Rag Maggot Rat King

The Rag Maggot Rat King is a fight composed of three Rag Maggots who are tied together by the tails of their sleeping bags. Much like the very first Rag Maggot encountered by Richie Cheasedust, the fight starts suddenly as Richie travels into a cave within the red portion of Garbage Island closest to the start of the game. Unlike the first Rag Maggot, the Rat King does not impede progress, but does however protect the Rainbow Armbands armor item. The fight can be beaten by either defeating the Maggots or pacifying them with Purple Flowers. Just like the first Maggot, at least one Maggot will be able to outspeed Richie, either landing a hit, screeching or biting one of the other maggots should they still be tangled.

Strategy
Before considering taking on the encounter, Richie needs full or nearly full HP, and at least one jerky in his inventory. A jerky can easily be obtained to the right of the Rat King cave, by going up the rope past the Pot Heads and then climbing down, and going to the camp to the left. Due to their nature as a multi-enemy boss, prioritizing the biggest threat may also be key. Thankfully each Maggot is simple in their actions. Right Maggot: Uses a strong biting move. Top Maggot: Screams and Glares at Richie, but has no physical attack. Left Maggot: Uses a harder hitting bite move. Each biting move can deal damage ranging from around 80-100, so keep an eye on Richie’s HP. If the Maggot on the top of the Rat King is the last one alive, it is a good idea to use it as an opportunity to regenerate free SP.

To defeat the Rat King, additionally Richie will need high SP. His first move should be to use the spinning pickaxe move, and if he has enough SP following it up with the wild swinging move. Do not untangle the Rag Maggots, as this will prevent them from attacking each other. Pick either the left or right Maggot and focus your pickaxe attacks on them, then switch to the opposite Maggot once Richie’s target is down, leaving the top Maggot for last. Once only the top remains the fight has been finished.

To pacify the Rat King, Initiating the fight with the Rat King, enter the Tomfoolery menu and use the “Untangle” skill, and then choose any of the Rag Maggots. Then use a purple flower on the Maggot that was untied, pacifying them. Untie one of the remaining two, and heal when Richie’s health is close to or at 100. Use a purple flower on both of the remaining Rag Maggots to end the fight passively.

Trivia
The encounter is named after the real life phenomenon of “Rat Kings,” a group of rats who have been tangled together in some way, such as by their tails. The top Rag Maggot uses the same scream as the Joy Mutants in Lisa: the Painful, although they don’t appear to be a mutant.