Cuphead: How to Beat the Root Pack (Botanic Panic)

The Root Pack are a pair of mischievous vegetables that have infested the farms of Elder Kettle (atleast according to the Cuphead TV show).

It’s upto Cuphead and Mugman to team up together and weed out the vegetables.

The Root Pack also happen to be the first boss fight in Cuphead and hence, are very straightforward in their phases.

If you’d like a video demonstration of this fight, here’s our gameplay footage.

Phase 1 – Potato

The angry looking Potato spits out dirt balls at the twin cups. After every 3 dirt balls, a pink worm that can be parried is shot out.

Remember to evade 3 times and parry the 4^th. This applies to both Regular and Expert levels. The speed at which they are shot out is increased with higher difficulty levels.

In this phase, simply shoot at the Potato at all times while jumping at the dirt balls and you should clear the level.

Phase 2 – Onion (Only Appears in Regular and Expert mode)

The emotional onion begins to cry at the slightest inclination of violence. The tears aren’t just for show, they hurt!

Upon attacking, the Onion releases a stream of tears that rain down on the player. The tears itself fall on both sides of the Onion. Sometimes, the tears can be pink and can be parried for increasing your specials.

The Onion itself is the easiest of the 3 in terms of health and goes down much faster than its other two veggie counterparts.

Phase 3 – Carrot

The hardest of the 3 – the Carrot spawns with an evil smile on its face. Before, you have a chance to react, it releases a psychic beam while summoning tiny carrots to surround and overwhelm the area.

Dispose of the baby carrots quickly, and maintain a position directly below the carrot while shooting at it. Every time, you see the carrot’s smile disappear, start moving to the side as a beam is sent to the last position of the player.

On Expert difficulty, the Carrot summons more baby carrots while shooting beams at a quicker pace.

Overall, the boss fight isn’t too bad and being the first boss battle of the game, getting a perfect A+ rank in your first few tries is possible.

Secret Phase – Radish (The Root Pack)

There’s a hidden secret boss in this battle, available only in Regular and Expert mode. In order, to trigger this secret phase, beat the Potato in Phase 1. Once the Onion pops out of the ground, don’t attack it.

The Onion will trigger a happy sequence and go back into the ground. And out comes the mean looking Radish.

Once the Radish is out, Phase 3 begins. You’ll have to deal with the Carrot and Radish together.

The Radish will spin in a deadly manner. The player must jump over its spinning blades to stay safe. The Carrot’s moves will remain the same and the Radish adds an extra layer of difficulty.

In Expert mode, the Radish spins with even greater potency.

Conclusion – The Root Pack Fight

Overall, the Root Pack are as easy as first bosses go. They are a laidback set of boss fights compared to the other deadly bosses that Cuphead is known for.

We do have a video featured on our YouTube channel featuring a Co-op boss battle of the Root Pack.