Honeycomb Herald is a level located in Inkwell Isle Three. This is the level where you fight Rumor Honeybottoms. It's depicted on the map by a hotel in the shape of a beehive. Honeycomb Herald is one of the two levels unlocked after unlocking Inkwell Isle Three, along with Shootin N' Lootin. Upon defeating Honeycomb Herald, you unlock Rugged Ridge and Junkyard Jive!. You also unlock an NPC named Ludwig, which is a talking gramophone.
During the actual battle, you're in a hotel filling up with honey. You have to jump between platforms to get up and not get hurt by the honey. This boss has three phases: phase 1 is the Policeman Bee, phase 2 is Rumor Honeybottoms using magic, and phase three is Rumor as a plane. You don't have to fight phase three in Simple Mode.
Strategy
Recommended
- Homing shots are incredibly useful for this boss and extremely useful for the last phase. It is also recommended to use Lobber, as in the Policeman bee stage, the Lobber has the perfect trajectory, and it falls, so it is useful for stage three.
- Make sure not to let the boss distract you entirely from the fact that you need to keep jumping, or vice versa
- If you want the coin from the clown in Inkwell Isle Two for four parries in a row before hitting the ground or the achievement for five parries before you hit the ground, the pink homing projectiles in phase two are perfect for it.
- During the first phase, try to stay at the top of the screen, as it will make dodging the Policeman Bee easier.
Phases
"Doggone! We got ourselves a good ol' fashioned honey heist!"
—Policeman Bee, Phase 1 Death Screen
Before the battle begins, Rumor Honeybottoms is shown with a fork, knife, and a bib, looking at Cuphead and Mugman like she wants to eat them. Then her fork and knife become a wand and her bib disappears, as she snaps, calling the Policeman Bee. A whistle can then be heard, and the Policeman Bee comes into the arena while saying: "Oi oi oi!"
The Policeman Bee will fly near the bottom, occasionally dropping ticking bombs from his pocket. These bombs will tick for five seconds, then explode into six pieces. Three of those pieces are parryable. In Simple and Expert Mode, the bomb will explode into eight pieces, with four of them being parryable.
While all of this happens, worker bees with suitcases fly around, looking very sad. These bees won't attack the player(s), though if you run into them, you get hurt. You are easily able to shoot and destroy these bees.
For this phase, it is recommended to use the Chaser, since the Policeman Bee is always moving from left to right. It is not required to use the Chaser, but it helps.
After the Policeman Bee has taken enough damage, he'll fly away while rubbing his shoulder, which has two white bandages on it. Then the next phase will commence.
"Hey sugar, this honey is off limits. Now scram!"
—Rumor Honeybottoms, Phase 2 Death Screen
In this phase, you actually start fighting Rumor Honeybottoms. There are two "forms" that she'll turn into in this phase. Throughout the phase, she'll change these "forms," and it's at random when they change, so it doesn't matter how much you damage her, she'll just randomly change.
- In her first "form," she'll come in from either the left or right side (shown by a her hand) and attack the player(s) with a magic wand. Rumor can summon one of two things in this "form:"
- The first thing Rumor can summon is a purple wavy triangle that'll fly around the screen. Occasionally, the triangle will shoot three parryable mini triangles from it's corners. Two triangles can be on the screen at once, so be careful and watch where it shoots.
- The second thing Rumor can summon is a pink parryable sphere that moves around the screen. You can parry this sphere endlessly until it disappears, so it's recommended to use this sphere to get a coin from the juggler in Inkwell Isle Two from parrying four times in a row. This sphere doesn't directly attack the player, but rather just homes in on the player slowly. After a while, the sphere will go off screen. Once again, two spheres can be on the screen at once; so be careful.
- In her second "form," she'll go to the middle, then drop her head down. This reveals a chain in between her head and her body. She'll then proceed to shoot Bullet Bees on either side from her mouth. These Bullet Bees go in an S shape pattern, and they move pretty quickly, so you must jump and crouch very fast. Beware that the magical projectiles from the first "form" can still be moving around from her first "form."
It is recommended to use the Charge shot on this phase to deal maximum damage. Though you can still use shots like the Peashooter, Roundabout, and the Chaser in this phase.
After dealing enough damage, she'll go back up to the top of the screen, then come back down with a book in hand. She'll flip through the pages of the book, then point at a page of the book, seeming like she found what she wanted. She then puts the book away, and does a magical thing. She'll then turn into a plane, and fly to the bottom of the screen. The next phase commences.
But in Simple Mode, the fight just ends there. If in her second "form," then she'll just stop and look down. It is unknown at this point what happens if you defeat her in her first "form," because every video on Simple Mode only show her being defeated in her second "form."
"Dominate and bombinate -- that's how I bee!"
—Rumor Honeybottoms, Final Phase Death Screen
This phase isn't fought in Simple Mode.
During this phase Rumor Honeybottoms turns into a plane. She'll stay at the bottom of the screen, and shoot hand missiles which home in on you. Beware that some of these hand missiles can go off screen, then come back. So it's recommended to stay in the middle of the screen, unless Rumor's attacking you with her buzz saw.
From time to time, she will turn her hand into a buzz saw, and take up half of the screen. In order to know which side she's striking at, just look at where she's looking. If she stops and starts looking to the right, she'll strike the right side of the screen. If she stops and starts looking to the left, she'll strike the left side of the screen.
It is recommended to use the Lobber or Chaser (preferably Lobber because it does more damage), since Rumor is at the bottom of the screen, and it's hard to aim at her with any other kind of shot. It is also recommended that you always move, because you don't want to be hit by a hand missile.
Once Rumor takes enough damage, the fight will be over. Rumor's head will pop off, with cross eyes and her tongue out, while she waves her wings all over the place.Inspirations
- Some of the honeycombs in the background have hotel-like rooms similar to those in the 1936 cartoon The Cobweb Hotel.
- The office-like structure of the battle stage is similar to the monotonous appearance of life as seen in the 1928 King Vidor film The Crowd.
- The bee workers and the level's design resembling a combination of an office building and a beehive could be seen as a play on the term "sticky business".
Trivia
- The theme that plays during the fight is one of the few boss themes that isn't used in Admission to Perdition or One Hell of a Time. The other ones are Murine Corps, The Kings Court, and Shootin' n' Lootin'.
Walkthrough
| Regular Mode | Expert Mode |
|---|---|
 Cuphead - Rumor Honeybottoms in Honeycomb Harold |
 Cuphead - Honeycomb Herald -Expert- |
Sounds
| Description | Audio |
| Overworld |
Soundtrack
| Version | Soundtrack |
| In-game soundtrack |  |
| Original soundtrack |
Gallery
