Have a Nice Death

Have a Nice Death

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Handbook Guide: Brad
By Crevice A. S.
A guide on how to dodge Brad's attacks.
   
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Introduction
Every new player's first major hurdle and still a threat to experienced reapers, Brad is the boss of the Hall of Eternity, and as such is the easiest of the Sorrows. Despite this, he can still cause some trouble for Death, and not with that paddle ball set. We will be going over each of his attacks, how to effectively dodge them, and some general tips that make the fight easier.
Movement Tips
Since I will be using a few terms that may or may not be what the techniques are called by most others, I will be storing them here (and I will put this is any future Have a Nice Death guides that I make).

1. Upperslash
What I call the "upperslash" is one of the most important techniques when it comes to dodging. It is performed by doing an up attack, simple. The height can also be increased by jumping when performing the upperslash. This is useful when trying to get high into the air or to dodge attacks that cover the entire ground.

2. Air combos
They have as much utility as they have combat, as they can be used to extend airtime. These are useful for lingering attacks or when there isn't enough safe space to land.
Brad Main Fight

Brad is getting special treatment. His main fight doesn't have two phases, but one phase, whereas his alternate battle has two phases, which will be discussed in the next section.

Attacks:
  • Swipe: Brad swipes his claws at Death twice. He will follow this up with either another swipe attack or a swiping dive attack. This can be dodged by dashing through Brad, going above him, or moving away.

  • Swiping Dash: This attack can only be performed after a swipe, and has more range than the regular swipe. This is best dodged by moving towards Brad since he dives a set distance with a set angle, around 45 degrees.

  • Dive: Brad will move to one of the upper corners of the arena before either dashing at a 45 degree angle to the other side of the arena before dashing horizontally to the side he was originally on or dashing in a parabola, ending at the upper-adjacent corner of the arena.

  • Slam: Brad will spin before flying to one of two locations, the center of the arena or directly above Death. When he reaches these locations, Brad will take a selfie, turn to stone, and drop onto the ground. Dodging the slam is as easy as staying on the move. If Brad decides to slam in the center of the arena, he will summon four boulders from the ground that travel upwards but return to the ground as they are affected by gravity. The boulders can be dodged by hugging the walls of the arena, and then performing an upperslash if Brad dives to the lower corner or he decided to swipe with his claws.

  • Boulderain: Brad flies above the center of the arena before making four passes across the arena, dropping rocks as he flies across. The best way to dodge this attack is to move to the gaps in the rocks for his first and second passes and hugging one of the walls for his remaining passes.
Alt Fight: Barnaby Proudfoot

After you buy the Boulderrain spell from Joe's shop, Brad's fight will occasionally be replaced with a more challenging fight with two distinguishable phases.

Attacks:
  • Cross Combo: Brad will punch twice and will either follow up with another two punches or a hard hitting punch that lunges him across the arena. In phase 2, he may follow this up with a laser that he aims at Death. This can be dodged by dashing behind Brad or jumping over him.

  • Jab Flurry: Brad will perform two open-hand swipes before moving towards Death in a flurry of punches. In phase two, the impact from the flurry will travel towards Death while Brad stands still. Both can be dodged by moving away from Brad and jumping over the flurry when it approaches Death

  • Gargoyle Laser: Brad will stand in one of the lower corners of the arena, fly upwards to the opposite corner, and fire a laser that moves in an arc. There are two variants of this attack. The first variant has Brad shoot a laser on the ground that arcs upward until it reaches his head. In phase two, the laser moves in a downwards arc instead of an upwards one. The first part of the attack can be dodged by jumping or dashing through Brad whereas the second part is best dodged by staying underneath the Gargoyle when he fires his laser.

  • Grab: Brad will attempt to grab Death. If he succeeds, he will slam Death into the ground. In phase 2, he gains a new variant where he fires a laser at Death after throwing him forwards. This can be dodged by moving away from Brad, dashing behind him, or jumping over him.
Tips
  • Most of the attacks in Brad's main battle don't track Death himself, but he can still hit the reaper if he is in the gargoyle's path.

  • Overconfidence usually results in getting hit, and Brad will take advantage of this. Just because he is the easiest boss doesn't mean he can't hit Death (I know this personally).

  • Brad's alternate fight is similar to his main fight in few ways, sharing almost none of the attacks with his slacking off counterpart.
The End
Being the first Sorrow in every run, Brad is much easier than Sorrows such as Imamura and Pliskhan, but is still no pushover, with attacks that span the entire arena, despite there being few of them.

The next guide will be dedicated to the head of Industrial Pollution, Gordon Grimes.
3 Comments
Crevice A. S.  [author] 9 Sep, 2023 @ 7:01pm 
First, buy the Boulderrain spell from the shop, then he will have a random chance of appearing in Brad's place. I should probably update this guide with this information.
RastaBro 9 Sep, 2023 @ 9:52am 
Yo ! Thanks for the guide ! But do you know how to unlock this Sorrows ? I never met him...already finish the game at XV but impossible to fight him, always Brad...
Crevice A. S.  [author] 15 Dec, 2022 @ 3:35pm 
Major update: Added Brad's new Alt fight to the guide.