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Chykka Larva (Any% Conditions)

General Info:
*The amount of times it surfaces above the water at the beginning is random between 2 and 6, and this pattern will set the tone for the rest of the fight
*Chykka will always resurface directly behind the area it was just at after it comes down from a platform phase (the part where it tries to grab you with its tongue and the platform is tilted)
*The charged light shots deal varying amounts of damage, adding more luck into the fight
*Most actions are health dependent, which will be discussed in more detail later
*Generally, I’d say dark ammo is more important than light ammo, since it gets depleted more often from the spam on platform phases. Also, even if you ran out of light ammo for the charge shots, you can still at least switch to charged power shots. As such, if you have 5+ light ammo remaining before the final platform phase, I’d start it off with a charged light shot before doing the dark beam spam.
*If you happen to run out of dark ammo at the very end (the second platform phase), it’s probably best to switch to light and do beam + missile spam except with light beam instead of dark beam. Or, if you are really desperate and have lots of time and missiles, you could fire a super missile at the weak spot (it only damages the weak spot).
*A well-executed fight should be about 1:12-1:20 from the first frame of the fight to the first frame of Larva’s death cutscene. The 8 second spread is given to accommodate the luck in the fight.

As I mentioned in the first bullet point, the random pattern selected at the beginning is the major key to the fight. It sets the general layout for Chykka’s actions as long as you execute well enough. As such, this will be divided by the beginning patterns (the dive counts as a surface… so for example, the 2 surface pattern means Chykka does its guaranteed surface at the beginning then immediately dives afterwards).

2 Surfaces:
This is a pretty common pattern, and also my personal favorite since it leads to extremely straightforward and easy-to-execute fights. Since it only surfaces twice, your light beam damage will be small enough that Chykka will stay in the health range that correlates to a super missile jump. As such, if you see this pattern you should immediately switch to power beam after your second light beam shot (sometimes it dives so quickly you won’t have time for the second charge shot after the scan finishes, but don’t worry it’s not a big deal. The double super missile damage compensates for this). It’s worth noting that the shredders tend to interrupt your super missile if you don’t kill them, which obviously results in a huge time loss from having to wait for another jump. The best way to kill them is to lock on to one of them and fire a missile, as the splash damage will kill the second one as well. After the shredders are dealt with, start charging power beam as soon as possible and use your radar to prepare for Chykka’s jump location. After the super missile, I go to the edge of the circle so I can see a majority of the room. This increases the odds of seeing Chykka when it first resurfaces and does another swimming phase. Obviously use your radar too just in case you get bad luck and it spawns in your small blind spot. Keep doing the charged light shots during this swimming phase, and then the next time Chykka dives it will initiate the first platform phase. Spam dark beam until Chykka reels back then lock on to the weak spot and do dark beam + missile spam (try to incorporate a lot of missiles, that’s the bigger damage source). As noted in the general information, after the platform phase Chykka will always resurface directly behind the area it was just at. So, this leads to another swimming phase where you do charged light shots as usual. Since you already got double super missile damage early in the fight, there is no way Chykka should ever do another super missile jump so you don’t need to worry about it. The only way it’ll do another jump is if you massively messed up another part of the fight (for example, you missed several charged light shots). In addition, the super missile jump replaced would-be charged light shots for other patterns, so light ammo shouldn’t be an issue for a 2-surface fight. Considering this, I like to use the final pair of shredders as sources for more dark ammo that is crucial for the last platform phase (so shoot them with light shots, and remember light beam does damage per frame of contact so ideally you want to try and shoot both of them in a line, although it isn’t that big of a deal). After hopefully getting dark ammo drops, use everything you have left for the last platform phase and you should be done.
Summary:
After Chykka dives, immediately switch to power beam and fire a missile at the shredders. Then start charging as soon as possible to prepare for the super missile
After the super, resume charged light beam shots
The next dive leads to the first platform phase
One more swimming phase afterwards (should not have to worry about another jump)
Second platform phase and you are done

3 Surfaces:
This pattern is tricky since it presents you with a choice to make. If you do a third light beam shot on the dive, you will (usually) pass the damage threshold to eliminate the option of a super missile jump, but also not have done enough damage to cause an immediate platform phase. As a result, Chykka will simply resurface somewhere else and swim more. This is a gamble since you might not be able to find Chykka quickly enough and miss a chance for a light beam shot, leading to potential issues later on. However, if you connect every light shot (and get good luck with the varying light beam damage) you can do a ton of damage early in the fight. I’d personally recommend Claris’ 00:54 as an excellent example of this gamble paying off (she got a great 1:13 fight). However, I prefer to keep it simple and do nothing on the dive. This means you will have only hit Chykka with 2 light shots at this point, and therefore done small enough damage to cause a super missile jump. So, my recommendation is to ignore the dive, and then switch to power and do the super missile for a pseudo 2 surface fight. I think this is usually a bit slower than shooting the third light beam shot (if the gamble pays off at least), but it is much more reliable. If you do choose the third light shot, then the fight turns into a pseudo 4 surface fight which is covered later.
Summary:
You have to choose between a super missile or a third charged light shot
If you choose the super missile, refer to the 2 surface fight
If you chose the third light shot, refer to the 4 surface fight

4 Surfaces:
This is the rarest opening pattern along with 6 surfaces. It’s fortunate that it’s rare, because it’s also a pain to deal with. Similar to the logic mentioned in the 3 surface section, 4 charged light shots will just cause Chykka to resurface and swim more (too much damage for a super missile and not enough for platform phase). To be honest, I’ve seen this pattern so rarely that there might be a possibility the 4 shots could be enough to cause the platform phase (remember random light damage). But I highly doubt it, and even if it did occur you can simply react by switching to dark beam and following the standard procedure for the platform phase. Anyways, assuming the original anticipated scenario, after the fourth light shot you will have to do your best and use radar to track Chykka down for more light shots when it resurfaces. Next, Chykka will dive again and finally do the first platform phase. If there are shredders still around, I prefer to shoot them with light beam and get dark ammo (generally I’d say dark ammo is more important as I mentioned in the general information). Do the first platform phase as usual, then look directly behind for the guaranteed resurface location. This next swimming phase has a crucial aspect to understand. Specificially, at this point in the fight, Chykka’s health (should) be roughly 40% full. So, after a few more light shots it will be even lower. On this next dive, if Chykka’s health bar isn’t below the left “k” in “Chykka”, it won’t come up for the second platform phase. Instead, it will resurface again or do a super missile jump. So, if its health is in this range when it dives on this swimming phase, switch to power beam and prepare for a super missile (if Chykka resurfaces, then you can still at least hit it with a charged power shot, so it prepares you for both scenarios). This is unfortunately slow, but it is at least faster than not being prepared for the situation whatsoever. After the super missile or extra resurface, you will have to do a few more light shots until Chykka will finally dive again and do the second platform phase. A better situation is if Chykka’s health is to the left of the first “k” in “Chykka”. In this scenario, Chykka will immediately do the second platform phase and you can finish the fight right there (again, I’d probably get dark ammo if shredders are around or start the phase with a charged light shot to help conserve dark ammo). As you can probably tell, this pattern is one of the more complicated ones, especially since random light damage can dictate whether Chykka immediately comes up for the second platform phase or not (it’s much faster if it does). Also, it is admittedly difficult to tell the EXACT point on its health bar where it does the second platform phase immediately or not. I just know that if it’s to the left of the first “k” it is definitely the platform phase. In contrast, if it’s to the right then it will be a jump or resurface. In other words, you could encounter a very small gray area where the health is exactly above the first “k” and it’s hard to be 100% sure. In this case, I would just assume the worst and switch to charged power beam to prepare for all situations. For example, if an extra jump or resurface occurs, then you are prepared. If not, and you actually get the immediate second platform phase, then it isn’t a huge deal and you can just start the phase with a charged power shot before switching to the dark beam spam (which actually isn’t even that bad since it helps conserve dark ammo anyways).
Summary:
Start off with the 4 charged light shots
Use radar to track Chykka down for more light shots after it resurfaces and swims more
Get dark ammo and do the first platform phase
Do more light shots, then use the health bar to see if the next dive will lead to a second platform phase or a super missile jump or extra resurface
Second platform phase to end fight


5/6 Surfaces:
These patterns are more or less the same so I just bundled them together. For some reason, 5 surface fights are really common but 6 is extremely rare. Anyways, these patterns are basically a simplified version of the 4 surface fight. The slight difference is that the 5 or 6 light shots will be consecutive, as opposed to doing 4 shots then having Chykka dive, resurface, and swim more, requiring you track it down again. So, just do the 5 or 6 consecutive light beam shots at the beginning. These shots will do enough damage that it will always lead to an immediate first platform phase. Next, just do the first platform phase as usual. Look behind you to prepare for the resurface and do more light shots. This point of the fight has the same crucial juncture as what I described in the 4 surface section. You have to pay attention to the health bar in relationship to the first “k” in “Chykka” to determine whether the next dive will lead to the second platform phase or not. Again, if it’s a jump or extra resurface, then there will be a few more light shots afterwards until the final dive and second platform phase. If not, the second platform phase immediately happens and you should be able to end the fight there, which is much faster. This is the reason I prefer 2 and 3 surface fights to 4,5, and 6. As you can see, in 4/5/6 fights you can get screwed over by bad luck on the light beam damage since it sometimes leaves Chykka’s health at the right of the first “k” and delays the second platform phase. In addition, doing maximum damage on the first platform phase (particularly when Chykka is reeling back and you can hit the weak spot) is crucial since that can help avoid the second platform phase delay as well. Unfortunately, getting maximum damage on this part is very difficult since it requires good spam of the dark beam + missiles (the perfect rhythm is really hard). So, overall, the 4/5/6 fights put more pressure on getting a good first platform phase and even then you can still get screwed by bad luck with random charged light damage. However, if you are lucky and execute well enough to get the immediate second platform phase, then these patterns can be really fast. The 2/3 surface fights (assuming the safe super missile choice on 3 surfaces) are simply easier to execute since the early double super missile damage gives a big margin of error and compensates for bad light beam luck.
Summary:
Do the 5 or 6 consecutive light shots
Do the first platform phase
Do more light shots, then use the health bar to see if the next dive will lead to a second platform phase or a super missile jump or extra resurface
Do the second platform phase