Alpha Predator

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Description

The Alpha Predator is the penultimate major boss encountered in Nightmare Mode and Ultra Nightmare Mode, debuting on Waves 45 and 42, respectively.

He is an upgraded version of the Apex Predator, and stands as the pinnacle of Dr Xenon's line of Predators. In comparison to his predecessor, he retains all the characteristics of his previous model that made it deadly and enhances them to the point of being able to wipe out the defense in a matter of minutes.

Additionally, upon being defeated, he takes out his core, similar to his predecessor, and crushes it, reactivating himself and revealing Dr. Xenon finally fixed the core overheating issue that had been a persistent problem in almost all of her previous creations. Upon being defeated twice, he reaches forwards one last time before falling backwards and dying.

Appearance

The Alpha Predator is reminiscent of the Apex Predator, though with numerous upgrades as well as several design elements taken from the Jager; particularly on the helmet. As a general comparison, he is now almost entirely clad in red thick armor fitted with dark gray accents and small white markings, with only the sides of his waist exposing his black underbody. His body plan has also been significantly altered, now appearing much more humanoid, though with proportionally oversized arms and lower legs.

Abilities

Ability	Description
Gamma Ray Surge	Opens his chestplate and thumps it twice, generating a shockwave that kills all aerial towers within a 10 stud radius and applies a +400% reload time penalty to all mechanical and golden towers in a 45 stud radius for 10s.
	Usage Criteria: At least 3 towers in range
	Initial Cooldown: 5s	Cooldown: 45s
Blasting Away	Slams the front end of his modified rocket launcher into the ground, inflciting a Stun Immunity ignoring stun for 3s and dealing 1,000 within a 16 stud radius. Then, after a short delay, fires the revolver mechanism into the ground, causing an explosion that instantly kills units in a 5 stud radius and deals 100,000 within a 40 stud radius (effectively instakilling within a 6 stud radius), with damage decreasing based on distance from the explosion.
	Initial Cooldown: 15s	Cooldown: 30s
Brutal Bombardment	Fires eight missiles from his rocket launcher at random towers (including airborne towers) outside a 20 stud deadzone, with each missile inflicting a Stun Immunity ignoring stun for 6s and 2,500 within a 5 stud radius. Damage increases based on distance from the Alpha Predator and decreases based on distance from the missiles' explosions.
	Initial Cooldown: 15s	Cooldown: 30s
Alpha Ray	Fires a laser beam from his eye at the farthest and most expensive tower (including airborne towers) within 120 studs of him, dealing 72,727.3 DPS for 0.55s (39,980 total).
	Initial Cooldown: 12s	Cooldown: 30s
Predation Sweep	Fires a laser beam from his eye at the ground while rotating in an arc, dealing 28,571.4 DPS for 1.4s (~40,000 total) in its area of effect.
	Usage Criteria: At least 3 towers in range
	Initial Cooldown: 15s	Cooldown: 22s
Immolation	Sprays his arm-mounted flamethrower at nearby towers in an 85 degree arc, applying an afterburn that deals 2,450 DPS for 2.8s (6,860 total).
	Usage Criteria: At least 2 towers in range
	Initial Cooldown: 15s	Cooldown: 22s
Grand Leap	Uses his thrusters to jump in the air, traversing a medium distance across the path before landing, instantly killing nearby units and dealing 3,000 in a small radius around where he lands. Untargetable while this ability is active.
	Usage Criteria: Less than 3 towers within an 8 stud radius of the Alpha Predator.
	Initial Cooldown: 15s	Cooldown: 80s
Overheat Failsafe	Opens up his chestplate and tears out his overheating core before screaming and crushing it, resetting all of his ability cooldowns, restoring all of his Health and Shield, and gaining Annihilation Warhead.
	Usage Criteria: Upon being defeated for the first time
Annihilation Warhead	Pulls out a missile from his rocket launcher and throws it at the farthest, most expensive and highest range tower within a 20 stud radius, dealing 100,000-1,000 (effectively instakilling within 5 studs of the targeted tower) within a 50 stud radius, with damage decreasing based on distance from the explosion. Affects aerial towers.
	Usage Criteria: Must have used Overheat Failsafe, at least one tower with a total value of $150,000 is within a 20 stud radius of him, and has not used this ability more than three times.
	Initial Cooldown: 5s	Cooldown: 19s

Strategies

Alpha Predator represents a significant jump in difficulty compared to both its previous version and the previous bosses, and can easily obliterate an unprepared defense. Players should expect major losses to their defenses due to Alpha Predator's major AOE damage capabilities. To make matters even worse, the following Wave 47 contains 2 Eradicator MK II+s and Eradicator MK IIs, giving them less time to recover from the Alpha Predator's rampage.

• Several towers with high single target DPS are necessary to kill the Alpha Predator. Such options include 2-5 Golden Juggernauts, 5-2 XWM Turrets and 2-4/2-5 Refractors.
  • Such towers should be in range of any support towers (unless they have the No Friendly Buffs attribute) to maximize their survivability.
  • 2-5 Ghost's Ghost Grenade can also assist by applying stealth to most towers, preventing them from being targeted by the Alpha Predator.
  • Combat Medic and Shield Tower are both extremely useful for keeping towers alive, as the former can revive dead towers and the latter effectively grants them more health.
• Do not sell towers around the Alpha Predator upon its defeat, as unlike its predecessor, he will not kill towers around him upon his death.
• Due to how destructive Alpha Predator is, spawner towers such as the Behemoth Factory and War Machine Factory can help the player save money, especially if they are placed far away from Alpha Predator.

Trivia

• The Alpha Predator's design is likely inspired by mobile suits from the Gundam franchise. Specifically the MS-14JG Gelgoog Jäger.
• Alpha Predator is the first enemy able to revive itself after dying.
  • While the Slime King may appear to revive itself, it actually spawns a new enemy rather than reviving the same one.
• Dr. Xenon's success in solving the core overheating issue via the Alpha Predator is foreshadowed much earlier with the Lurch 3.
• The Alpha Predator is the first boss to drop event currency upon defeat twice due to his Overheat Failsafe ability.

Update History

Notes