Of all the questionable battle strategies I've employed in the many boss challenges I've undertaken, this battle against Craft is the most farcical by a fairly wide margin. Initially conceived as an uncharged Buster-only survival challenge, it quickly morphed into its current form once I realized that the infinite ammo generator known as the Auto-Fill Head Chip would allow this more comedic-and more challenging-option to manifest.
The glaring difference between the Buster and Water Gun is their range, with the Water Gun requiring more active movements and reactions to utilize effectively. Regardless of which pitiful projectile I decide to use, the obvious question viewers will have is "Why?". Well, Craft is my favorite boss in the entire Zero/ZX series. Yes, Z4's primary arsenal isn't as fleshed out as Z3's, but combining the offensive options you do have with the blistering, frenetic, and unpredictable pace of Craft's attacks makes for a fight that scores incredibly well on the replay value chart. I've spent hours upon hours fighting Craft simply because it's so naturally engaging.
Fighting Craft under these conditions tremendously amplifies the difficulties encountered in a normal battle against the Neo Arcadian military leader. Not only does it push your reflexes and precision well beyond what is usually demanded, but more importantly, it demands extensive learning to determine what evasive option is the most optimal at any given point during the fight.
Craft doesn’t have an attack pattern per se; instead, he can launch into any attack from any position in the arena, with little in the way of warning. Smartly, Inti Creates gave him various audio cues in the form of certain sound effects and voice lines. These don’t play so far in advance that you’re given any extensive foresight, but they, along with animation differences, contribute greatly to building your ability to subconsciously react to Craft’s movements.
There are certain fundamentals that you need to commit to memory before you can begin to approach this fight. Things like how Craft’s projectiles travel and his movement methods need to first be understood in isolation. However, that’s a relatively short process; the trial truly begins once you begin learning how to consistently avoid confusing combinations of these attacks. The sheer number of precarious situations that you’ll encounter is such that describing them all would be impossible.
Rather than boiling down to active memorization, the aforementioned notion of subconscious learning via repetition is what I believe the crux of the battle to be. For any given position that he occupies, and depending on what attack came previously, Craft has an option that you could consider to be “most dangerous” at that particular point in time. Knowing what it is, anticipating it, and moving down to the next branch on the tree should he select a different option is simply too much processing to be done manually; it has to be instinctive.
As for the fundamentals, let’s go over them. Craft can only move horizontally by performing a roll, charging forth with Blade Dash, or by using Mega Beam Sweep. From a positioning perspective, you always want to stand on the side of the screen that has more space between Craft and a corner; this grants more space to dash between his various bits of artillery. If Craft is at or near the center of the arena, you want to stand fairly close to him; it’ll keep you from getting caught by one of his rolls. Blade Dash isn’t as much of a threat as it may appear; you’re given ample time before the hitbox manifests, so standing close is surprisingly quite safe.
With the Water Gun in tow, Craft’s physical projectiles can’t be destroyed, so contorting Zero between them is your only option. S Mine is thrown at Zero’s current position, splitting into 6 parts when nearing the ground. 2 fragments contact the ground, serving as area denial, while the other 4 fly horizontally and diagonally. If you happen to be cornered, dashing underneath Craft while he’s airborne is a viable escape. Knee Bomb has increasingly constricted safe zones the closer you get to Craft. Ideally, you want to dash jump around the third bomb and the explosions, but such luxuries won’t always be granted. The godawful Homing Missiles are worth an essay of their own; they cause a large chunk of the pain encountered in the challenge-learning the ideal way to manipulate them is not an easy task.
Beam Cannon is a classic example of a delayed attack that’s meant to throw off your timing. I recommend sitting back and focusing on dodging; a well-timed dash will have Zero remain unscathed. Mega Beam Sweep’s laser has its usual quirk of dissipating far sooner than you think, so jumping up high at the edge of the screen as Craft zips by works well.
On my community tab, I’ll have a companion piece where I go into far more detail about the fight. Check it out if you want to learn more.
Thanks for watching!