Inspired by the vintage cartoon graphics, Cuphead is a run-and-gun with a Soulsborne kind of twist. The soul-crushingly difficult bosses like the Moonshine Mob or the Secret Boss, combined with the simple yet addictive combat of the game, make it highly immersive. The game came out with the latest DLC, The Delicious Last Course, which has our two protagonists team up with Ms. Chalice and Saltbaker to create the Wondertart. But things take a twist near the end and if you’re on the final fight, then worry not, as we’ll guide you through the Cuphead Chef Saltbaker fight!
The DLC definitely takes you on a ride, letting you solve puzzles such as the Graveyard Puzzle and defeat various enemies. As you collect all the recipe ingredients from these bosses, you get one step closer to making the Wondertart which could finally bring Ms. Chalice back.
Unfortunately, our trusty Chef Saltbaker has other plans and wants to use the Wondertart and the soul of one of the characters to take control of the Astral Plane. It’s up to you to take him down and free your partner’s soul. We’d recommend picking up a bunch of tips and tricks for the final fight: Cuphead Guide Tips.
The Cuphead Chef Saltbaker Boss Fight is the final fight of the game. So, you should be mentally prepared for a challenge before even stepping into the arena. But as this is right near the end of the game, you’ll have a solid chance of gearing up as much as you can.
All the phases of Chef Saltbaker’s fight are equally challenging and will test various aspects such as dodging, aiming, and looking for opportunities. That’s why we need to pick a loadout that will allow us to deal with such challenges.
If you don’t have enough gold coins to buy every gear item that you might need, consider reading: Cuphead Hidden Coins: 40 Base Game & 16 DLC Coins
The first phase will require a lot of dodging as it is the phase with the most projectiles. That’s why you should pick weapons that will allow you to move around freely. The Chaser or the Crackshot are great picks for the first phase as they have great EX abilities.
The second phase requires a good amount of firepower. Aiming won’t be an issue; you mainly want to be able to deal as much damage as possible in the second phase. That’s why as your secondary weapon, you should consider getting something that packs a punch, like a Charge shot.
As for the charms, if you’re planning to play as Ms. Chalice during the fight, then you don’t really have a choice except for the Cookie. But if you want an extra edge in battle, there are other charms that you can equip.
The first charm that is a great contender is the Heart Ring. As there are various parry-able projectiles throughout the fight, you’ll be able to leverage its ability to grant you +1HP on the first, third, and sixth parry. In total, you’ll be able to get +3HP just by parrying.
Another charm that you can consider and is especially going to be useful for an S rank is the Smoke Bomb. The invincibility that you can get through the Smoke Bomb will make dodging extremely easy, and the first phase will feel like a piece of cake.
The first phase of Chef Saltbaker in Cuphead is perhaps the hardest of them all. It is the longest, and there’s so much going on in the screen that keeping up with everything becomes near impossible. But if you know what to expect from each projectile, then you’ll have an easier time.
The first phase is heavily focused on projectiles. In fact, that is the only thing that you’ll have to deal with (while also shooting Saltbaker). There are around 5 different projectiles that get thrown at you, each with its unique attributes.
As you might’ve guessed, you had to get 5 ingredients throughout the DLC for the Wondertart recipe by defeating bosses like the Doggone Dogfight. And now Saltbaker will use all of them against you! Here is a list of all the projectiles and how they behave to give you a better understanding of them:
The Flame is a projectile that is almost always on the screen. It never goes away, and you can’t exactly shoot it down; you need to avoid it in most cases. The Flame mostly sticks to the top of the screen, but every now and then, it begins to descend downwards to your location slowly. The slow speed makes it tricky as you never know when to time your dodges.
The next projectile that you need to worry about are the sugar cubes that get tossed across the screen. They will move up and down as they go past, and occasionally, there will be a pink one that can be parried.
The Lime Wedges are essentially like boomerangs. They can come either at a high level where you must crouch or low enough that you’ll need to jump over them. They’re relatively faster, but their sharp color and glittery particles make them hard to miss. Just look out for them bouncing back to come and get you.
The premise of the Strawberry projectiles is quite simple, but perhaps they’re the deadliest. Sharp-shaped strawberries will rain down diagonally from above.
The final projectile attack that the boss can dish out is the animal crackers that hop across the screen. Fortunately for you, you can actually take them down with your weapon. So, whenever you see one approaching, start firing!
Now that you know what projectiles to expect and how they’ll behave, let’s put them all together and discuss how you can deal with all of them. Individually, the projectiles might not be that hard to deal with. In fact, most of the regular fights in Cuphead have phases that include just 1 or 2 projectiles. But all 5 together can get tricky.
The most troublesome projectile that catches a lot of players off-guard is the Flame. Its slow movement and odd swaying motion make it highly unpredictable. Your best option when you see it descending and approaching you is to get as far back from it as possible. Eventually, it’ll rise again and go away.
The sugar cubes and animal crackers are perhaps the easier projectiles to deal with. The cubes float around slowly, and you can predict their linear motion. As for the animal crackers, you can shoot them down easily.
Strawberries and Lime Wedges can be dealt with by positioning yourself correctly. If you are on the opposite ends of the screen, the strawberry rain won’t be an issue.
For the boomerang limes, whenever you see the limes coming, remain in the center so you won’t be in the immediate path as they enter the screen.
One great tip for Chef Saltbaker in Cuphead is to keep an eye on him throughout the fight. He will always telegraph which projectile he’s about to throw at you next. There are unique animations of him slicing and dicing each ingredient before sending them over to you.
So, if you see him cutting up limes, expect the Lime Wedges. If you see that he’s preparing strawberries, then the strawberry rain would be next. Use similar tactics for all the projectiles to prepare yourself before they enter the arena.
If you’re struggling so far, you can try getting 9HP using the Djimmi and various other methods that are discussed here: Cuphead Hearty Achievement: All Methods.
After you defeat the first phase, Saltbaker will push you off the table, and now you’ll be using his hand as a platform. Throughout the fight, all 4 corners of the arena will have Pepper shakers which will be your main focus.
You can’t shoot Chef Saltbaker during the second phase and will instead need to aim at the Pepper shakers. But there will also be other projectiles that’ll float around too that you need to deal with.
There are primarily 3 projectiles in the second phase. These are the Peppercorn, Flame, and Herb Leaves.
The Flame is similar to the one from the first phase. But this time, it won’t be floating in the air and come down to attack you; instead, it’ll already be on the ground. It’ll still be slow, and you can’t shoot it away.
The Flame will slowly try to get closer to you, and when it’s close enough, it’ll hop up to you and try to hit you. But when it attacks is the best time for you to counter it. As it hops up for its attack, you’ll have plenty of space to run underneath it and avoid its attack completely.
As we mentioned, there will be Pepper Shakers on each corner of the screen during the second phase. Well, they also throw out projectiles that can be troublesome.
Similar to the Flame, the Peppercorns that’ll get emitted will be slow as they move towards you. But they don’t have a confusing path, nor do they bounce back, so you just need to ensure you dodge them once. There also will be pink Peppercorns every now and then that you can parry.
The final projectile that’ll bother you is the Herb Leaves. Just like the strawberries from the previous phase, they also rain down from the top. But instead of coming directly downwards, they’ll float around as they descend.
Initially, these leaves will be spaced out such that you can slip in between them easily. But as the battle goes on, they’ll start increasing in number, and the space between will get tighter, making it harder to dodge.
The best tactic to deal with them is to either complete the fight as quickly as possible or try to align yourself in-between before the leaves reach you.
Remember when we suggested the Charge Shot in the loadout? Well, now is the time to put it to work. The Charge Shot is your best friend during the second phase as it can take down the enemies in just 1.5 shots.
Your primary way of damaging Chef Saltbaker in the second phase of the Cuphead fight will be using the Pepper Shakers. As you damage them, they’ll fly off and hit the boss. The best way of damaging is using the charge-up ability of the Charge Shot.
You don’t need to focus on the top left or right Pepper Shakers, as the bottom left and right are directly in line with your shot and will do the trick. Shoot one fully charged shot and then immediately follow up with an uncharged shot. That’ll be enough damage to send the Pepper Shaker flying.
Your main strategy throughout the entire fight will be to shoot two shots at the Pepper Shaker on either of your sides. Avoid the projectiles and then shoot the one on the other side. Rinse and repeat till the phase ends.
The third phase is relatively smaller, and you don’t have to worry about that many attacks. In this phase, the boss will turn into a salt statue, appropriate to its name.
The salt statue will bounce around and can come crashing down on top of you as soon as it leaves the background and comes to attack you. But you can predict that the boss is about to crash on top of you as soon as you see it approaching you. Perform a dodge as soon as it crashes down to avoid any splash damage.
When the statue is in the arena, it will bounce around, and you can dodge it by getting underneath him. Keep shooting at him; it usually takes up to 3 fully charged shots to complete the phase.
Besides the salt statue, the only other attack that you need to keep an eye out for is the dough cutter moving along the ground. As it moves in a straight line, you can jump above it to dodge it.
The fourth and final phase of the Chef Saltbaker boss fight in Cuphead is also short but can get confusing because of the platforms. The platforms will continue to fall, and you need to keep climbing the newer ones to avoid taking any damage.
Furthermore, during the final phase, the boss will be in a heart shape, and you can continue to shoot it or even parry it to deal damage. The boss is relatively weaker in this phase, and you’ll be able to complete it as long as you don’t fall off the screen.
An additional tip is that you can actually use the heart-shaped boss to stay airborne by parrying him. It can be helpful if there are no immediate platforms to land on.
With that, you know everything about defeating Chef Saltbaker in the Cuphead DLC! The twist was certainly interesting, and the fight was equally hard. But once you defeat the boss, you’ll also unlock the “Compliments to the Chef” trophy, which you can learn more about here: How To 100% Cuphead Trophies & Achievements.
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