I remember the first time my son and I made our way into the swamps. My son had gone there solo the night before, and laid out a trail of standing wooden torches, hastily covered campfires along the path, and he had levelled the land (using his hoe)to connect the small islands, making a raised path. We were on route to the next boss Bonemass. We both died a few times, even though we ported back to HQ before nightfall set in, but thanks to the lit path I knew which way to run to get to safety.

To fight Bonemass, I suggested we totally fence in the area around his altar/spawn point. I built a wall placing covered fires along the wall so we could dry out and regen when needed. My son raised the earth inside our compound, so we would not be slogging through water during the battle.

Bonemass was tough for us. My son who was tanking him died so many times he quit. The next day I decided to try him solo, after learning his poison mechanics from the previous attempt. I had Bonemass down to about 1/3 health when my son logged on. He immediately joined me, and this time he did the ranged attacks while I tanked him. We killed him on the second attempt with no deaths.

There are a lot of mechanics to the enemies in this game. Listening closely and environmental awareness play a major role in this game. Once that is understood, the game becomes a much more enjoyable experience.