Endlessness and dimensions. Tiamat distorts the two laws with her strong powers.
--Shrine of the Mother (D-1) Tablet
Tiamat is the Guardian of the Dimensional Corridor. She is regarded as the most powerful Guardian within the ruins, her ability to create life second only to Mother. Her powers are so strong that she was able to reverse the locations of the Endless Corridor and the Dimensional Corridor, allowing her to bend the rules that bind Guardians to the frontside fields and giving her the ability to hide within the most inaccessible part of the ruins.
- Location: Dimensional Corridor (C-3)
- Music: Interstice of the Dimention
- Unlocks: Magatama Jewel
Finding Tiamat[]
Defeat all of Tiamat's children in the Dimensional Corridor to unlock her Ankh in C-3.
Fighting Tiamat[]
The upper part of Tiamat's snake-like body towers over Lemeza as she leans into the room from the background. Tiamat is a challenging fight with three phases, each bringing stronger and more numerous attack patterns. After enough damage is dealt to her, Tiamat transitions with a scream, the eye on her forehead opens more and her expression grows more infuriated.
Attacks[]
- Tiamat has 260 health. She enters her second phase once her health is below 200. She enters her third phase once her health is below 100. In Hard Mode she has a total of 300 health. Enters second phase when below 260 and third when below 160.
- Contact with Tiamat's arms does a little damage to Lemeza. Note that you cannot pass through them, so if you get stuck on the outside you will need to wait for her to lift one up to get between them again. Hard Mode damage is 64.
- The rings in Tiamat's hair periodically fire blue lasers aimed at Lemeza. When the lasers hit the ground they create a brief fire. They fire more frequently as the battle progresses, from one to four at a time, and can be difficult to avoid. Cannot be blocked by any shield. Hard Mode damage is 24.
- First phase
- Tiamat raises a hand and launches a twirling red orb at Lemeza. The orb can be destroyed by hitting it with a weapon or blocking it with a shield. Hard Mode damage is 24.
- Second phase
- Tiamat raises a hand and launches a homing blue orb at Lemeza. The orb can be deflected by hitting it with a weapon. Hard Mode damage is 32.
- Tiamat raises both hands, a purple "eye" opening in her chest and firing a barrage of projectiles in all directions. It is best to block these with a shield. Hard Mode damage is 16.
- Tiamat floats into the background and conjures an immense tidal wave. The wave comes crashing down, covering the entire screen and will do huge damage to Lemeza. Stand directly under one of the platforms to avoid this, preferably on either far side of the room. Hard Mode damage is 180.
- Third phase
- Tiamat raises a hand and launches five red orbs that stick to surfaces and explode. Hard Mode damage is 48.
- Tiamat's hair and arms are pulled in to form an octagon. Her third eye and each hair ring fire wide parallel blue beams in a circular sweeping pattern toward Lemeza's position. These beams do high damage, and are difficult to avoid. See strategy below for how to best deal with these beams. Hard Mode damage is 200.
Weak Point[]
Her face is her weak point. Tiamat's hair shields her face from the top and sides. Chakram won't pierce her hair. Bombs can damage her through her hair, but it is easier to strike with something else from directly beneath her face.
Strategies[]
One attack strategy is to equip Axe-buffing Software Combinations and stand between her arms. The Axe has enough vertical reach to strike Tiamat's face twice during each double-jump. Continually move to the left or right when descending from a jump to throw off her lasers.
Bringing an Attack Fairy with you while using either Bombs or the Flare Gun from under Tiamat's head will quickly finish the first two stages of the fight.
Tiamat's third phase always begins with a tidal wave attack followed by her octagon laser. After this, she will attack normally for a while, and will eventually start to use the octagon laser more often, occasionally twice in a row. She always follows the Tidal Wave attack with the octagon laser.
- You can double-jump over the octagon lasers if you jump when the lasers first appear.
- The octagon laser attack can be dodged. You have to climb one of the walls immediately after the tidal wave, and start climbing down as soon as she starts to charge the attack (she targets your position immediately.) Climb down, run to the opposite wall and cling directly under the first ledge. If this is the first, (or third, fifth, etc.) time she's used the attack, run under her and continue attacking. Otherwise, she's about to use it again. As soon as it's safe, continue climbing the wall, let her target you, run up the opposite wall, etc.
- The octagon laser can also be avoided by using invincibility frames. Throw Caltrops down when you see her form the octagon shape and hit yourself with them to run safely through all the high-damage beams. The deathv.exe + move.exe software combination helps.
While most of Tiamat's attacks don't do much damage, she has so many of them which are tough to avoid that it adds up quickly. Attack as often as you can and deal with her as fast as possible before her endless barrage of attacks wears you down.
Speedrunning Tiamat[]
- as of version 1.5.5.2 this is no longer possible
This strategy was recently found by SneakyCanuck of Speed Demos Archive forums. As it turns out, it is possible to stand on Tiamat's shoulders and damage her very quickly using the Flail Whip. If you stand on the edge of the lower platform and damage boost with one of your Bombs, you can get on her shoulder to deal several hits with the Fail Whip before one of her attacks knocks you off.
During the second and third phases, you can do this immediately after Tiamat does one of her tidal wave attacks, as her shoulders reappear again after she finishs this attack. In the third form, it's actually possible to Obliterate Tiamat before she can even get a Laser attack off!
Watch on Youtube: Tiamat Quick Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Os28r5WEIN8
Trivia[]
- In Mesopotamian mythology, Tiamat is the goddess of the ocean. From her corpse, the gods of Mesopotamia used its parts to create the human world, after she was slain by Marduk.
- In the sequel, it is revealed that Tiamat and Nuwa are both clones of the Mother, with a third clone in the form of Tiamat's equivalent, Echidna.
- Like Tiamat, Echidna gave birth to all of the Room Guardians in the area she is fought in, all of whom are her children in her mythology of origin.