Boss Breakdown: How to beat Nightmare King Grimm (NKG) - Hollow Knight
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2024
- A full breakdown of Hollow Knight's Nightmare King Grimm fight to make it easy. It includes his attacks and how to dodge, best time to heal and when to do damage. How to beat NKG and make it easy.
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0:00 Intro
0:29 What We Have
1:34 Moveset
7:35 Healing
8:28 The Fight
Troupe Master Grimm: • Boss Breakdown: How to...
A few simple tricks to make the fight easy for anyone struggling to get better at the fight.
Feel free to check me out live over at / horizonshield 
Игры
![Hollow Knight: The Grimm Troupe - 2 New Bosses [No Damage]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qXe9HIUY93c/mqdefault.jpg)
This is impissible. I think I just lack the reaction to dodge his attacks consistently. Edit: nvm, got him
Congrats!!
Lmao
Character development
WWWWW
When I first fought NKG I instantly accepted that I was never going to defeat him, I already had to break out the lifeblood build with regular Grimm. However now I've beaten him on radiant difficulty.
You Know You’re F*cked When A Hollow Knight Boss Has A Full Screen Introduction Title.
Wha - wha.. 436 TRYS?
@@burgesskids2101 ?
@@alexthepro9396 Thats how long it took me to beat NKG. 4 hours.
@@burgesskids2101 didnt you say 436 attempts? Not 4 Hours?
@@alexthepro9396 Sorry, confusion there. 4 hours spent fighting NKG, 436 attempts to beat NKG.
Don’t panic jump is good advice…I just keep landing in the fire!
easier said than done
I don't think I've ever died that quick to a boss before.
I died within 3 attacks
@@The_Pure_form_of_Autismdayum, that means u had 6 masks when u fought him, just like me
I have all masks and I died in 5 😭
I was practicing beating regular grimm on ascended in godhome for this fight and was way too cocky. Going from beating him without taking damage to getting my teeth kicked in lol, this is a great guide, I’m going to try to beat him soon :) morally it’s better to banish the troupe but I just want that steam achievement.
But that means you loss Grimm child
@@MrDykstra2108 Eh, Carefree Melody is a better charm anyway.
@@Nomen_Latinum but Grimm child is better morally
@@Nomen_Latinum it is, but dont be a hater to someone who brings grimmy in fog canyon
@@earthUSOA7705 I broke the Delicate Flower on accident when I brought him there
Well after watching the video I can now consistently get to the 1st pufferfish phase, before dieing on or right after it, which shows I'm improving. Better than dieing 5 secs after the fight starts.
Glad to see someone else is/ was exactly where I am in this fight. Finally got to the first puffer fish stage 3 times tonight but die almost immediately afterwards. PLEASE tell me you ended up beating him? It'd make me feel like I might stand a chance of I give it a few more days. Lol
@@ericl2811 did you end up beating it? I’m at the same point that you were both at
@@luissolis3742 yea, took me a couple days but once I got him to half health I randomly beat him one time. Just keep trying and you'll get there eventually!
i got to the 2nd pufferfish stage today. pretty good progress! :)
I'm going to estimate it took me about 100 attempts to defeat NKG. I found Sharp Shadow to be extremely useful to capitalize on every single dash I made as well as Strength and Shaman Stone. It really does turn into a dance once you get his rhythm down.
Yeah, sharp shadow is my go to for this fight. But you should be aware of the extra distance or you will go into grimm. ;-;
4:03 well technically the attack has bigger range than the first fight and it's faster
It caught me off guard so many time because I thought it is the same as before
Oh and I forgot to say there's one extra fire ball at the end
🤓
@@getoofedonn9401 nerd moment approved
@@getoofedonn9401 ?
Thanks for all the tips !
What helped me most is to experiment learning "only" to dodge with as max life as possible, I used all 3 charms that give life including but not limited to joni's blessing. This helped me survive more in beginning and thus learn the enemy attacks faster with slower deaths. I used to lose in 5-10 seconds tops (no comment). It took more than 20-30 tries but once I was able to reliably pass the 2nd puffer phase with my low damage (zero charms for damage after all), I figured it was time to switch to a normal setup with more dps. I utilized the hiveblood charm for my healing needs and it worked amazingly well because at that point you are good enough to not be hit constantly every few seconds so its a win win. Hiveblood + sharp shadow (amazing extra damage once you learn how to time it on the enemy dash uppercut attack especially), and unbreakable strength (obvious damage reasons). This is what did it for me. It did not take a lot of tries with hiveblood. It felt from beginning that it's doable.
I would like to note that with this strategy I never even used spells apart of an odd heal during his stagger phase. Healing was not really needed hiveblood took care of it thankfully. This is actually a super hard boss to try to heal. I have no idea how people are so good to be able to time even their heals in such an intense fight where every split second can mean loss of 2 life, but for me this was 100% impossible. Yes I am very bad with spells and this includes attack spells, I have to say spells in this game are simply not for me. I wish I could use them better, but it seems like I am simply a nail guy. (lol) Granted, its not like I never tried to use them, I am just so bad at them that all that animation messes up my eye and hand coordination and I always end up doing crap losing life after casting almost anything (yes in most hard bosses that much is true). Unfortunately I don't use nail arts either, its simply too hard for my controls, again messes me up.
I would also like to note that for me, the hardest enemy attack to dodge but also get a hit in, was by far the diagonal dash attack. Super fast, doesn't leave room for any error, the fire trail left behind is beyond annoying and in the end the only way I was able to avoid it was just jump or dash away fast enough and then jump and dash in the opposite direction. Under no circumstances was I able to throw a hit in during this phase except very rare cases where I ended up just by luck pogoing on standing grimm before he disappeared. This doesnt always work and can easily be self-hit instead.
But who cares I just beat this, and I never thought I could do it! After doing this, hopefully Radiance and the 3rd pantheon at least become also beatable. :D My next goals. ^^ Thanks again.
You left a whole essay
Literally I have the EXACT same issues with the game (casting and nail arts are *always* a whiff whenever I use them, so it's a waste of time to try) and I sadly haven't beaten NKG and don't think I'll ever be able to. I want Grimmchild but it looks like Carefree Melody is in my future if this takes any more days...
If you've beaten Nkg don't worry about Radiance, you can do it. I've beaten Radiance and I'm struggling with Nkg, I can guarantee Radiance is easier. I recommend spamming abyss shriek as soon as he appears and of course watching tutorials like this helps a lot. Best of luck.
nah even after years and having done p4 and all other achievements, radiance is still the hardest thing for me in this game. Harder than pure vessel as well lol.@@cristinagordilloarevalo1989 Even tutorials didn't help but its ok.
this is quite helpful, while my brothers help is...
me: did you ever beat nkg?
brother: nah he's the hardest boss.
Me: so why did you tell me to max out grimmchild?
brother: easy. just beat nkg.
Hello
Bro can u check what nail polish colors you have?
He isn't the hardest tho
@@universal_pawn7442 Aside from GPZ he is.
@@thenerdlord8894 nah he is easy if you know his attacks he became ez after that
Bro thank you.
After about an hour looking for a way to kill NKG, I found this video. Your recommended charm build and move breakdown finally just made something click, and after a few tries I could hitless the first half of the fight. I just beat him, thanks.
You earned yet another subscriber, but you deserve 100k.
Super helpful guide! Thanks! Just beat it with only 8 notches and and coiled nail
I love this boss fight, the design, the music, the badass intro, the "dance" one you figure out his moves. It's really something else.
Did you u just say ‘Nightmare’ 3 times in five seconds……
*and it made sense*
When?
Really great video man helped me beat him and you also helped me beat the regular version!
I hate the uppercut fire attack. Every time I try to dodge threw it he back dashes. It’s so annoying.
Same I hate how he back dashes
I hate it more than anything
Yeah ikr it killed me when i was so Close to beating him
You have to wait till he dashes towards you otherwise you’ll just kill your self
I also have some advice for this boss for AOE of the attacks that can be harder to pull off but offer more damage. His attack where he quickly dashes in your direction from the sky that also summons a fire trail should at first be avoided via the advice in the video, but instead of dashing away from him, if he is near a wall you can reach him in time to pogo his head as he begins to teleport away which grants you 1 extra hit (also works if he’s not near a wall but harder to pull off) The next attack is his forward attack into an uppercut, you normally only get time to hit him once and maybe twice with quickslash, if you don’t have his charm or want a higher chance of hitting him twice than when you see him use this attack, jump, pogo him, and hit him in the back as he goes into the air. For the pufferfish attack just spam spells if you want to deal damage, and charge up a nail art and once he ends the attack, use a dash slash or great slash to deal damage before he can teleport away. For his Flame pillar attack you should have have Stready Body for max DPS or you should spam spells. If you want to go for nail swings than jump up, hit him twice with the Quick Slash charm, shadow dash through him, and hit him 2 more times and than use an Abyss shriek after avoiding the last Flame pillar
Thank you so much bro, I have been struggling so hard. This has helped me so much.
Couldn't have done it without out you
THANK YOU! Still stuck with him but I'm very close to beating him
I can easily dodge every one of his attacks except the god forsaken CLOAK SPIKE THINGS. There’s a 50/50 chance I’ll make it, and when I don’t it’s because I panicked and tried to move out of the way when I was already in the clear, or because I tried to stay still when I wasn’t in the clear
hey, have you beaten it yet? :D proud of you!
@@wynseas I did beat him! On radiant mode, actually!
@@ibegyounottoask9131 great job!!!
Thanks for these guides, they so deserve more views!
ikr!
I find his pillar attack the easiest spot to heal, when the 4th pillar lights in the ground, you walk away and heal as he stays in the air until the attack is done, but I recommend to have Quick Focus equipped
Thank you for this guide it helped a lot
I found out that shape of unn can help heal during the fire bat attack. This probably happens cause your hit box shrinks but you can completely dodge all of the fire bats and heal at the same time. You can do it during the fire pillars too (just move while slugged)!
Heal = Getting hurt right after
I recommend lifeblood
You can dash through his uppercut and you wont get hit by the fire, you can heal there if you have quick foucs
That's if you hold a direction after that, just walking back and hitting it with a nail and staying close to avoid them a lot easier is better.
Thanks for the tips !
It helped me practicing without hitting him for the first dozen or two attempts. It's like learning a dance. Dodging consistently is more important than trying to burst him down in my experience. The panic is real as well! Knowing each pufferfish is a 25% marker, I started freaking out going from 2nd to the 3rd pufferfish phase - but remind yourself THE FIGHT STAYS THE SAME! If you can have a clean 1st phase, you theoretically have the fight down!
Man. This is gold I hope You cover every BOSS and pqntheons. I'm fighting NKG Right now and he kills me in the blink of an eye I'm trying your tips. I beat Master Grim with your help
Valuable guide. Thank you.. hopefully any the time read, I will have beaten him myself.
This guide helped a lot and I was able to beat it after I lost to the 3rd pufferfish attack 3 times
Your calmness makes it look so easy, I think you sir deserve a pat on the back. Impressive stuff.
Thanks for this!
After I watched this video, I died about 50 times. Watched it again, died over 50 more times, but then I finally got him! Damn he was super hard, but I was SO satisfied when I finally beat him! This video really helped a lot despite dying 100+ times and trying for hours!
Ty bro for your tips 💡, finally I can beat that boss!!!!! Ufffff
thanks for the info bro
This tutorial has worked the best for me than any other. Thank you.
Edit: I just beat him
Bro you make the best tutorials ❤❤❤
i honestly found this fight harder than radiance, jesus christ he's fast - i had to do the whole thing with my eyes unfocused just to keep up and see the whole arena, it was really helpful seeing you whoop him in your battle footage beforehand though! cheers man!
Thanks so much
Damn you for making this look so easy!
I was so proud when I completed the coliseum of fools, now I just feel like a fool
I personally prefer a build of Grimm child (obviously) quick slash, unbreakable strength, (could swap for the shaman stone if you don’t have it), grub song, and sharp shadow. Sharp shadow is huge, the amount of free damage you can deal is huge. Usually in hollow knight, your top priority should be dodging, especially with a boss that deals two masks of damage, then you attack when there’s an opening. By using the shade cloak to dash through Grimm, your not only dodging safely, but dealing free, safe damage at the same time. Lastly, respond to Grimms attacks, don’t challenge him. I usually stand still until Grimm attacks, then dodge his attack, and stand still again. This always puts me in a great position to dodge, I’m never in an uncomfortable position at the start of one of his attacks.
And also, practice is huge. When I first fought this guy, it took me a good 75 tries, but every try, I got better. Now, his attacks are tied down to muscle memory, and I can do it hit less pretty comfortably.
Sharp Shadow was definitely a lifesaver for me. Every single dash was crucial, even if it was to get that extra distance between the fire bats attack to get those 2 nail hits on him. I also had Unbreakable strength
strength and Shaman Stone 🙂
Tbh i find sharp shadow pretty bad, it always just ends up getting me caught right after the down slash attack as Grimm can just change direction that i never otherwise anticipated as i pogo on him immediately after he comes down.
another piece of advice, during his fire bird attack thing if you have a nail art ready, when you dash in between the first wave of birds and do a dash slash that can be some more easy damage and follow it up by still hitting him 2-3 times
Nail arts are overpowered in his battle.
I found that the quick focus charm was really useful as it lets you heal more often if you need to and heal during times you aren’t supposed to you can also combo it with the shape of un charm to move while your healing fairly quickly
I couldn’t get to the first puffer fish before watching this video, after watching it I was able to no hit him. That is no exaggeration whatsoever, this video was the most helpful one I’ve ever watched.
During the second playthrough, I used the same tricks) And came up with them myself. Except for one thing - when Grim does a Dash and Vertical Slam, it is not necessary to move. The fire will not reach you if you remain in place at this moment. This moment can be used for healing if you have a healing talisman. and also, if you started fighting the boss before you unlocked all the upgrades, you can deal 1-2 hits on Grimm during the "eruption".
And yes, I completed it in the shortest possible time, without even pumping all the skills, because I wanted to go through the game with Grim Child as long as possible, using a mod to change the characteristics of this talisman. No, I just removed the number of slots and cut the damage of the 4th nail and ran the rest of the game with him because he is a cutie).
My charm loadout for this fight was spell twister, soul eater and shape of unn. shape of unn actually allows you to heal up to 3 masks during the flame pillar attack if you're careful, which definitely saved my skin. it was the defining charm in my build and made me build around the idea of soul conservation. during the bat attack you can unload a vengeful spirit and then a nail hit for a little extra damage. the three charms in combination let me heal a lot and not sacrifice spell power too much. i recommend it a lot for anyone struggling!
How long did the fight take with this build lol
Bro should be a corner man in mma giving advice between each round, so much valuable info. God bless u brother
Holy shit thank you so much!👍
after like 2 weeks of on and off attempts I did it :D tyy
Also in the fire rain attack if you dash into him there is always a safe spot and you can use that time to heal one mask
FINALY BEAT HIM!!!
Thanks.
For anybody looking for another way to do this, I used grimmchild (duh) quick focus, deep focus, (Qf makes DF go the normal focus speed) grubsong incase I’m in a pinch, and sprint master for extra speed, what they fail to mention is the more passive way to do it, remember when in doubt WALL HUG, hug either wall and stay put, unless he does the foam pillar, walk out, hit him one time and keep walking to the other wall (if your good enough hit him twice but if you suck I highly reccomend only once) the walls are your friend, in the puffer fish phase, do your absolute best not to grip onto the wall with claw.
Btw when he uppercuts you at the wall, dash through him, then move back to the wall (it’s safe from the fire balls) when the flame charges, jump over him then monarch jump back to the wall, DO NOT follow him when he flame charges.
Tysm bro!
Finally beat it after 3 days, thx for the tip
For me, im using "quick focus" because i can heal during the fight; after the 4th pillar, during spike, when NKG turn into bat, i can heal 3 bar.
If u did not have "sharp shadow", please get it 1st. It sure helps a lot.
As remaining slot, i just use "sprintmaster" and "defender's crest"
My initial problem was evading his dash + fireball from above move, untill i learned that by dashing away or through him, then dashing back just beside his jumpspot can perfectly dodge the fireball
Another good tip: charge a Nail Art between attacks, most of his attacks have an opening for you to use that instead of a normal slash, for big damage! the main exception is the flaming dash, which is much harder to punish with a nail art instead of a pogo.
Thank you for the tips. It only took me 5 hours 47 minutes and my sanity to beat Nightmare King Grimm.
7:50 There is actually another very save spot to heal, but only for one mask. It's after his lover dash. If you dash away from him and stand still, you can heal once while NKG is dashing up and sending this five fireballs. Fireballs never hit spot right in front of place from where NKG dash up. It actually let me win this fight, because I couldn't staggered him consistently to heal this way.
you make it look so easy. i know I've only tried this fight twice but gad dam I wish I was as fluent as you
honestly I get hit way to much during this fight to not use a healing build. my build was shape of unn, grimm child, deep focus, and quick focus. This makes it a good time to heal during the flame pillar attack and usually you can still manage to get a hit in after healing. I also think shape of unn lets you go under the fire bat attack, but I have not tested that one.
i think thisll help me tackle him again! thanks :)
During his dive and dash you can also hit him during the dash and when he stands up getting two hits for the attack, however be warned if he you swing to late he will stand up into you and be careful not to miss otherwise you would land into the fire
thanks! I beat him second try after watching the video
Glowing womb is useful since the flies that it shoots out can actually stagger grimm, unlike weaverlings. His stagger value is 14, and when he's staggered you can heal twice. I suggest combining it with soul eater so you don't run out, it's useful if you are bad at casting spells, as it essentially lets you auto cast for less damage.
Took me 2 hours of pain trying to take him down, but after 1 hour and 30 minutes I switched to controller and things got so much easier than I expected
you can heal if you jump and duck under the last flame bat, unlike the cloth spikes it gives you time to regen 1 mask
A Better Charm Setup Is Quickslash Unbreakable/Fragile Strength(cause its a dream fight anyways) Quick Focus and grimmchild. Strength and quick slash let’s you deal tons of damage and quick focus Adds SO MUCH healing Opportunities. Like during the spikes which you can do normally but you need really good reaction time, It also lets you heal 3 when nkg is stunned instead of 2 and also allows easy healing after the fourth flame pillar in the flame pillar attack. And Grimmchild Cause You Have To. And Also DO NOT let nkg corner you or else the double lunge attack will hit you because there’s nowhere to jump and shade dash won’t work cause of the fire trail. After You Beat nkg once or twice nkg becomes easier than regular radiance.
Thanks buddy. I just discovered this dude Horizon. Your build was best for me. Got Nightmare Grimm in about hour n half thanks to this dudes video and your recommendation. I never used Quickfocus through entire game 100+%. It helped with Nightmare Grimm.
I’m glad I helped you beat Nkg
I just completed this boss (without looking for tips and strategies first, which is what I always do). Yeah... my fight looked nothing like this!
I actually used the corners of the arena. All his attacks a dodgeable from there if you get the rhythm down. I used sharp shadow to help. Admittedly, I got fewer attacks in, so the fight took longer, but I got there in the end.
Y'all make it look so ez. T_T
Nice vid, thanks.
Great tip for NKG: Beat him
Nah but seriously my charm build was lifeblood core / heart with joni's blessing and frag heart for increased health and not getting hurt when healing and nailmasters glory because nail arts actually work perfectly on him in his bat attack and his pillar attack also with an abyss shriek combo.
Trust me, healig is the main reason I died so much, don't use healing, just use lifeblood and nail arts.
And yes I liked my own comment.
EDIT: i got him!!!!!!
this guy is currently whooping my ASS after a good 5-6 hours of doing nothing but this fight. that being said, it's definitely helped to just continuously play against this guy again and again as you start to anticipate everything (including even the pufferfish fireballs, which was a HUGE breakthrough for me)
the best thing i could have done was learn how to dodge the pufferfish attacks and find the best places to heal. before, i could easily complete phase 1 with full health and die from those damned fireballs. once i learned how to navigate them better, things are becoming a lot easier! theres actually a lot more healing opportunities than you might think! one is after the fourth fire pillar begins, and another is when he does his vertical fire attack, where if u dash through him and dont move you wont be hit, leaving a window for a full mask heal! i am so close to beating this guy, i can feel it!
(the charms i used are unbreakable strength, grimmchild (required), sharp shadow (a HUMONGOUS asset), grubsong, and quick slash! my nail is upgraded to pure, and i recommend that definitely because it makes the opportunities for you to die to decrease IMMENSELY each phase.
i could heal pretty consistently after his bat attack just jump dash and immediately focus and get ready for another attack
Thanks man now I can do nkg hitless
Wait question so when you start the battle he bows you can hit him he screams then he does the thing where you had gotten rid of like a quarter of his health does it really do that
Worst thing about this entire fright is the heartbeat
However tough this boss is fighting him is so much fun that i never get pissed at him
Man really good video, now it's up to me to git gud
personally i like trying to parry his dash uppercut attack because it can get you an extra hit on him
Would you recommend filling up your soul with Charm Ladys Blessing (forgot her name)? I think it is help üful but it delays each one of you atempts
Salubra? Also, I thought it disappeared when u enter the fight like with godhome, but I just tested it and I still have it in the dream! Thanks
I just dedicated an hour to fighting it each day and got it on like day 4 or something, once you get a strat down for each attack, it's not all that bad.
You make it look so easy
I have a safest but slower way:
-Always go to the center after dodging
-The moment you see him, you dash away from him and if:
1- He is throwing bats - you have to jump dash and attack him (1 or 2 hits)
2- He dashes to you from the ground and then jumps - you can hit him once before he jumps
3- He dashes to you from the air and then continues the dash from the ground - you have to jump when he is in the ground and you can attack him once from the air (aiming down)
4- He attacks with pillars - you dodge them to end on the center, i almost never attack here because you end up on the corner and you are vulnerable to his next attack
5- He throws balls - just go to the corner, dodge like on this video and come back to the center when the balls stop
-Heal three times when he is on bat mode (if you lost hp)
I'm pretty bad at this boss but with this way i ended up killing him easy because he only hit me once or twice before i turn him to bat mode and i can heal and repeat. This way is slow and you have to be focus but its safer and its difficult for the boss to hit you.
Btw sry for my english, if i explained poorly on some point, ask me! :D
I did it...I FUCKING DID IT
You know what's hilarious when you struggle with the 1st and the second phase of the fight and every time you get the 3rd phase you're like one nail swing away from beating him and die.But then suddenly you managed to beat the 1st and the 2nd phase without getting hit once.
First lol (it’s been a while welcome back!)
I can't beat him.... Those 4 falling fireballs look like the easiest attack to doge ... But I get hit by then every time.... Also those spikes that come up through the floor... I can doge his "hard attacks" though.... I don't get it
I don’t think we’re meant to beat this guy lol
i used quick focus unbreakable strength and quick slash i always healed during the spike attack and basically just focused on dodgeing until he used the bats or that floating attack
The only thing í had to learn was the drill,and when i beat him í popped off so fucking hard, í was at one health and the music was so fitting, abyss shriek is so strong
been trying for just over an hour and got him to 3 pufferfish phases multiple times but keep dying to stupid mistakes or being cornered
I've been playing this on and off for the last 2 years and have yet to beat him. All I have left is him and the hollow knight then ill have done absolutely everything in the game.
The difficulty reminds me of kyouya from undertale boss battles but that one was tougher than this one because kyo heals everytime he damages you
I got him literally the first attempt after watching this
I dont know why but I beat nkg 7th try for the first time and now its really easy for me
My man No-Hits NKG like it's nothing while I am struggling to get to 50% health before I die
Yeah, pretty much what I do, except I just do pure nail build and whack the guy. Getting the rythm really is the only thing necessary, as once you got that, even radiant NKG is much easier than one would think.
How does he have 11 charm notches before defeating Grimm?
You dont get charm notches for defeating grimm, he is an optional boss.
Helped kind of I was listening to this while fighting NKG but didnt pay attention yet I still beat him
By learning the moveset. I finally beat him. No hit :)
i beat nkg with 6 total masks no monarch wings, no shade dash and only 6 useable charm notches
Oh my dear god it’s so fun. Just beat him radiant
I think the absolutely craziest part of this fight that i didn't realize, is that when he charges down or dashes into you, it doesn't follow where you last were, it dashes A FIXED DISTANCE IN YOUR DIRECTION?!! which is shocking, considering when it comes to dash attacks, every single non-flying boss (i think?) in the game will adjust the dash distance to jump the distance required to GET to you, rather than a fixed distance in your direction. Realizing this blew my mind, because it means you can just WALK out of his initial dash, then shadow dash or even simply jump, which buys so so much more time to react to which of the dashing attacks he's doing AND guarantees the direction of the 2nd half of the attack, making it a million times easier to deal with.
p.s. still working on actually beating him haha TT
Actually it's much easier than that.
If he's on the ground close to you he's doing the upercut so you can shadow dash through him which puts you in a safe spot for the fireballs and lets you hit him once.
If he's in the air close to you he's doing the aerial dash so you should move away to dodge the first attack and then jump to pogo on his followup.
If he's on the ground far away it's the bats (wait for the first one to pass then jump and dash through the second to get easy damage)
if he's in the air far away it's the fire pillars attack.
if he's not on screen for a long time it's spike time
If he's in the middle of the screen and you made good progress it might be pufferfish time (thankfully even if you're caught off guard you have time to get away so it's better to assume it might be one of the other aerial attacks as the appropriate move to dodge them also don't put you in danger for the pufferfish attack by the time it's triggered)
So yeah you don't need to have a plan that works for both dash attacks they're actually very easy to distinguish (and yes you're right it's a fixed distance)
I beat NKG many times but not all the time and that's not nearly good enough. NKG before Pure Vessel in the Pantheon is just pure annoying! I can only defeat him like 10% of the time when he doesn't pull a double hit combo, but the 50 bosses before him is simply too long, blocking my way to the final boss!