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Know Thy Bosses
The Guardian Gamesblog has a piece on knowing your enemy to better pwn him. Specifically, they go through some tried and true rules about surviving boss battles. From the article: "If the boss stops, panic. Bosses usually move about - when they stop it means they're about to unleash their signature move, the aforementioned fist or laser blast. Try to avoid being parallel to them when they stop. Unless, of course, it's the sort of boss who blasts the whole screen apart from the thin corridor directly in front of them. In this case stay where you are."
I think these strategies can be applied to real bosses or PHBs. For example:
-Keep moving.
If you aren't where they expect you to be, they can't ask you to come into work on Saturday.
-If the boss stops, panic.
S/he is likely to give you a mundane task that is below your abilities or ask you a stupid question.
-Scan for weak spots.
If you know their weak spot, you can always bring it up in a time of dire need.
-The quarter rule.
At the end of a quarter expect your assigned tasks to multiply, there are deadlines to be met.
-Take a break.
The water cooler is an excellent place to share boss strategies with your comrades.
In Doom 2, I remember turning off clipping, then I found John Romero's head behind the boss, and chainsawed away. In Hexen, I just stayed behind a pillar and fired at the boss between shots, like a wild west movie. Wasn't really fun but I nailed him in the end. Very n00b I know, but I got the job done. Killing bosses in 80s RPGs like Ultima or Bard's Tale wasn't just fun, but it always felt glorious afterwards.
This is so true. I've managed to avoid Trevor Belmont's attacks (Castlevania: Curse of Darkness) just by reading his movements. When he unleashes the whip attack, I dodge, wait 1/10 of a second, then dodge again until he stops (don't do the double-dodge, there is an awful delay when you do the second dodge, and he'll get you there).
In most fighting games (if not all), the boss usually makes some move indicating what he's going to do. A good example is the final boss in Prince of Persia. When the boss moves his wings to grab a pillar and throw it at you, you should roll in the opposite direction.
So it's all about dodging... this is why defeating Julius (in Aria of Sorrow) was so difficult, he wasn't moving like a boss, but like a player. And even then you could decipher some of his moves , just by watching the color of the glow before he throws a subweapon at you.