Like with most Soulslikes, Another Crab’s Treasure has plenty of hidden bosses off the beaten track to find and defeat – for pride, satisfaction, or gain – and the most secret boss of all is The Consortium. This horrifying collection of sea creatures is likely the last major hurdle between you and the Another Crab’s Treasure Platinum Trophy. Not only is The Consortium the trickiest boss to find in the game but it’s also one of the most difficult, with it being on par with the final boss in terms of difficulty and importance.
Beating The Consortium is of the utmost importance because it unlocks The Consortium Trophy / Achievement and gives you one of the eight Adaptations you’ll need to unlock the Well Adapted Trophy. It’s also a fun fight with a unique gimmick that may give you a tough time. Fortunately, we’re here to help break down everything you need to know to beat back this dastardly foe.
Here’s where to find, and how to defeat, The Consortium secret boss in Another Crab’s Treasure.
Kril’s Quest
The Consortium Secret Boss Location
First and foremost, you’ll only be able to track down The Consortium if you have access to the Mantis Punch Adaptation. This Adaptation is a reward for defeating Topoda, the bioluminescent Mantis Shrimp who lays in wait at the end of the Expired Grove. To reach him, you’ll need to defeat Heikea the Intimidation Crab and then jump down to the series of caves nearby. From there, continue on the main path until you reach the Topoda boss fight.
Once you have Mantis Punch and are ready to take on The Consortium (which we recommend saving for later in the game when you have more levels, Shells, and Adaptations), Shelleport to the Oil Drum Moon Shell in the Expired Grove. Upon arriving, start heading east but, before you reach the tough enemy crab beneath the tyre, take a left past the moss-covered tree. Soon, you’ll stumble across a massive purple Umami Cube, one that you can now break using the Mantis Punch.
Secret Path Location
With the path cleared and the cube destroyed, you can continue your journey deeper into the Expired Grove. This new area will take you to the cardboard treehouses and scaffoldings that you likely saw on your first visit to the Grove. Simply follow the path the cardboard structures lead until, eventually, you reach a high area near a fishing line shortcut.
Nearby will be an area transition to a new zone in the Flotsam Vale, the area where The Consortium lurks. With the shortcut unlocked, you now have easy access to the boss fight via the Grove Entrance Moon Shell, if you happen to fall in the upcoming fight.
-
- Shortcut to The Consortium
-
- Entrance to The Boss Fight
The Consortium Boss Guide
The Consortium is one of the most visually interesting bosses in Another Crab’s Treasure. It isn’t just one giant crab or squid, but several smushed into a steel cage. The result is a horrific amalgamation of tentacles, claws, and crab legs with plenty of beady purple eyes to add to the creep factor.
What makes things worse is that The Consortium has a very special gimmick when it comes to how you attack it, as well as several high-damage moves that cover almost all ranges. You’ll think carefully and prepare before facing down this fearsome foe.
The Consortium
Consortium Health Gimmick
The Consortium is a really unique boss in Another Crab’s Treasure because of its unique health gimmick. Instead of taking damage normally, The Consortium will only lose health when you attack specific parts of its body. These parts are the rope knots keeping all of the sea creatures trapped within the cage.
As such, your goal in the fight is to break all of the knots around The Consortium’s body: do that and you’ll release all of the trapped crabs and crustaceans, freeing them and ending the fight.
In total, there are six knots around The Consortium’s body – four on its lower half and two on its upper half. The four closest to the floor are easy enough to hack away at but the two at the top require you to climb The Consortium’s back – which has a net attached to it – to reach them. Do be wary of The Consortium’s slam attacks as they will send you flying if you aren’t able to dodge out of the way in time.
Destroy the Knots to Destroy The Consortium
Consortium Moveset
Next, let’s go over everything The Consortium has in its moveset so that you can be prepared for whatever it throws at you. The Consortium is one of the most versatile bosses in Another Crab’s Treasure as it is very capable at all ranges. Pair this with its specific weak spots and inability to be affected by status conditions like Shock and you’re in for a tough time.
Flare Gun Shot: The Consortium will unleash a powerful ranged attack from its flare gun. It will charge up the flare gun for about a second before firing it at your location. This attack has a wide radius and is pretty hard to dodge so your best bet is to let your shell tank the hit.
Cage Smash: The Consortium will raise all of its claws and tentacles into the air before slamming down to the ground, unleashing a Shell-breaking shockwave which will deal massive damage to Kril if he’s caught underneath it. Even if you’re not directly below The Consortium when it releases this attack, it will still deal a good amount of damage and blow you back if you’re too close. However, in the moments after the attack, The Consortium will be immobile allowing you to punish it or safely climb on its back.
Flare Shot
Cage Roll: The Consortium will rock to one side before rapidly rolling to the opposite one, flattening Kril if he’s in the way. It will then rush towards where it just escaped from before slamming face-first into the sand. This attack is one of The Consortium’s least deadly offerings but it will mainly use it to escape CQC and then punish you if you fail to react in time. Just like with Cage Smash, there’s a long window where The Consortium will become vulnerable after it delivers the attack.
Tentacle Swing: The Consortium will reel back the tentacle on its left side before swinging it in front of itself in a fierce display. This attack is relatively easy to avoid as you just need to run underneath The Consortium’s cage, side-stepping the attack completely.
Claw Crash: The Consortium will quickly whack the ground in front of it with its massive crab claw three times, dealing heavy damage if you’re unlucky enough to get caught in it.
Cage Roll
Tips and Tricks
When it comes to Adaptations, your best bets are Bubble Bullet, Electrocute, and Mantis Punch. Bubble Bullet is an excellent long-range option which you can use to chip away at The Consortium’s knots from a safe distance, including the ones on top of the cage from specific angles. Meanwhile, while Electrocute won’t Shock The Consortium, it will dance between multiple knots in each cast, dealing a decent amount of damage to each in the process. Finally, Mantis Punch is a massive chunk of damage which can easily take out each knot fairly quickly, although we recommend only using it if you have the Level 2 upgrade as The Consortium will only interrupt your attacks otherwise.
Additionally, because of The Consortium’s size and unique design, you’ll likely end up stuck beneath its body at multiple points in the encounter. On one hand, this can be used to your advantage as you dip below The Consortium to avoid specific attacks (such as the Tentacle Swing). On the other, though, this will often lead to The Consortium using either of its cage smash attacks, dealing massive damage to either Kril or his Shell if you get caught underneath it.
Lastly, we highly recommend going into this fight with a Shell Hammer. With high ATK investment, a Shell Hammer can take down The Consortium’s rope knots in only a few hits, making the fight significantly easier. Additionally, if you want to ensure that you always have a Hammer at hand, try using the Snail Sanctum Adaptation: if you switch your Shell to your fork and then use Snail Sanctum, you can repeatedly create new Shells out of Umami which you can then switch back for infinite easy Hammer charges.
Best Adaptations
The Consortium Boss Rewards
The main reward you’ll earn from defeating The Consortium is the Tactical Tentacle Adaptation. This summons a tentacle of pure Umami that will attack along with you as you swing your fork. At Umami Upgrade level 2, the Tactical Tentacle will have increased size and summon duration, whereas it will have increased damage and heal Kril for a percentage of damage dealt at Umami Upgrade level 3. This is a really solid Adaptation and one of the best in the entire game as it just makes your normal damage far better and more consistent.
Alongside the Tactical Tentacle Adaptation, you’ll also receive 10,000 Microplastics as well as 25 Umami Crystals. Lastly, you’ll unlock The Consortium Trophy / Achievement, which is one of the rarer achievements in the game.
Tactical Tentacle Adaptation
That was where to find, and how to defeat, The Consortium secret boss in Another Crab’s Treasure.
