WayOfLoci

A guide/commentary on how to beat Captain Brineybeard from the Shootin N’Lootin stage without taking damage in Cuphead.

This is on the Regular difficulty in Cuphead, using the Peashooter weapon and the Smoke Dash charm.

Captain Brineybeard tips

Phase 1a

– For phase one it is split into 3 parts with different attacks being added to the fight after a certain amount of damage has been done.

– Barrel 0:22, barrel that will hang below the ceiling and crash down once it is above your position. This is present for the entire fight so be ready to dash out of the way or trigger it early in certain situations to avoid being trapped between it and Briney’s other attacks. Whilst his eyes are wide he won’t crash down (in this state immediately after an attack), and whilst look down with narrow eyes is ready to attack.

– Projectile shots 0:22, Briney will shoot up to 4 projectiles which will be split as 3 parryable projectiles and 1 non-parryable one (he may shoot less than 4). Due to these EX attacks can be used very frequently so would take advantage of them, be careful of being too close to Briney for this as he can shoot almost immediately when he brings the squid out so be ready to dash away.

Phase 1b

– Squid 0:52, will spawn a squid in the centre of the arena which fires ink droplets that will darken your screen. For this you don’t necessarily have to kill the squid as he will disappear eventually however I would recommend to get rid of quickly in order to avoid problems with the affected screen.

– Shark 1:08, a shark will appear on the arena coming up to about half-way on the platform. There is an audio cue for this as well as you can see it’s fin moving in the background before it appears on the platform, position yourself on the right hand side to avoid. This will be a case to early trigger the barrel and being aware of Briney attacking or the Ships cannonballs (for Phase 1c).

– Dogfish 1:27, spawns 4 dogfish mobs that travel along the ground to the left . These can be crouched and shot at as they move towards the left and are cued by a periscope appearing in the bottom right and an audio cue. Be careful in phase 1c with the cannonballs if you are shooting the mobs to jump the cannonballs or jump over both if you are avoiding.

Phase 1c

– Cannonballs 2:22, the ship will shoot a cannonball along the ground to the left. Want to be jumping over, you can use the dash or the EX attack to hang in the air for longer if needed for a mistimed jump or an unlucky combination with the dogfish. The ship will ‘chew’ three times before shooting.

Phase 2

– Fireballs 3:08, shoots three circling fireballs to the left of the arena. Can either stay close to the boat and jump as the projectiles spawn, using EX attacks if available (example 3:10), or stand on the left side of the arena jumping over the fireballs at the bottom of it’s circle shooting as you dodge (example 3:24). There is also a safespot (from the fireballs), in the bottom left corner whilst crouched you won’t get hit can be used if you get out of position.

– Laser 3:14, fires a horizontal laser after the fireball attack. This can be crouched under (or parried above multiple times although wouldn’t recommend due to difficulty and barrel). You may also need to use your crouch dash to avoid or trigger the barrel.