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If the Shadow Hound in Once Human sounds terrifying, that’s because it is. It’s a huge, desecrated dog with a painful-looking Chelsea smile-esque thing going on. To make matters worse, it runs at incredible speeds and shoots lasers from its mouth. You’ll come across it as part of the story as a Monolith boss, similar to the Monolith of Greed fight. So, I wrote a complete guide about its location and how to defeat it. Let’s dive in.
Shadow Hound Location
The Shadow Hound is a boss that you encounter as part of the Level 32 quest, In The Tall Grass. It is the boss of the fourth Monolith, located in Chalk Peak at (1735, -4882). When you first arrive, you must go through a short minigame involving Klein. It involves running around a Backrooms-like area and shooting down three hallucinations of him. There is no indication of where he will spawn, so you must walk up and down hallways until you get lucky. In total, it took me about ten minutes to find all three. After doing so, you can continue fighting the Shadow Hound.
Boss Guide
The Shadow Hound in Once Human is tough. Contrary to the quest’s recommendation of Level 32, the Shadow Hound is actually Level 40. Before jumping in, make sure you have the following:
- Spring Legs Antibiotics.
- Any Activators.
- Your choice of Deviant in the Cradle (I personally use the Zeno-Purifier).
When you do spawn in, you’ll need to maneuver through a room with a hole in the wall leading to the beast’s arena. The Shadow Hound will start off on the other side of the arena. Once you start attacking, it will lock onto you and go through several attacks. Before shooting the first shot, take note of the two portals on either side of the arena (one is circled in the example above). These portals will teleport you from one side of the arena to the other, helping a bit.
Still before shooting the first shot, take a Spring Legs. While this is primarily good for jumping, it’s incredible for spring jumping, especially when the Shadow Hound charges at you. Also, ensure that your Activators are in your Hotbar and that you call out your Deviation from the Cradle whenever possible.
First Two Bars
For the first two bars of its HP bar, watch out for the following moves:
- It will wind up and charge directly at you, dealing tons of damage. This can only be dodged by diving out of the way strategically.
- The Shadow Hound will jump in the air and shoot three projectiles at you. You can avoid them by jumping over them right before they land.
- Sometimes, the beast will jump in the air, spin, and vacuum you close to it before slamming its body down. When this happens, run away in the opposite direction until it finishes.
- The beast will open its mouth and shoot a laser across half the arena.
Second Two Bars
For the second two bars of its health, watch out for these moves:
- The same four as above don’t change, nor does the randomness of when the beast does them.
- The beast will spawn two mouths on each of its shoulders that must be shot off.
- Several Duskorbs will also be above the Shadow Hound. They must be shot off, and they deal damage.
Last Two Bars
Personally, the last two bars of the Shadow Hound’s health bar were the easiest. During this time, the beast will jump up and violently spin. It will then release a burst of energy that will deal a ton of damage. While the Shadow Hound is spinning in the air, shoot it until the rest of its health depletes. You will then have defeated it, earning a chance at obtaining the Muramasa katana.
Once Human is available to play on PC and mobile devices.
