Lance (Adventure Story)

For Lance's appearances as a boss in the main EBF games, see Lance (boss).

Lance and his tank in the opening of Adventure Story

Lance appears as the primary antagonist of Adventure Story, being the one to kidnap Natalie at the start of the game. He is fought twice in-game; once as part of the Giant Bush battle in Level 5, and once at the controls of his tank in Level 20. Both fights are slightly remixed for the Boss Rush of Level 22.

Appearance

Lance appears as a tiny, simplified version of his appearance in the main Epic Battle Fantasy series; a young man with fair skin and red hair. He appears to be wearing the Officer's Hat and Officer's Coat.

Lance atop the Giant Bush

In Level 5, Lance is seen standing in a large wooden box set on top of the Giant Bush, but his main appearances in the game put him at the controls of a massive tank. It has a mostly cubical grey hull stained with rust, dotted with rivets and set on top of four black wheels with spiked axles. The tank's body can split in half to expose an enormous, short-barreled cannon that takes up most of its mass. The front of the tank has a single red lens of unknown purpose; combined with the opening for the cannon's barrel, it vaguely resembles a face. A skull and crossbones is painted on the front of the tank, opposite the lens. The back of the tank has a silver smokestack for exhaust, as well as an array of four small cannons to fire at targets behind it. A yellow-and-black hazard stripe and a yellowed sign with an exclamation mark are stuck to the side of the tank, and the top has the control module and a place for Lance to sit.

Overview

Level 5: Bush Battle

Lance lobs bombs from atop the Giant Bush

Lance first appears in the first boss fight, riding on top of the Giant Bush via a wooden platform. After the boss loses a third of its health, he periodically throws a large bomb in Matt's general direction; the bomb explodes if touched, attacked repeatedly, or after a period of time.

Although powerful, Lance's bombs can be used against the boss; by attacking them at the right time, Matt can swat the explosives into the Giant Bush, damaging it significantly. This weakness becomes even more pronounced when the boss loses two-thirds of its health, wherein Lance begins throwing bombs more frequently.

Amusingly, Lance visibly stumbles on his perch every time the Giant Bush uses its quake attack.

For more information on this fight, see Giant Bush.

Level 20: Oblivion

Lance's tank deploys its rear cannons

When he appears as the final boss, Lance's attacks depend on his position in the stage:

• If Lance is on the right side, he'll fire bombs from his tank's cannon. You should jump in front of the tank (not too close, or the bombs might hit you) and spam Matt's aerial spin attack to knock the bombs back at Lance's tank, damaging it when they explode.
• If Lance is on the left side, he'll produce smaller cannons from the back of his tank and fire large bullets across the stage (similar to a Gunslinger). The cannons release dotted red lines before firing, but their random patterns and high fire rate make attacking the tank during this attack somewhat risky. Instead, you should move to the small platform on the right side of the stage and focus on jumping over any bullets that come your way - if there are other enemies present, now would be a good time to take them down. Alternately, if Matt has the Mage Staff equipped, he can attack the bullets as they pass by to gain some MP.

In-between these attack patterns, Lance will drive his tank across the stage. Avoid the vehicle at all costs - contact with the tank is the most damaging attack in the game - and reposition yourself in the part of the stage it just left. When the tank pauses in the middle of the stage, it will cause a pair of enemies to jump up through the openings on either side of it; watch carefully to see what jumps up. If it's a Flame Sprite or an Obsidian Idol, quickly attack it - you may be able to knock it down before it can get onto the stage proper. If it's a bomb, wait for it to settle on the platform before swatting it into the tank (or, if you're in its path, just leave the bomb and watch Lance foolishly damage himself as he moves to his new attacking position).

Lance's heavily-damaged tank readies its fireball attack

As Lance's HP declines, his tank will look increasingly battered, and he'll fire more bombs per round. When reduced to a third of his health, he'll add a new attack to his arsenal: a barrage of fireballs from his tank's main cannon. These fireballs are identical to the ones summoned by the Cosmic Monolith, homing in on Matt and dealing heavy damage with every hit. Look for an orange glow in the barrel of Lance's cannon to anticipate the attack, then fall back to the left side of the stage and use the platform to help dodge the fireballs as they come your way.

The remains of Lance's destroyed tank fade away as Lance himself lies defeated

Lance's tank returns in Stage 22 as the final opponent of the boss rush. His attacks are unchanged, but the stage (including the platforms) has several lava blocks that damage Matt if he stands on them for too long.

Lance's stats vary based on difficulty:

• Easy: 3420 health, attack power of 10.
• Normal: 3800 health, attack power of 20.
• Hard: 4180 health, attack power of 30.
• Epic: 4560 health, attack power of 40.

Behavior

Attacks

• Attack 1 (Bomb Assault) - shoots out 3 bombs with the amount increasing up to 5 as the battle progresses, with each dealing mediocre-high damage.
• Attack 2 (Fireball Blitz) - shoots 4 homing fireballs with the amount increasing to 5 as the final phase of the battle initiates, with each dealing high damage.
• Attack 3 (Bullet Wall) - has 3 variants; upper bullets, lower bullets and edge bullets, the attack consists of a sequence of these variants each being relatively easy to dodge as well as only dealing mediocre damage.
• Attack 4 (Runover) - side to side movement, summon has a 33% chance for Fire Sprite, 50% for Fire Idols & 17% for Sea Mines.

Patterns

Lance's right side pattern:

• Bomb Assault (with a 20% or 80% chance to be Fireball Blitz in Phase 2 & 3 respectively.)
• 70% chance to attack once more or start a moving section
• if it didn't start a moving section, 70% chance to attack one more time and start a moving section
• Runover from right to left without summoning anything

Lance's left side pattern:

• Bullet Wall
• 70% chance to attack once more or start a moving section
• if it didn't start a moving section, 70% chance to attack one more time and start a moving section
• Runover from left to right, summoning in the middle of the arena

Trivia

• The bombs Lance uses in his boss fights have a slight resemblance to the Sea Bomb skill in Epic Battle Fantasy 5.