The Bridge Sentinel

The Bridge Sentinel is the first boss of The Shatters.

A more difficult version of the boss named Valen the Unbreakable can be fought if specific conditions are met before beginning the boss fight.

Contents

• Stats
• Combat
• Drops
• Tips

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Stats

Base HP: 250,000 ( Boss Adaptive HP Scaling)
DEF: 40
EXP: 45,000
Location: The Shatters

Quest Enemy

Immune to Stasis
Immune to Stunned
Immune to Paralyzed
Immune to Dazed
Immune to Slowed

Counts towards God Kills
Counts towards Humanoid Kills

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Combat

Attacks

Behavior

The Bridge Sentinel is found in a large chamber at the end of the Shatters’ drawbridge, which can be accessed after destroying the 8 monuments in the Derelict Village to drop the bridge. He is initially found in a kneeling stance, rising up after being approached. After a taunt, the exit to the drawbridge will be slowly sealed off, the four Paladin Obelisks around him flashing and turning gold to signify the battle’s start.
“Who goes there…? Turn back at once.”

Phase 1

Taunt: “Beyond this bridge is nothing but shadows. Abandon your arms and leave this place, for you will not find what you seek.”

The Bridge Sentinel will start with one of two attack cycles at random, transitioning into a random one of the two (which can be the same one) each time a cycle finishes. Each cycle consists of three attacks performed in order, with small amounts of invincibility between them:

Cycle A

• Moves to the top of the room, remains still and fires a back-and-forth sweeping stream of 3-shot spear bursts, punctuated by massive accelerating shotguns made from “chains” of black-and-white bullets (each chain made of a crescent bullet followed by three circular ones). He will also periodically release dense waves of red fireballs that inflict Petrify.
• Twirls and and bounces around the arena, firing dense rings of white crescents that turn either left or right. These crescents, after a delay, condense into bolt-like shots and accelerate.
• Moves back to the top of the room, stands still, and raises his sword in a guarding motion, becoming Armored and summoning solid streams of bullets at the top and bottom of the map to stop players from hiding there. He then starts summoning rows of swords made of colored bullets at the top of the screen, which will quickly become solid and launch themselves. Those telegraphed by a blue sword will turn white and launch straight ahead, while those telegraphed with red swords turn beige and curve towards the middle of the room while flying. The swords inflict massive armor piercing damage and Slow, but he will always launch these sword rows in a fixed order.
  
  • 3 blue swords centered on him and one on each edge of the room.
  • 5 red swords on the right, followed by 5 red swords on the left.
  • 9 blue swords that launch in order from the edges to the center.
  • A solid row of blue swords with an opening near each edge of the room.
  • 3 blue swords near each edge of the bridge, followed by 2 in the middle.
  • Groups of blue swords separated by red swords, repeated twice but offset the second time; the formations themselves are pseudo-randomized.
  • A solid row of blue swords with a safe spot in the middle, followed up by a blue sword in the middle.

Cycle B

• Follows players and repeatedly leaps near them, creating massive explosions of slow silver slashes with each landing. He will leap a total of 11 times, pausing for a brief moment after each leap. Note that he will destroy any decoys he lands on while leaping.
  
  • Leaps 3 and 9 are faster and lead the target’s movement, and have a chance to only fire shots in the direction of the target rather than in every direction.
  • Leap 6 has a chance to lead the target’s movement instead of being aimed.
  • Leaps 5 and 11 are faster and aimed roughly above the target; they will also only fire shots in the direction of the target.
  • All other leaps are aimed directly at the nearest target.
• Moves into the center of the bridge, raises his now-glowing sword, and summons a large ring of spinning golden swords around the edges of the arena, which will slowly start launching themselves at players one by one in a counterclockwise order. He then summons several waves of golden swords in various formations, which spin in place before launching themselves at players (note that all spinning swords are harmless). The patterns he uses will always be fixed:
  
  • A small ring around him, launching one at a time in a clockwise order; repeated twice
  • A cross along the cardinal directions, with all the swords launching simultaneously; repeated twice
  • A larger ring around him, launching one at a time in a clockwise order, alongside a second large ring identical to the one summoned at the start of the phase.
• Quickly spins around the boss room and bounces off the edges, rapidly firing various rings of crescents that turn into accelerating bolts after a delay. At the end of this attack, he slows down and circles the center of the room counterclockwise for a few seconds, firing rings of crescents with evenly spaced gaps to dodge through.

Throughout the entire fight, the four invulnerable Paladin Obelisks around him will periodically summon claymore swords that initially spin idly around them, before launching at nearby players.

Phase 2

Taunt: “You have already seen what came of this place… Is this the fate you seek?”
At 80% HP, the Sentinel goes invulnerable as the four Paladin Obelisks become dark and vulnerable. Destroying one obelisk will make the others return to normal, and make the Sentinel start taking normal damage again.

Whichever obelisk is destroyed will crumble, turn purple, and stop spawning swords. That obelisk will instead start periodically summoning groups of Blobombs that follow players, flashing and exploding into short-ranged novae of purple Unstable/Silence shots on proximity or death.

Phase 3

Taunt: “Why is it that you still stand your ground? Do you too seek power, as did my liege?!”
At 60% HP, the obelisks go vulnerable again, requiring another one to be destroyed in order to progress the fight. When that one is destroyed, it will act as the first one did, periodically spawning groups of Blobombs.

Phase 4

Taunt: “Your persistence will only worsen your fate, adventurers. You are not the first to take on this accursed quest, nor will you be the last.”
At 40% HP, the Sentinel activates the remaining two Obelisks, following the same formula as the last two phases. However, after the third Obelisk is destroyed and the Sentinel completes his current attack cycle, he will move to the top of the bridge and darken the screen as all decoys are wiped, thrusting his sword into the air and grasping it with both hands as he prepares to launch a desperation attack.
“I SHALL DEFEND THE REALM WITH MY LIFE!”

The Sentinel then changes his ordered attack cycle to the following cycle, repeated three times with slight variations:

• Leaps at players and chases them, firing five massive 3-layered shotguns of varying width, each one made of crescents that turn into accelerating bolts after a delay.
  
  • In the second and third cycles, the shotguns are fired faster.
• Leaps at players and (after a brief delay) slams the ground, creating a ring of curving Petrify fireballs along with a massive storm of silver slashes that all curve in different directions. Like in his original phases, he will destroy any decoys he lands on.
  
  • In the second cycle, the Sentinel will leap three times in succession before slamming down.
• Rapidly spins around the bridge, bouncing off the edges and leaving behind a trail of spinning golden swords that launch at players after a delay. Every time he hits one of the arena borders, he will release a massive ring of black shot chains; if he bounces directly into a corner, the ring of shots will be much denser.
  
  • In the third cycle, this attack is replaced by a second leap attack with two jumps.

If he finishes three cycles, the screen will brighten and the Sentinel will start using his regular attacks again. However, his desperation cycle will now become one of his potential attack cycles when choosing one to use.

Phase 5

Taunt: “For the good of the realm…I must strike you down!”
At 20% HP, the final obelisk becomes vulnerable. Once that one is destroyed, the Sentinel will be left completely vulnerable for the rest of the fight, save for the brief periods between attacks.

Death

Upon defeat, the Bridge Sentinel crumples over and finally collapses, perishing. Blobombs stop spawning and his loot is left behind as the bridge behind him opens, allowing passage into the Royal Castle.
“I tried to protect you…I have failed…”
“You release a great evil upon this realm…”

Valen the Unbreakable

If the Stone Idol has been killed by letting it absorb the Void Phantasm, the fight with the Bridge Sentinel will be slightly different. His attack patterns remain the same, but the Paladin Obelisks will retain the ability to summon claymore blades even after being destroyed, letting them fire blades and summon Blobombs at the same time.

When the Sentinel has been defeated in this state, his true name will be revealed as he dies, using a new set of dialogue lines.
“I see now…my strength could not have held against this growing power.”
“Please…end this…”

Defeating Valen will drop an extra loot bag in the middle of the Bridge in addition to the one the Bridge Sentinel would have originally dropped. His defeat will also cause the Royal Castle to spawn significantly more Accursed enemies, as well as allowing The Source to appear in the Alchemy Lab.

Reproduction

Defended by:
Paladin Obelisk x4

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Drops

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Tips and Strategies

The Bridge Sentinel is very mobile, so the first and foremost thing is do not let him sit on you, as it guarantees an instant death. This is especially important if he decides to chase you at the final attack of Cycle B or when he’s slashing shots towards you during rage. For his spinning golden swords phase, do not let the swords line you up, as the damage can stack very quickly. Also especially don’t sit in the middle, because if the four lines of swords in the four cardinal directions spawn and you’re in the middle, many of ths shots will be aimed towards the middle and cause massive damage. It’s also possible to skip the rage phase if you manage to kill the boss in a single cycle after the third tower is activated, normally by activating the third tower at the start of a new cycle to have more time to deal damage. Finally, if you’re in a group, during his rage phase, people can try to decoy the Sentinel away from the group, allowing for easy damage. This can be done by Tricksters using prisms to decoy, Knights with Crystal Shields to reliably keep the boss in place, or Paladins with Seals of Blasphemous Prayer to keep them safe when dragging the boss.

The third attack in the rage phase chain, when the Sentinel rapidly bounces around the arena, is an exception to this rule: the boss only fires when bouncing off the edges, so it’s fine to let him run you over if and only if you are away from the edges. Stand in the middle and focus on dodging the black shots.

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History

Until Release X32.4.1, the Forgotten Sentinel spawned a Test Chest which, when destroyed, provided a chance at loot. The chest has since been removed and any loot will drop directly from the boss upon its death.

Before Exalt Version 2.0.2.0 (Aug 2021), the Bridge Sentinel had a vastly different fight, was named The Forgotten Sentinel and had the following sprite:

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Trivia

The boss’ fighting patterns were stated to have been inspired by several bosses from the game series Dark Souls, particularly Artorias and Slave Knight Gael. This is further supported by the Sentinel Watchdog Skin he drops referencing the Great Grey Wolf Sif, a boss who is related to the aforementioned Artorias in the game’s story.

Ocassionally, he will say “Get a load of this!” though the cause of this is unknown.

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