Remnant: From The Ashes has a lot of bosses, about 40 with both the DLCs. There are a wide variety of Dungeon Bosses, World Bosses, and Random Events that players can encounter in each playthrough.
Unfortunately, Cessnya wasn’t a boss in the base game like the Undying King was (another tough fight), she could only be interacted with as a Merchant. instead, players had to deal with Ixillis, a pretty infuriating fight in of itself. But, thanks to the Swamps of Corsus DLC, players finally get to see how this hivemind Queen fights, and it’s tough! So tough, that it seemed necessary to come up with a guide to help struggling players out.
Who Is The Iskal Queen? What Is Their Goal?
So, what does this Insect Monarch have to do with the story of Remnant? Well, quite frankly, not all too much. Corsus is a Realm that can be skipped altogether if the player chooses. That said, Cessnya is a representative of another invading force similar to the Root, the Iskal, and a real pain in the ass to fight.
What Can Players Get From This Fight?
But, what do players even get from beating her? Well, Cessnya actually opens the door for a ton of different things, but only two of them are actually related to her bossfight, the Crystalline Plasma and The Iskal Husk which are used to craft:
- The Pride of the Iskal: Made from Crystalline Plasma, and is an amazing Pistol that comes with the Vampiric Weapon Mod
- The Seeker Weapon Mod: Made from the Iskal Husk, and is a Weapon Mod that “Summons” Corrosive Beetles that jump at enemies and explode on them for massive damage.
How Does Her Alternate Kill Work?
Usually, for Alternate Kills in Remnant, players just have to interact with a certain object or kill a boss in a specific way. But, for Cessnya, her Alternate Method actually gets rid of an entire phase of the fight (technically two).
To pull this off, players have to shoot the Iskal Queen in the head during her “Walk Forward” phase so that she stumbles over right underneath one of the stalactites overhead. Then, once she’s stumbled, players have to shoot the stalactite, dropping on her so that it crushes her like the bug she is.
Phase 1: Fighting From Her Ivory Throne
Now onto the actual range of attacks, the Iskal Queen can use. And, heads up, it’s a lot. In particular, Cessnya’s 2nd and 3rd phases are so aggressive it almost feels like some of the 1-v-1 Bossfights in Bloodborne. But, for the entirety of her first phase, she won’t actually move from in front of her throne, which makes it easy to lay into her weak spot, her head, without much interruption.
The Beetle Swarm
This is always the first move Cessnya starts with, where she summons a bunch of Corrosive Beetles that will crawl towards the player and explode at them. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but they’re pretty easy to deal with. There are several ways to counteract this onslaught, such as:
- Using Specific Weapon mods that kill these things quickly or distract them (Swarm, Hive Shot, Rattle Weed, Gravity Core, and so on).
- Using a weapon with a high clip count and picking them off one at a time.
- Rolling to dodge most of them, then healing whatever damage they managed to get off.
- Using Melee Weapons with high attack speed or AOE damage
Corrosive Mortar
The Iskal Queen’s “staff” glows with light, and then she launches a pair of three-projectile corrosive salvos. Careful though, these leave a Corrosive residue on the ground rather than the usual AOE mist most Corrosive attacks have.
The Bug Bomb
Cessnya summons a swarm of insects to congregate on the player’s arm in the form of another Beetle, which then explodes when the Queen snaps her fingers.
- Can be clearly seen on the player’s arm.
- The explosion is almost instant, so dodge as soon as the snap is heard.
- Will almost assuredly inflict the Corroded Status Effect on any player that fails to dodge it.
- The first time this attack is used, she’ll snap right after applying the bomb. The second time, she waits to snap in between the two salvos of her Corrosive Mortar.
Two Corrosive Auras
There are two “Corrosive Auras” the Queen likes to use in this first phase, both of which do insane damage while the player is standing in them and will also almost immediately Corrode them. They are:
- Down-the-Middle: Cessnya holds her staff over her head and creates a line of explosions down the center of the stage, with a lingering aura.
- On-Both-Sides: The Queen spreads her wings and uses them to propel Corrosive Aura on both sides of the arena, leaving the middle alone.
The Damage-Or-Die Transition
After taking about 25% of her health in Damage, the Iskal Queen will then scream out and cast some sort of mist into the Arena. Then, while they’re distracted, Cessnya will descend into the Arena and slowly walk towards the player.
During this time, players need to focus on shooting her head. This is a DPS race, where upgrade levels for gear actually matter, and if Cessnya gets within melee range of the player without stumbling back, she’ll grab them and kill them instantly, so this is the time to use any and all amounts of burst damage available.
Phase 2: Now She’s Moving
In phase 2, the Iskal Queen goes all melee with her Scythe, and is a ton more aggressive, so this is where things really start to heat up.
The Three-Hit Combo
Cessnya’s bread and butter attack in her melee form is her three-string combo. The tell for this attack obvious, it’s when she does a backward spin with her Scythe at the ready. This combo has some delayed timing, so make sure to dodge when the blade actually comes close rather than from pure reaction time. Then, she follows it up with a vertical Scythe “spin”, and finishes off the combo with a jumping slash.
That AOE Ground-Slam
Unlike most other AOE attacks from other bosses, this one is pretty huge and almost impossible to avoid without dodging at the right time. Players can’t really run away from this one! That said, she usually lets out a howl before quickly jumping into the air and slamming down with her Scythe, which is an easy tell to remember.
More Area Denial Auras
This works the same as in her first phase, but Cessnya only does the down-the-middle variant this time around. But, since she’s no longer standing in one spot, this is less “down-the-middle” and more “right at the player”.
The Scythe Projectiles
This next attack works functionally the same as Vergils Judgement Cut from Devil May Cry, Link’s Sword Beams from any Zelda game, or the Moonlight Greatsword in From Software titles. Cessnya unleashes two projectile beams from her Scythe, and while it’s shocking at first, these things are incredibly easy to dodge.
Quick-Draw Dash
And finally, the last attack Cessnya has in her Phase 2 repertoire, the Quick-Draw. When this happens, the Iskal Queen will usually be at mid to far range and hold her Scythe at her hip, like a katana. Then, following the katana “Iaido” theme, she’ll dash forward at high speed, cutting right through the player. It’s scary fast at first, but as long as the player rolls as soon as Cessnya starts moving, they should be fine.
Phase 3: Oh, She Can Fly Too? Great.
At about 30% health, Cessnya might start using her wings to fly around.But, this actually doesn’t change the fight up all too much. That said, she does have a few “new” moves while in the air, so keep that guard up.
Scythe Uppercut
Here’s another move with an obvious tell. While in the air, Cessnya will hold her scythe “upside-down” with the blade facing upward. When this happens, dodge right when it looks like the scythe would hit the player if she was in melee range, because a thin line of lethal Corrosive Energy follows the path of her swing.
Aerial Scythe Projectiles
Same as the Ground beams, but this time in the air! They might take a bit longer to reach the player, so rely on visual cues for dodges rather than simple timing.
Scythe Toss and Power Bomb
And lastly, her Scythe Toss and Power Bomb. The wind-up for this attack is gigantic, so 9 times out of 10 players will know when it’s coming.
When the Scythe hits the ground it’ll release another AOE shockwave, and then the Queen will follow after it using a powerbomb with her own body. This powerbomb can only be described as “lightning-fast”, so get far away from the Scythe’s landing spot.
Final Thoughts
And that’s the fight! There’s a lot to it, Cessnya likely has more attacks at her disposal than any other boss in the game, so it requires some real dedication, knowledge of certain tricks, and specialized memorization to beat her. That said, there are plenty of ways to make this fight less of an uphill battle, whether it’s with specific mods like Veil of the Black Tear or with Armor Sets like Leto’s Armor that give the player an ungodly amount of defense.
Next: 10 Tips To Make An Overpowered Character In Remnant: From The Ashes
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