How to Beat the Royal Shellsplitter Early in Another Crab’s Treasure

The Royal Shellsplitter is the first world-boss you’ll see when exiting the tutorial area. Think Tree Sentinel from Elden Ring. He can be tough to beat at first, so I’ll provide some tips to make the fight easier. Here’s how to beat the Royal Shellsplitter in Another Crab’s Treasure.

Royal Shellsplitter Boss Guide in Another Crab’s Treasure

The Royal Shellsplitter in Another Crab’s Treasure gets progressively easier as you increase your stats for the first time, get a shell, unlock your Umami abilities, learn your first skills, and your first Adaptation. However, you don’t have to progress that far and unlock all five of these gameplay elements to beat it. I beat the Royal Shellsplitter with just my shell and a few stat upgrades.

More specifically, I increased my ATK to 5 and VIT to 3 after the Lobster Captain boss fight, where you unlock shells. You don’t necessarily need Umami abilities from the Mooncave, nor skills and Adaptations from the Duchess, though they all contribute to an easier fight. If you’ve unlocked Umami shell spells, I suggest the soda can because all the bubbles will hit the boss for great damage, and you get to step back. That said, if you’re not using Umami or haven’t unlocked it, I recommend equipping a Mussel and the Rusty Nail (Needs RES 3) Stowaways for ATK boosts, which is everything you need in this fight, really. You can farm microplastic from nearby large crabs with combs east of the Moonsnail Shell in front of the castle.

Furthermore, the crucial part of this fight, besides dodging attacks, is to keep pressuring the boss’ stagger meter. You want the stagger meter to fill up to full before hitting the Shellsplitter with a charged attack to knock it prone for extra damage. If you don’t land a hit for a few seconds, the bar starts dropping, so you always want to keep your attacks up, even if it’s just one per few seconds.

Royal Shellsplitter Tips in Another Crab’s Treasure

Here are all the moves you need to watch out for when fighting the Shellsplitter:

• Short-Range Slam: He does a basic frontal close-range slam, which you can dodge in all directions when he raises his weapon. Watch out at 50% HP because he’ll repeat this twice.
• High Damage Grab: The most important attack to watch out for is the red-skull grab attack in the form of a swipe with its left claw. When you see the red skull, wait a split-second for the windup. Dodge backward or to the left and then counter-attack.
• Shoulder Check: While you’re attacking its claw, the boss will sometimes do a “shoulder” slam attack, so dodge to the side if you see it curl up a bit.
• Long-Range Slam: When you see the blue skull he’ll do a frontal long-range slam attack, so dodge to either side. Don’t dodge backward since you’ll sometimes still get hit.
• Melee Howl: Lastly, he has an AOE howl that frightens you, causing you to curl up in your shell for a few seconds if the frighten bar is filled. Dodge backward multiple times when you see the boss do a sort of crouch.

Beating the Royal Shellsplitter gets you 500 microplastic, 5 skill points, a 1000 microplastic sellable item, and a special achievement.

That’s it for my guide on how to beat the Royal Shellsplitter early in Another Crab’s Treasure. For more ACT guides, check out how to use Barbed Hooks or best stowaways early.