this, the ground beneath him will break apart.

Explosive Rings

Headbanger will soon blow up a ring of purple spheres that falls down around him. Players can hit a few melee strikes before backing off. There will be more rings; the further into combat, the more each ring falls apart.

Once this second ring has gone off, players can begin moving back into close quarters once again, in order to sustain their melee damage production. Ranged attackers will, of course, find it much easier to do this due to their consistent ability to deliver damage while safely distancing themselves from all of the above rings.

Multiple Barrels

These tall, cylindrical canisters will be thrown out by headbangers in order to extend their fill-up phase. A middle section will then climb up the air before coming back down and slamming onto the floor with a loud thud. When Headbanger deploys all at once, the field can almost instantly overflow with them. Gamers' priority should be to kill those canisters the moment they appear; if gamers fail to kill the canister, they cannot get out of the circle in time, and the damage stacks against them.

Players can deal with these with either melee damage or dashing away from it before it lets out a shockwave; once that is done, players can finish it off with ranged damage or dashing back in to avoid the shockwave and melee strikes.

Laser Eye Treatment

Since it can also destroy Headbanger's own canisters, the eye laser attack can be turned against him. Players should be continually attacking the canisters from the side of the room opposite to where Headbanger is, in order to make this happen as often as possible. Much of the tone of The Factor level is conveyed through the numerous shards of metal and the many weapons attached to technology hidden.

Defeat Windblown with a Headbanger

Fight defensively; that is a good counsel for the players in general, but here are a few details that will make this fight easier. Players will have several alternatives to get high-quality gear to fight against Headbanger, and here are a few outstanding ones. A Health Flask Upgrade is a very good investment for players as it allows them to recover 60% of their HP. More importantly, they also work in support of the general amplified damage of Backstabber, especially while they manage to get behind Headbanger right after his headbutt.

At the very least, players should strive to get a ranged weapon during the run. If you're on the receiving end of a shockwave or the field is taking heavy damage all at once, this will give you an edge. Even players that enjoy that style of play will appreciate the extra damage they can do with ranged attacks when using melee strikes is too dangerous.

The Frost Nova Trinket is almost required, as it keeps Headbanger frozen in place, letting the players achieve their highest damage output. Goo Bombs are another good Trinket choice; they can do incremental damage. Since he won't be able to dodge or dodge-and-burn during his laser or windup of his first swipe, Goo Bomb is best then.

To begin the expedition, players can talk to the NPC at the cannon; from there, they are allowed to invite other players or have their friends join them. The more Frost Nova users attacking this boss, the more damage deluge there is, proving that strength is indeed in numbers. Those who successfully complete this challenge and all the ones that follow will unlock a new Leaper design.

By this and adapting to the particular challenge, you will be in a position to successfully drop the Headbanger and advance in the course of Windblown.