How to beat General Altan Boss in The Rogue Prince of Persia

General Altan is a terrifying boss fight to approach in the villainous Prince of Persia. Of the actors introduced to the game, they are by far the least human in appearance, and they arm their monstrous bodies in the boss fight. Similar to Berude and Baatar, you need a lot of mobility and an awareness of their attack patterns.

The trick to winning this battle is to use the arena to your advantage. In fitting Prince of Persia style, once you master ducking over walls and ceilings this fight becomes much easier and perhaps a more reliable way to reach the palace than challenging Berude.

How to reach Altan

The balcony can be found in Public Bathsan alternative third level to the outer ramparts. The easiest way to reach this place is through the outskirts of the village and aqueduct levels.

Access to the public baths requires accumulating some other progress milestones. It appears to be available after you defeat Berude for the first time.

If you haven't yet rescued Shahin, this route is also the perfect setting to progress that quest as you'll need to interact with NPCs and locations in both of these areas before reaching the prison, the next area after the Public Baths.

Best loadouts to fight Altan

As an option for the first boss, you don't want to devote too many of your upgrades and skills to specifically beating Altan; there's still plenty of content to go through after winning, and not every loadout will help you against later fights like Baatar. Certain upgrades and equipment will help you defeat him the first time and give you some leeway as you learn his attack patterns.

Anahita upgrades are a good choice for the encounter. You will almost always have a full set of potions with you in the fight, maximizing your survivability. Anahita's Blessing reduces damage while in the water.

Although it is normally unreliable, in this encounter it will functionally always be active. Anahita's radiance is also a consistent one technique to break protective auras which does not depend on Altan using a specific attack pattern.

Anahita upgrades are also a tasty choice to combat Altan, who can't leave the healing bath without his curse compounding. His entry in Nyamtur's book notes that he is afraid of people “stealing his bodily healing fluids.”

Verethragna upgrades also work well and are useful towards later levels; tool attacks are good for safely damaging Altan between his attacks, and Verethragna's vitality lets you regenerate energy slowly while dodging and keeping distance.

Genius Verethragna greatly increases tool damage; this doesn't give you enough ranged power to never need your normal weapons, but allows you to attack during patterns that would otherwise be too risky.

The strongest weapons are those that enable elemental synergy attacks. The poisoned claw is best for thisas it can add its status over long distances. The censer is a close second but requires good timing for when to stop moving and light it, so pair these weapons with medallions that can give you additional elements, like resin to create big damage combos.

Another set of weapon choices are those with extra range: Altan's slow projectiles and wide swings make dangerous to use short weapons like daggersas they give you less time to get away after attacking.

For tools you want access to different attacks or mobility options.

• The chakram can consistently hit an enemy multiple times when their position is static and Altan rarely moves. The bow is a simpler fire-and-forget weapon that you can weave in whenever you can.
• Berude's Gauntlet can be used when jumping over a vertical wave for a risky counterattack, while stealth can increase the time you stay in the air if you dodge too early or too late.
• Avoid using the saw blade or grappling hook against Altan. The backswing of the saw blade can easily hit you when you're worried about dodging other attacks, while the grappling hook doesn't do much damage with no environmental hazards to combo with.

Altan's attack pattern

Altan's attacks are all themed around either his tentacles or the water he depends on. His combat has a strong emphasis on vertical dodging, with most attacks targeting either the ceiling or the floor and can be easily avoided if you switch between the two.

Altan's second and third phases

After losing a third of his health, Altan will be temporarily invulnerable until he gets a chance to start his second phase. Most attacks remain largely the same, with the addition of his water lances when standing in the middle of the room. At this stage, it strikes five times in a row.

This is repeated when he only has a third of his health left, further intensifying his attacks but not adding any new moves. The water lances will strike eight times now.

The most notable change in Altan's attack pattern is vertical waves will now be used repeatedly in quick succession. Twice at first, with a third wave added in his end phase. You will no longer be able to jump over the first wave and then immediately counterattack, but must stay on the roof until all waves have passed.

Flipping over Altan is still a viable way to avoid the vertical waves only when he's at the edge of the arena. If you climb over him in the middle of the arena,
he will change the direction of the second and third waves.