The symptom
Hard mode bosses sit above 16,000 HP, and the recorded example is Storm Demon. Your team is alive, the leaks are small, and the boss still arrives at the end of the path with half its health bar.
The base starts with 20 lives. Each enemy that reaches it takes lives, so a run that keeps leaking is already lost even while the screen looks busy.
What to change first
- Pick the one unit whose job is the boss. Single-target damage is the job; area damage is not.
- Open that unit and change its targeting to the enemy furthest along the path, often labelled Last.
- Leave the wave-clear unit on its default targeting so it keeps eating the pack.
- Watch one wave. If the boss bar moves before the boss reaches the end, the switch worked.
Two single-target units with default targeting both shoot the nearest enemy. That is why adding damage often changes nothing.
Placement by attack shape
| Attack shape | Where it belongs | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Straight line or pierce | Long straight sections | Each shot crosses more of the path |
| Circle or area around the unit | Corners and switchbacks | The path doubles back inside the circle |
| Single target, no area | Anywhere the boss must pass | Position matters less than targeting |
The recorded advice puts the fire-damage hero (called Flame Princess before the rename) on corners for continuous burn, and puts line attackers such as the vampire queen (Marceline) and adventure boy (Finn) on straights.
When the run is already lost
If the base is down to a handful of lives before the boss, restart. Experience and coins come from the clear, and a failed run spends the same minutes for nothing.
If the boss dies but the pack still leaks, the team has the opposite problem: you have boss damage and no wave clear. That is a different fix, and the tier list splits the two jobs for that reason.
What this page cannot confirm
- The exact targeting labels after the 24 October rename; the community record uses Last, and the UI wording may differ.
- The new name of the fire-damage hero; no panel has been read since the rename.
- Whether Hard mode boss HP changed with the Halloween update.
What to do next
Open units for the captured values and placement caps, then the evolution guide if the boss killer needs a new form. If the wall is the endgame portal instead, the Lich portal plan covers that loop.