Shopkeeper (true form)

The Shopkeeper (true form) boss is a boss that can be found in any boss level if the correct steps are taken.

## Getting to the boss

To access this boss, you must first play the Poker Game with the Shopkeeper and beat him by depriving him of all his Diamonds. You must have the Shopkeeper at a negative Diamonds value or at zero Diamonds by the time the game ends. You must then leave the Poker Game and proceed to play the game normally. Do NOT buy anything from the Shop unless if you're confident you can get all those Diamonds back by playing Poker with the Shopkeeper, or if the Diamonds you give the Shopkeeper by buying something leave him below or exactly at 0 total Diamonds (if you left the Shopkeeper at, for example, -2 Diamonds after the Poker Game ended, you could still buy something that costs 1 or 2 Diamonds, as the Shopkeeper would be at -1 or 0 Diamonds by the end of the transaction).

## The bossfight

After beating the Shopkeeper in Poker, he will appear in the next boss level (levels 6, 12 and 18), replacing the boss that would usually appear there. Upon entering the boss room, the Shopkeeper can be seen behind a Poker table. The music that plays in this bossfight is the same that plays when fighting a boss in that level. When you sit at your seat in the table, the Shopkeeper will change into his true form: a massive four-legged spider with massive front legs. His mask is still preserved. After that happens, you will engage in a Poker Game where, instead of betting with Diamonds, you bet with Hearts. The "+5" button is also now replaced by a "+1" button, and pressing it allows you to bet one more Heart on your current hand. When the game starts, both you and the Shopkeeper possess the amount of Hearts you had upon entering the room, and, instead of five, the minimum amount of Hearts you can bet is one. The Poker Game works in the exact same way as it usually does, only this time, if you win or lose Hearts, you will be set to that number of Hearts. Here you have a large disadvantage, as your Hearts can only go so high while the Shopkeeper has no Heart limit. If the Shopkeeper reaches zero Hearts, the battle will end and you will be victorious. If the opposite happens, you will die.

Revival items still work in this bossfight, and split Hearts from the Heart Break item count as two Hearts. This means that having a Cross on hand can give you many more Hearts than the Shopkeeper if you happen to die, and this can give you a large advantage. The Fear Mask still works and can kill this boss if you happen to be left at one Heart, but you must keep in mind that if you lose all your remaining Hearts to a single bet, the mask won't activate, as you were never left at just one Heart and go straight from at least two Hearts to zero Hearts. To use it effectively to kill the boss, you must bet the number of Hearts you currently have minus one and then Fold, to leave yourself at one Heart. If you get a K and you have more or an equal number of Hearts than the Shopkeeper does, you'll have instantly won that turn (or the match entirely), as you can bet all your Hearts on that K and the Shopkeeper cannot possibly produce a better card, and he cannot save himself unless if he decides to Fold (which, sadly, happens very often).

This fight can be very difficult if you get bad cards, and can make it much harder than Voodoo Doll or any other boss in the game. It is generally not very smart to engage in this bossfight, but if you're up for the challenge, it's fun to play. Note that if you win this fight, you'll always end up with twice the amount of Health you started with.

After you defeat this boss, all further Shops will be empty, as you just killed the owner.