Embryo



"Filthy rat!"

Embryo is the boss of Area 1. His attacks mainly revolve around bullet patterns and aerial rockets.

For the much harder version seen only in Daily Drive and Infinity Drive, see Dark Embryo.

Backstory
The Section Lord of the loading bays, Embryo is responsible for cargo loading when docked and maintaining onboard fabrication facilities while in transit by commanding a small army of robots.

Intimidating, uncouth and often a bully, Embryo achieves excellent results but at the expense of his subordinates' mental health.

-In-game Codex entry for Embryo

Overview
Embryo is the easiest boss by far. His main purpose is to teach you the value of maximising DPS, getting the most out of your secondary, and to give you an easy introduction to dodging bullet patterns.

If you stand in his face, he will jump into the air and slam down with a melee attack, like a Buster Titan. This attack is an instant knockdown if it connects. This attack can be Weapon Swapped through on reaction if you stray too close, but try to never trigger it in the first place.

Phase 1: slow chase


"There is no escape."

The easiest phase. Embryo will chase you slowly and fire forwards from both of his arms.

Simply stay in his face. As long as you stay far away enough to not be melee'd, and close enough to not be hit by the bullets, you will be fine.

He drops a Powerup after this phase.

Phase 2: easy static radial bullet hell


"Time to die!"

Embryo will move to the centre of the map and produce a sequence of bullet patterns.


 * 1) Simple spiral
 * 2) "Fat" triple spiral (one clockwise, one counter-clockwise)
 * 3) Long spiral that changes direction halfway through
 * 4) Back to 2 and repeat

Try to maintain medium distance to have enough time to react, move in between each pattern to use secondary weapons. Use weapon switches to dodge if you are going to get clipped by the pattern.

Phase 3: heavy rocket salvos


"Hold still, filthy rat."

Embryo will move away from the centre and call in lots of aerial Rockets.

This phase is effortless if you simply slowly circle him, the Rockets can't track you in a circle.

He drops a Powerup after this phase.

Phase 4: fast chase


"It's time to get serious..."

Faster version of Phase 1. Embryo will chase you quickly and aggressively. He will also backpedal, at which point you should chase him.

It's possible to keep up without Accelerate, though it can help.

Make sure to only make use of static weapons like Propeller Mines or Plasma Shield while he is on the offensive, or they will barely hit him.

This phase is easy for Aubergine since you can freeze him in place with a Singularity if he outpaces you.

Phase 5: difficult static radial bullet hell


"This can't be happening!"

More difficult version of Phase 2 and the most difficult phase. The first few patterns can be avoided fairly easily, but he starts to produce extremely fast and tight rings with gaps in them, forcing you to back up to a distance in order to anticipate the gaps and move through them. Therefore, get in your close-ranged damage as soon as you can, then back up to anticipate

Consider saving your powerup from Phase 3 for this phase.

He drops a Powerup after this phase.

Phase 6: dynamic bullet hell + heavy rocket salvos


"Let's finish this."

A fairly difficult phase. In addition to the Rocket salvos from Phase 3, he also produces a rotating circular bullet pattern like regular Embryo's Phase 6, and slowly backpedals.

The best way to deal with this is to stick close to him and move clockwise in sync with the pattern in order to not be hit. The rotation is just quick enough to get out of the way of the rockets.

This phase is very difficult with Aubergine, since hitting him with Singularity stops him in place and defeats the aforementioned strategy. Without Singularity you likely won't deal the necessary DPS to hold chain. You will have to be much quicker on your feet to simultaneously avoid the rockets and his bullet pattern if you want to make any use of Singularity - Accelerate is practically a necessity.

Recommended androids
The main problem is Phase 5 which forces you to keep your distance from him for the later half. This makes Coral and Peanut poor choices.

Starch works fairly well, since her Laser deals at least some damage from far away, and the micro missiles have good range.

Multiplayer strategy
Embryo can cause problems in multiplayer during phases 1, 4 and 6, since he can rapidly shift focus between players. This can cause him to spray bullets across the map, and make some of his patterns harder to read.

If possible, one player should stick very closely to him to maintain focus, while the other(s) bombard him from a distance and only move in for a Shutdown. The focus player should be the weakest character at long range, ie. Coral, Starch, Lemon etc.

Melee voice lines
"Filthy rat!"

"Back off!"

"I'll flatten you!"

Knockdown voice lines
"Hahahahahahaha!" (and a few variants thereof)

"That's all you've got?"

"Pathetic."