Thymesia: The Best Tips To Beat Odur In Sea Of Trees

"Thymesia" is a new Souls-like action-RPG from indie developer OverBorder Studio that looks to combine all of the creepiest things in "Dark Souls" with fast-paced combat centered around a unique plague-based weapon system. Taking on the role of the masked character Corvus, players must use disease as a weapon in order to battle their way through a gothic kingdom full of mysterious enemies and grotesque monsters, motivated by the pursuit to uncover Corvus' forgotten past. While many reviewers have reported it only takes about 10 hours or so to beat the campaign, others have found that the title can easily grow a lot longer.

Challenging bosses are a staple of the Souls-like subgenre, and it seems that "Thymesia" doesn't disappoint in this regard. As players are navigating the various wooden walkways throughout the Sea of Trees, they may come upon several notes about something called the Twilight Circus. It's at this very circus where players can eventually meet Ringmaster Odur — the first major boss players encounter in "Thymesia." While he's certainly not the most challenging presence in the game, new players won't have had the chance to unlock very many Talents yet and may do well to prepare a few tricks up their sleeve before the fight.

As soon as Corvus enters the area where Odur is located, a cutscene will show the ringmaster throwing a playing card. The fight begins in earnest once the cutscene ends, and players should prepare for Odur's various tricks and illusions. The boss can disappear and teleport in a cloud of smoke, attacking primarily with his cane in the beginning — though he'll occasionally throw a few kicks in for good measure. He's also known to toss a couple of playing cards at players if they let him get enough distance. Luckily, this ranged attack is usually indicated by a white glow. He generally moves slowly, but will occasionally dash forward and perform a quick slash attack while drawing his sword from his cane.

During this phase of the fight, Odur generally attacks in combos of one to three strikes. Though there are moderately large gaps in between combos, he will occasionally dash away to throw cards. It's best to dodge or attempt to parry these strikes while waiting for an opening to hit back, then strike in short, fast bursts. Learning the timings of Odur's attacks may take some practice, as each of his combos have some variance. The Hammer is a good choice for dealing big chunks of damage, and the Predator Claw can be useful for building Miasma. Depleting this health bar doesn't end the fight, however. There is a second phase.

Entering the second phase of the fight initiates another cutscene in which Corvus slashes Odur several times before stabbing him. After that, Odur will vanish in a haze of smoke and make the room go dark. The only areas that will be lit are a small bubble around Corvus and another around Odur. The arena will grow smaller as a whirlwind of Odur's cards encircle the two combatants.

Odur seems to use his teleportation a lot more in this phase and will add an extra strike on the back end of each of his combos, but the strategy for beating him remains the same: Avoid combos and wait for a gap to punish the boss with quick bursts of damage. It is worth noting that Odur has one move in this phase that cannot be blocked and is capable of wiping out a full health bar. To avoid this, sprint away from Odur so that the attack misses Corvus entirely.

Once his second health bar is depleted, players will be rewarded with a final brief cutscene showing Corvus striking Odur before the boss simply fades away. Now that Corvus has conquered the first major boss fight, he's ready to take on the rest of what "Thymesia" has to offer.