Boss, Borough-Tier. First seen Book 1, Chapter 26
The Ball of Swine ("Porkchop Express")
The Ball of Swine, nicknamed "Porkchop Express," is a level 15 Borough-tier boss on Floor 1, formed from more than thirty Tuskling knights and their mates fused into a massive rolling sphere.
- LEVEL
- 15
- FLOOR LOCATION
- Floor 1 - center of the Spiral maze structure
Description
A rare Tuskling battle formation - pink, fleshy, rolls like a pinball; embedded with scraps of black/white cloth and red sequined fabric; reeks of sewage/rotten meat; individual Tuskling faces visible on the surface, spinning past. Extremely fast - too fast for a tooltip to register at speed.
Encounter Details
Guards the only safe route to the Floor 2 stairwell; viewing doors protected by an indestructible barrier; party chat cut off once sealed inside.
Update
First sighting: an enormous, pink, fleshy creature that rolls like a ball - hallway-sized, smelling of sewage, grunting extremely loudly - passed by at extreme speed on the other side of a wall; not directly engaged.
Update
Identified as the Borough Boss - the giant creature glimpsed earlier - trapping Brandon An's encampment group by blocking the only safe route to the Floor 2 stairwell at the center of the Spiral maze.
Encounter update
Fight start: arena floor has dynamic rising/sinking walls forming a shifting concentric-ring maze, guided by visible floor grooves; the ball circles the outer ring at high speed and the walls funnel it toward crawlers' position; spike strips (Carl's tool) can chip small amounts of damage as it passes; health bar confirmed visible. Boss intro used a Borough-tier 'silver' Versus screen font (vs. bronze for Neighborhood-tier bosses) and a much more theatrical rave/EDM-style announcement.
Encounter update
The group built a crafted fortress ('The Speedbump') to wedge the ball against the ceiling; a spear thrust through a gap in the ceiling triggered the ball to POP - confirmed mechanic: this Ball formation can be critically ruptured to split back into its component Tuskling Knights (Lv4, male) and Courtesans (Lv5, female), who must then be fought individually. They retain no memory of their time fused and are disoriented/unarmed upon release.
Outcome
In progress - the Ball itself has been 'popped' and is being finished off as ~30 individual Tuskling Knights/Courtesans; arena has opened into a wide dome with the Floor 2 stairwell visible at center, sealed behind a red forcefield.
Outcome
Killed: the fight ended when the last Tuskling to fall, a Level 8 Tuskling Dominatrix, was crushed under Brandon's hammer; the group received a mass XP distribution. The boss's persistent loot, a Borough Field Guide, was on her corpse.