You’ve made it through the Alley once, you’ve beaten Radical Rat, and in typical Edmund McMillen fashion, everything has just gotten harder, including the stage end boss: Queen Hippo
Just like the Punch-Out character that inspired her, Queen Hippo is meant to scare you into panicking, hiding a much easier solution in plain sight.
Here we’ll be going over every aspect of the Queen Hippo fight, how you should go into it, and the best early game party to handle her!
Queen Hippo’s Moveset
Queen Hippo only has two attacks, but they’re both absolute haymakers. Luckily, if you’re smart, you can entirely avoid one of them. Let’s go over exactly how!
Queen Hippo’s Uppercut
At the start of each of her turns, Queen Hippo gets a free uppercut, launching a nearby flipping cat into the air. Notably, Queen Hippo only performs this attack if there’s a cat or obstacle within that one tile radius surrounding her.
As long as the area is clear, she’ll avoid using the move entirely, cutting her damage practically in half. Make the most out of classes that don’t have to stay right beside her, or can otherwise force her to move.
The Tank’s default shove works well, as do the Mage’s and Hunter’s ranged attacks. Just make sure to get out of the way before her turn starts.
Queen Hippo’s Shove
Her standard attack, Queen Hippo stomps forward before slamming her fist down, knocking any cat struck flying backwards. The knockback can do serious damage if the cat hits other cats or the environment, so careful positioning is key.
The attack only works in a straight line, so avoid lining up in minimize the damage Queen Hippo can do.
Preparing for Queen Hippo
With Mewgenics’ roguelike nature, you won’t be able to always prepare perfectly for a fight, but we can take steps to minimize risk. For one, a Cleric is a great pick to keep frontliners on their feet if you have the class unlocked.
Otherwise, focus on ranged attacks, allowing your Hunter and Mage to pepper Queen Hippo while she’s busy chasing your beefier classes.
Knockback items work wonders if you have them lying around. The Tire forces enemies back when they make contact with the cat wearing it, setting up some easy mitigation.
The Mage also has plenty of area manipulation spells, Whirlpool working as a notably great pick.
I found the most use out of the Old Hose, almost entirely shutting Queen Hippo down by not only pushing her back, but forcing her to wade through water tiles to make it to the party.
Generally, anything that increases your range or keeps enemies back is a great pick to prepare for Queen Hippo.
How to Fight Queen Hippo
As the classes and items imply, kiting is the name of the game. Minimizing Queen Hippo’s chances to deal damage is paramount, but her innate Brace makes that harder to manage.
Damage over time effects cut through it well, giving Poison and Bleed fantastic niches against Queen Hippo. Any multi hits also work wonders chipping through her innate armor. If you’ve got a big enough hit, the 4 damage mitigation may not ever be that big of an issue.
Something you may remember about Queen Hippo’s inspiration, King Hippo, is that the challenging fight can be entirely circumvented thanks to a weakness hidden in plain sight.
Her description implies it, but there’s actually a much easier way to handle Queen Hippo, and our knockback prepation will do wonders to assist.
Cheesing Queen Hippo
Queen Hippo’s descritption mentions that she has heart issues, a dark joke that fits right as home in an Edmund McMillen project. The funniest part is that it isn’t a joke at all.
Should you stall the fight out until the end of Round 4, a time frame you’ll likely never reach if you meet her head-on, Queen Hippo simply dies. No matter her health, Queen Hippo will die at the end of Round 4, giving you the victory.
Now, this is easier said than done if you’re not prepared, as Queen Hippo can close the distance fast. Slowing her down is the name of the game, and knockback/water effects are king.
My last run was literally spent firing off the Old Hose and waiting for her to stumble closer, just to push her further back.
Mewgenics is full of small moments like this, rewarding the player for paying attention and thinking creatively. It’s only a matter of time until we see what the rest of the boss roster has to offer, especially now that you know how to leave Queen Hippo in the dust without breaking a sweat.
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