Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course — The Howling Aces tips guide

The Howling Aces boss fight in Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course will turn you on your head. Mostly, because it turns you literally on your head, forcing you to relearn you controls in real time. It’s a tough fight, to be sure, but this guide provides some tips on how you can knock The Howling Aces out of the sky for good.

The entire fight is done with you precariously perched on a plane. You don’t have much room to maneuver, which adds to the difficulty of the fight. There are also tons of projectiles to dodge, so stay alert.

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course — The Howling Aces tips guide

Phase 1

The first phase of The Howling Aces boss fight has you facing off against a large dog in a plane. Said plane will be above you, tossing out three tennis balls that slowly drop. Every so often, the pilot will appear on one side of the screen to fire off a set of bones or balls of yarn. The damage point is the pilot.

• When the dog is coming down, facing away, he will flex his arm to send out three crossed bones from his tattoo. If you’re playing as Ms. Chalice, use her double jump to get around them. Pink bones can be parried.
• Every so often, a flying hydrant will chase you down. These are easily destroyed with a shot.
• When the dog pilot’s face appears on one side, he’s getting ready to fire yarn. You can jump over, but it’s usually easier to duck the balls of yarn.

Phase 2

In the second phase, you face four small dogs using jetpacks. They circle around you in the air, firing off letters that spell “BOW WOW.” Dodge the letters, and hit the pink ones for a parry.

Phase 3

The third phase is where things get ruff (sorry). A massive dog-shaped plane grabs the screen, flipping it around while attacks come your way. Your controls remain the same, but the challenge is to dodge while your character is standing to their side or upside-down.

• The laser guns that come out of the paws will first show you where the laser travels via a dotted line. Move away from the lines before the lasers fire. Every so often, they fire off a pink laser you can parry. It’s easier to parry the pink laser if you’re playing a character other than Ms. Chalice.
• When flipped to the side, the dog captain will attack you with flying dog dishes. They drop down before moving off to the side. Use Ms. Chalice’s double jump to bypass them before they hit you.
• While on your side or upside down, you can survive without moving much by jumping over obstacles and lasers. Doing so will help you keep your orientation and avoid any movement mistakes.

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is available on PC.