Boss Battle Terminology

Reflecting Projectiles - the boss's projectile must be thrown, deflected or lured toward the boss to damage it. Possibly considered popular due to often constituting a non-aggressive counterattack on the part of the player-character.

Decoy - more than one weak spot is visible, but only one causes the boss to receive damage when attacked. Often, attacking a Decoy causes detrimental effects on the player.

Simultaneous Strike - all of the Weak Spots must be hit simultaneously in order to hit the boss.

Brick Shield - the weak spot is completely protected by a barrier which must receive damage to be destroyed.

Steel Shield - the weak spot is ineffectively protected by an indestructible barrier, which serves to hinder unfocused, direct attacks.

Shield Generators - the weak spot is completely protected by a barrier which can only be destroyed by damaging one or more Weak Spots external to the boss. Different from swarm boss.. in that the shield's Weak Spots are not autonomous. Different from Arena Weak Spot in that destroying the shield does not harm the boss.

Arena Weak Spot - the boss can only be harmed by triggering Weak Spots within the Arena itself.

Ring Out - the boss can only be harmed by making it leave the arena, usually by falling. Often, the boss is only staggered by direct attacks. Often, damage to arena elements (either by player or boss attacks) is necessary.

Swarm Boss - defeating several drones within the arena either damages the boss or advances the battle.

Switching Targets - the boss has many weak spots, but only one is active at any time. Often switches rapidly between weak points.

Stick And Move - the weak spot is only available for a duration after the boss unleashes an attack.

Pre-Emptive Strike - the weak spot is only available for a duration before the boss unleashes an attack.

Swarm Barrier - the weak spot is surrounded by drones. Destroying or evading the drones is necessary to attack the weak spot, but complete elimination is either unnecessary or impossible.

Flinch - after receiving a single hit of damage, the boss becomes momentarily immune to damage. This nullifies the effect of splash weapons, which usually deal several hits per second. A flinching boss cannot receive hits at a greater rate than what their flinch period allows.

Discrete Damage - the boss is overwhelmed not by strength of attacks, but by quantity of attacks. Every attack dealt to the boss does about equal damage. Such bosses nearly always Flinch, and nearly always have low HP (often expressed in counter form as a row of icons).

Continuous Damage - the boss receives damage at variable rates depending on strength and quantity of attacks, and often never flinches. Often its weak spot is always revealed.

Finishing Blow - the battle does not advance once the boss's HP is extinguished. You must use a different attack or hit a different weak spot to proceed.