Handyman
Defeat the final boss with your bare hands
Read literally, this sounds impossible — the Magma Whale’s landing attack one-shots you, and there are no health upgrades to tank it. The unlock hinges on one piece of information that came straight from the developer, live in the reference stream’s chat.
The Rule That Makes It Possible
The runner asked: “Dev, I have a question. How am I supposed to beat the magma whale with only my fists?” The answer: only the last hit needs to be bare-handed. You can shoot it down 99% of the way.
Two footnotes to that rule:
- Brass knuckles don’t count as bare hands (chat consensus in the same exchange). Punch with literally empty hands.
- The dev said “last hit” — nothing suggests earlier gun damage voids it.
The Route
- Prep: maxed Assault Rifle ($20,000 + damage upgrades to 100 per shot), plenty of food, and two whale baits — any failure means a full re-summon.
- Summon the Magma Whale (kill the regular Whale, throw it into the volcano crater).
- Do not fight it at the volcano. Get on the boat and kite it toward Island 4 — slowly. Full throttle outranges its leash and it despawns; slow, deliberate driving keeps it aggroed the whole way.
- Wedge it between the casino pillars. Steer so it path-locks into the casino entrance. When it stops moving, it’s trapped — this is the same cheese from the Phase 2 guide.
- Shoot it low — then stop early. Leave a clearly visible sliver of health. This is the moment that decides the attempt.
- Holster everything and punch. Empty hands, walk up, finish it.
The One Mistake That Ruins It
The reference runner executed this entire setup perfectly — and then fired “a couple more shots” to be safe. The gun stole the kill: “No. Crap. Crap. Crap. … Dude, how are you supposed to kill it with your fist?” He proved the route works and still ended the stream without the unlock.
So: undershoot. Punches are free once it’s trapped; bullets are not. Stop shooting earlier than feels comfortable.
Other Failure Modes
- Despawn during the kite — driving too fast or too far. Slow down.
- Dying to the dive-bomb in open water before the trap — you drop held items on death. Don’t brawl it outside the pillars.
- One bait only — any of the above then costs a whole new Bowhead Whale catch and summon chain.
Watch the Full Trap
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