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One of our earliest questions for the game Magicka was: How do I hit the worm's weak point for massive damage at the end of Chapter 2?

Today, we received a similar one: Beating the snake boss in Magicka.

Pardoning the whole part where they decided to pick completely different animals to describe this incarnation of Norse Mythology's World Serpent, we have two very similar questions. Not exact duplicates - LessPop's earlier question is very explicitly about hitting the head for memetic effect, while Red's question is more general towards tactics.

What I'm unsure of is whether the questions need to be split up or should they somehow be combined - do we get more value in keeping them as separate? Remember that the reason we have duplicates and merging is to avoid fragmentation of answers. This scenario works in both ways: all of the answers to the weakpoint question are fully relevant to the boss strategy question, and people who want to explicitly find weakpoint information may need to view the boss strategy question to catch any extras listed there.

Sometimes, great exclusive answers can validate a question and keep it from being closed as a duplicate. In thinking about it long enough, I'm not sure this particular case calls for it.

What do people think about this? Are they valuable enough separate that they should be kept as such? Or, like the titular being, shall we wrap around and recombine at the tail end in one closed loop? Do note that like the last inquiry I made, I'm leaning towards a reverse-direction of merging elder into younger. That seems more appropriate.

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Those questions are really asking for the same thing, hitting the weak point is the only way of beating Jormungandr. As far as I can tell from my experience playing the game, you just can't damage it any other way.

All the answers in the second question describe tactics to hit the head of Jormungandr(the weak point), I think those two questions should be merged. I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact merging mechanics, so it may not be the best solution here, but the second question is a duplicate IMHO that should be closed.

We should maybe improve the title of the questions a bit, all that worm-thingy and snake-thingy stuff is not really specific.

PS: I voted to close the second question as a duplicate.

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  • I was going for "keep separate" because on superficial reading it didn't seem Red's question's answers were aiming for the head. That's because I didn't realize they were aiming for the mouth...
    – badp
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:04
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    See the comment here for merging. As far as titles, I was thinking about that but honestly both terms are actually kinda necessary. I don't imagine that many people will remember how to spell "Jormungandr" unless they're a Norse buff, so things like the creature type, stage, and game actually kinda help. But indeed, it could be better. Also? I made the exact same mistake @badp made as far as judging them differently.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:05
  • @badp It's pretty much a snake that occasionally lunges after you (opportunity to hit it on the head or put something in the way) or borrows through the ground and surfaces somewhere (opportunity to put something in the way). I can't be sure exactly, but I think it is really invulnerable everywhere except the head.
    – Mad Scientist
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:07
  • @Grace Title: Beating Jormungandr, the snake/worm boss at the end of chapter 2 in Magicka ?????
    – Mad Scientist
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:09
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    While descriptive as a title... eyuch... something so bland coming from the person who insisted on "Khaaaaaaaan!"? But, you can't always win with a creative title.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:11
  • @Grace How do I beat that motherf%&*ing snake without a motherf%§&ing plane in that f$%&ing game with the suicidal wizards? Better? There are some questions that just call for a creative title, but I often go for the googleable titles.
    – Mad Scientist
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:14
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    @Grace "How do I kill Jormungandr?" Mention its dual nature in the body title.
    – badp
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:16
  • +1, definite merge scenario.
    – Brant
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 19:34
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It's a dupe, merge 'em.

I was just having fun with the title, which seems to have misled you. :/

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  • Actually, your body confused me more, I knew the title was memetic. Since the evidence seems to point out that the only way to kill it is to strike the weakpoint, then I think merging into yours would be the better course of action rather than my initial reverse thought. So the question is, mind if we obliterate your title to something a bit... easier to find?
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 21:52
  • It will pain me greatly, but do what is best.
    – LessPop_MoreFizz
    Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 22:11

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