Big Ape

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Big Ape
Tier 5 boss
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Health 2520-6300 HP
Phases 4
Mission Apex Mission Icon.png Miniknog Stronghold
Spawns
Drops Miniknog Launcher Icon.png Miniknog Launcher (10%)
Big Ape Figurine Icon.png Big Ape Figurine (5%)

Big Ape is the leader of the Miniknog and supreme glorious ruler of all Apex-kind... as far as the general public (and the Apex society in specific) are aware. An all-knowing and all-seeing uber-ape of incredible intelligence, resolve, and musical skill, whose elaborate surveillance network, ruthless police force and outright scary army of scientists are all there to keep the Apex safe and secure, trust us.

In reality, "Big Ape" is a figurehead, a work of fiction created by the Miniknog to keep a psychological grip on the Apex citizenry. This idealized authoritarian leader can do no wrong and never appear weak, giving a strong voice to the aims of the mysterious Miniknog ruling council, whoever they are at any given time.[1]

With the rise of rebel activity across all of Apex society, the Miniknog have created a lethal mechanical construct of Big Ape, a literal figurehead, which they have begun to sic on captured troublemakers and unlucky test subjects. The tales told by the few survivors of Big Ape's ferocity have helped cement fear of their "leader" in the Apex society and serve as a threat to any who might question Big Ape's rule.[2]


Encounters

Miniknog Stronghold

Big Ape is the boss of the "Fetch the Apex Artifact" Mission, the final enemy the player will face after working their way through the sewers and underground labs of the Miniknog Stronghold.

Big Ape cycles through four sets of attacks in set patterns (though the opening attack in the cycle varies from fight to fight). The main "tell" for any attack is the graphic shown on the large screens in the background. Thankfully there's a short pause between the screen image appearing and the start of the attack, giving a moment to get into position... though memorizing the cycle also works.

The giant floating head of Big Ape is indestructible, being a hologram. On the plus side, it also does not do contact damage to the player. The four projectors circling the head are the real target (and physical threat), and all four must be destroyed to bring Big Ape down. Try to focus your attacks on a single projector, as every time one is destroyed, the remaining projectors self-repair back to full health, meaning you can spend a lot of time and take a lot of hits trying to spread damage out only for that progress to be lost.

Attacks
  • Laser Fists
BigApe-MS-Fist.png
  • Screen: Clenched fist holding a banana
Projectors in the ceiling and walls extend out and launch laser fists across the room. There is a gap between the horizontal-flying fists that can be jumped between, but the gap in the rain of vertical fists changes with each barrage. Luckily, the fists are fairly slow-moving, giving the player a little more time to find the gap in the attacks.
This attack starts with two waves of fists, but every time Big Ape loses a projector, another wave is added to the total, up to five waves at the end.
  • Laser Daggers
BigApe-MS-Dagger.png
  • Screen: Eyeball
Big Ape hovers over the player's position and unleashes a spread of lightning-fast laser daggers in a cone beneath him for several seconds. This is fairly easy to avoid since Big Ape stops once in position, and will not move until the attack is finished. The spread of daggers is barely as wide as Big Ape's projector orbit, giving plenty of room to run to. Use this opportunity to really whale on a projector or heal.
There does not appear to be a significant change to this attack as Big Ape loses projectors.
  • Charge
BigApe-MS-Charge.png
  • Screen: Big Ape head
Big Ape floats to one corner of the room, then rushes to the opposite side. Since the head is immaterial, the threat is more from body contact with the projectors. And as the hologram is not terribly fast, there's a good amount of time to prepare how to get through. Blinking is particularly effective, but a well-timed jump can work just as well.
Once Big Ape is down to two projectors, he will do this move twice in a row. When he's down to his last one, he'll charge three times.
  • Homing Missiles
BigApe-MS-Missile.png
  • Screen: Apex holding a rocket launcher
From the top-center of the room, the projectors unleash twin homing missiles when at the top of their orbit. The barrages (usually) come four in a row. While dodging is possible with quick footwork, it is actually easier to shoot them down with wide attacks. Shotguns, and Wands or Staffs with area-effect attacks are particularly effective in stopping the missiles. Melee attacks can also destroy them, but it takes considerably more careful timing to pull off.
Something that could be useful when it comes to avoiding this attack also, is having two players fight Big Ape at the same time. When the homing missiles shoot, Big Ape usually can only aim it at one player per attack, therefore any other players will not be aimed at and will stay unhurt. The player that is getting aimed and shot at will either have to try and dodge the missiles, or if the player does die, it wouldn't matter because the other player (who is not getting aimed at) would still be there rather than if you played alone, if you died Big Ape's health would fully regenerate.
- This if very likely not to work though, if the players are standing next to each other. However it is more likely to work if the [two] players are on either (separate) sides of the room.
This attack is mostly unchanged as Big Ape loses projectors, but for some reason, he only releases three sets of missiles when he's got three, then back to four after being dropped down to two.
  • Laser Spray
BigApe-MS-Spray.png
  • Screen: Big Ape full body
Every time a projector is destroyed, Big Ape retreats to the center of the room and begins spraying the room with small blue laser blasts in patterns for several seconds. During this time, there is no safe space anywhere, so either some quick work with a Shield or fancy footwork will keep you alive. The easiest method to dodge is to stand flush against the left or right walls, using Pulse Jumps to get over the lower blasts. You can also use the Spike Sphere to climb halfway up the side walls and dodge blasts there.
Normally, Big Ape only breaks out this attack when a projector is destroyed, but once he's down to a single projector, the spray is added into his attack cycle after the charge move, and it lasts quite a while. Good luck!


Big Ape's patterns change depending on how many projectors are still functioning. Every time a projector is destroyed, Big Ape's attacks generally get nastier and the projectors orbit faster.

  • 4 Projectors: Fists x2, Daggers, Charge, Missiles x4
  • 3 Projectors: Fists x3, Daggers, Charge, Missiles x3
  • 2 Projectors: Daggers, Fist x4, Charge x2, Missiles x4
  • 1 Projector: Missiles x4, Daggers, Fists x5, Charge x3, Spray

Codexes

Miniknog R and D Report Icon.pngMiniknog R&D Report

Beta development

Dear Baron.png
Beta-Release Canon

The following material was introduced in the Beta and has since been removed or altered. As such, it is no longer considered to be a part of Starbound canon.

In the early development of the game, Big Ape was indeed a real living Apex who led the Miniknog. He was depicted as a loud, crude braggart who largely bullied his way into a position of power and held it through bluster and fostering paranoia, slapping his name on everything and demanding total adulation from the citizenry.

Big Ape was in league with the Floran scientist Greenfinger, Thornwing of the Avian, and another shadowy figure whose identity was ultimately never revealed. Big Ape provided Apex super-science and unwilling test subjects to Greenfinger in the hopes that the morally-bankrupt scientist could strengthen the Miniknog's power grip, a goal seemingly shared by Thornwing for his people.

Big Ape himself did not appear in-person in-game, only in Apex city decorations and in various legacy Codexes.

Trivia

References

  1. Developer (SamuriFerret) comment on Reddit AMA
  2. Miniknog R&D Report