Crypt of the Serpent King (UP)

I once again lured all 28 knights with the halberds back to the lava pits to kill the at a distance.

I managed to kill them all without taking damage and got to the boss with full HP.

I managed to buy the sword going into Level 5 and had stats (Strength/Endurance/Agility) of 1/1/10.

Most of the knights died in two hits, although one took 3. Interestingly, none died in the pit this time, so I got full XP.

This strategy involves a lot of excessive jumping on Level 5 where platforming is the most finicky. I found it best to running jump onto the platforms while using the "stationary jump then press forward" technique to vacate them. Interestingly, I actually died 3 times getting ON the platforms, possibly because increasing my Agility to max messed up the jumping timing.

I found the boss challenging as I had to modify my tactics again.

Without any XP points assigned to Endurance, I died on the third hit from the boss when starting at full health.

The mummy boss attacks more or less constantly, making timing challenging. I died the first time when I tried a very tight circle strafe right up against the boss because A) the boss never stops attacking and B) I had a hard time hitting the boss on the move, but often got hit if I stopped to attack.

On my second successful run, I used a constant circle strafe with a wide circumference trying to leave space between the boss and myself. It is helpful to have the reticle turned on in the Options menu to know when your attacks have the highest chance of success.

I held the Left Analog stick fixed in place around the 9 o'clock position, while trying to make small adjustments with the Right analog stick to try to aim the reticle until it turns red, where I would briefly stop spinning and close the distance to attack. If successful, the boss' attack animation will pause momentarily, allowing you to restart your spin.

I was only at base Strength 1 with the Sword, but I estimate it took about 12 successful hits.

For this Level, just keep doing what you've been doing to get here. By now, you should have Agility and Endurance turned up as high as possible (probably nearly maxed out, if you've been killing lots of monsters). Save up for the sword as early as you can, as it's the best weapon, but on Hard, I actually had better luck getting each melee weapon in turn, one after another, in order of price. But you should buy the most expensive weapon you can afford, between levels.

To fight the enemies, you can walk near them or let them get close to you, then back up as soon as they start to strike. As soon as you've dodged the strike, attack and move forward to land a blow just before they attack again. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes, you can get in enough strikes to kill them after their first attack, but it can be risky. Sometimes they use a quick attack that can squeeze in between your own attacks, so it's probably better to play it safe (since there are no health refills on Hard).

It kind of works on the boss, too, but I found it easier to strafe around bosses and swing your weapon when the crosshairs would line up (the crosshairs turn red when you are in range and lined up, but you have to time it with the actual impact of your weapon). In fact, on hard, I found it to be good practice to use this method on most of the enemies. If you are strafing in a circle around them, they can't seem to hit you (they swing, and then you've strafed out of the way before impact). If you have room and you can get proficient at this method, you can avoid taking damage at all!

If you need more detailed help, check out the Solution for beating level 7 on Hard: