Ariadne

**Ariadne** is an optional boss in *Phoenotopia: Awakening*. It is a colossal insect queen species of the hives in Mul Caves, found near where the crashed spaceship is. Fighting it is not required to pass through Mul Caves, but defeating it yields a Heart Ruby during the first time and 70 RIN in subsequent defeats.

## Behaviour

Ariadne has 3 normal behaviours - Crawling to a different spot on the wall, shooting acid or Bind-inflicting web sacs towards Gail, or rarely entering an armoured mode that negates all damage while trying to crunch her prey.

Around once to twice per minute, Ariadne would summon a different horde of minions to the previous one - Combination of Thorniads and Aciads, or many Blastiads at once. It is worth noting that Ariadne always summon the first horde at the start of battle. In addition, if at least 2 Blastiads are shot down from ceiling and explode around Ariadne, she will be temporarily stunned and taking double damage during the time, rendering her completely vulnerable.

## Strategy

Unlike other enemies in the Iad family, Ariadne is weak to neither fire nor explosion damage. It also has the second highest defence of 4 (after Wrecker) excluding Mother Computer's impenetrable shield. While it's often advised to use strong weapons against enemies with high defence, using Double Crossbow might be more preferable here due to the inconvenient positioning.

Dispatching the minions quickly before they approach is important as it allows you to focus more in attacking. Spear Bomb is recommended for both Thorniads and Aciads since this can defeat them in a single hit, without the worry of self-damaging as well (as opposed to using Kobold Blaster). Crossbow is also recommended for handling Blastiads to stun Ariadne as mentioned above.

When Ariadne is preparing for an attack, one strategy is to lure it to be facing diagonal directions, rather than straight down. After it is locked in the attack animations, players may take the chance to walk under it and keep firing straight up to deal damage rapidly without needing to aim. Lastly regarding the dangerous crunching attack, it can be dodged consistently simply by hovering with Rocket Boots near the peak of a sprint-jump.

## Trivia

* Ariadne is the only boss that dies and turns into a puff of purple smoke when defeated. Organic bosses either split into smaller beings (Slargummy) or flee (such as Great Drake), while mechanical bosses break down and explode instead (such as Wrecker)
* The names of the Iad family was suggested by Swamp Selkie in the sixth naming contest of enemies, held on reddit in 2017
	+ The name Ariadne itself comes from a princess associated with mazes and labyrinths in Greek mythology
* In the blog post in March 2018, Quells comments that he always feels the last stretch of the game is going too long without a boss in the middle, so Ariadne is added to remedy this
	+ He also predicts Ariadne to be regarded as the second hardest boss in the game at the time

## Gallery

Full image of AriadneIad family first introduced in a blogEarly screenshot

## References

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenotopia/comments/7l7og4/comment/dwn34vp/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
2. ↑ http://phoenotopia.tumblr.com/post/172434917858/2018-march-update