How to beat the Palette Prime Darkmess Root in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

When you land on Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope’s third planet, you have two main goals to complete. One is to reach the town plaza; the other is to clear the Darkmess from the woods that were drained of color. When you do the latter, you’ll have to deal with a massive Darkmess Root that caused all the trouble. It’s a two-phase fight, so read on to learn the strategies for both.

Related: Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope delivers a delightful free-form battle experience — Review

How to beat the Darkmess Root – Phase 1

The battle begins on a small lift, guarded by a few enemies and a large Darkmess Taproot. If you recall the Darkmess Tentacle from Beacon Beach, you’ll be familiar with the swirling eyes that adorn the taproot. The trick here is that all three eyes must be destroyed in the same round; otherwise, they respawn. Rabbid Luigi and Rabbid Mario are particularly good for this. The former’s Disruptor can bounce into more than one eye, and the latter’s Dukes can punch through all three if you aim the attack’s triangular range correctly.

Getting rid of the eyes is the easy part because that only gets the lift moving. You’ll have to finish off the enemies here before it will arrive. Healing or shield abilities can be helpful here since any damage incurred will carry over to the second phase. Don’t be careless, and take care of the Squashettes and Wildclaws to move on to the next part.

How to beat the Darkmess Root – Phase 2

When you land at the bottom of the well, you’ll have three taproots to dispose of, and the same rules apply: you have to pop all three eyes on each one in one round. The good news is that because this is the last part of the battle, you’re free to get a little more aggressive and rush those three roots. Make use of the jump pads to keep yourself moving — you can use one of those and do a team jump in the same round of movement.

Phase one is tricky due to the small space, but phase two opens things up. Get rid of the remaining roots, and you’ll bring down the whole giant Darkmess bundle.