Ridley's death

2009-02-13 07:38:36 pm

Eschews avatars

Has anybody found any reliable strategies for ending the Ridley fight quickly? It seems like there's a random time between when he hits 0 hp and when he spontaneously explodes (in fact, just avoiding him and not shooting him anymore, he seems to survive indefinitely, but he can also take forever to die while I constantly attack), and the grab death is even more random; sometimes he "misses" you and just does a bunch of damage. The powerbomb strategy seems to work about a third of the time; the other times he either flies away or dives into you. I'm specifically trying to make the RBO run a little less luck-based, and Ridley is my major stumbling block. Does anybody know a consistent (and fairly fast) way to finish off Ridley?

Thread title:

Phazar

2009-02-13 10:32:21 pm

...

Ridley has given me trouble in nearly every speed run I've done. You can sneak in two Power Bombs at the beginning of the fight(one as you fall into the room, another slightly before Ridley's eye appears), but after that, I'm pretty sure you just have to shoot him with repeated Super Missiles or Charged Plasma/Ice/Wave/Spazer and hope that you eventually kill him. Sometimes I have low health and he grabs me and I think, "Oh no! I'm dead!", but then it just turns out to be a Ridley grab death. He seems to be one of the most unpredictable bosses in the game.

Kejardon

2009-02-13 11:16:01 pm

Embarrasing Fact: Power suit made by lowest bidder

Getting grabbed by Ridley is the fastest way to end the fight. Alternatively just jump up and down when he's in the loop of charging straight at you. Ridley's AI will die after he aborts his 10th charge at you, and he seems to abort the charge after your height is above his height. Or something like that, I never looked at that in detail.
If Ridley is at 0 health but refusing to do his last charges, a powerbomb is DEFINITELY the way to go. Just practice powerbombing and getting him to grab you. IIRC, there were a few cases where Ridley might grab you at 0 health but not actually die, it occured when he was either tailbouncing or doing a U swoop IIRC.
Sorry I don't have any more specific info right now.

Cpadolf

2009-02-14 07:38:13 am

Almost happy

Quote from Phazar:

You can sneak in two Power Bombs at the beginning of the fight(one as you fall into the room, another slightly before Ridley's eye appears),

You shouldn't to that. The most 2 PB's could damage him is 800 (but I actually doubt that you could get all 4 possible hits in before he appears), and one charged shot does 900. And if you use PB's in the start of the fight it will take longer before you can shoot him the first time. Thus you should preferably start the fight with a charged shot, and then move on to supers.

Kejardon

2009-02-14 12:32:08 pm

Embarrasing Fact: Power suit made by lowest bidder

Quote from Cpadolf:

Quote from Phazar:

You can sneak in two Power Bombs at the beginning of the fight(one as you fall into the room, another slightly before Ridley's eye appears),

You shouldn't to that. The most 2 PB's could damage him is ~~800~~ 200 (since Ridley will only take one hit before he appears), and one charged shot does 900. And if you use PB's in the start of the fight it will take longer before you can shoot him the first time. Thus you should preferably start the fight with a charged shot, and then move on to supers.

fixed

Cpadolf

2009-02-14 03:55:36 pm

Almost happy

Ah, I hadn't actually ever tested to see how much you could damage him with PB's before he appeared, so I just assumed that he could take two hits per PB as usual. In that case it is even more useless to start the fight with a PB.

Zeke

Edit history:

Zeke: 2009-03-24 10:54:14 pm

2009-03-24 09:21:33 pm

Time bomb set get out fast!

Bumping for relevant info elsewhere on this board that shouldn't go to waste. I once asked Kejardon some of the same Ridley questions -- here's the detailed reply he gave me.

Gamma_Metroid

2009-03-25 09:26:30 pm

What you can do to get a little extra damage is to lay a power bomb about halfway down the room, the start charging your beam. You'll still have enough time to get the charged shot in after you unmorph.

JaggerG

2009-03-26 08:44:14 pm

Shifty Leader

That M2k2 guy

You mean before the fight starts? Can he take beam damage before he "appears"?

Quietus

2009-03-26 09:45:04 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

No, he can't. It would be funny if he could though, as the TASers would have him appear and die. Very Happy

Gamma_Metroid

2009-03-27 04:38:56 pm

Quote from JaggerG:

You mean before the fight starts? Can he take beam damage before he "appears"?

No, you hit him with the power bomb before he appears, and you still have time to charge your beam and hit him as soon as he appears.

tomatobob

2009-03-27 04:42:15 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

IIRC he's still in invincibility mode from the power bomb at that point since his invincibility time does not start to decrease until after he appears. A charge shot right as he appears would do nothing if you power bombed him earlier.

Gamma_Metroid

2009-03-27 04:51:08 pm

Well, it worked for me.

Quietus

2009-03-27 05:11:24 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

Just to attempt to clarify, I think tomatobob meant that you can hit him, but it doesn't remove any of his health.

tomatobob

2009-03-27 07:30:09 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Actually having just tried it, firing as soon as he appears does absolutely nothing if you use a power bomb before starting the fight. Both the charge beam and super missiles went right on through his body and hit his tail. You're better off just going with the charge beam or supers from the start if you're looking to hit him right when he becomes vulnerable.

Quietus

2009-03-27 08:09:14 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

I've always fought him in the same way: Unload all Super Missiles, and then finish him off with charged beam shots.

Kejardon

2009-03-27 09:08:49 pm

Embarrasing Fact: Power suit made by lowest bidder

Quote from Quietus:

I've always fought him in the same way: Unload all Super Missiles, and then finish him off with charged beam shots.

If you have a good beam combo (at least wave + plasma), this is probably about the fastest method. Only improvement I can think of is that a wave SBA at the start could be slightly faster if timed very well, and a power bomb at the *end* of the fight to get him to grab you quickly (though you'll have to keep track of his health).

Gamma_Metroid

2009-03-28 01:37:59 pm

Once, I managed to get Ridley to jump at just the right time, so I had to jump left, shoot, jump right, shoot. As long as I kept jumping and shooting, all Ridley did was bounce back and forth.

Cpadolf

2009-03-28 03:09:40 pm

Almost happy

I believe that after a set number of swipes he will stop and die without grabbing you.