Praetorian

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"Let's see...Titanium armor, uranium shells, nanotube-enforced blade, and probably fusion powered too... I can see where this plant's budget went!"

―Lance, Epic Battle Fantasy 4

The Praetorian is the third boss encountered in Epic Battle Fantasy 4. It is a top-secret military prototype developed within the Waste Disposal Plant. Its design incorporates advanced technology, powerful weaponry, and even the ability to hijack other machines, including Lance's Ion Cannon satellite.

Unfortunately, the Praetorian's construction cost most of the plant's budget, leading to the rest of the facility becoming dangerously unsafe and sub-par. When The Glitch seized control of the plant, the Praetorian was one of the many machines brought under its control. The heroes defeat the robotic menace to claim the hammer it had been guarding. Afterwards, Lance "reprogrammed" the robot to work for the group by pressing the reset button on its back.

Appearance

The Praetorian is a knight-like robot made primarily of black and grey metal. It has a grated visor on its head and a similar, larger plate on its chest. It moves through the use of thrusters on its back and lower body, the latter of which replace its legs. It is armed with a long red katana, a rounded black shield with a red gem in the center, and a pair of machine guns on its stomach.

Overview

Attacks and Abilities

• Slashes a player for moderate physical damage. Hits twice.
• Dashes at the party, similar to Matt's Annihilate Limit Break. Deals moderate physical damage, with a chance to inflict Instant Death.
• Fires its machine guns at the party, hitting multiple times for mild Bomb damage.
• Casts Plasma Field.
• Casts Bullet Hell.
• Buffs its Defence and Magic Defence by 50%.
• Buffs its Accuracy and Evade by 20% and gives itself Charged status (warning for Ion Cannon).
• Casts Ion Cannon (after charging up).
• Buffs its Attack and Magic Attack by 50% and gives Brave status to the entire enemy wave.

Strategy

Equipment

Increasing resistance to Bomb, Fire, and Thunder can make the Praetorian a bit less of a pain, but most of the damage you'll take will likely be non-elemental (from the Praetorian itself and its summoned minions), so keep your defenses buffed. Prioritize Thunder and Stun resistance, as it'll protect you from the boss' Plasma Field and Ion attacks, as well as any Dish Turrets that it may summon.

Battle

The Praetorian's dash attack is only problematic if the Instant Death kicks in - it usually won't kill everyone, but it can force wasted turns of reviving and re-buffing your slain characters. Equipping Death-proof gear is inadvisable (unless you're going to do a lot of mid-battle gear switching), but using Revive or Genesis to give everyone Auto-Life can be useful.

The Praetorian makes heavy use of buffs, so the Dispel skill is important. Lance's Crush helps against the defensive buffs, but it may miss the Praetorian (particularly when its evade is boosted), and it does nothing against its offensive boosts. You can use Anna's Soul Arrow to take the buffs for yourself, but it's generally easier to just dispel them and use your own skills to buff the entire party.

The Praetorian spawns with two Laser Turrets and may call for reinforcements if they are destroyed. It can summon Steel Fish, Drill Bots, and all three kinds of Turret (Laser, Dish, and Fridge). Most enemies can be safely ignored and left to be picked off with area attacks, but Dish Turrets should be taken down immediately, as their disruptive attacks can leave the party easy prey for the Praetorian.

When the boss gains the Charged status, it's preparing to use its mighty Ion Cannon attack. Focus on bolstering your Magic Defence and healing your HP - if your defences are strong enough as is, have everyone Guard or equip gear that maximizes their Thunder and Stun resistance.

Rewards

Template:LootTable Defeating the Praetorian on Epic difficulty will reward the player with the "Electrical Engineer" medal.

Summon

The Praetorian fighting himself thanks to the Premium Pack

When the Praetorian is defeated, Lance reprograms it to act as a summon for the party. At the time of its acquisition, it is the strongest and most expensive summon available, although the Protector and Cosmic Monolith eventually eclipse it in power and cost.

When summoned, the Praetorian slashes the enemy wave several times (hitting random targets for high physical damage) before using its dash attack to hit all of them at once for high physical damage and a chance to cause instant death. It also gives Brave status and attack buff to the entire party.

Interestingly, it is possible to use the Praetorian summon against the Praetorian boss in the Steam version of the game (or with the Premium Pack), due to the ability to carry skills and equipment over to a new game after beating it once. The summon version of the Praetorian wields its sword and shield in the opposite hands from the boss version (due to Matt Roszak mirroring the sprite for the summon).

Trivia

• A "praetorian" was a bodyguard of the emperor in the Roman Empire.
• If Lance is one of the active party members when the Praetorian uses its buff, he says: "An AT-field ? That's impossible!" This is a reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion, a science-fiction anime.
• According to Lance, the Praetorian is equipped with titanium armor plating, uranium shells, and nanotube-enforced blades. He also speculates that the Praetorian is equipped with a fusion reactor (much like the Protector and the Valkyrie Tank).
• The Praetorian is apparently incapable of operating outside of a cold environment.
• Given its ability to hack into other machines, the Praetorian may have aided the Glitch in controlling the other robots in the Waste Disposal Plant.
• As with previous mecha bosses in the EBF series, the Praetorian's design is taken from one of the many potential mecha designs in the Mecha Dress Up Game. Unlike its predecessors, Matt Roszak redrew the Praetorian's parts to fit the graphical style of EBF4.
• A robot very similar to the Praetorian appears as one of Matt's opponents in Brawl Royale. The main differences between the two include a red plume on the Brawl Royale robot's head (the spike for the plume is still visible on the Praetorian's head), a pair of tails on its back, a second pair of machine guns instead of its chest grate, and different weapons (a halberd and a rectangular shield compared to the Praetorian's katana and rounded shield).
• The Battle Mountain update introduced a new version of the Praetorian as an optional boss: the Praetorian MKII.

Gallery

The Praetorian's base design in the Mecha Dress Up Game

Unnamed mecha from Brawl Royale