Every soulslike needs a good first boss. They need to be difficult, help familiarize and test you against the game's mechanics, and give you a taste of what's to come in the rest of the game. Another Crab's Treasure follows this trend with Nephro, a lance-wieldin😼g Lobster in service of🐲 the Duchess.

You won't be getting into the castle as a naked crab, and if you want a shell to cover yourself, you'll have to get past Nephro. This big blue lobster is toꦆugh and packs a𒀰 punch, but if you watch his moves and make use of your newfound shell, you'll have Nephro sleeping with the fishes.

How To Find Nephro

Nephro isn't available at first if you're exploring regularly – you'll need to try and enter the Duchess' castle, and get turned away.

After the conversation with the guards, head to the area to the right of Slacktide Castle, past some crabs and fish enemies until you reach a fallen vending machine.

The boss battle won't start until a few moments after you grab your first shell, so take the time to get rid of any obstacles in the arena.

Press the glowing yellow button, and it'll spit out several empty soda cans which serve as your first shell. Pick any one of them up, and you'll get a cutscene with Nephro that'll lead to a fight with him.

How To Beat Nephro

• Recommended Stat Spread: 13 Vitality, 16 Phys, and 2 Res.

Nephro is the first story boss fight in the game, and he's suitably tough, sporting several moves that have a pretty large attack radius.

You can dodge into most of Nephro's attacks to avoid damage and close the distance, but this fight is primarily about utilizing your shell to block the majority of his attacks.

Keep close to the vending machine if possible, as this will let you quickly swap shells when they're one or two hits from being broken and prevent the recoil from one being broken.

Use your shell to block his Lance Sweep, Back Kick, and the Claw Swipe, then dodge to the side for his Front Stomp, so you can get some extra damage in. For his Lance Charge, you'll want to dodge to either side as well, then run up to him and get a few hits in.

Overall, Nephro's back side is the best spot to attack, as his Lance Sweep has a lower chance of hitting you from here, but watch for his Back Kick, as it causes significant knockback and he likes to use a LanceSweep after.

Nephro's Front Stomp also causes Kril to be briefly stunned, and h👍e'll also frequently use another attack right after.

Once Nephro hits half health, he will start using his Ground Drag attack, which you can only dodge away from. If it hits you, it'll do around 50 to 75 percent of your health, depending on your stat investment.

This attack has a few seconds of windup, so use this time to dodge to either side and run around to his back side, so you can get a few hits in.

Keep up the same tactics while avoiding his occasional use of the Ground Drag, and you'll defeat Nephro, receive 750 Microplastics as a reward, and you'll be able to find Shells and get unto the Duchess' castle.