Nightmare Moon

Description

Nightmare Moon is the corrupted form of Princess Luna and one of the many bosses in Canterlot Castle. After defeating King Sombra and getting back the elements of harmony, Luna and the player confront Celestia, who then lets the Nightmare Forces posses Luna in order to turn her against the player. The battle can end either by defeating Nightmare Moon or sparing her long enough until the battle ends automatically with the elements curing Luna of her corruption.

The songs that play during the fight are 2 covers of "Sorrow's Distortion" from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.

Data

Image	Description	Statistics	Locations
	Nightmare Moon
	The mare in the moon; a wicked mare of darkness.	Strong: Ice, Dark Weak: Fire, Light	Canterlot Castle

Fighting Strategy

The fight consists of two phases. Regardless on whether you want to defeat or spare Nightmare Moon, the player will need to attack her until she enters the second phase of her fight.

Nightmare Moon will use a variety of moves, and additionally will always summon small crescent moons of energy that home in on the player. These attacks can be canceled by attacking them, and it is advisable to do so as soon as possible to avoid getting overwhelmed during Nightmare Moon's main attacks.

She can summon moons at the top of the screen that fire vertical beams of energy from the top to the bottom of the screen in three possible patterns. Keep an eye at the top of the screen and make sure you are not under any moons before they fire.

She can summon a series of spheres in random locations throughout the room that explode after a few seconds. A few of the spheres will always appear on the player's location, so the best strategy is to keep moving and avoid being on any spheres before they explode.

Sometimes she will create a glyph that fires a barrage of crescent moons towards the player. There are usually safe areas where most of these crescent moons can be avoided. Sometimes it is even possible to sneak behind Nightmare Moon and attacking her while she is stuck firing her attack into the wrong direction. If you're in a bad position and not able to reach any of these safe zones in time, remember to use your own weapons to destroy her spheres and avoid most damage.

Additionally she can create several skeletal horse-heads that alternatively appear on both sides of the screen. The first one will always appear on the right side, so make sure to stand in the far left quarter of the screen when Nightmare Moon telegraphs this attack, then simply alternate running between both sides of the screen in the rhythm of the attack. If Nightmare Moon is positioned well enough, you can also hit her a lot during this attack.

The attacks involving her scythe are easily the most dangerous as they are incredibly difficult to dodge completely. One type of scythe attack involves Nightmare Moon throwing a large spinning scythe in 1 of 3 different paths. Once a spinning scythe reaches the end of it's path, it will fire crescent moons outwards which is actually easily avoided either by dodging through it or attacking the crescent moons directly.

Another type of scythe attack involves Nightmare Moon swinging her scythe at the player. There are 2 versions of this attack. The first involves her teleporting to the opposite side of the room and dashing along the ground. This can be avoided by moving to the upper part of the room. The second involves her flying next to the player and swinging her scythe twice. The first swing can be avoided by walking away from Nightmare Moon, and the second can be avoided by ducking or quickly moving upward with an uppercut or teleport. Using abilities that give you invincibility frames are probably the safest bet to avoid these attacks, but the timing is very strict and these attacks come out very fast once Nightmare Moon is near the player.

When the background turns red, you have reached the second phase of the battle. Luna will use the exact same moves as in the first phase, but they will be faster and deal around twice as much damage. This means her attacks will most likely kill you in a few hits, so avoiding as much as possible in this phase is essential. Since Nightmare Moon's health is very low, one could quickly finish the fight and keep this second phase as short as possible. However, this leads to Luna not being able to be saved.

In order to save Luna, the player has to stop attacking Nightmare Moon during the second phase of the fight and endure her attacks until the battle ends automatically. After a few attacks, Nightmare Moon will stop and cry, indicating that her "good side" is regaining strength. After she has cried for 4-5 times, the battle will stop.