The Mad Gardener is the scissor-wielding boss you meet in the Black Forest, the early region of Lost Castle 2. He fights in two phases, drains your health with whirling blade attacks, and recovers his full health bar once before going down for good. Despite the chaos, his openings are predictable, which makes him one of the more manageable bosses once you know when to commit.
Quick answer: Keep moving and dodge against the direction of his scissor charge. Drain his health to zero, survive the poison-flower phase, then attack hard the moment he wilts and stops moving after a poison barrage. Hitting him from behind during the flower spit also lands free damage.
Mad Gardener phase 1: dodge the scissor attacks
The opening phase is fast and feels random. The Mad Gardener swings his scissors in spinning attacks and rushes across the arena with a scissor charge. Both of these will catch you if you stand too close, so treat the area right next to him as a danger zone until you spot an opening.
The reliable way to avoid his charge is to dodge in the opposite direction of his path as he closes in on you. Don’t try to roll through him or stand your ground. Stay mobile, slip your hits in between his swings, and back off before the next attack lands.
Tip: You should almost always be moving in this fight. Standing still is the main reason players get clipped by the whirling scissors.
Phase 2: poison flowers and the full heal
When you drop his health bar to zero the first time, the fight isn’t over. The Mad Gardener stops, grows poison-spitting flowers across the arena, and restores his entire health bar. This is the real test, since you now have to deal with poison flying in your direction and across the rest of the floor.
His biggest weakness shows up between these poison barrages. After a wave of poison has been spat out, he pauses to rest. You will see him visibly wilt and stop moving. That pause is your window to unload everything you have.
You can also squeeze in damage while the flowers are actively spitting poison. Move behind the Mad Gardener and hit him from the back, land a few strikes, dodge clear, and immediately start moving again before the next attack catches you.
Attack windows summary
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Scissor charge incoming | Dodge in the opposite direction of his path |
| Whirling scissor swings | Stay back, hit only between swings |
| Health hits zero (first time) | Expect a full heal and the poison-flower phase |
| He wilts and stops after a poison wave | Attack with everything you have |
| Flowers spitting poison | Hit him from behind, then dodge and keep moving |
How to confirm the kill
Defeating him clears the Black Forest encounter and unlocks the Courtyard Cleansing achievement, described as defeating the Mad Gardener in the Black Forest. If that achievement pops on Steam, the fight is done. It is one of the more commonly earned boss achievements in the game, which lines up with him being an early-region opponent.
The Mad Gardener also matters later on. He is one of the early-region boss sources for Memory Shards on the Hidden Mage Tower route, so don’t skip his checks if you are farming shards on a Nightmare run and the camp shard screen still shows early-area gaps.
