Mama Tick

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### Reward

Scythe Claw (1st kill)7 Giant Tick Outfits (1 for flawless kill, 1 for each BSC difficulty & 1 for sacrificing Mushroom Boi!)

“*Pray for your salvation... with a sacrifice.*„~ **Swamp Priest**

**Mama Tick** is the third tier 1 boss and is an alternative to the Concierge. She is encountered in the Nest, in which main path requires the Teleportation Rune.

Her fight can be skipped if the player sacrifices Mushroom Boi! in the Morass of the Banished. However, attacking her eye when it pops above the water will re-initiate the fight.

Requires the *Bad Seed DLC*.

## Moveset

### First phase

Mama Tick only has her eye out of the water which can be hit.

In 1+ BSC, Mama Tick goes straight to the second phase.

* **Description:** Mama Tick stabs a single claw from beneath the water.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.

### First hidden phase

At 75% HP, Mama Tick hides her eye beneath the water and can't be hit.

* **Description:** Mama Tick stabs her claws repeatedly from beneath the water in rapid succession, the next attack coming before the previous claw has fully retreated. The attacks are not aimed at the player but are random.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.
	+ Rolling can end up with you getting hit by another stab because your iframes end before the roll cooldown.

### Second phase

Mama Tick reveals her body, which forms the edge of one side of the arena.

* **Description:** Mama Tick raises one of her claws that glows yellow before slashing it down.
 ***Spit bomb***
* **Description:** Mama Tick spits out 3 projectiles in a high arc that fall on the ground and explode.
 ***Lightspeed claws***
* **Description:** A yellow line appears across the screen before Mama Tick strikes her claw across the arena quickly followed by a second line and stab with her other claw.
 ***Slasher***
* **Description:** Mama Tick holds both her claws in the air and starts slashing them downwards while moving slowly forward until her claws reach 3/4 of the arena. After the attack ends she dives beneath the water and resurfaces on the other side of the arena.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.
* When rooted she still performs the slashes without moving forward or diving.

### Second hidden phase

At 50% HP, Mama Tick hides her body beneath the water and can't be hit.

* **Description:** Mama Tick stabs her claws repeatedly from beneath the water in rapid succession, the next attack coming before the previous claw has fully retreated. The attacks are not aimed at the player but are random.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.
	+ Rolling can end up with you getting hit by another stab because your iframes end before the roll cooldown.

### Third phase

Retains all attacks from the previous phase.

* **Description:** Mama Tick will stab an additional time with **Lightspeed Claws**.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.

## Strategy

### Vulnerabilities and immunities

* Mama Tick is submerged in water. This make freeze and slow debuffs effective in rooting and slowing her, while items with shock damage and Ice Shards will always deal critical hits.
	+ However, this also makes her immune to fire unless she or the water itself are also covered in oil.

### Attacks

**Stab**

* This attack is telegraphed by a splash in the water and a yellow exclamation mark if this option is enabled in the options menu.
* The stab has a long cooldown which enables you to take your time and strike at the eyestalk.
	+ When you are close to the eyestalk and moving a lot the splash before the stab can be hard to see through the splashes of your own movement.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.

**Quick stabs**

* Same as **Stab**, the attack is telegraphed by a splash in the water and a yellow exclamation mark if this option is enabled in the options menu.
	+ Unlike **Stab**, which is aimed at the player, these are performed in a random location and pattern.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.
	+ The best strategy is to hug one of the arena walls and roll to dodge towards it whenever a stab comes close enough to hit you. Because of how the stabs are aimed, this will only require you to dodge twice during the whole attack sequence.

**Slash**

* This attack is telegraphed by Mama Tick raising a single claw which will glow yellow before slashing downwards.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.

**Spit bomb**

* A small tentacle surfaces from the water next to Mama Tick and spits out three bombs in a high arc. The bombs are spread over the second part of the arena.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.
	+ Because the bombs land relatively far away from Mama Tick, getting close to her will keep you safely away from the bombs.

**Lightspeed claws**

* Attack is telegraphed by a yellow glowing line for each strike of the claw.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.

**Slasher**

* Attack is telegraphed by raising her claws and they glow yellow.
* Her forward movement is limited to 3/4 of the arena before diving below the water, making it easy to stay beyond the attack's range.
	+ Her movement can be stopped by using freeze or root effects but she will still perform the slashes.
		- This will also prevent her from diving beneath the water.
	+ This is a perfect moment to use long-range weapons and skills.
* Can be blocked, parried, and dodge rolled.
	+ The attacks are performed in rapid succession, so it can advantageous to use a shield that has an offensive effect when parrying like Punishment or Bloodthirsty Shield, or the Rampart, whose force field can block the rest of the blows.

### Weapons/Skills

* As mentioned before, Ice-based weapons can easily slow and root her since they only have to hit the water.
	+ Ice Shards in particular will also deal critical damage constantly while slowing down the boss. The same can be applied to any shock attack such as the Tesla Coil, as they will also constantly inflict critical hits.
* Fire attacks are ineffective, since the water will simply neutralize them, unless oil is used to douse the boss.

## Lore

* Mama Tick appears to be a worshipped figure for her defense to the morass and its inhabitants. In order to gain her favor and protection, the locals sacrifice other humans, as evidenced by the numerous dead bodies in a large lore room in the morass, the bodies littering the boss arena, and the dialogue from the cultist who stands in the altar room within the morass. Whether being sacrificed is voluntary or not is unknown, however, a certain “Cellar” indicates that it is unlikely to be voluntary.

## Notes

* If the Mushroom Boi! is sacrificed at the altar in Morass of the Banished, Mama Tick will not appear, allowing the fight to be skipped, though it won't grant access to the flawless door or the flawless achievement. It will instead award the player the Pact with the Devil achievement, as well as drop the blueprint for the Sacrificial Tick outfit. Skipping this fight will prevent the regular rewards for beating the boss from spawning.

## Trivia

* According to a journal written by the Royal Gardener, Mama Tick appears to like flowers.

Mama tick eye appearing out the water was copied from the original Star Wars movie.