Sysiphus Prime

Sisyphus Prime is a muscular, luminescent humanoid. His golden translucent body gives a clear view of his circulatory system, which seems to be the only organs present, similarly to Minos Prime. His head is a sun-like ball of light, with his face only visible as a red outline in the light. His hands and feet are coated with blood akin to his followers. Upon entering his second phase, he gains a fiery red aura, limbs covered in more blood, as well as long hair and a full beard, suggesting his Prime form has further developed under the stress of combat Sisyphus Prime is an incredibly powerful enemy, capable of chaining attacks to kill V1 in seconds. It only takes a moment of inattention to die "You can't escape!": Sisyphus performs a Sumo Combo. He strikes a pose, then teleports three times to V1, performing in turn a punch and knee strike, a flying kick, and a stomp, which spawns a grounded shockwave at his feet. The first attack predicts V1's movement, while the rest go for its current position. The final stomp attack can be parried with a well-timed punch, interrupting the shockwave but not the stomp itself. This attack is only used when V1 is grounded, but the third attack in the chain follows V1 upwards if airborne, spiking it into the ground if the attack connects. In phase 2, the final stomp of this attack has its endlag removed. This attack requires 3 Stamina "Destroy!": Sisyphus teleports to V1 and performs an uppercut, then stands still and summons a glint near or on V1, which will explode briefly after being created. The glint tracks ahead of V1's movement to catch it in the detonation, similarly to an enraged Virtue's beam. This attack can be parried in the brief window between the uppercut and the appearance of the glint, but the explosion cannot be interrupted regardless of whether the attack is parried. This attack is only used when V1 is grounded, though the glint can follow V1 into the air. This attack requires 3 Stamina "This will hurt.": Sisyphus teleports to V1 and charges up for a moment before releasing a large explosion. This explosion has a very large radius and deals the most damage of all of Sisyphus' attacks, but the charge-up can be parried with relatively lenient timing if the player is close enough. Parrying the attack cancels the explosion and briefly stuns Sisyphus regardless of phase or difficulty. This attack is only used when V1 is grounded, though the explosion can obviously still hit it in the air. This attack requires 1 Stamina "BE GONE!": Sisyphus teleports to V1 before slamming his palms together, creating a vertical shockwave on impact. Sisyphus briefly stops tracking V1 before the slam comes out, allowing the slam to be avoided. The slam can also be parried, interrupting the shockwave but not the slam itself. This attack can be used whether V1 is grounded or airborne. This attack requires 1 Stamina Roundhouse Kick: Sisyphus Prime teleports to V1 and performs a spinning kick; if it connects, V1 gets sent flying far away from Sisyphus. This attack can be used whether V1 is grounded or airborne. This attack can be parried. This attack requires 1 Stamina. Overhead Chop: Sisyphus teleports to V1 and throws a knife-hand strike. This attack tracks the player's movement perfectly, and thus can only be avoided with dash I-frames or by moving out of range. If it connects in the air, V1 gets spiked downwards. This attack can be performed while V1 is grounded or airborne. This attack cannot be parried. This attack requires 1 Stamina Ground Slam: Sisyphus teleports above V1 and slams directly downwards, creating a grounded shockwave on impact. This attack can be performed regardless if V1 is grounded or airborne. This attack requires 1 Stamina "Nice try!": When Sisyphus has used over 10 attacks in Phase 1 and over 15 attacks in Phase 2, and has currently used Stamina in this cycle and has over 20 health, he will occasionally taunt, saying "Nice try!", similarly to Gabriel's taunts. He will stop in place to perform this taunt, making it an opportunity to heal or damage him. This form of direct mockery towards V1 The attacks "You can't escape!", "This will hurt." and "DESTROY!" will be followed up by a number of the following 'combo' specials - "BE GONE!", Roundhouse Kick, Overhead Chop and Ground slam Similarly to Minos Prime, all of Sisyphus' attacks are controlled by an invisible stamina meter that dictates what moves can be performed at what time. If he runs out of stamina, he will have to wait for it to recharge. During this time he will run towards V1, with a small chance to taunt before attacking again Stamina - 10 Stamina in Phase 1, Infinite Stamina in Phase 2 Sisyphus Prime will restore 5 Stamina whenever any of his attacks is parried. This stamina refill has no limit, which means the more he is parried, the longer he attacks for When his first health bar is depleted, Sisyphus Prime shouts "YES! That's it!", overriding all of his other voice lines. During Phase 2, Sisyphus Prime's attacks are cast much quicker, and with less recovery time in between attacks. On Standard, parrying "BE GONE!" and the final stomp of "You can't escape!" will no longer interrupt their shockwaves. He will also gain stamina in this phase depending on difficulty "BE GONE!" and the final stomp of "You can't escape!" create delayed explosions during phase 2 Sisyphus Prime no longer taunts his target Sisyphus Prime's attacks are slightly faster Trying to beat this boss fight for the first time is, for lack of a better term, a Sisyphean task. You'll likely need a substantial amount of attempts to build up solid muscle memory and reaction speed. When contrasted with Minos Prime, Sisyphus Prime's sequences of attacks are much more randomized, with the only exceptions being that certain more powerful ones won't be performed while V1 is in the air, and these same moves cannot be done one after the other. Additionally, Sisyphus Prime generally gives far shorter telegraphs. Because of this, a big part of the learning curve here is to be able to distinguish each of his attacks quickly. Pay attention to- and know the difference between- the yellow flash "parryable" and blue flash "unparryable" sound cues. Sisyphus' windup animations are also very exaggerated, so it's possible to quickly recognize each of his moves- even the ones without a corresponding voice line- with enough practice One should take Sisyphus' words of "You can't escape" literally- Trying to make distance is ultimately pointless, he will catch up, often instantly. Not only that, but he tends to track your movement and "lead" his attacks with great accuracy. Suffice to say, he will have no trouble hitting you with his big, meaty hands if you're not careful. You must pay close attention to where he is and what he's doing at all times, and especially look out for the subtle trail he leaves when teleporting so you don't lose track. Anticipate his attacks, react to them, and follow his rhythm. This fight is a dance, and it's lead by him. A well-timed dash, slide, ground slam, or just an adjustment in your trajectory can make a world of difference Try to save your stamina for when you absolutely need it, such as when you're forced into the air and have limited movement control, or if he performs one of his moves which are significantly more difficult to avoid without I-frames, such as "Destroy!" and the Overhead Chop The Sawblade Launcher can find great use here due to his large size. As always, Railcoining can deal great damage and, combined with a sawblade trap setup during his monologue, could take away a significant chunk of his health right off the bat Parrying Sisyphus' attacks is an integral part of the fight. It restores health and stamina, allowing you to play riskier and use dashes more liberally. Learn to parry all his attacks and you can turn Sisyphus' relentless aggression on himself. However, parrying also restores Stamina to him, so one may instead choose to parry as little as possible such that he fights at a more forgiving pace All of Sisyphus' parryable attacks require that you physically punch him during their "yellow glint" windows. Because of this, an aggressive playstyle is highly recommended. Simply making a habit of moving towards Sisyphus can make "BE GONE!" and the Roundhouse Kick much easier to parry and take less reaction time, since your melee range is short and Sisyphus can often begin these attacks just outside of it, especially if you're retreating or strafing around him. It's also worth mentioning how the fight can become somewhat trivial if you simply stand completely still on the ground without shooting any of your weapons so you can focus on parrying his attacks and just feedbacker him to death. This can be good for when you're learning how to quickly distinguish his attacks and not die, but makes the fight somewhat tedious and, frankly, boring The Whiplash is a crucial aggression tool in this fight, great for quickly getting in close-range to parry Sisyphus' more predictable attacks, namely "This will hurt." and the later part of "Destroy!" where he casts the explosive glint. It also doubles as a way to avoid the horizontal shockwaves caused by the final stomp of "You can't escape!" and the Ground Slam, if you were already in the air and thus can't jump to avoid them. You can also get some juicy blood while you're at it, win-win. Sisyphus is generally much easier and less punishing to use the whiplash on than most enemies, due to his bigger hitbox and close-ranged fighting style. The frantic nature of his fight, therefore, shouldn't discourage you from using it After many of his attacks there is a considerable moment of pause [usually during his "Nice try!"], during which you can get off a cheeky amount of damage and/or healing. There are also short "end-lag" recovery periods after his "You can't escape!" and Ground Slam attacks, which are good opportunities to execute high-damage attacks of your own. Be careful, however, as the pause after "You can't escape!" is skipped during Sisyphus Prime's extensive repertoire of attacks that place him close to V1 allows for certain weapons to shine against him. The Screwdriver is extremely helpful in staying alive as Sisyphus is difficult to heal from normally, which the extended healing range helps with. While it's tempting to go for Railcoins, Sisyphus doesn't give you much time to breathe so using the Screwdriver may be more practical if you haven't practiced the fight yet. The Jumpstart Nailgun variant is surprisingly useful too, as Sisyphus doesn't tend to move out of range long enough for the tether to snap, allowing for some gnarly conduction damage Combine these with shotgun swapping and the Knuckleblaster, and his health bar will evaporate Similarly to Minos Prime, being airborne for too long is very risky, as many of his attacks can and will send you involuntarily flying around the arena and potentially force you into a combo. If you're still learning the fight and survival is your priority, it is recommended to only be airborne when you need to dodge grounded shockwaves. For those more experienced with this fight and ULTRAKILL's movement, however, it's actually possible to dodge and counter Sisyphus in mid-air and even use his explosive launches against him. If you can "ride" and maintain the momentum from them, or simply move very fast by other means, Sisyphus will start to miss some of his attacks without much input. Approaching the fight in a more active way like this can greatly assist you during phase 2; The increased amount of aftershock explosions will punish you for staying in one general area. The aforementioned high-speed movement techniques also allow for some serious damage with the Jackhammer variant of the shotgun, which pairs especially well with Sisyphus given how it automatically parries melee attacks The Rocket Launcher can reliably deal double damage with air-shots due to Sisyphus' large size and tendency to chase the player into the air for his combos, making it a great option to punish these mid-air moves if you're moving away from him and aren't in-range to attempt a parry or get hit by the resulting red explosion. Even though these air-shots are pretty easy to hit given Sisyphus remains briefly still for each attack, magnets can make it even easier. Rocket Surfing can be quite thrilling in this fight

TYPE: PRIME SOUL DATA: Though Minos was intelligent and persuasive, he was also a gentle and noble man. Such values mattered little to Sisyphus, who would gladly lie, cheat or kill if that's what is needed to protect his comrades. In a hubristic show of power, Heaven decided that the only correct punishment for his sins would be breaking his will by subjecting him to an unending and impossible task, unaware of just how tenacious the spite of man can be For thousands of years, Sisyphus bided his time, suffering his punishment day after day without any sign of regret or remorse, waiting for the perfect chance to strike and subvert Heaven's tyrannical rule With the Disappearance of God and chaos in Heaven, Sisyphus' time had finally come, and once the angels returned, they were met with a force and fury that had boiled in the hearts of men for millennia, a war-cry so fierce it shook the very foundations of Hell It was all for naught, however, as Sisyphus' charisma and drive had made his warriors dependent on his radiance and guidance. Although he did not know why yet, Gabriel recognized this flaw, having experienced it first hand, and ordered a focused assault to take down the king He unsheathed his swords for the first time since time immemorial and beheaded Sisyphus, displaying his head for all to see. The morale of Sisyphus' army was broken and the rest of the war was little more than a formality without their shining beacon The failure of the insurrection was no surprise however, and few knew that better than Sisyphus himself. He knew he was fighting a losing battle, that even if they miraculously survived this encounter, they had no chance of winning a full scale war against all of Heaven. Yet he thrust his full heart and soul into battle with a wide smile on his face To him, fighting an impossible battle with full knowledge of its futility and taking joy in just the act of resistance itself is the ultimate rebellion against the oppressor. One must imagine Sisyphus happy STRATEGY:

• Sisyphus' relentless attacks leave little room to recover stamina, but many of them are parryable, allowing for an instant refill
• The radiant power of the sun makes Sisyphus' explosive attacks very difficult to avoid, but since a dash gives temporary invincibility, good timing allows one to avoid the damage of an explosion without actually needing to escape its radius

Considering that Sisyphus Prime was able to effortlessly tear his way out of the Flesh Panopticon, one must imagine that if Minos Prime were fully formed before being trapped in the Flesh Prison, that he could do the same Sisyphus Prime says "Keep 'em coming!" after each restart, implying the knowledge of restarts It appears that Sisyphus, like Minos, was somehow able to perceive the events that were occurring within ULTRAKILL's world, despite being trapped in a prison for innumerable years Sisyphus Prime's head is an opaque, radiant, glowing ball as opposed to his translucent body. This is likely due to his beheading at the hands of Gabriel during the war in Greed, and his soul mimicking his husk's appearance Sisyphus Prime's boxer stance may suggest that along with having the incredible physical strength and speed of a Prime Soul, he is also a trained fighter Sisyphus Prime is based primarily on Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" Sisyphus' blood-soaked legs and hands may reference the practice of his Insurrectionists to protect their limbs from the heat of Greed's dunes by soaking them in the blood of their enemies

Fighting the Second Prime Soul after his escape from the Panapticon All i can say is... GOOD FUCKING LUCK