Royal Jelly
From SpiralKnights
The Royal Jelly is a gelatinous cube about 5 times the dimensions of the basic pink cube, adorned with a white and purple crown on its top.
Royal Jelly is weak to shadow attacks, and has resistance to piercing.
Contents
Monstrous Profile
Tread with caution when you enter the slime-covered halls of the Royal Jelly Palace. Recon Knights have gathered that this ancient, open-air castle has been overtaken by a legion of slimes, the most fearsome of which is a 'Royal Jelly.'
Like any unruly king, it has a short fuse and loves to throw its weight around. We cannot be certain under what lineage or authority this oozing aristocrat claims noble descent, but we would still caution those traveling in its palace to stay vigilant and come prepared with Poison vials and weapons, in addition to a full complement of knights!
Strategy
Enemy Characteristics
The Royal Jelly stalks slowly about his chambers, automatically destroying breakable blocks that he comes into contact with. He uses a 360 degree spin attack (normal damage) with substantial knockback, and occasionally summons Jelly Cubes (four at a time).
When he becomes badly injured, the Royal Jelly will begin to periodically go into a rage. He will momentarily pause, lose his crown, and turn pink before moving rapidly around his chambers and spinning madly. While he rages, he is completely impervious to damage.
His majesty is also assisted by Royal Polyps around the perimeter of his chambers. These turrets can create Royal Minis as well as shooting piercing barbs, and both the minis and the barbs can heal the Royal Jelly by fusing with him. This allows the Jelly King to rapidly recover health during the fight.
New Royal Polyps appear twice during the fight, when the Jelly King reaches certain health thresholds. The last wave appears when he begins his first rage.
Tactics
There are two main approaches to killing the Jelly King: blitz or starve.
Blitz
Knights can overcome the Royal Jelly's healing capabilities by simply overwhelming his healing with a huge damage output; no matter how many royal minis surround him, he can only absorb them so fast. If they keep the pressure up, the king will fall. However, if something goes wrong (for example, if some knights are trapped or killed), the Royal Jelly may be able to recover a substantial amount of health before the knights can regroup.
Poison can be used to temporarily block the Royal Jelly's healing, making it easier to accumulate damage. Fire and Curse are also popular for maximizing damage dealt.
Starvation
If knights kill the Royal Polyps (and any lingering Royal Minis), then the Jelly King loses his ability to heal, and the knights can wear him down at their leisure. This also greatly reduces the number of enemies in the room, making it much easier to maneuver and avoid damage. More Royal Polyps will appear twice, at the start of new phases of the fight, but do not seem to respawn on a timer until the final phase when the Royal Jelly begins his rage spins.
Note that the Royal Polyps have considerably more health than regular Polyps, so be prepared to pound on them for a while. Don't let the jellies surround or trap you.
Starvation will never kill the king as fast as a well-executed blitz, but it is more forgiving of mistakes and opens up a number of tactical possibilities that simply aren't viable when using the blitz.
Equipment
The Royal Jelly and Jelly Minis do normal damage, but Jelly Cubes and Royal Polyps deal piercing; none of them inflict status effects. The Wolver line and Bristling Buckler are popular choices for protection (they are popular in general, but especially suited to this area). The Chroma line is also clearly fitting with its damage bonus vs. slimes, but has more limited utility outside the Jelly Palace.
The Royal Jelly, like other jellies, is weak to shadow damage and resistant to piercing.
When blitzing the Royal Jelly, it's important to have high damage output to limit his window for healing. Swords are generally favored, both because of their higher damage and because the swarm of jellies that surrounds the king under this strategy makes it difficult to hit him with gunfire. The Nightblade and Faust lines are popular choices for their shadow damage, but the Vile Striker can inflict poison, and its fast attack pattern is effective against heavy enemies like the Royal Jelly that don't move under its assault. The Cautery Sword might look useful, but it is NOT recommended; the Nightblade does more damage to everything in the Jelly Palace (except possibly the Royal Minis) and is a more useful weapon overall for numerous reasons.
Status vials are also very helpful in a blitz strategy, and knights often hoard poison vials in particular in preparation for this fight. Try not to all throw the same vial type at the same time.
When using a starvation strategy, vial use and weapon choice become less important, but shadow damage is still quite helpful. Knights may also wish to ensure they have a fast weapon for cutting escape routes through the regenerating blocks. Some form of crowd control, such as a Freezing Vaporizer, can provide additional breathing room while exterminating the Royal Polyps.
Additional Techniques
Unbreakable blocks near the corners of the room block the humongous Royal Jelly, and can be used for shelter from its attacks (but beware being trapped by his smaller brethren).
Standing on top of a regenerating block pad will prevent the block from reappearing; this can be used to keep an avenue of escape open. You will receive a small amount of damage each time your body blocks a block from spawning, though this block-blocking damage can itself be blocked with a shield.
Videos
Video: Spiral Knights - Royal Jelly
Video Walkthrough: Jelly King Battle Guide, Strategy and Walk-through
Drops
- 3-4 Jelly Tokens (less if you join partway through the Royal Jelly Palace)
- Jelly Mail (rarely)
- Wolver Coat (rarely)
- Crystal Bomb (Rarely)
Notes
- A Recon Module can be obtained in front of the lift right after killing the Royal Jelly.
- The Royal Jelly's health varies by the number of players in the party. Under some circumstances, he can be easier solo than in a group.
- Royal Jelly now does damage to whoever comes close to him. Give him his personal space!
