Another Crab’s Treasure: How to defeat Topoda and get the Mantis Punch ability

Among many bosses in Another Crab’s Treasure, Grovekeeper Topoda catches our resident crab with a quick, ancient martial arts technique, forcing you to face his wrath to get your hand on one of the game’s most potent abilities. 

While the boss might seem daunting, he is not invisible once you know his typical boxing movement. He becomes erratic after his health reaches halfway, but he can be quite predictable after you know his movements. So, what can you do to defeat Topada and get your hands on the Mantis Punch ability in Another Crab’s Treasure?

Defeating Topoda in Another Crab’s Treasure

Before entering the battle, make sure you have the best possible shell, which you can purchase from Shellfish Desires. The Impostor shell is a good option, with a Smokescreen ability that helps you to get out of the boss’ way while he’s focused on your previous location. 

Topoda is a great fighter. The mighty shrimp times his punches like Muhammad Ali, and dodging them in the open field becomes a mighty task. You’ll need to understand the three primary types of attacks that he does and how you can evade them:

• Usual punches: Topoda swings at you with quick punches, but the range on this is low, so you can dodge it by rolling to either side of the arena or blocking with your shell.
• Backside sweep: Topoda uses his whole body to make an enormous sweep across the arena. You can time your dodges when you see him twist his body around, and it should be easy to execute as long you are quick on your reflexes. 
• Fury Punches: Topada unleashes a fury of punches in front of him, followed by a final strike. The best way to dodge this ability is to roll backward or block with your shell again and wait for your turn to strike back. 

Once you’ve adapted to the combination of light moves, you should also notice he’ll frequently leap backward and come back into the arena to perform a heavy attack. These attacks will take a significant chunk of your health points. 

The best way to dodge it is by waiting for the punch wind up after he comes back to the arena and charges his attack. This way, you can conserve your health, making it to the mid-fight stage faster.

Staggering Topoda is one of the best ways of damaging the boss. You should notice a yellow stagger bar, which slowly fills up as you consistently attack Topoda or defend his attack. After your stagger bar fills, it can deal heavy damage and stun the boss, which will help you sneak in many attacks without getting too exposed and also build your Umami charges. However, remember that the bar discharges if you don’t block or attack the boss frequently.

In the arena, you’ll find Crab Husks and a Cascadia Roll shell, which you can use to heal yourself if you run out of healing charges. The crab husks are particularly useful because they have a decoy ability, allowing you to shed your shell and cause the boss to attack the shell. They also give you some time to prepare for your next move. 

After you use your mighty fork to slowly poke your way around the experienced Shrimp and bring the boss halfway through his health, he should unleash a sandstorm-like vortex, which forms a smokescreen around you. At this stage, Topoda acts like a ninja and will lunge at you with a heavy attack appearing out of nowhere to attack you. You can follow the sound cues here and keep moving to make yourself unpredictable and more challenging to hit before finishing him off. 

How to unlock the Mantis Punch ability in Another Crab’s Treasure

After defeating Topoda and assuring him you don’t want to finish him in classic Mortal Kombat fashion, you’ll be rewarded with the Carclaw that can be traded for 20,000 Microplastics at the Prawn Shop. Furthermore, if you interact more with Topoda after the boss fight, he’ll teach you the Mantis Punch ability. It can be used on enemies and to knock off the purple Umami-infused cubes in the game. 

After gaining this ability, you can knock off the small purple-glowing wall behind the arena to discover an Old World Whorl. After the fight, you’ll also unlock the game’s achievement for defeating the Grovekeeper in Another Crab’s Treasure.