The June 2026 release of Xyros Games' 2D action-adventure masterpiece under the holo Indie label has taken the community by storm. But beneath the cute pixel art lies a brutal, Zelda-like gauntlet. If you are slamming your desk in frustration wondering exactly how to beat Hololive members An Automaton's Journey, you are not alone. Playing as the ancient automaton Cecilia Immergreen, you are tasked with saving your fellow idols from a mysterious curse. That means fighting 13 formidable bosses who do not pull their punches. This guide breaks down the exact iframes, stagger thresholds, and weapon loadouts needed to clear the game.
Core Mechanics: Preparing for the Cursed Idols
Before diving into specific boss encounters, you have to unlearn the button-mashing habits picked up from other casual indie titles. An Automaton's Journey demands precision. Cecilia's base toolkit revolves around three core mechanics: the Justice Shield, the Clockwork Dash, and stamina management.
Every boss in the game operates on a hidden posture system. Hitting them with standard attacks barely chips away at their health bar, but exploiting their specific mechanical weakness fills their stagger meter. Our tactical overview for exploiting Hololive member vulnerabilities shows exactly how to approach the mid-game. A quick glance at the Boss Combat Weakness Matrix reveals that Koseki Bijou is weak to Deflected Pebbles, Nerissa Ravencroft is countered by the Clockwork Dash, Fuwawa & Mococo require AutoFister AoE, and Shiori Novella is neutralized by the Bookmark of Binding. Tracking their Stagger Threshold % is the difference between a clean kill and a frustrating wipe.
Phase-by-Phase Strategies for How to Beat Hololive Members An Automaton's Journey
The mid-game difficulty spike centers entirely around the members of Hololive English -Advent-. Driven to madness by the mysterious curse, they serve as the gatekeepers to the final act. Here is exactly how to dismantle them.
Koseki Bijou (The Moai of Madness)
Located deep within the Crystal Caverns, Koseki Bijou is the first major skill check. The arena is tight, and she frequently summons "Pebbles"—her fan mascots—to act as homing projectiles.
Phase 1: Bijou is encased in crystal armor that negates 90% of physical damage. Do not waste your stamina attacking her directly. Instead, stand your ground and wait for her to launch a volley of Pebbles. Use the Justice Shield to parry them precisely on the 14th frame of their flight path. Deflected Pebbles will crash into her armor, building her stagger meter by 25% per hit.
Phase 2: Once her Stagger Threshold % hits 100, the armor shatters, and she resorts to her "Moai Drop" attack, attempting to crush you from above. Watch the shadows on the cavern floor. You have a 0.5-second window to execute a Clockwork Dash before she lands. Punish her recovery frames with heavy charged attacks.
Nerissa Ravencroft (The Siren of the Depths)
Nerissa commands the Sunken Concert Hall, a water-logged dungeon that restricts your movement speed. Her fight is an agonizing test of iframe timing.
Phase 1: Nerissa stays airborne, launching expanding soundwave rings across the arena. You cannot jump over them; you must use the Clockwork Dash to phase through the rings. The trick is to dash toward her, closing the gap while invincible. Once you are directly underneath her, use the Hookshot equivalent (the Justice Grapple) to yank her down to the flooded floor.
Phase 2: Grounded, Nerissa summons Jailbird adds to swarm you while she charges a massive vocal blast. Ignore the Jailbirds. Equip your heaviest weapon and stagger her before the vocal blast finishes casting. If she gets the cast off, it is an instant kill.
Fuwawa & Mococo Abyssgard (The Twin Terrors)
The Ruffian Ruins house the most notorious encounter in the game. Known collectively as THE TWIN TERRORS, the Abyssgard twins demand perfect spatial awareness. Understanding the Fuwawa & Mococo Sync Dynamics is mandatory.
Fuwawa is the primary aggressor, exhibiting a Fuwawa Aggro 60% behavior pattern, relentlessly chasing you with melee claw swipes. Mococo hangs back with a Mococo Aggro 40% rate, casting ranged spells and creating hazard zones. If you focus entirely on Fuwawa and kill her first, Mococo initiates a Revive loop, bringing her sister back at 50% health.
You must balance your damage output, keeping their health bars nearly identical. Group them up, track their Stagger Point, and exploit the AoE Window when they attempt their synchronized cross-slash. Simultaneous elimination is the only path to victory.
Shiori Novella (The Archiver of Agony)
The Forbidden Archives is a stealth-heavy dungeon culminating in a fight against Shiori Novella. She is a pure magic caster who turns the game into a bullet-hell nightmare.
Phase 1: Shiori teleports constantly, leaving behind explosive ink traps. You must track her real body by watching the reflection in the polished library floor. Hit her with quick, light attacks to interrupt her standard spellcasting.
Phase 2: At 30% health, she triggers her desperation phase. Archiver's Agony turns the screen into a lethal bullet hell of razor-sharp pages. You cannot out-heal this damage. The only way to survive is to equip the dungeon-specific item, the Bookmark of Binding. By dodging through her initial barrage and throwing the chain, you can tether her to the stone floor, interrupting the cast and leaving her stunned for a heavy gauntlet strike.
Weapon Loadouts: How to Beat Hololive Members An Automaton's Journey Faster
While Cecilia’s base sword is functional, relying on it for the entire game is a recipe for endless frustration. To truly dominate the boss fights, you need to explore the map, complete side quests for other Hololive members, and unlock advanced weaponry. The undisputed king of the current meta is the "AutoFister."
The community-dubbed 'Spin to Win' weapon is a mechanical marvel designed for raw stagger damage. The Spin to Win charge capacitor builds kinetic energy for massive area-of-effect clears, making it the perfect tool for the Fuwawa and Mococo fight. Up front, heavy brass knuckles shatter Bijou's crystal armor in seconds, bypassing the need for perfect parries if your timing is off. Along the sides, steam exhaust vents allow for rapid cooldowns, keeping you mobile enough to dodge Nerissa's soundwaves. Internally, clockwork gears sync with Cecilia's main drive to provide passive health regeneration, saving your precious Green Tea Flasks for emergencies.
Acquiring the AutoFister requires completing the "Gears of Justice" side quest chain, which involves delving into three optional mini-dungeons: The Rusting Factory, The Abandoned Clocktower, and The Steam Vents. Each mini-dungeon tests a specific traversal skill, forcing you to master the Justice Grapple and the Clockwork Dash in tandem. It is a significant time investment, usually taking two to three hours of dedicated exploration, but the resulting power spike trivializes the mid-game difficulty curve. Furthermore, the weapon can be upgraded at the Blacksmith using rare ore dropped by defeated bosses, increasing its base damage and widening the AoE radius of the Spin to Win attack.
The Lore Behind the Curse: Why Are We Fighting?
Understanding the narrative context of An Automaton's Journey doesn't just enrich the experience; it actually provides subtle hints for combat. The mysterious curse that has swept through the Hololive universe targets the core insecurities and thematic lore of each member. For instance, Shiori Novella's obsession with forbidden knowledge is twisted into the Archiver's Agony attack, weaponizing the very books she sought to protect. Koseki Bijou's stoic, rock-solid persona is amplified into impenetrable crystal armor.
Cecilia Immergreen, being an ancient automaton, is uniquely immune to this biological and psychological corruption. Her mechanical nature is not just a plot device; it is the canonical reason she can wield heavy, steam-powered weaponry like the AutoFister without suffering the curse's fatigue. When you are fighting these bosses, pay attention to their pre-fight dialogue. Xyros Games cleverly hid audio cues and text prompts that telegraph their most devastating moves. When Nerissa sings a specific sorrowful note, it is your cue to prepare the Clockwork Dash. When the Abyssgard twins argue about who gets to attack next, it is your window to exploit their aggro split.
Upgrading Your Gear: Surviving the Late Game
Beyond weapons, your survival hinges on exploration and resource management. An Automaton's Journey heavily rewards backtracking in true Metroidvania fashion. As you unlock items like the Justice Grapple and the Bookmark of Binding, return to earlier zones like the starting area, The Automaton's Cradle. You will find hidden rooms blocked by heavy boulders or wide chasms that are now easily traversable. These secret chambers contain upgrades for your Green Tea Flasks, increasing both the number of charges and the amount of health restored per use. Maxing out your flasks before tackling the Forbidden Archives is highly recommended.
Additionally, hunting down the hidden fan mascots scattered across the open world unlocks passive stat boosts. Finding all 30 types of mascots grants the "Idol's Blessing" accessory, which increases your base iframe window during the Clockwork Dash by 2 frames. In a game where frame-perfect dodges are mandatory, those 2 extra frames are a godsend.
FAQ: How to Beat Hololive Members An Automaton's Journey
What is the best weapon for the late-game bosses? The AutoFister gauntlet is universally considered the best weapon. Its charge attack deals massive AoE damage, and its passive health regeneration saves healing items.
How do I stop Fuwawa and Mococo from reviving each other? You cannot prevent the revive cast if one twin dies early. You must damage them equally and defeat them within 3 seconds of each other using a wide AoE attack.
Can I sequence break the boss order? Yes. If you acquire the Justice Grapple early by completing the optional jumping puzzle in the Sunken Concert Hall, you can bypass the Crystal Caverns and fight Nerissa before Koseki Bijou.
How do I dodge Shiori's bullet hell attack? You aren't supposed to dodge it entirely. You must use the Bookmark of Binding to tether her to the ground, which instantly cancels the attack animation.