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For the Duke Nukem Forever boss, see Battlelord (DNF).

The Battlelord is the final boss of L.A. Meltdown and the first boss of Duke Nukem 3D. It's first encountered on "The Abyss", but later appears on "Prima Arena" and "Tour de Nukem" as well.

The Battlelord Sentry is a miniature, weaker version of the Battlelord that is found more frequently throughout the game.

Description[]

The Battlelord wields a large Minigun with a built-in mortar launcher. Its Minigun is also significantly more powerful than the Enforcer's. The hulking Battlelord commands the first wave of the alien invasion force on Earth. Its deafening roar splits the air as its rapid fire Minigun and mortar rounds tear resistance asunder. It has no known weaknesses; only relentless firepower and staying on the move will win the day.

Appearance[]

The Battlelord is a large, hulking reptiloid alien behemoth that wears Black, spiked shoulder pads, a headdress with 2 protrusions that end in spikes, a crotchpiece with a red triangular plate with an insignia on it along with hip and foot plating over brown skin with striped arms that end in raptor-like, 4-fingered hands. Its belly is a light brown color compared to the rest of its skin. Its eyes are a bright red as its mouth is lipless, sporting sharp teeth with 2 short tusks.

Combat analysis[]

It has 4500 hit points and is unaffected by the Shrinker. It is also the fastest moving monster in the game.

The Battlelord is much bigger than any of the other Enemies (except the three other bosses), and as such is able to step on the player if they venture too close which will result in a instant death.

Aside from crushing the player underfoot, the Battlelord has two other attack methods. For close to mid-range opponents, it uses its Minigun. For more distant opponents, it uses its mortar launcher.

The mortars the Battlelord fires are small and round, dark grey with a glowing red line running around it. Sometimes if a mortar does not hit a player or an enemy, it will remain on the ground, spinning on the spot, and act like a land mine. It will explode when it is shot at, or when a player gets too close to it.

Notes[]

  • When Duke defeats the Battlelord, he'll utter, "Die, you son of a bitch!". Duke will sometimes say this when killing Battlelord Sentrys, but not always. The corpse of a boss cannot be destroyed, i.e. gibbed, compared to the common enemies encountered in the game, and will remain so until the level ends. The same dying animation will show regardless of what weapon the player used to defeat a boss.
  • Because of the Battlelord's large size, it cannot enter any small spaces.
  • The Battlelord cannot step on any water surfaces, and therefore cannot submerge itself (it can however be spawned underwater).
  • The mortar doesn't have a defined speed or a limit, and it's calculated about player position.
  • The Battlelord, through holographic communication, will taunt Duke in the level: Death Row, uttering "Ha Ha Ha! Too late, Nukem. We're in control, now!"
    • In reference to the above point, one could say this quote is quite odd, because in the level "The Abyss", in the cutscene after the Battlelord is defeated, it says to Duke: "Huurrgh...Who - whoo arre yooou?" - just before getting its head blown apart by Duke. This contradicts the above quote where the Battlelord addressed Duke by name. However, this is most likely a reference to the film Predator when Arnold Schwarzenegger's character confronts the Predator creature, as the Battlelord obviously knows who Duke really is. It could however just be a figure of speech of awe at Duke at having been defeated.
  • In Duke Nukem 64, when Duke encounters the Battlelord, he'll utter, "Ewww. Who's your plastic surgeon?"
  • Battlelord art tile sprites in versions 1.0/1.1 have different and lower number of sprites in versions 1.3d/1.4/1.5
  • The Battlelord's roar originates from the 1957 film The Land Unknown.

Data[]

Attributes
Hit points 4500
Speed 208
296 (Running)
Pain chance 12.5% (32/256)
Clipdist 164
Scale 80 x 80
Sprites & sounds
Actor tile number 2630/BOSS1
2631/BOSS1STAYPUT
Alert sound bos1rg.voc
Chase sound thud.voc
Action sound bos1rm.voc
Pain sound bos1pn.voc
Death sound bos1dy.voc
Chaingun Bullet Attack
Type Hitscan
Rate 39 shots/second
(6.5 fires x 6 shots per fire)
Damage 6~ (per pellet)
36~ (total)
612~ (full volley)
Actor tile number 2595/SHOTSPARK1
Sound chaingun.voc
ricochet.voc (Impact)
Mortar Attack
Type Projectile
Rate 1.4 shots/second
Speed Varies
Damage 0-50 (blast radius)
Blast radius 2500 map units
Actor tile number 1650/MORTER
1890/EXPLOSION2 (Impact)
Sound rpgfire.voc
bombexpl.voc (impact)
Stomp
Type Health access
Damage 1000

Other[]

  • In Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown, the sprites were a little modified and the Battlelord's resolution halved compared to Duke Nukem 3D, probably because of the low frame rate of the port version.
    • When the player faces a Battlelord, it is much smaller, but when it starts to move it grows in size.
    • This is probably a bad usage of CON language to revert the aforementioned halved size of the sprite.
  • In Duke Nukem 64, "The Abyss" level is separated into two parts (named "The Abyss" and "Battlelord" in that order) after that the player falls into the alien ship entrance and such the Battlelord is fought only in the arena.
    • Also, it seems to have a considerable decrease in hit points.
    • Its mortars leave smoke trails (like the RPG), instead of the original mirage effect.

Development

  • There is a unused leftover tile (2686) showing a map mode view (top view) of the Battlelord.
  • The early version of "The Abyss" level (version 0.99) actually had a more increment room for the Battlelord made of corridors. Presumably it was later changed to an open area in order to make the boss battle more challenging.
Duke Nukem 3D
Episodes L.A. MeltdownLunar ApocalypseShrapnel CityThe BirthAlien World Order
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