Mad King Aldric — Level 20 Boss Guide

The Mad King closes out the medieval kingdom at level 20, and he is a completely different animal from Sir Gundred. Where the Iron Bull had two moves on a lazy clock, Aldric runs a six-step rotation — ring, bolt volley, ring, summon, bolt volley, slam chain — on the fastest cadence of any boss in the game. The fight is a rhythm test, but he is scrupulously fair about it: his crown glints gold about a third of a second before every single attack. Learn to react to the glint and the rest is pattern knowledge.

Projectile rings — dodge sideways, never backwards

He twirls his scepter in a fast 360 and releases a full circle of 16–22 violet shots — the densest ring any boss throws. The saving grace is that the shots are slow and they radiate outward, which means the gaps between neighbouring projectiles widen as the ring travels toward you. Slide sideways into a gap and let the ring pass through the squad. What you must not do is back straight up: retreating keeps you on the same radial line as the same projectile, and buys you nothing but a wall at your back.

The bolt volley — strafe through it

His pointing gesture is the tell: the scepter levels at your formation and a violet charge swells at its tip for most of a second, then four fast arcane bolts fire in quick succession, each aimed at where you are at that instant. The counter is simple and total: pick a direction and keep strafing at a steady speed. Every bolt is aimed at your current position, so continuous movement makes all four land behind you. Players die to this move by stutter-stepping — stopping between bolts re-centers the next one onto them.

Slam-slam-SLAM — trust the green

This is his signature and the reason the fight is remembered. He rips the scepter high and hammers the ground three times, each slam launching an expanding shockwave ring of heraldic shields across the whole road. Every wave has one gap — and all three waves in the chain share the same gap. The game paints it for you: a bright green lane with flowing gold chevrons appears on the very first windup frame and stays lit until the last wave has passed. Walk to the lane the moment it appears and then stay there. The classic death is dodging the first wave, wandering off to chase damage, and eating the third slam — which is the big one, hits hardest, and burns visibly hotter. The lane is honest; it is strictly inside the true safe gap. Trust it.

The court — crossbow summons

Between attacks he beckons his court and two crossbowmen appear. Unlike Gundred's peasant fodder, these shoot back, and their plinking adds up while you're busy watching the king. Snap your formation over and delete them during his idle windows — and don't let them slip past, since escaped monsters cost diamonds even on boss levels.

What you want walking into level 20

• Attack-rate doors. By band 2 the multiplier doors have overtaken flat +character doors; a squad near the x3 rate cap shreds his 49,000-plus health pool between dodges.
• A healthy wide formation. Ring gaps are easier to thread with a compact squad — sweep everyone through crit doors on levels 18–19 and grab the white-heart HP door if one appears.
• Plan the skill pick. Beating Aldric offers your second skill, and this is the first boss allowed to offer Multishot — it's deliberately locked out before level 20 because it's a power spike. If it shows, it's rarely wrong.

Common mistakes

• Backing away from rings instead of sliding sideways.
• Stutter-stepping through the bolt volley instead of committing to one direction.
• Leaving the green lane after the first slam — waves two and three use the same gap.
• Letting crossbowmen accumulate until you're dodging their bolts and his at once.

Past the Mad King, the road turns dark: the forest levels begin, and the Rootfather waits at level 30.

More boss guides: Sir Gundred · Rootfather · Pale Widow · Pharaoh Akhotep — or read the full beginner's guide.