A comprehensive guide to fighting Sans, the final boss of the 'Genocide' or 'No Mercy' route.
Preface
Sans Undertale.
The ultimate in difficult UTDR bosses.
Sands Thundersnail is quite the challenge, especially if you don't know what to expect, nor how the fight even works.
That's where this guide comes in.
Below, I will explain the mechanics of Sadge Trogdorfail's fight, which strategies work and which don't, and show all of his attacks.
This guide limits spoilers for the remainder of the No Mercy route, but it does have a section related to speedrunning, found at the bottom of the page.
The following sub-sections will be organized by their relevance to the average player.
If you've fought (or attempted to fight) Saul Goodman, you likely noticed that you're getting hit very fast, and that he simply dodges all of your attacks.
The question is, how does this work from a technical perspective?
Chives Mustardkale has only 1 HP, 1 AT, and 1 DF, so he would normally be a very easy enemy.
To make up for this, he bends the rules of the game to get an advantage:
Although the battle is still turn-based, he takes his turn first.
He ignores invincibility frames, damaging you for 1 HP every frame, for 30 Damage Per Second. Because he only deals 1 damage at a time, your DEF STAT is useless against him.
He inflicts a poison effect called KARMA (KR), in the form of additional purpledamage that is slowly converted into actual damage.
Just as you (attempt) to dodge his attacks, he dodges your attacks as well, making your ATK STAT useless.
As the fight progresses, he eventually uses 0.01% of his power to attack you during your turn.
Important notes regarding these:
Although he usually ignores INV and DEF, you can still give yourself some extra survivability by equipping certain items, as shown below in the section on Equipment.
KR's conversion to damage can be slowed by equipping INV-boosting items as well.
As he dodges your attacks, he slowly gets more and more tired. Attacking him is necessary to progress the fight.
Do note that using Consumables does not progress the fight, so using them to heal will extend the fight.
The Menu Bones can inflict damage, but they can't actually kill you, and inflict minimal KR. If you're already at 1 HP, you have no reason to worry.
To clarify how KARMA works:
When you're hit by an attack, damage and KR is inflicted every frame (30 times per second).
On the first frame you're hit, you're hit for 1 DMG and an amount of KR dependent on the attack (the attack's ' Innate KR').
On all following frames you're in contact with the attack, you'll take an additional 1 DMG and 1 KR.
When you have KR, it is slowly converted to damage:
Say you're hit by an attack that deals 6 KR, and are in contact with the attack for five frames.
You'll accrue 1 DMG and 6 KR on the first frame, and 1 DMG and 1 KR for the four following frames.
1 DMG x 5 Frames = 5 DMG over 5 Frames; 6 KR + (1 KR x 4 Frames) = 10 KR over 5 Frames.
In total, you'll take 15 DMG: 5 from Direct Damage, and 10 from KR.
Finally, a note on the Blue SOUL mode:
For as long as you're holding the 'jump' button (the direction opposite of where you're falling), you'll jump as soon as you land.
Use this to queue your jumps ahead of time, removing the need to time them.
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Equipment
Given Franz Ferdinand's stats and unique mechanics, ATK and DEF are useless against him - DF doesn't reduce the damage you take, and AT doesn't affect the turn length of the battle.
With that, the only Equipment that affects the battle are ones that give special effects, those being:
Burnt Pan: Consumables heal for 4 HP more than usual.
Torn Notebook: Gives 15 INV, which is turned into a unique mechanic during the fight (explained below).
Cloudy Glasses: Gives 30 INV.
If you haven't noticed, the values I gave for the INVSTATs above aren't accurate to the text of the game.
The Torn Notebook and Cloudy Glasses say they increase INV by 6 and 9 respectively, so...
What's up with that?
Well, to put it bluntly, the statistics the game gives you are blatently false, and have literally nothing to do with the actual INVSTAT - you may recall a similar thing regarding the STATs Menu if you read my Guide to Undyne the Undying.
Now, how does INVactually work?
Erm, it's complicated.
Here's the code for INV, as seen in 'gml_Object_obj_battlecontroller_Step_0':
As you can see, 'global.inv' (your INVstatistic) is set to 30 by default, meaning you have 30 frames (1 second) of invincibility after getting hit.
If 'global.armor' (the armor you're wearing) is set to 44 (the item ID of the Cloudy Glasses), then you're given an extra 30 i-frames (an extra second of INV).
If 'global.weapon' (the weapon you're using) is set to 45 (the item ID of the Torn Notebook), then you're given an extra 15 i-frames (an extra half-second of INV).
This is how INV normally works, but against Trans Cringefail, the INV system is completely revamped:
INV against Grains Andtheseeds, as seen in 'gml_Object_obj_sansb_body_Draw_0'.
This script is quite a bit more complicated, but here's how I think it works:
Every frame, 'inv_timer' is increased by 1.
If you don't have increased INV, then this doesn't do anything; you never get any i-frames.
If you have 45 INV (achieved by using the Torn Notebook), then once 'inv_timer' is equal to five, you're given one frame of invincibility.
If you have 60 INV (achieved by wearing the Cloudy Glasses), then once 'inv_timer' is equal to four, you're given one frame of invincibility.
If you have 75 INV (achieved by using the Torn NotebookandCloudy Glasses), then once 'inv_timer' is equal to three, you're given one frame of invincibility.
Effectively:
You are immune to direct damage (NOTKARMA damage) 1/5 of the time when using the Torn Notebook, 1/4 of the time when wearing the Cloudy Glasses, and 1/3 of the time when using both the Torn Notebookand the Cloudy Glasses.
KARMA functions separately, and uses this part of the same script:
This code is even more complicated, but here's how my smooth brain interprets it:
The first two lines cap your KARMA at 40; if you accrue more, it'll be set back to 40 without dealing damage.
Additionally, your KARMA is capped at 1 less than your current HP; if you have 40 HP and 39 KR, you can't accrue any more KR.
If you have some amount of KR and aren't dead:
'km_t' (henceforth 'KARMA timer') increases by 1 every frame.
If you aren't using any INV-boosting items, then 'km_bonus' (henceforth 'KARMA timer bonus') is set to 0.
If you have 45 INV (achieved by using the Torn Notebook), then the KARMA timer bonus is set to either 0 or 1, with a 50/50 chance for either.
If you have 60 INV (achieved by wearing the Cloudy Glasses), then the KARMA timer bonus is set to either 0 or 1, with a 2/3 chance of it being set to 1, and a 1/3 chance of it being set to 0.
If you have 75 INV (achieved by using the Torn NotebookandCloudy Glasses), then the KARMA timer bonus is set to 1.
Once the the KARMA timer reaches a certain value (dependent on your current KR and the your current KARMA timer bonus), you'll take 1 damage, lose 1 KR, and the KARMA timer will be set back to 0.
The 'certain values' are listed below:
If you have more than or equal to 40 KARMA, then your KR will tick down every frame, or every 2 frames with the KARMA timer bonus.
If you have 30-39 KARMA, then your KR will tick down every 2 frames, or every 4 frames with the KARMA timer bonus.
If you have 20-29 KARMA, then your KR will tick down every 5 frames, or every 8 frames with the KARMA timer bonus.
If you have 10-19 KARMA, then your KR will tick down every 15 frames, or every 20 frames with the KARMA timer bonus.
If you have less than 10 KARMA, then your KR will tick down every 30 frames, or every 40 frames with the KARMA timer bonus.
Effectively:
KARMA drains faster as you have more of it, and slower as you have more INV.
BUT WAIT!
THERE'S MORE!
Not only is it super complicated, but it's also bugged!
Looking at the code again:
You can see that the code that randomizes the 'km_bonus' value is inside of the 'if (prevhp == global.hp)' if-loop.
In layman's terms, that means the code code will be run every frame, in turn meaning that, while you have either 45 or 60 INV (I.e., if you are wearing only one INV-boosting item), the km_bonus is randomly set to either 0 or 1 30 times per second.
You may have realized the problem.
If km_bonus is randomized each frame, then the variables that depend on it (such as the time limit that km_t needs to reach) will also be random each frame.
Given that km_t only needs to be above the time limit for a single frame, these random fluctuations are more than enough to cause the script that ticks down KARMA to trigger when they shouldn't.
Effectively:
The code is supposed to mean that, when you equip only one INV-boosting item, whether KARMA takes longer to tick down is random.
What ends up actually happening is that, after a base time limit is reached, there's a chance for KARMA to tick down each frame, until a hard cap is reached.
To put it simply:
Wearing only one INV-boosting item barely affects the rate at which KARMA is converted to damage.
With that out of the way, we finally get to the big question:What should you equip when fighting Without Beneathstory?
Let's review the relevant weapons and armor.
The Burnt Pan gives all of your healing items an extra 4 HP on consumption, which amounts to at most 25 extra HP to work with throughout the fight.
The Torn Notebook allows you to ignore 1/5 of all direct damage. By my guess, that'll be about ~1/15 of all the damage you take.
The Cloudy Glasses allows you to ignore 1/4 of all direct damage, roughly ~1/12 of all the damage you take.
Using both the Torn NotebookandCloudy Glasses at the same time allows you to ignore 1/3 of all direct damage (~1/9 of total damage), and slows the rate at which KARMA is converted to damage.
So, which should you choose?
Well, given that the Cloudy Glasses are the only armor item that actually do anything vs. Cans, you should always be using them.
As for the weapon, most say that the Burnt Pan is the best, but they're likely unaware of the effect that INV has during the fight.
The other useful weapon to use is the Torn Notebook, which effectively gives you more defense, while also slowing the rate at which KARMA drains your HP.
Either choice is valid, but I would suggest the Torn Notebook:
The extra ~25 HP you'll get via the burnt pan is probably not much more than the HP you'll save by taking less damage, if at all. Plus, healing loses you a turn, and in my experience, most people beat Pan's Worsethanbook with a consumable or two left in their inventory anyway.
In the MTT Resort, one can buy Legendary Heroes, which heal 40 HP.
With that, the only relevant consumables are ones that heal more than 40 HP, or have special effects:
Pie: Heals MAX HP, can only be obtained once, from Toriel's home.
Instant Noodles: Heals 90 HP, can only be obtained once, from Alphys' fridge.
Snowman Pieces: Heals 45 HP, can only be obtained thrice, from the Snowman partly through Snowdin Forest.
Legendary Heroes: Heals 40 HP, from the MTT-Brand Burger Emporium for 300G.
Sea Tea: Heals 10 HP, increases SPEED (movement speed while dodging attacks), from Gerson's Shop for 18G.
Provided you haven't used the Pie, Instant Noodles, or Snowman Pieces, you should have three spaces open for Legendary Heroes and/or Sea Tea.
If you've already used the Snowman Pieces, don't worry - having at most 15 less HP to work with isn't a big deal.
If you've already used the Pie or Instant Noodles, may The Angel have mercy on you.
For the remaining spaces in your inventory, fill it with Legendary Heroes.
Trading a Legendary Hero for a Sea Tea to get the SPEED bonus is often recommended, as it can be a lifesaver for his harder attacks.
Two Sea Teas is too much however, as sacrificing 30 HP for diminishing returns really isn't worth it.
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Dodging Attacks
Arright. This is what you've been waiting for.
There's quite a high demand for guides for these attacks, as this is by far the most difficult fight in the game.
There's a whole simulator for this you can find online, even!
Of course, that so-called 'bad time simulator' is just a simulator - it doesn't show you the pro gamer strats!
and also the emulation is terrible oh my god why is it like that
Here's all of Stan Millvale's attacks done without getting hit, and strategies for each!
Attack 1: Intro
Seven Granddad's opening attack.
I recommend using only up and down for this entire attack; using left and right is unecessary, and will only make dodging it more complicated.
First, he does a 'Gravity Slam' towards the bottom of the Bullet Board.
Simply hold up as soon as the attack starts to dodge it, making sure to do a full jump. He then creates a 'Bone Hallway' for you to squeeze through. At this point, you'll probably already be in position to dodge this if you dodged the last part properly.
After this, he summons several sets of 'Gaster Blasters', creating 'safe spots' for you to dodge them.
The first set makes a box around the center; simply move towards the center after dodging the last part of the attack.
The second set makes an 'x' shape accross the Bullet Board. You can dodge this either by going all the way up or all the way down.
The third set is another box shape, dodged the same way as last time, while the fourth set is two large Gaster Blasters shooting left and right, dodged the same way as the 'x' shape. [Gravity Slam Bones and Bone Hallway Bones: 6 Innate KR] [Gaster Blasters: 10 Innate KR]
Attack 2: Small Hops 1
A seemingly simple blue attack that is actually pretty dang hard to dodge.
Sets of vertical bones will shoot towards the center of the Bullet Board, forcing you to jump between the small gaps.
Again, I recommend only using up and down for this attack. Pressing left or right will severely screw with the timing, making the attack nigh impossible to dodge. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 3: Blue Bones
One of Anne's only blue attacks.
This one is quite hard to dodge, especially if you don't know how to do it to begin with.
It seems that you'll only want to jump over the small white bone after the blue bone passes you, falling back down before the next blue bone comes along. It's very hard to dodge it this way, however.
Instead, once the blue bone passes you and you have to jump, shift forward in the same direction the bones are headed. This'll give you just enough time to land before the blue bone movement-checks you.
Importantly, after the third small white bone, the attack switches directions.
After jumping over the third white bone, start shifting to the right to give yourself more time to react to the set coming from the left. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 4: Random Hops 1
A variation of the 'Small Hops' attack.
In this attack, the gaps are all random distances from the ground, requiring more reaction speed, and (slightly) less precision.
This attack can be pretty hard if you don't have it down, but muscle memory will eventually take hold, allowing you to know exactly how long to hold jump for. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 5: Simple Platforms 1
Woohoo!
Platforming!
In this attack, the ground quickly becomes covered in bones, requiring you to jump on the moving platforms hovering above.
This is simple at first, but the third platform has bones jutting out from the ceiling above.
You'll have to maneuver around them by coming in at a sharper angle.
After the third platform comes and goes, the bones on the ground will start to disappear. Quickly jump down to the clear ground before a single large bone blocks the path. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 6: Simple Platforms 2
The continuation of the last attack.
It expands on the harder elements of the last attack, making the floor inaccessible and requiring precise jumps.
It's mostly the same at first, albeit headed in the opposite direction.
The big difference comes in with an large extra bone with a platform above, sitting in between the first and second platforms. Once you jump over the bone, you can land on the high platform if you want, but you can just skip it, making the attack quite a bit simpler.
Next comes three platforms with bones above them, like the third platform from the previous attack. Like that one, you'll have to come in at a sharper angle so you don't get hit by the bones above.
At this point, a large bone will soon come from the left, limiting the time you have to finish the attack.
Thankfully, once you land on the first of these platforms, getting to the second one only requires moving off the edge of the first - you'll land right on it, without having to do an otherwise tricky jump.
After a small hop to the third of these platforms, a large bone will come from the right, forcing you to squeeze above it, landing on the clear ground below. You'll have to wait for the perfect moment, as the ceiling prohibits a larger jump. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 7: Sliding Platforms
This ends up being one of Shams' hardest attacks due to its random nature.
Sets of platforms come in two rows, dividing the play field into three rows for you to stand in.
In the top and bottom rows, bones come from the right, while the middle row has bones coming from the left.
These bones sweep across the entire row, forcing you to vacate to one of the surrounding rows.
I recommend disregarding the top row entirely. You can avoid the entire attack by just moving between the first and second rows.
Once you've exited the bottom row, try getting back to it as soon as the coast is clear. Doing this will save you the trouble and brainpower of having to deal with the moving platforms.
Note the movement pattern here - stay in one row, moving with the bones, until you're forced to move to the other row, switching directions. You'll notice this ends up making a big circle pattern. Recognizing this will come in handy for later attacks. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 8: Platform Hops 1
In this attack, you'll start on a single moving platform above a sea of bones.
This joyride is interrupted by three columns of bones that force you to weave between the gaps.
If you know the attack well, you'll know when to jump and when to sit in place on the platform, but, since I know you, I'll save you the trouble and tell you outright.
When moving to the right, jump to pass through the gaps of the first two columns, coming to a rest on the right side of the platform to cruise through the third.
Then, once you're past the third column, line yourself up with the right side of the platform.
It's not too hard to align it right, and with that you'll simply cruise back through the bones, no problem.
Notably, this attack is timed such that once you're back in between the left and middle columns, you can simply do a full jump directly upwards to run out the clock, saving you the trouble of dodging the left column again. [Looping Vertical Bones: 5 Innate KR] [Floor Bones: 6 Innate KR]
Attack 9: Blaster Platforms
The same as the Sliding Platforms attack, but with Gaster Blasters instead of bones.
Again, you can get by with only using the bottom two rows, alternating between them as you're about to get blasted, and sticking to the bottom row.
If you're on the middle row and are about to be hit, do a very small jump to get yourself off the platform, before falling down to the bottom row.
If you stay on the platform, it can be hard to get the momentum to fall off quick enough. [10 Innate KR]
Attack 10: Platform Hops 2
A continuation of the Platform Hops attack, with the left and right columns having tighter gaps for you to squeeze through.
Again, here's the strats:
To dodge the left column, do a full jump, catching the gap as it's high in the air.
Dodge the middle column by doing a small hop through the gap heading down.
Dodge the right column by doing a full jump, catching the gap as you're heading up. This may seem like a bad idea, but the hitboxes are pretty forgiving, and doing full jumps like this gives you as much time as possible to get your bearings.
On the return trip, line yourself up with the right side of the platform, but quickly race to the other side to get through the small gap in the right column.
Afterwards, simply line yourself up with the left side of the platform, allowing you to cruise through the middle column, leaving you to run out the clock by jumping straight up again. [Looping Vertical Bones: 5 Innate KR] [Floor Bones: 6 Innate KR]
Attack 11: Small Hops 2
The Small Hops attack again, but quite a bit faster.
Unfortunately, there's not much advide to give aside from 'git gud'. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 12: Horizontal Bone Slide
Now we get back to that circle motion from that one platforms attack.
In this attack, large bones above move to the left, while small bones below move to the right.
Stay on the ground, moving to the right with the small bones, before doing a full jump to the left, moving with the big bones. You may need to shift a little bit to the side so you don't hit a small bone as you're falling back down.
Rinse and repeat.
Depending on how full your jumps are, you'll either clear the entire thing with only two jumps, or you may need to do an extra one or two.
Try to limit the amount of jumps you have to do, whilst also being safe.
For me, the sweet spot is doing two mostly full jumps, and then doing an extra small jump over two small bones at the end. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 13: Random Hops 2
A continuation of the Random Hops attack from earlier.
Provided you've attacked him every single turn since the beginning of the fight, this is the last attack you'll see before the halfway point.
Like Small Hops 2, there's not much advice I can give aside from 'git gud'. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 14: Faster Blaster Platforms
A faster version of the Blaster Platforms attack.
The same advice as last time still applies.
Notably, you won't see this attack at all unless you've used a turn to ACT, heal, or spare. [10 Innate KR]
From here until you attack him for the 13th time, Jevil Deltarune reuses his attacks, randomly choosing from one of these four:
Small Hops 2, Horizontal Bone Slide, Random Hops 2, and Faster Blaster Platforms.
This here's the halfway point.
If you want to duck out to avoid spoilers for the rest of the fight, this is a great place to stop.
Once you've attackedRaisin Brans 13 times, he'll pretend to spare you.
For as long as he's sparing you, ACTing and using ITEMs does not progress the fight, nor cause him to attack.
Use this time to take a breather and heal if necessary - it amounts to a free turn.
I recommend using the worst healing items you have, as you can use multiple in a row with no consequence.
To progress the fight, just start attacking again.
Attack 15: Mini Attacks 1
This is where this guide gets (even more) complicated.
Occasionally, Ness Earthbound will perform a set of multiple small attacks, randomly selected from a pool, comprised mostly of shorter versions of Lucas Motherthree's other attacks.
This first set has five attacks, and appears just after attackingSandy Cheeks once he spares you.
For all of the following Mini Attacks, only move up and down unless specified. It's easy to accidently move left or right when you shouldn't, which is very dangerous and hard to recover from.
Mini Attack 1: Bone Jump
In this attack, bones will quickly rush towards you from both sides, with a bunch of bones covering the floor, and followed by large bones stretching from the floor to the ceiling.
To dodge it, you must jump directly upwards over the approaching floor bones. [6 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 2: Sideways Bone Jump
In this attack, you start on the far side of the Bullet Board, with a mountain of bones rushing towards you.
(it looks like this, I couldn't figure out how to describe it) ->[,,,,,||||| ♡] To jump over the large bones, do a full jump, and then move sideways directly towards them to clear them.
After jumping over the large bones, it isn't possible to clear the small bones, so you'll have to run out the clock before you fall into them. [6 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 3: Blue Bone Jump
Very similar to the first mini attack, except it's preceeded by two large blue bones, forcing you to wait for them to pass before jumping over the small bones. [6 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 4: Small Hops
A mini version of the Small Hops attack.
Do note you only have to jump through two gaps before the attack ends. [6 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 5: Random Hops
A mini version of the Random Hops attack.
You only need to jump through two gaps before the attack ends. [6 Innate KR]
Attack N/A: Menu Bones 1
Oh boy.
Here we go.
So... yeah.
Once Yams Pumpkinalespares you, any further attacks will be met with retaliation in the menu!
First, there'll be a single bone, repeatedly jumping over where your soul will be when you select an option.
Important to note is that these menu bones can't kill you. Obviously, try to avoid them if you can, but if you're already at 1 HP, you don't need to worry.
In fact, you might want to take the opportunity to learn the pattern or take a breather while you can - such opportunities are rare in this half of the fight.
Additionally, the top Menu Bones deal only 1 KR per frame, but only if you're above 60 HP (KR-inflicted HP included).
To avoid the first Menu Bones, wait until the bone passes over and heads back to the left, before quickly selecting the options.
To attack, simply press the confirm button again as soon as possible (hint: on a keyboard, both [Z]and[Enter] function as the confirm key - you can press one with one hand and then press the other with your other hand).
If you're healing, you can simply select the first option like above, or quickly menu to the next item.
Attack 16: Faster Blasters
A faster version of the Gaster Blasters attack.
Like the last one, it -
Wait, what do you mean it appears before the second one?
[...]
That doesn't make sense, this one's way harder!
[...]
Okay, whatever you say.
If you couldn't tell from my hilarious bit, this attack is actually harder than its upgraded version.
You'll start in the middle of a large Bullet Board while small, fast Gaster Blasters randomly appear and shoot towards you, forcing you to dodge them similar to Undyne the Undying's Random Spears attack.
This attack is probably Hands Brotherkill's hardest attack aside from his Ending attack, and requires experience, skill, and a bit of luck.
I recommend dodging it by making a large circle motion around the edges of the Bullet Board, making sure to change direction or wait when doing otherwise would get you killed. [10 Innate KR]
Attack 17: Mini Attacks 2
The second volley of Mini Attacks.
It's slightly faster than the first volley, and features a different set of five Mini Attacks:
Mini Attack 6: Bone Hallway
A part of the opening attack, turned into its own mini attack.
You'll start at one side of the Bullet Board, and must navigate an oncoming hallway, making a curving motion.
Like the Intro, don't move left or right. Moving up and down is more than sufficient to dodge it, and moving left or right can complicate things. [6 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 7: Cross Blasters
Four Gaster Blasters will suddenly appear, making a '+' shape, forcing you to the corners of the Bullet Board. You can move sideways during this one. [10 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 8: Diagonal Blasters
The same as the last attack, except it makes an 'x' shape, forcing you to one of the walls of the Bullet Board. You can NOT move sideways during this attack. It's prohibited and felonious. [10 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 9: Bone Slide
A miniature version of the Horizontal Bone Slide attack.
It's the same as the full version, but it ends before a second jump is necessary.
Do note that it can face either direction, forcing you to react to its orientation. [6 Innate KR]
Mini Attack 10: Platform Parkour
The hardest Mini Attack, bar none.
You start on top of the upper of two platforms, above a sea of bones. A bone comes towards you from either the left or right, forcing you off of the upper platform and onto the one below.
While that happens, a second bone is headed from the opposite direction towards the lower platform, forcing you to jump off of that platform as well.
Like the other Bone Slide attacks, the key is to make a circle motion - move off of the upper platform, then turn back to land on the lower platform, jumping off of it as soon as possible.
Do note that you don't have to jump off of the top platform. It's easier to just slide off without jumping.
Provided you jump from the lower platform without hitting either of the top two bones, you're safe, as the attack will end before you fall below. [6 Innate KR]
Okay, finally back to the main attacks.
Attack N/A: Menu Bones 2
After the third time you attack after Shads Killerwhalespares you, you'll be met with bones on the bottom options of the menu, sweeping over them.
These bones have an alternating pattern, where the first and third buttons are covered, then the second and fourth buttons are covered, repeat.
It's sorta like the Bone Slide attacks - stay on one until you can't, then switch to another.
Once you've selected an option though, you're safe. You can duck into the FIGHT, ACT, or ITEM menus if you need a breather, before heading back out into the great unknown.
Do note that, unlike any other of Fat Skeleton's attacks, the bottom Menu Bones do not inflict any KR at all.
Attack 18: Gravity Slam 1
Okay, the previous attack description was a lie.
This attack and its upgraded versions are Smear Campaign's hardest attack.
...If you don't know the pro gamer strat!
If you dodge it normally, you'll quickly have to hold the direction facing away from the direction of the Gravity Slam, so that you'll jump immediately, avoiding the bones that come out.
The pro gamer strat is this:
hold all four arrow keys at the same time.
Yeah, that's literally it.
It's basically free.
Of course, if you're some sort of PLEBIAN and use a controller or a keyboard that doesn't accept that many inputs at once, you're gonna have to suck it up and dodge it the normal way.
Regardless of how you dodge it though, do note that there are 9 Gravity Slams per attack, and that once it's over, you'll have to start dodging Menu Bones again. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 19: Gravity Slam 2
Same as above, except a bit faster. [6 Innate KR]
Attack N/A: Menu Bones 3
Unfortunately, this is where taking a breather becomes taking a beating.
After he spares you and you've attacked him five times, you'll be met with a combination of the previous sets of menu bones for the rest of the fight.
You'll have to swap between menu buttons and quickly select your choice to avoid all of them.
Here's my strategy:
The second you enter the menu, switch to the ACT button.
Then, once the Menu Bones over the FIGHT and ITEM buttons are gone, switch to the one you want to use, and wait for the top bone to pass by.
Then, quickly press confirm twice to attack, or menu to the ITEM you want to use.
Attack 20: Gaster Blasters
An, erm, easier version of the Faster Blasters attack.
It's probably supposed to be harder because of the increased size of the blasters, but size doesn't matter as much as speed in this instance.
Regardless, the increased size is considerable, and it's still a tough attack, especially if you get conrnered. [10 Innate KR]
Attack 21: Vertical Bone Slide
In this attack, the Bullet Board is divided vertically into two halves, with bones on the right sweeping upward, and bones on the left sweeping downward.
As was probably revealed by what I called this attack, it's actually just a vertical version of the previous Bone Slide attacks.
With that, dodge it using the same circle motion you've been using all this time.
Move up with the right-hand bones for a little, then switch and move down with the left-hand bones.
You can make the circle motion as big as you feel comfortable with, but I recommend a very small one, as shown above in the video. [6 Innate KR]
Attack 22: Mini Attacks 3
The third volley of Mini Attacks.
This time, it's even faster, has 6 attacks, and includes all tenMini Attacks.
Attack 23: Gravity Slam 3
Another set of Gravity Slams.
It's the same as Gravity Slam 2, except the bones are taller, requiring a more precise jump.
Provided you haven't wasted any turns, this is the very last attack you'll see before the Finale. [6 Innate KR]
From here until you attack him for the 23rd time, Suds Rentalane reuses his attacks, randomly choosing from one of these three:
Gravity Slam 3, Mini Attacks 3, and Gaster Blasters.
Attack 24: Finale
Without practice, this is by far LAN Connection's hardest attack, as it's a conglomeration of numerous difficult attacks, thrown at you at breakneck speed.
If you're really feel stuck on this one, it's not a bad idea to use that Bad Time Simulator I mentioned earlier.
It's much more managable with practice and when knowing what to expect.
First up is a set of four Gravity Slams, all in random directions.
Even if you're using the cheese strat, you should still be prepared to quickly set up for the next attack.
Next up is a short vertical Bone Slide, which can be tricky to dodge depending on which wall you were last slammed into.
Next, you're thrown against the left wall, and then jettisoned down an elongated Bullet Board.
As you're flying to the right, you'll first encounter a curved Bone Hallway, dodged just as the others, by waving back and forth as it comes at you.
Next, sets of bones appear that block portions of the Bullet Board, requiring you to dodge up and down just like the Bone Hallway, albeit with much more precise timing.
For the Bone Hallway and 'Turbo Tunnel', if you're on a keyboard, I recommend switching to moving up and down with two fingers and alternating with them, as opposed to moving your middle finger between the arrow keys every time.
Once that nightmare is over, things get slightly easier.
Marginally.
Eh. It's debatable.
Once you hit the right side of the Bullet Board, you'll have to jump away to avoid a Gravity Slam bone wall.
Note that simply holding left the entire time will cause you to fall back into the bone wall. You'll have to wait a little bit to avoid damage.
After that, you're repeatedly teleported to various Bullet Boards, with indicators warning you of upcoming Bone Stabs, like a Gravity Slam.
For the first one, jump directly upwards.
For the second one, jump down and to the right.
For the third one, jump up and to the left.
For the fourth and final one, jump down and to the right, before you're put into Red SOUL mode.
After that, get into position to play ring around the rosy with a ring of Gaster Blasters.
Gaster Blasters sequentially appear in a counter-clockwise ring shape, making a sort of spinning middle bar that damages you.
You'll have to move in a tight counter-clockwise circle, running away from the newer Gaster Blasters, and towards the older ones.
Try to make as tight of a circle as possible without getting hit, and rack up that TP!
Oh, right.
Wrong game.
[Gravity Slam Bones, Vertical Bone Slide Bones, Hallway Bones, and Bone Stab Bones: 6 Innate KR] [Gaster Blaster Ring: 10 Innate KR]
Anyway, once you've outlasted the Gaster Blaster Ring, you're free to go.
At this point, Quote Cavestory uses his Special Attack, that being slamming you against the walls, and then doing nothing until you give up.
Do note that the wall slams can't actually kill you. If you're on 1 HP, they won't do any damage.
After that, you'll have to figure out how to deal with his Special Attack!
What?
No, I'm not gonna tell you how to do it.
Figure it out on your own, dummy.
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Fun Factoids
Various fun facts and extraneae regarding the fight:
As previously mentioned, provided you hit Heads Ortails at every opportunity, you won't ever see the Faster Blaster Platformsattack.
Menu Bones 1 and 3 are usually dodged by waiting to select the option. If you're using the Linux or Mac version 1.001 however, it's possible to dodge the attack by pressing [Z] or [Enter] on one frame, and then pressing the other the next frame, which doesn't give the top Menu Bone an opportunity to hit you.
The Temmie Armor, which grants 15 INV, is usually unobtainable in the No Mercy route. Due to the fact that the code doesn't differentiate between how you get the INV, the Temmie Armor still grants an amount of protection against Samsung Galaxy's attacks.
Similarly, both the Temmie Armor and the Stained Apron restore 1 HP every other turn, and if cheated in, they could both be marginally useful in their own right.
Mini Attacks 7 and 8 are technically considered the same attack in the code, but are different enough for me to separate them in the previous list.
Contrary to popular belief, the Instant Noodles healing 90 HP is not unique to the Fools Golderpail fight. It's actually a product of a battle state called 'Serious Mode', which is active against Toriel, Asgore, Asriel, Undyne the Undying, and Tans.
'KR' is never stated to stand for 'Karmic Retribution', either in-game or in the code - that's just a fanon misconception.
The second part of the Bone Hallway of the Finale is a reference to the 'Turbo Tunnel' from Battle Toads; it's infamous for being ridiculously difficult and precise, much like the Undertale version.
While you're being slammed against the walls after the Finale attack, holding into a wall that you're falling perpendicular to will cause you to take 1 damage per frame.
Pope Francis of the Holy Catholic Church has fought Mans Undermale. It's true; my absent scientist father who exclusively wears turtlenecks works at the Vatican.
In the Genocide category of Undertale, Sans Deltarune functions as the final skill-check between you and your (hypothetical) PB.
Of course, you'll have the Ballet Shoes and Bandage equipped, unless you've equipped another armor for safety.
Three things are important to get a good fight:
Equipping the Ballet Shoes:
The Burnt Pan or Torn Notebook may be tempting, but the amount of time you lose to the longer attack animations isn't really worth it.
Plus, if you need either of those to be safe during the fight, you should probably put in a bit more practice.
Not waste any turns doing anything other than attacking:
Aside from when he spares you, healing will waste a turn, which is a lot of time to lose, especially against Hans Olo.
If you absolutely need to heal, it's better to do so than die, but try to hold back on stuffing your face.
Do recall that after you heal, the cursor will still be on the ITEM option. Try not to heal again, or worse, reequip the Burnt Pan.
MASH:
The attack minigame and the battle dialogue can be mashed, as neither are important to the fight.
Do note that as battle dialogue, Some Dumbass' monologue can be mashed at 30 TBPS.
The opening and ending monologues aren't mashable though, so don't bother.
Safety Concerns:
You should probably heal at a SAVE point some time before the fight. The Judgement Hall SAVE point is fine, especially if you need a safety SAVE, but the SAVE in front of Asgore's House is better, as you don't need to go out of your way to get to it.
You might want to equip the Cloudy Glasses: they're good safety for Bronze Platemail and especially Undyne, and aren't too out of the way.
You also might find it worth it to get the Pie, as it's another MAX heal like the Instant Noodles. Do note that the Instant Noodles are easier to get, though; the only reason why you should get the Pie over the Noodles is to have extra safety for Undyne, and if you don't do Early Burnt Pan.
And that concludes this overly long and comprehensive guide to defeating Sans Undertail.
I hope this guide helps with the fight, and that you learned something new about the complicated inner-workings of the battle mechanics.
Thanks for reading!
