Sandworm info (EBF3)
The Sandworm is a recurring enemy in the Epic Battle Fantasy series. It is a monstrous burrowing worm with numerous brown bumps and black spines on its pale body. Its fanged mouth takes up most of its front end, and a long tongue dangles from its middle.
It primarily attacks with its massive mouth, biting and even swallowing players. It also wields a variety of other mouth-related attacks, such as belching and vomiting - many of these moves can inflict status effects such as Poison and Blind.
Appearances
The Sandworm first appeared as a boss in Epic Battle Fantasy 2, attacking Matt and Natalie in Stage 15. In this appearance, its tail acted as a separate enemy (called Sandworm's Tail), aiding the worm with powerful physical attacks. Both the worm and its tail were resistant to Earth, but vulnerable to the Water, Ice, and Poison elements. After slaying the Sandworm, Matt and Natalie ate its remains, only for the worm's poisonous blood to contribute to their (temporary) deaths.
The Sandworm returned as a powerful enemy/miniboss in Epic Battle Fantasy 3. Although its threat level was somewhat reduced (due to losing its tail helper and the addition of Lance to the party), it remained a threatening opponent with a tendency to spam its powerful blood vomit attack when its health dropped below half. Its weaknesses and resistances were largely unchanged from its previous appearance, save for switching its Water vulnerability for a weakness to Holy damage.
The Sandworm appears in Epic Battle Fantasy 4 after the Battle Mountain update, guarding the path to the Ladder in Goldenbrick Resort. It is once again a boss-level foe, similar to its EBF2 appearance, and is once again assisted by its tail (now called Sand Tail). Both the worm and its tail appear on Battle Mountain, most notably as part of the Miniboss Marathon.
Attacks
- Charges at a player and bites them/bumps them with its head.
- Swallows a player temporarily, inflicting high physical damage with a high chance of poisoning them.
- Burps, dealing Wind-element damage to all players.
- Spits green vomit at all players, doing moderate Poison damage and poisoning them.
- Belches sand on players, doing light Earth damage and reducing their accuracy (In EBF2, it inflicted the Blind status effect, but in EBF3, it simply debuffed their accuracy).
- Vomits blood on all players, inflicting high Poison damage and the Poison status effect. (In EBF3, it only uses this attack when its health drops below half.)
- Raises part of its body near a player, grinding them against its spines for multiple hits. (EBF4 only)
- Leaps into the air and lands on the party, dealing massive Physical damage to all players (EBF4 only).
Sand Tail (EBF2/EBF4 only)
All of the Sand Tail's attacks begin with it burrowing underground.
- Pops up in front of a player and stabs them with the spike on its tip.
- Pops up in front of a player, striking them with the spines on its sides.
- Emerges in front of a player, grinding them against its spines for multiple hits. (EBF2 only).
Strategy
Epic Battle Fantasy 2
If she didn't do so in the previous wave, Natalie should start by summoning Slime Bunny - Regen helps counter the numerous poison effects you'll likely sustain. Matt should cast Protect to reduce the damage from the Sandworm's physical attacks, especially since its tail will use them exclusively. Depending on your difficulty, you may want to kill the tail outright (preferably with Water and Ice attacks) or just try to Stun it with Thunderbolt (the "Thunderclap" perk helps immensely) and Matt's Blizzard Unleash. The latter strategy is recommended for Hard and Epic difficulties, as the worm's tail respawns fairly quickly.
When the tail is neutralized, turn your Water and Ice attacks on the Sandworm. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the beast is also vulnerable to poison; a few hits from Toxic and/or Nettle will cause the Sandworm to lose massive chunks of health every turn. Focus on keeping your HP and defenses up, but use Antidotes or Natalie's Purify if the status effects start piling up. If Matt is equipped with the Blizzard, using Legend and Cleaver can also deal high damage. Don't be afraid to use your Limit Breaks - you'll have a few waves to recharge them before the next major boss.
Epic Battle Fantasy 3
This version of the Sandworm focuses on attrition, relying on its high HP to protect it while it wears the party down with multi-target attacks and status effects (primarily Poison). As such, Regen is an effective means of keeping the party healthy without compromising their offensive output. Initially, you should try to simply keep the worm contained with accuracy debuffs while you pick off its less durable allies - if you can spare a turn to do so, poisoning it can help make its massive HP more manageable.
When the Sandworm is alone, hit it with your best Holy and Ice attacks. Natalie should use Iceshard and Shine/Judgement, while Matt can use Iceberg and Seiken (as well as Legend if he's using the right sword). Lance has no ice or holy attacks, but equipping the Ark Angel and using Double Shot or Unload could provide some offensive opportunities. Alternately, Lance can focus on helping the party with Bind, Medipack, and (if he's learned them) other defensive skills like Flare or Guardian. As with EBF2, Natalie can also use Purify if the status effects become too numerous.
After the Sandworm's health drops below half, it will spam its blood vomit attack, dealing moderate damage and rapidly stacking the Poison effect on the entire party. At this stage, switching to Poison-resistant gear may be helpful, or have Natalie take over healing duties with Purify and Healmore. To reduce the amount of time spent getting drenched in poisonous blood, try to gauge when the worm's health will fall below half and have your characters primed for maximum damage output - with luck and proper buffing/debuffing, you may be able to wipe out most or all of the Sandworm's health before it begins vomiting blood.
Epic Battle Fantasy 4
COMING SOON
Trivia
- As a running gag in the Epic Battle Fantasy series, the Sandworm's bestiary entry labels its species as "Giant Mutant Penis".
- When you first encounter the Sandworm in Epic Battle Fantasy 3, Lance will exclaim, “Walk without rhythm to confuse the worm!” This is an obvious reference to Dune, a RTS game.
- An NPC in the Kitten Ruins references the Sandworm's boss status in EBF2 by mentioning how he was torn between attacking the tail or the head first. Ironically, the EBF3 version of the Sandworm never uses its tail in battle.
- According to Matt Roszak, the Sandworm is set to return in the updated version of EBF4. It will be similar to its EBF2 incarnation, having the main body and the tail as separate enemies, but with a new attack
- In EBF4 Matt says the gang will eat the Sandworm when they kill it despite the consequences when they ate it in EBF2.