The Final Battle
After traversing the desolate Road to Rule, you arrive in a dark, empty dimension to confront the source of the encroaching darkness: the Crawler. This is the ultimate confrontation for the fate of Albion, and your companion Walter Beck fights bravely by your side. Victory requires endurance, strategy, and understanding the creature's attack patterns.
Preparation and Loadout
Before you begin the final series of quests leading here, ensure your Hero is properly equipped. You will not have a chance to change your loadout once the battle begins.
- Melee Weapon: A fast-swinging sword or hammer is ideal for dealing with the shadow minions in phase one. Weapons with damage augments like Ghoul or Righteous are particularly effective.
- Ranged Weapon: Your ranged weapon is critical for damaging the Crawler itself. A rifle or pistol with a high rate of fire and damage augments will serve you well. The Sandgoose or Dragonstomper .48 are excellent choices.
- Magic Gauntlets: Equip your highest-level damage spells. Blades and Fireball (charged) are superb for single-target damage against the Crawler. For the minion phase, area-of-effect spells like Shock or Vortex can control the battlefield.
- Inventory: Stock up on Health Potions. You will likely need them, as healing magic can be slow and risky during this fight.
Battle Strategy
The fight unfolds across several distinct phases. Your tactics must adapt to each one.
Phase 1: Survive the Shadow Horde
The Crawler will remain in the background, initially summoning waves of shadow minions you've fought before: Hollow Men, Mercenaries, and Hobbes. Walter will assist you in fighting them off.
- Focus on crowd control. Use wide-arc melee swings or AoE spells like Shock and Vortex to thin their numbers.
- Do not let yourself get surrounded. Keep moving and use dodge rolls to create space.
- Let Walter draw the attention of some enemies, freeing you up to focus on smaller groups.
- Once you defeat a sufficient number of minions, the Crawler will turn its attention to you directly.
Phase 2: Attack the Crawler
With the minions temporarily gone, the Crawler itself becomes your target. It has a limited but powerful set of attacks you must learn to avoid.
- Tentacle Slam: The Crawler will raise its large tentacles and slam them down, creating a shockwave. Dodge roll to the side just before impact to avoid taking heavy damage.
- Darkness Spit: It will spit a volley of dark energy projectiles at you. Strafe left or right or roll to evade them.
Your opportunity to strike is after it attacks. Its glowing "head" is its only weak point. After dodging a Tentacle Slam, quickly aim and fire your ranged weapon or cast a charged spell at its head. Do not attempt to get into melee range, as it is too dangerous and inefficient.
Phase 3: Walter's Final Stand
After you have dealt a certain amount of damage, a cutscene will trigger. Walter, in a heroic act, will leap onto the Crawler and use his own life force to restrain it, forcing its head down and holding it still. This is your main damage phase.
- Unload everything you have on the Crawler's exposed, stationary head.
- Charge your spells to their highest level for maximum damage. A fully charged Fireball or Blades spell is devastating here.
- Use your ranged weapon's flourish attack (hold the attack button) for a powerful shot.
- Do not stop attacking. Walter's time is limited. The more damage you do now, the faster the fight ends.
Once Walter's strength fails, he will be thrown aside, and you will deliver the final blows to the mortally wounded Crawler, ending its reign of terror and concluding the main story of Fable III.