The Dealer

## Description

**The Dealer** is the mysterious man who deals the cards to the player. He is a master of the game and explains the rules to the player. The Dealer did not create the game, but states he has perfected it.

In essence, the game is ultimately against The Dealer. While he is fair, he will continually discourage the player in the hopes that the player will give up, allowing him to win by default.

## Combat

The player will face The Dealer in the final fight. The battle includes multiple phases.

### Phase 1

All the Dust bosses are summoned at the same time. Once you defeat them, The Dealer will cast several area of effect spells which are relatively easy to avoid. Now a quicktime event starts where the player must avoid and ultimately reflect missile spells cast by The Dealer. If the player fails to push the correct buttons in response to the Dealer, the player character will be killed in one shot regardless of how much health or armor they have accumulated in game. Once The Dealer has been hit by one of the reflected spells, the player can attack The Dealer until he raises his shield again and Phase two begins.

### Phase 2

All of the skulls bosses are summoned at the same time. Like Phase 1, the player must defeat all of the bosses again. Once they are defeated, the Dealer casts the area of effect spells again, followed by a similar type of spell to that which the Mages periodically cast, however the lines are red now. The player has to avoid the red lines created by The Dealer. The red lines do not move after each casting during this phase , so once the player has found a safe spot, they can wait the entire spell out. After this another quick-time event starts, the same as after phase 1. Once The Dealer is hit once again, he summons the bosses for phase 3.

### Phase 3

All the plague bosses are summoned now. This is arguably the hardest phase, since Jack and King of Plague constantly run toward the player, cannot be stunned and have no blockable attack. Once they have been defeated, The Dealer casts area effect twice and summons deadly red lines two times, which rotate 45 degrees anti-clockwise, then clockwise. The quick-time event begins afterward, the player must deflect the missile spell, attack The Dealer and advance to phase four.

### Phase 4

The Dealer summons all the Scales bosses. The King must be defeated before the others can be killed, as the other bosses will have a force field around them protecting them from damage.
When all the bosses are done, the Dealer casts area spells twice, which cover more ground, making them harder to dodge, and then uses the red line attack, which move 90 degrees counter-clockwise the first time, then clockwise the second time. The same quick-time event occurs after. If the Player successfully deflects the Dealer's attack, the dealer will be sucked into a bright vortex, but manages to hold onto the table with one hand screaming "No,no! I can't go like this!" the player must proceed to defeat The Dealer by cutting his hand free of the table, which causes the Dealer to be sucked into oblivion and the Player wins the game, earning an achievement depending on game platform. Credits roll, the end. Congratulations!

## Tips

* The Skeleton King Shield is useful for phase 2.
* The Rat Cleaver and Herne's Antlers are useful for phase 3 and phase 4.
* The Skeleton King Sword is useful, especially when coupled with Immovable Object due to the regenerative ability and length of the fight, respectively.
* Feathered Ice is especially handy, as it will give the player breathing room to deal with one Boss at a time.
* The King's Ring can be invaluable if you can manage to maintain a stockpile of gold before entering the fight.
* The Berserker Ring can be used to fully heal on the infinitely generated skeletons from the bone totem in phase 2.
* The Kraken Claw can be especially helpful in phase 4, as it cleaves through the shields of Lizardmen and causes them great damage.