10 Video Game Sub-Bosses With Unexpected Second Phases
7. Shaelmaar - The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (2015)
A new DLC pack nearly always means new enemies to fight, and this is just another area in which the Witcher III's acclaimed expansion, Blood and Wine, does not disappoint.
Near the start of the DLC, Geralt of Rivia is taken to a gladiator arena in the Duchy of Toussaint, where soldiers are being pitted against a fiercely aggressive rock creature, the Shaelmaar. Obviously, Geralt steps in to lend a hand, and thus the fight begins.
The Shaelmaar is already an incredibly tough enemy, its rock-hard exoskeleton protecting it from your sword strikes and rendering it only vulnerable from underneath. Once you get the beast down to about a third of its health, it will gain a devastating attack that can take you out before you even process what's just happened.
This attack involves the Shaelmaar tunneling underground, then spinning so as to hurl huge chunks of rock in every direction. If you're caught in it, you'll be pretty injured at the very least, and if you're not expecting it, this second phase attack could very well claim your life.