Ferryman

FERRYMAN
General
Class	Supreme Husk
Health	90 (5-2 Boss); 30 (Common)
Weight	Heavy (Grounded)
Rank	5
Locational Damage
Head (2x)	✗
Limb (1.5x)	✗
Conditional Modifiers
Flammable?
Airshot?
Damage Type Modifiers
	- Standard Revolvers (Head): 200%; - Shotgun Parries: 150%; - Standard Revolvers (Limbs): 150%; - Friendly Fire: 0%;
Radiance Multipliers
Health	1.5x
Damage	1.35x
Speed	1.35x
Appearances
	5-2 P-2; The Cyber Grind
Cyber Grind Data

Ferrymen are the eighth Husk-type enemy the player encounters, a Supreme Husk which first appears in 5-2: Waves of the Starless Sea before recurring as a regular enemy.
Ferrymen are blue skeletons with a holy cloth draped over their top half and gold ornaments on their limbs, holding an oar in their right hand.

Behavior

Ferrymen choose their attacks based on the players movements, using attacks to close the distance when a player is fleeing and backing off when a player is being aggressive. The Ferryman boss in 5-2: WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA is passive until the player destroys the Idol on the ship's deck, at which point it creates a translucent grey box around the deck and becomes hostile. After its first health bar is drained, another Idol will appear on the upper deck of the ship and the Ferryman will jump up to it. It will cast lightning on the player until the second Idol is also broken. Breaking it will create another invisible box around the ship's deck, and make the Ferryman attack the player again.

Parrying a Ferryman will summon a blue lightning explosion that does massive damage to surrounding enemies but does not affect the player.

Ferrymen move at a maximum speed of 32 units/s with an acceleration of 1000 units/s², and have a turn speed of 36000 degrees/s.

Attacks

Dodge Roll

The Ferryman will roll towards the player if they are fleeing and away from the player if they are aggressive with their attacks.

Oar Slam

The Ferryman will jump on their oar for a moment, then slam it down at the player, causing an explosion. This attack deals 25 damage and can be parried.

Lunge

The Ferryman will lunge towards a fleeing player. This attack does 25 damage and can be parried.

Tornado Swing

The Ferryman will back away from an approaching player and then dash towards them, spinning their oar around them while doing so. This attack does 25 damage and can be parried.

Spinning Leap

The Ferryman will leap towards a fleeing player while spinning their oar around them. This attack deals 25 damage and cannot be parried.

Kick Combo

The Ferryman will stand still for a split second and then dash kick twice towards the player. Each kick does 25 damage. The first kick is unparriable, while the second kick can be parried.

Oar Combo

The Ferryman will stand still for a split second, perform an overhead and then a swipe with their oar. Each hit does 25 damage. The overhead is unparriable while the swipe is parriable.

Uppercut

The Ferryman will perform an uppercut when the player is airborne. This attack does 25 damage and it cannot be parried.

Lightning Cast

If the Ferryman is unable to reach the player, they will begin casting a tracking lightning strike telegraphed by a pillar of light with a silhouette of a lightning bolt. After a few seconds, it will summon a lightning that explodes on the player, dealing 50 damage. The attack will be canceled if the player returns to the ground, and the Ferryman will chase after the player. The lightning can be chargebacked.

Strategy

The Ferryman is an quick enemy that can easily combo an inexperienced player. Their agile nature makes attacks such as Shotgun swapping ineffective, and it also makes aiming with the Revolver Revolver and the Railcannon a much harder task.

Staying grounded while fighting Ferrymen is vital, as their Uppercut cannot be parried and their Lightning is extremely dangerous. Parrying their attacks with the Feedbacker is very effective due to the lightning they summon after being parried. Stamina should be spent wisely, as dashing is vital against the unparriable attacks in the Ferryman's arsenal.

The Marksman Revolver's Coins are a valuable tool for damage, and hitting them with the Alternate Revolver's primary fire or the Electric Railcannon can do grave damage to the Ferryman. Saw traps are excellent against Ferrymen and wipe out their health pool within seconds. Projectile Boosts are also a solid tool for dealing damage to Ferrymen, as missing can still deal some damage to Ferrymen from the resulting explosion. Placing a Magnet on the Ferryman and then unloading both Nailguns Nailguns on it is a fantastic way to kill a Ferryman extremely fast. More experienced players can also use Overheat Storage for practically infinite Overheat Nailgun heatsinks for as long as they can keep the combo up.

Difficulty Changes

Harmless

Attacks are 33.3% slower.
Ferrymen no longer predict their target's movement in melee.
Ferrymen no longer use their Lightning Bolt attack.
Roll cooldowns are 4 seconds longer.

Lenient

Attacks are 11.1% slower.
Ferrymen no longer predict their target's movement in melee.
Ferrymen no longer use their Lightning Bolt attack.
Roll cooldowns are 2 seconds longer.

Violent

Attacks are 11.1% faster.
Ferrymen use their Vault Swing attack instead of their Vault.
Lightning Bolt cooldowns are 2 seconds faster.
Rolls no longer have a cooldown.
Lightning Bolts follow their targets 50% faster.

Brutal

Ligtning Bolts can strike at closer ranges now.

Terminal Entry

TYPE: SUPREME HUSK

DATA:
Ferrymen are rare husks whose powerful bodies, trained skills and blind faith have granted them the chance of becoming the transporters of souls between the layers of Hell.

They have each been given a holy cloth by Heaven as a symbol of their devotion to God's order, which they wear over their bodies to hide the human form that they've grown to despise as a reminder of their sins in life stopping them from becoming angels, to the extent that they have torn off their own skin and flesh, leaving behind only bones.

Due to the holy power emanating from the cloth, Ferrymen's skeletal bodies have slowly been colored bright and radiant, and their skulls have enough latent energy to open gates that otherwise stop Husks from exiting their places of torment.

Each ferry can only have one Ferryman at a time, so when a new Ferryman is formed, it will fight another to the death in order to take their place and inherit their cloth. The loser's skull is taken as a trophy and used to grant the winner passage across the layers in order to transport the souls of the damned to their destinations.

Ferrymen will often use the knowledge from their past life to improve their ferries, growing past the need for oars, which are now used by Ferrymen only as weapons.

As the influx of souls has ended with the death of mankind, the Ferrymen have lost their purpose and now wander around aimlessly, hoping that the angels would grant them passage into Heaven, despite Gabriel being the only one who cares about their efforts.

STRATEGY:
- Ferrymen choose their attacks based on their opponent's actions. When approached, they move to safety, and when retreated from, they'll apply pressure via attacks with greater reach.

- Despite its looks, their uppercut is quite dangerous and can be difficult to dodge. It's best not to stay in the air for too long.

- Some of their attacks are parryable and some are not. Pay attention to the color of their warning flash to learn which are which.

- Ferrymen may attempt to cross a retreating opponent up by rolling behind them before attacking. Keep track of their position and if they roll too often, try being more aggressive.