You're standing there in the basement of Queen’s mansion, the music is pumping, and a giant, neurotic puppet is dangling from the ceiling trying to turn your soul into sourdough. Honestly, the first time most players run into the Spamton NEO boss fight in Deltarune Chapter 2, it feels less like a video game and more like a sensory overload nightmare. He’s fast. He’s loud. He has a nose that grows long enough to poke your eye out.
Learning how to beat Spamton NEO isn't just about fast fingers; it’s about understanding that Toby Fox basically turned the game into a classic bullet hell shooter for ten minutes. If you played Undertale, you remember the Mettalin EX or Yellow Soul mechanics. It’s that, but on high-speed internet steroids. Whether you are trying to Spare him or you've gone down the dark path of the Snowgrave route, the mechanics change, the stakes rise, and your patience will absolutely be tested.
The Basics You’re Probably Ignoring
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of his "Big Shot" attacks, we have to talk about your setup. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei need to be optimized. If you’re playing the normal route, you have the luxury of a full team. That changes everything.
Most people fail because they treat this like a standard turn-based RPG. It’s not. It’s a rhythm game where the rhythm is "don't die." You need the S.Potion and as many CD Bagels or Pink Candies as you can carry. Seriously. Don't go in there with half-empty pockets.
Movement is Everything
In the NEO fight, your soul turns yellow. You can fire bullets. You can charge up for a "Big Shot."
But here’s the thing: most players hold down the fire button and hope for the best. That’s a mistake. Spamton’s hitboxes are weirdly specific. You want to tap for precision and hold for crowd control. When he launches those tiny little floating "S" heads, a charged shot will clear a path, but rapid-fire is better for pinning down his heart when it pops out of his chest.
Keep your movement small. Tiny circles. If you dash all over the box, you’re going to run face-first into a stray Pipis.
How to Beat Spamton NEO: The Spare Route
If you’re trying to be a pacifist, you aren't trying to deplete his HP. You're trying to cut his strings. This is a battle of attrition.
You have a few "Act" options here. "Snap" is the standard, but it only cuts a tiny percentage. "SnapAll" is better if you can afford the TP, but it requires the whole team to be conscious. Then there’s "X-Action," which lets your teammates help out.
The strategy is simple but hard to execute:
- Prioritize Ralsei's Healing. If Ralsei goes down, your ability to sustain the fight drops to zero.
- Defend with Susie. Unless you have enough TP to use a "Snap" action, let Susie graze bullets to build meter.
- The Phone Attack. When Spamton turns into a giant telephone and starts shouting "Ring Ring," stay in the middle. The projectiles curve. If you hug the walls, you’ll get trapped.
It’s a long fight. Expect it to take several minutes of perfect concentration. You’re essentially waiting out a timer while a madman screams about deals and 1997.
Dealing with the Pipis (The Blue Eggs)
Let’s talk about the Pipis. Those blue, egg-like things. They are the bane of every Deltarune player's existence.
👉 See also: Why Eternal Academy Queen Vega is Dominating the Meta Right Now
When Spamton shoots them, they explode into a cross-pattern of fragments. If you let them get too close before you shoot them, you're toast. You have to intercept them at the "mid-range." Shoot them too early, and you might miss because of the angle. Shoot them too late, and the shrapnel hits you.
Actually, there’s a trick to the Pipis. If you see him preparing the "Mailbox" attack where he spits them out rapidly, don't panic. Move to the far left of the box and just focus on vertical movement. The spread is predictable once you see it a few times.
The Snowgrave Struggle: A Different Beast
Now, if you’re doing the "Weird Route" (Snowgrave), everything I just said? Throw half of it out the window.
In Snowgrave, Kris is alone. No Ralsei to heal you. No Susie to tank hits. It is just you and a much, much stronger version of Spamton NEO. This version has higher defense and hits like a freight train.
To beat him here, you have to be a master of the X-Slash and Fried Pipis (if you managed to get it). You don't have the luxury of cutting strings. You have to fight.
- The Big Shot Glitch: There used to be a glitch where you could spam the Big Shot by pressing two buttons at once. Most modern patches have fixed this or made it significantly harder to pull off. Don't rely on it.
- Healing is limited. You have to use your turns wisely. If you’re at 40% health, you heal. Don't "Greed" for another hit. One mistake in the Snowgrave fight usually leads to a Game Over screen within two turns.
Those Annoying Face Attacks
Mid-way through the fight, Spamton’s face starts falling apart and attacking you. The eyes, the nose, the mouth—they all fly off.
The Mouth attack is arguably the worst. He shoots out words like "VALUE" and "DEAL." These words bounce. The trick is to stay near the bottom-left corner and only move when a word is directly on a collision course with your soul.
The Nose attack is just a distraction. The "noses" fly in a straight line. Just weave. Don't overthink it. If you start worrying about the nose, you'll miss the eyes coming in from the side.
Why You Keep Failing the Final Phase
When Spamton NEO gets low on health (or his strings are nearly cut), he enters a "Final Power" mode. He grows huge. He starts using an attack where he basically tries to suck your soul into a vortex while firing everything he’s got.
This is where people choke.
The key here is pulsing your shots. Don't just hold the button. You need to keep up a steady stream of fire to push back the projectiles, but you also need to focus on your positioning. The gravity pull in this phase is strong. You have to constantly fight against the "vacuum" effect.
Focus on the center of the screen. Most of the lethal bullets come from the periphery. If you stay centered and keep your fire rate high, you can survive the duration of the desperation move.
Nuance: The "Gamer" Strategy vs. The "Safe" Strategy
There are two ways to look at this fight.
The Gamer Strategy: You graze everything. You stay as close to the bullets as possible to build TP (Tension Points) instantly. This lets you use "SnapAll" or "Heal Prayer" every single turn. It’s risky. One pixel of overlap and you’re dead.
The Safe Strategy: You stay as far away as possible. You only use "Snap" and you use your items early. This takes longer. It’s boring. But it’s much more consistent for people who aren't Touhou veterans.
Honestly, a mix is best. Graze the easy attacks (like the floating heads) and play like a coward during the hard ones (the phone or the Pipis blizzard).
Technical Tidbits and Lore Context
People often ask if the armor you wear matters. Yes. Absolutely. If you have the BounceBlade or the MechaRobe, use them. Defense points in Deltarune aren't just for show; they significantly reduce the "chip damage" from small bullets, which is usually what actually kills you—not the big hits.
👉 See also: Slot Machines Online Free: What Most People Get Wrong About No-Risk Play
Also, fun fact: Spamton's defense is actually lower when he's using certain attacks. If you’re on the fight route, pay attention to his animations. When he’s "distracted" by his own dialogue, that’s your window to go all out.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Attempt
Stop jumping back into the fight immediately after dying. You’re tilted. Take a breath.
- Check your inventory. Do you have the TopDish? The SpinCake? If not, go get them. They are infinitely better than a standard Candy.
- Clean your keyboard or controller. I’m serious. A sticky "Z" or "Enter" key will get you killed when you're trying to fire Big Shots.
- Watch the Heart. Your hitbox is just the very center of the heart. You can actually overlap the edges of your heart with a bullet and not take damage. Use that knowledge to squeeze through gaps that look impossible.
- Listen to the music. Toby Fox times many of the attack transitions to the BPM of the track. If you get the rhythm down, you’ll know exactly when an attack is about to end before it actually does.
The Spamton NEO fight is a test of endurance more than anything else. He’s a "Big Shot," sure, but he’s also a glitchy mess. He’s predictable if you stop looking at the flashing lights and start looking at the patterns.
Go back in there. Cut those strings. Or blast him into digital dust. Just don't let the music get stuck in your head for the next three weeks (it will anyway).
Focus on the Pipis. Master the Big Shot. Don't forget to heal Ralsei. You’ve got this.