Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course has officially released, so it’s time to dive back into this exceptionally difficult run and gun action game. Embracing the art of the 1930s, Cuphead originally told the story of two brothers who made a deal with a devil. Released back in 2017, the highly anticipated DLC (aptly named Delicious Last Course) has finally dropped, and it’s even trickier than the base game. This time around, you are tasked with gathering ingredients to make a pastry so good it will bring Ms. Chalice back from the astral plane.
An early boss you will face is the Moonshine Mob, which is tied to the Bootleggers Boogie level. Broken up across four phases, these enemies can be a bit overwhelming due to all the action on screen. However, this fight is fairly simple with the right tools equipped. Here’s how to easily bust up this gang of grubs:
How to Beat the Moonshine Mob
Loadout
- Character: Ms. Chalice
- Shot-A: Converge
- Shot-B: Crackshot
- Super: Super I
- Charm: Cookie Charm
Phase One
Attacks
- Hanging Bombs: Throughout this phase, the spider will call in a bunch of hanging bombs with a skull on them. Standing next to one will cause it to expand for about a second before exploding. It won’t release any shrapnel, so it’s best to just trigger these and dodge out of the way before they explode.
- Police Bugs: Occasionally, an insect in a police officer’s outfit will appear along either the right or left side of the screen. They will launch a slow-moving smoke projectile that can either be dodged or parried if it’s pink. You can kill these enemies before they attack if you’re fast enough.
- Gangster Flies: Sometimes the spider will call in backup. There will be several burly-looking bugs that fly from the background to the foreground. Once they reach the arena, they’ll try to run into you. Thankfully, they are easily dispatched with a few shots, but can be annoying when trying to dodge other attacks.
- Bouncing Worm: The spider’s deadliest attack, this worm will launch from the boss and bounce around the arena. It ignores all floors and takes a few shots to destroy. Its movement can be unpredictable, but I found going to either the right or left side makes it a little easier to dodge. Just be careful of the Police Bugs that may spawn there!
- Spider: Obviously, you don’t want to get hit by the boss running around the level. It will move from floor to floor in a straight line but has no offensive capabilities itself. All of the attacks revolve around other enemies or bombs.
Phase one is entirely about screen management. There are a lot of enemies that appear during this phase, so it’s critical to keep it clear otherwise you’ll be easily overwhelmed. Converge is a goddamn all-star for this, as the piercing electrical bolts and wide spray pattern lets you hit multiple floors at once with relative ease. While it doesn’t do a ton of damage to the boss, it lets you kill any foes that spawn without needing to really move. Crackshot is also great here since the ricochet rounds will bounce to other foes letting you wipe out multiple enemies at once.
I suggest sticking to the middle and bottom floors, as this makes handling the enemies and bombs far easier. Always focus on shooting the enemies over the boss, as these are its only real method of damaging you. The biggest threat is the bouncing worm since it takes a bit more damage to destroy. If you see the worm, drop everything and focus on killing it. This enemy moves very fast and can easily hit you twice if you’re not careful. However, as long as you always take out any bombs on the bottom and middle floor, you should have a lot of room to maneuver.
Phase Two
Attacks
- Rotating Beams: This boss’ primary attack is a set of beams that rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise. If they’re green then they cannot hurt you, yellow means they are about to start dealing damage, and red will hurt you if touched.
- Police Bugs: More Police Bugs spawn in this phase, but this time they will just run horizontally across the screen. They can be destroyed.
- Bootlegger Barrels: These are barrels that move horizontally at a decent speed across one of the three floors. Just like the Police Bugs, they can be destroyed if shot.
Ms. Chalice trivializes this entire fight. By pressing down and your dash button she will perform a roll that makes her invincible. There’s no cooldown for this move, meaning you can just hang out on the bottom floor and roll through the beams when they turn red. The input can be a bit finicky, so when the beams turn red just focus on dodging them rather than damaging the boss. Remember to roll towards the beam, not away from it!
I like Crackshot for this as it does good damage and the ricochet rounds will kill most enemies wandering across the screen. As long as you can dodge the beam attacks consistently, this phase is extremely easy to complete without taking a hit. You can also use your Super on this bug since she will almost always be above you, but I like saving this move for the third phase.
Phase Three
Attacks
- Tongue Lashing: This oversized anteater will poke its large snout along the left or right side of the screen. The snout will never change sides once it starts this attack, but it will randomly change which of the three floors it’s on. After some teasing with its snout, this enemy will pick one of the three levels and stick its tongue out across the entire spawn of the arena.
- Bug Ball: After the tongue attack, the boss will launch a cloud of bugs that slowly bounce around the screen. They cannot be destroyed but will go away after a few seconds.
Honestly, phase three is even easier than the singing boss since you just need to pay attention to where its snout is sticking out. Staying on the opposite side of the screen ensures you cannot be hit while it’s poking, and if you’re watching the boss’ movements you’ll have more than enough time to dodge its tongue attack. Don’t fight on the same side as the snout, it just makes it easier to get hit and honestly isn’t worth the risk. You will also need to dodge the bug ball, but compared to the other attacks from the previous bosses this is relatively simple to avoid. Crackshot and your Super are great here since the tongue attack leaves the boss open for some easy damage for a few seconds.
Phase Four
- Energy Bombs: The snail will fire fast-moving bombs from the top of the screen towards your last known location. These will occasionally be pink, meaning you can parry them.
Do not set your controller down when the big “Knockout” banner comes down. This boss has a secret, short fourth phase. With the anteater down for the count, the snail hiding in his hat will appear. It has a comically low health pool but can land a cheeky hit if you aren’t paying attention. Just side step this boss’ projectiles and once the snail takes a few shots the actual boss fight will be over.
