Wild Hearts: Sapscourge boss guide, tips and strategies
Use these tips to cut down the Sapscourge with ease
Need some tips on how to beat the Sapscourge in Wild Hearts? The second in a long line of giant hostile creatures you must defeat in Wild Hearts, the Sapscourge represents a major step up in difficulty versus the Ragetail. With hard-to-avoid roll attacks and the ability to spit sticky paralysing sap everywhere, it's a nasty time for the unprepared hunter.
Good thing you'll be very well prepared then! Read on to learn everything about your prey so you can beat the Sapscourge in Wild Hearts with ease. We'll go over the Sapscourge's strengths, weaknesses, soft spots, and counters, along with the materials it will drop for you once you've slain it.
Wild Hearts Sapscourge overview
The Sapscourge, so named for its ability to spray paralysing sap on the ground around it, is a nasty piece of work for new Wild Hearts players. Based in the Harugasumi Way (the starting region), this Kemono really forces you to start to incorporate Karakuri devices into your fighting on the fly, because otherwise you're in for a tough time avoiding the Sapscourge's massive roll and charge attacks.
Before we dive into our top tips for hunting the Sapscourge, here's a quick overview of the Kemono which should give you an idea of which weapons to use and where to target the creature for maximum damage:
- Attribute: Wood
- Slash Effectiveness: 5
- Pummel Effectiveness: 4
- Lunge Effectiveness: 4
- Effective Attributes: Fire
- Effective Ailments: All except Poison
- Weak parts: Head
- Severable parts: Tusks, Tail
The Sapscourge is pretty lethal, particularly when it's able to follow up a stun/sap attack with a roll or some other devastating move. The key to this fight is staying out of the way through careful and timely use of Karakuri. Take a look at our video walkthrough below to see how the fight can be done, and then read ahead for our top tips on how to defeat the Sapscourge.
How to beat the Sapscourge
Now for the part you've been waiting for. Here are the main tips that will make fighting the Sapscourge in Wild Hearts ten times easier:
- Block attacks with the Bulwark - but beware the roll!
- Focus your attacks on the Sapscourge's head
- Use Springs to avoid rolls and remove sap
- Remove the tail to reduce the Sapscourge's range
- Take stock of nearby Thread loot areas, and refill as required
- If it rubs its hands together, slide away quick!
1. Block attacks with the Bulwark - but beware the roll!
Place down a Bulwark by quickly crafting two towers of Karakuri Crates side by side (each tower should be 3 Crates tall). While ordinary Crates aren't enough to stop the Sapscourge in its tracks, the Bulwark is mighty enough to provide some protection in case you need to heal, and also to stun the creature, allowing you some free attacks.
However, if the Sapscourge starts to roll forward or on its side, prepare to slide out of the way! Not even a Bulwark can stop these roll attacks.
2. Focus your attacks on the Sapscourge's head
The Sapscourge's leafy head is its most vulnerable spot, with a softness rating of 4 versus the other body parts' 3. So for maximum damage, focus on the head. You can also sever the Sapscourge's Tusks with repeated attacks to the head, which limits its range slightly and also provides more body parts to scavenge for loot.
3. Use Springs to avoid rolls and remove sap
The Sapscourge is so large that when it rolls or charges forward, it can be hard to avoid. You can often slide out of the way if you time it right, but another method is to place down a Karakuri Spring to launch you sideways out of the Sapscourge's path.
The other key benefit of using these Springs is that if you're covered in sap from one of the Sapscourge's attacks, then using a Spring will instantly clear it. And besides, while you're paralysed by sap you can't slide or dodge anyway, so using a Spring is the only way to save yourself from the Sapscourge's inevitable follow-up attack.
4. Remove the tail to reduce the Sapscourge's range
Just like the Ragetail, the Sapscourge's tail can be severed to significantly lower the Kemono's attack range. This isn't as important with the Sapscourge as it was with the Ragetail, but it's still worth doing. Just remember that it's a trade-off. For maximum damage, you should focus the head. But to reduce the Sapscourge's threat, then focus on the tail first.
5. Take stock of nearby Thread loot areas, and refill as required
If you're going about this fight the right way, you'll be using up an awful lot of Thread creating Bulwarks, Springs, and Crates to help fight the Sapscourge. As you enter a battleground, first have a quick look around and use your Hunter Vision to find sources of extra Thread which you can quickly return to during the fight while the Sapscourge is distracted by your Tsukumo.
6. If it rubs its hands together, slide away quick!
The Sapscourge's most dangerous attack occurs in its second phase, when it rears up, rubs its hands together, and then lunges forward to grab you. If this attack lands, you'll be stuck in its grasp for several seconds as it deals massive damage to you, taking away most of your health bar.
Keep a close eye on the Sapscourge and prepare for this attack in particular. If you see it coming, slide or use a Spring to put as much distance between it and you as possible.
Sapscourge materials: What loot does it drop?
The Sapscourge drops a fair few interesting bits of loot. Check out all the possible hunting rewards for the Sapscourge here:
- Sapscourge Leaf Beard (Head)
- Sapscourge Horn (Head)
- Sapscourge Amber (Sap Sacs)
- Sapscourge Tail (Tail)
- Rare Sapscourge Sap
- Young Warrior Teardrops
- Young Warrior Kemono Blood
- Small Plum Scent Crystal
That concludes this primer on how to hunt down and defeat the Sapscourge in Wild Hearts. To help prepare yourself for the coming bosses, be sure to check out our guide on how to unlock all weapons in Wild Hearts. A worker is only as good as their tools, after all.
