Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault Monte, Prince of Howling Harbor

Monte, The Prince of Howling Harbor, is the final story boss in Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault. He rules Harrowing Heights in Aeolia on the back of a stingray, dropping the King’s Right Mask — the piece that lets Julien craft the Ray Axe once you have both masks. This page covers every phase, the platform smash windows, lightning tells, and how to land the backpack-smash that actually breaks his shield.

Version 1.0 (2 September 2026) is the build this guide assumes. Monte is not the last content — the Infinite Vault and the 300,000-gold day wait after the credits. But he is the last story fight.

How to unlock Monte

Monte lives in Harrowing Heights, the upper half of Aeolia. You reach him after:

1. Complete Vault I at 10,000 lifetime gold to open The Gallery.
2. Beat Curator (Exhibition) and Tyke (Treasury Halls) to unlock the Zephyr Fields path in Aeolia.
3. Beat Senda in Zephyr Fields to unlock Harrowing Heights.
4. Walk into Harrowing Heights and find Monte on the stingray.

Both of Monte’s masks (left from Senda, right from Monte) sit in Andrei’s inventory until Julien crafts Ray Axe. You cannot miss the encounter once Senda is down.

Monte boss fight

Monte’s move pool

Monte fights from the stingray’s back and from the platform in phase two. His tells are consistent but fast.

Phase one — aerial combat

Monte circles the arena on the stingray and throws:

• Aerial charges — the stingray swoops across the screen with falling debris. Roll through the charge, not away from it. The debris lands where you were standing, not where Monte is now.
• Chain attacks — after a charge, Monte drops damaging chain trails that sit on the ground for a few seconds. Do not stand in the trail zone. They telegraph visually before they appear.
• Straight-line weapon swings — more repetitions than early bosses. Watch for the wind-up animation and roll the swing arc, not the landing spot.
• Melee combo — if you are close, Monte strings together a multi-hit melee sequence that ends in an explosion pattern moving top-to-bottom of the screen. Roll out before the final explosion.

Bring the gun for this phase. Melee refills ammo on hit. You need ranged pressure to keep the stingray from circling freely.

Phase two — platform smash

Monte lands on a three-tile platform when the stingray phase ends. This is the shield window.

• Three platform tiles appear. Each tile has a lightning tell before it activates.
• Watch for the glow — when a tile lights up, it is about to be the smash target.
• Ruptured balls appear during this phase. Pick one up and backpack-smash it into Monte when his shield is up.
• Do not smash the tile itself. Smash the boss while the shield is open.

The shield breaks when you land a ruptured object on Monte during the platform phase. Then you can damage his health bar directly.

Loadout for Monte

• Melee: your mastered class. Short sword or spear works well; you need a safe window to approach between charges.
• Gun: Blo-Beam after the Gallery run. Ranged pressure on the stingray is the main job.
• Potions: stock up at Eris before the attempt. Phase one has a lot of rolling and you will eat at least one hit.
• Backpack: full of high-quality relics so a death does not nuke a perfect bag. Pendant out if the bag is already won.
• Julien patches: Tough Trader, Beating Boost, Sunglass Savior to stay alive longer.

What Monte drops

King’s Right Mask. Give it to Andrei. Combined with the King’s Left Mask from Senda, Julien crafts the Ray Axe — a large sword with strong counter potential. It is not required for the story ending but it is the payoff for running both Aeolia bosses.

Common mistakes

1. Standing in chain trails — they last long enough to catch a second roll.
2. Smashing the platform tile instead of Monte — the shield only drops when you hit the boss with a ruptured object.
3. Fighting phase one at close range — the stingray’s aerial charges are easier to read at mid-range with the gun.
4. Forgetting to bring a gun — melee alone cannot pressure a circling stingray fast enough.
5. Not visiting Eris first — Monte is a long fight without potions.

Practice route

Run Boss Rush after unlocking Blob-Life’s perk rooms. Boss Rush puts Kalina, Prison, Aeolia, and Interdimensional mix rooms in sequence without a full relic route. Use it to read Monte’s stingray tells before you bring a full bag into Harrowing Heights.

Return to the boss guide for Herald, Thalaam, Curator, and Tyke. For the full story order, see the walkthrough. For the Ray Axe craft, see Julien.