How to Defeat Kikiyaon in Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Kikiyaon is the second major boss fight of Tales of Kenzera: Zau and it’s also the most unusual. Instead of just a conventional fight, you have a long chase sequence to deal with first.

How to Survive the First Kikiyaon Chase

The Kikiyaon chase sequence in Tales of Kenzera: Zau can be a little frustrating because of how much you have to remember. There are also no checkpoints, so the many instant deaths will send you back to the beginning.

As soon as you gain control, run right and smash the crystal pillar blocking your way. Keep heading right and jump lava pits until you fall down a pit. As soon as you land, switch directions and jump to the platform on your left. You’ll quickly reach another drop requiring another direction change, so jump across the platforms to the right.

After this, it can get a little confusing where you need to go. When you reach a sloped spike wall, jump to the platform on the left wall. Do not dash right over the spikes, jump and use your hook to head upwards. Wall jump from the left then right walls to reach a mushroom. This will lead you along a natural route of mushroom jumps, leading to a route right over a spike pit. Use your hook here to clear the pit then slide down a rock formation that appears.

Head right until you pass a rotating bramble log and a spike pit. After hopping up a small ledge, immediately turn left and return where you came from to avoid a surprise attack. A new wall jump sequence will appear near the spike pit, and you’ll need to cross the bramble log again. At the wooden floor, stand still and wait for it to open below you.

You are safe for now. Continue along the path to find a Shaman Shrine. This grants you Tawa’s Heart, an ability that allows you to build and shatter structures like the ones you just passed to get here. Head to the left, use your new ability to break the wall, and follow the path. Use Tawa’s Heart to build platforms and break walls along the path. Eventually, you’ll reach a drop with spikes on the opposite wall. Drop down carefully to enter the second chase.

How to Survive the Second Kikiyaon Chase

Make sure you have Mask of the Moon equipped because you’ll need to quickly build a platform with Tawa’s Heart soon. Run right until the floor becomes narrow. Jump this floor because it will suddenly crumble. Jump a second gap and use Tawa’s Heart to build a wall that allows you to wall jump up. Now, head left.

Keep running until you reach a spike pit, where you’ll need to use your hook. Bounce on the mushroom you find and quickly use your hook again to cross the gap and enter the next path. At the end of this, build another wall and hop upwards. At the top, switch to the Mask of the Sun.

As you head left, new platforms will land in front of you. Mostly you should just keep running until you need to hop up some ledges and break a wall with Tawa’s Heart. There are two more walls to break along a bramble log you’ll need to cross as you head left. Keep running left, even after you drop down a pit until you reach a breakable structure on the floor. Shatter it while you’re standing on it to enter the real boss fight.

How to Fight Kikiyaon

After the stress of the chase to get here, the actual fight is a lot easier to deal with. Your goal is to attack Kikiyaon’s heart while enemies spawn in to try and stop you. Most of these enemies are easily dealt with or even ignored, so just focus on the heart.

The heart is protected by a metallic shield, so you can’t damage it. However, you just picked up an ability that can shatter constructs like this, so use Tawa’s Heart to make the heart vulnerable. Attack it a few times, and it will move somewhere else in the arena.

The heart’s location changes at random, but it can always be found by moving away from the black mists around the edge of the screen. You simply need to repeat the process of breaking the heart’s shield and attacking it, all while avoiding enemy attacks. Keep this up until Kikiyaon’s health is depleted.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is out now for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.