Deep within the Clock Tower, chains suspend Talos at the center of a furnace chamber. Behind two low platforms positioned on either side, curtains of fire glow like lava. Entering the chamber starts a cutscene; when it ends, a single red health bar labeled TALOS appears at the bottom of the screen. The fight repeats a cycle: evade attacks that sweep across the room, wait for his chest armor to lift, then strike the orange-lit core before the armor closes.
Quick answer: Destroy the three floating drones that shield him, then hit the glowing orange core whenever Talos opens his chest plate and his flame spray ends. Drop to the floor during his other attacks, empty the bar across two stages, then beat the 01:30 escape timer to land the last hits.
Reaching the furnace hall
To reach the forge, travel through Foundry Apex via the Builder’s Secret Elevator. Before continuing, bring up the Foundry Apex map and check the Clock Tower sub-map for the lengthy upper passageways toward the forge.
Inside the boss room you fight on the two platforms and on the floor below them. The floor is your safe ground for most of his attacks, while the platforms put you level with the core when it opens.
The core is the target
Talos’s chest hides the orange-glowing core until its plate rises. He calls out as the armor opens, sending spreading fans of fireballs upward and outward. While they pass, get down to the floor and run beneath the platforms, or remain on the far side. Stay clear of the space right above the core.
Once the fire stream has passed, leap up and attack the exposed core with a melee combo or a spell. Each successful hit on the exposed core removes a clearly visible section of the bar.
Attacks to read and how to avoid them
Talos mixes room-wide attacks with closer strikes. His exact order varies, so react to the tells rather than memorizing a sequence. The room attacks give no opening, so simply survive them and save your damage for the core windows.
- Fire deluge: A groan and blue-white flash signal this attack. Pale heat columns rise at several points around the hall, followed by fire raining from overhead. Find a slim opening between the columns; one is along the floor at the far left.
- Floating mines: Yellow, spiked orbs appear, each sending orange rings outward before they detonate simultaneously. Find a clear pocket between the rings, or drop down once they cover the platform height.
- Shield drones: Three small floating drones, one by each side wall and one drifting above the central platforms, are linked to Talos by beams and keep a blue shield over him. While any of them is alive, hits on the open core only make him flash and deal no damage, so destroy the drones first. Latch onto a drone with the Arcane Whip (jump, hold Up and hold the whip button as it bobs down), then strike it. The left drone is in reach from the floor beneath it, the right one from the ledge on the right wall (wall-jump up to it). For the top drone, whip the pink diamond on the right wall from that ledge, wall-jump up to the upper-right platform and latch the drone sideways when it drifts close. Breaking all three drops the shield for about 40 seconds, then new drones raise it again and you repeat the routine. Full steps with pictures: how to break Talos’s shield.
- Fist slam: He pulls back his enormous left arm as a black-and-white flash appears. Move clear of the platform beneath his fist. Its impact creates an explosive shockwave; afterward, attack him from the side.
During stage 2, he may sweep his arm across the middle level after a slam. Clear the sweep by jumping sideways.
Working through the two stages
In stage 1, Talos stays chained in the hall and cycles through his attack set. When that stage ends he drops away, and you run a short gauntlet of crushing stone blocks and grapple points before the chains reappear: jump each corridor gap right after its crusher slams, drop down the ram shaft right, left, right, left, then grapple over the spike pit and vault the point above the round gear gate to dodge the spiked ram. Full route with pictures: how to get through the Talos gauntlet.
Stage 2 starts when his health drops to 65%. Talos uses his attack set again, cycling through it slightly faster, and he speeds up once more below 30%. In the lower arena his shield is held up by four drones: whip-latch the two low ones and the one by the left wall from the floor when they bob down, and reach the high one on the right by whipping the ring under the right central platform up onto the right pillar. Strike the core from the edge of a central platform, since floor jumps do not reach it. Step by step: Talos phase 2. Follow the same routine: evade the attacks that cover the room, strike the exposed core, then return to the floor. Once the bar runs out, the screen flashes white as Talos snaps free and falls.
The 01:30 escape run
After his fall, 01:30 appears at the top center as a timer, and you must climb back to the hall. The escape starts when his health reaches 15%, so that last slice of the bar remains, and a few more hits will defeat him when you get there.
If the cutscene locks your controls for a few seconds and then no 01:30 timer appears, Custom Mode’s Prevent death is switched on. See Talos escape timer not starting for the fix.
Talos: health, stages and damage
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Health | 5,000 |
| Stage changes | Faster below 70%, stage 2 at 65%, faster again below 30%, escape run at 15% |
| Experience | 900 |
| Rewards |  Fist of Talos spell (The Builder card) |
| Immune to | Freeze, petrify, bleed, burn; Chains of Justice works |
| Damage figures assume DEF | About 55 (most of his attacks take a share of maximum health instead) |
The damage numbers below assume Rose has roughly the DEF shown in the table. With less DEF, attacks hurt more: at 20 DEF below that benchmark, they deal about 1.7 times as much damage. Extra DEF is less helpful; 20 above the benchmark reduces damage by only about 10%. Rose gains 1 DEF per level and per DEF UP book read. More on this in how damage works.
He speeds up below 70%, stage 2 starts at 65% of his health, he speeds up again below 30%, and the escape run begins at 15%.
- Giant fist strike: deals roughly 70% of Rose’s maximum health; parrying and dodging won’t avoid it.
- Each floating mine and missile deals about 30% of Rose’s maximum health.
- Rising fire columns deal about 15% of Rose’s maximum health; parrying or dodging them is impossible.
- Each stomp deals 35 damage, and sliding cannot carry Rose through one.
- Beams from the flipping platforms: 35.
- Hand grabs: 7, with a squeeze.
These figures use a Rose with about 55 DEF. Most of his attacks deal a percentage of Rose’s maximum health rather than a fixed amount, so extra health does not lessen the damage. If the escape timer expires, Rose dies immediately.
The giant fist strike and the rising fire columns cannot be parried or dodged, and the stomps cannot be slid through.
Freeze, petrify, bleed, burn and Chronomantic Dive’s slow have no effect on him, but Chains of Justice does.
Rewards after the kill
As Talos falls, you receive the trophy Talos Aversion. He transforms into a golden orb; strike it with your weapon until it unfolds into an Arcana card.
The card is The Builder, carrying the spell Fist of Talos: “A huge fist strikes the ground, dealing massive damage to enemies directly below, with much less damage to targets further away. Also triggers a small earthquake that shakes enemies in a wide radius, potentially knocking them off their platforms.” Hold Square to equip it, and press Cross to continue.
After the dialogue that follows, head to a cracked floor in the Clock Tower to pick up the SMASH ability: “Break the DESTRUCTIBLE BLOCKS by pressing Down + Cross when Rose is in the air.” (PC: S + Space)
