How to beat Tinker Knight in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon sees the return of Tinker Knight, one of many bosses from the original platformer. Like Mole Knight, he has the chance to appear at the end of a run in the Chromatic Caverns stage. If you want to win the two-part battle, you’ll need to understand how Tinker Knight fights. Here’s a breakdown.

The battle begins with Tinker Knight running around and throwing wrenches at random. If you’re keeping on top of him and attacking, then they won’t even land anywhere near you. Just mind the Beetos and metal blocks that enter the arena, and keep your health topped off with potions. The real battle begins once you take out Tinker Knight’s relatively small health bar.

Yes, just like in the original game, Tinker Knight is a two-part boss fight, and the second phase sees him piloting a giant machine. This is where things get really dangerous, as the battlefield severely shrinks. During this phase, Tinker Knight’s main attack is a trio of pistons that extends to the edge of the arena. Keep juking side to side and look for the red squares on the ground to know where you can safely avoid the piston attack.

Attack Tinker Knight in the driver’s seat as often as possible, but be wary of the other traps during this phase. Buzz saws will travel across the grid, so don’t get caught in their path. You’ll also have to clear more Beetos and blocks to give yourself room to maneuver. Be careful and consistent in your attacks, and you’ll be able to topple Tinker Knight.

Like Plague Knight, he has a unique playstyle once beaten and recruited. Notably, he’s one of the two weakest characters on the team, with only three max HP. However, his mech suit is quite powerful. Special metal blocks will appear in every level, and destroying them increases your metal count. Pressing the action button activates the suit, which deals great damage to enemies and objects — but every attack makes that metal count tick down by one. This gives the mech a limited number of attacks each time you call it in, but you can do so as often as you want.