Providence

Providence
Bulwark of the Weak
Base Statistics
Health	9000 HP
Damage	24 points
Speed	14 mph
Combat Notes
Type	Boss
Movement	Ground
Attack	Ranged/Melee
Jump	Able
Teleport	Able

Field Notes

[edit]

Field Notes:  i recognized him from the security footage... he was the one who blew the cargo hatches open.  He was the one who killed everyone.

Providence, as I came to call him, moved faster and with more purpose than anything else I've seen on this planet.  He must command great power, for he seemed to easily control two great gilded worms of a species similar to the Magma Worm.  Is he able to command everyone on this planet?  I don't know his purpose, or his reasoning, but he did not give me a choice.  I had to kill him.. so why do I feel like I made a terrible mistake?

... Why did we have a teleporter from this planet in our cargo hold?

Strategy

Providence is the final boss in the game and has 3 phases. 

First Phase

In his first phase he will teleport to the player with a downward slash if they are far away from him. If they are close, he will hack at them with an advancing slash.  Both deal enough damage to warrant caution; however, both attacks are very easy to avoid simply by staying in motion (drones will not fare as well since they lag behind the players; prepare for them to be crushed fairly quickly).

After every 3 short slashes or normal swings he will thrust his sword into the ground which creates a shockwave that will knock the player upwards then stun them for a few seconds if it hits directly. Players cannot run from the attack to dodge it as it has infinite range until it hits something whether it be the player or a wall. Note that ledges do not stop the shockwave as it will travel down "off" of the ledge onto the next floor underneath and keep going.  This attack is easily avoided by simply hanging onto a ladder or using a well timed jump.  If a Jetpack item is acquired throughout the run it should be fairly easy to avoid.

Once Providence has used his Shockwave attack twice, he will stand still and start targeting the player with many delayed projectiles. In solo runs this is extremely easy to avoid as all that is needed is to stay mobile, Providence can even be attacked because he won't move or dodge any attack. In co-op runs this attack will target all living players, so avoiding crossing paths with teammates is vital.

It should also be noted that Providence will shield himself after the 66% and 33% health marks, indicated by a floating shield icon above his head. Unless the players can deal massive amount of attacks rapidly, it's generally recommended to avoid fighting him in this state as all damage inflicted upon him will only result in 1's. Damage-over-time effects such as Thallium and Rusty Knife, will deal full damage, however. Barbed Wire and Tesla Coil also do damage to Providence while he has this buff.  Also, Acrid's Epidemic can still do damage over time, ignoring the "shield".

Second Phase

After beating his first phase Providence will summon 2 Gilded Wurms, each with their own health bar.

The red worm will first indicate its attack with a target crosshairs which is followed by a laser stream that starts at the target's position then homes in on the nearest player.  It deals damage extremely quickly and should be avoided at all costs.

The blue worm fires a spread of 5 projectiles 3 times in a row. It doesn't do much damage and can easily be avoided when far away but if it hits the player at point blank it can deplete their HP near instantaneously, so taking consideration of the blue worm's head is important. Its head has an extremely short turn radius and fast rotation speed, so staying away from it if it's about to fire is wise.

Both worms suffer from a weakness similar to the Magma Worm albeit even more so due to their slow movement and not being able to plummet fast enough into invincibility. Their weakness is that they're multi-segmented and every single segment will take damage from attacks.  Any skill that can hit multiple segments easily will make very short work of the worms.

To progress from this phase both worms must be destroyed. The phase won't advance until both are dead, and has no time limit.

Third Phase

When the worms have been killed, Providence will come back, this time with 2 Sanctuary Guards.

His attacks are all the same as his first phase so same tactics apply.

However, Providence has a new trick in his final phase. His shield buff from his first phase not only guards him from damage, but also summons Umbra of Providence, which is basically a shadow version of Providence when he hits 66% and 33% health. This doubles the amount of attacks coming at the player making the fight much harder for characters that have no way of attacking and staying mobile at the same time. Although the shadow can be killed to make the fight easier, it is not recommended to focus on getting rid of it as Providence will create another one after the 33% health mark.

There is a very dangerous attack to look out for from the shadow: when the fight gets to the part where providence aims at the player with delayed projectiles, the shadow will aim multiple delayed projectiles all around their location making it much harder to dodge. It should be also noted that the shadow version of this attack instantly drops your health to 1 rather than doing damage, and should be avoided no matter what, even if it means getting hit by Providence. Running through Providence right after he attacks is not recommended, as his shadow has a delayed attack right after. The shadow will also not act like the typical shadow players can have; it is able to separate from Providence and attack other players altogether. Its attack timing can also become slightly off, filling the gap between Providence's attacks with its own.

It is possible, though very difficult, to recover after getting hit by the Umbra's shadow skull attack. The best way to do this is to teleport the Surgery Table to the bridge before engaging Providence. The heal provided will help the player survive further attacks from Providence and its shadow. This is easier to do if the player happens to have Time Keeper's Secret or Unstable Watch, which will additionally let them regenerate health for a few seconds

Dialogue

First phase defeat:

• Ah.. you are stronger than you look..
• Hmm..
• A challenge..!

Third phase start:

• Die..!
• You thought me defeated..?!

Third phase defeat:

• What.. are you..?
• You.. monster...
• How...?

Tips

• Using the Keycards on the rooms will let you bring helpful things into the boss room. Cabins - Nano Chest (Gives you use items during the fight or even before hand, it also refreshes at a slow rate), Med-bay - Surgery Table (Heals you, your team members, and your drones. (If they are also nearby the table)), Armory - Gauss Cannon (Deals heavy damage if you lure the boss onto the same platform as the cannon and activate it, the boss does NOT have to be in front of the barrel, it will still hit if he's on the cannon itself.)
• If you climb near the top of the ladder on either the top left or top right platforms and wait for Providence to shoot his delayed projectiles at you then run to the other platform on the opposite side before he can move, his AI will glitch out and constantly try to move to you but only be able to spaz out on the ledge. This makes the fight extremely easy for any ranged characters, however, is completely pointless for melee focused characters such as HAN-D or the Mercenary as you will not be able to get at the boss either.
• If you climb either of the ladders and wait at the top, Providence will attempt to teleport on top of you but will get stuck in the ceiling, with his feet one tile above the ground. He won't be able to hit you unless you jump (not even with the shockwave attack) but will think you're in range and continue attacking without teleporting again. If you jump and attack between his swings you can continue hitting him with impunity until he gets to his delayed projectile attack.
• The Miner is one of the best characters for fighting this boss, especially solo, as his great mobility and decent damage output give him a huge advantage over both the boss and the Worms.  In addition, To The Stars makes a great counter for the boss's highly annoying sword teleport attack. Other good solo choices are the Huntress (who can run away and attack at the same time) and the Engineer (whose turrets can easily hold his attention for 30 seconds, letting you attack aggressively, and whose mines do good damage to the worms and distract the red worms laser beam attack occasionally). Acrid especially can blaze through this fight, Epidemic alone killing off BOTH worms (sometimes with a single cast). With the majority of Acrid's abilities specializing in DoT poison damage, Providence's shield buff poses little challenge.
• The Loader is a great character to use in this boss fight if you don't have the Miner yet, as you can easily avoid almost all his attacks in the first stage. This is also effective if you use the Toxic Worm item, as when performing his downward slash attack he will become infected but not hit you if you keep moving constantly. In the third stage, if you find yourself stunned by Providence while his shadow clone is performing the explosive circles attack, you can usually escape by using Debris shield and Hydraulic Gauntlet to avoid damage and get away quickly, as stunning does not seem to affect these abilities in any way (note that this may not be true in later updates.)

Trivia

• During the game's development, Providence was heavily reworked from his original version, who was much bigger and resembled a clothed Parent with black skin. He was reworked because the fight was deemed boring by the Hopoo team, who compared it to "smacking a board". The only remnant of Providence's original version can be seen in the Percentage Shrines of Blood, which resemble his original version.
• According to a Risk of Rain 2 log on the Heretic Providence kills her amidst the chaos as she was attempting to re-launch the ship.[1]
• In many logs in Risk of Rain 2 there is a mention of a third figure other than the two brothers always mentioned as, "her". This mysterious "her" is believed to have given Providence his powers. (See Egocentrism in RoR2 wiki) There are a number of theories as to who this "her" is.

(This trivia section is incomplete, you can help by adding more)