Alphonse in Owlboy: Fireball Musket Guide
Who Alphonse is in Owlboy, how his fireball musket gunner ability works, and how dropping him on enemies can stun them.
Who is Alphonse and how does his musket work?
Alphonse is the second gunner you unlock in Owlboy, and his fireball musket fires a short-range, wide-spread blast that burns plant barriers and hits hard, then goes on cooldown, during which the gun doubles as a lighter. He is one of the three main gunners alongside Geddy and Twig, and he is also one of the automatons created by the Ancient Owls, specifically Aegolius.
How do you unlock Alphonse?
Alphonse joins Otus after Dirk leaves with Twig and ditching him; later in the story he helps sabotage the pirate Dreadnaught and fights alongside Otus against Dirk. In short, he becomes a companion partway through the adventure rather than being available from the start.
How does Alphonse's fireball musket work?
The musket fires a powerful short-range, wide-spread shot with high damage and a cooldown after each blast. In practice it is a close-quarters weapon: you need to be near your target, and you cannot keep firing without a pause.
- The blast can burn vines and bush obstacles, and damages enemies.
- While the blast is on cooldown, the musket works as a lighter: it burns plant barriers, lights lanterns and lamps in some caverns, and ignites explosives.
- The lighter does no damage to enemies, so it is for puzzles and obstacles only.
- Community wiki material states an 8 second cooldown per blast. The official patch notes do not list a number, so treat the exact figure as community-documented rather than confirmed.
One design note from the community wiki: the developers made Alphonse's musket attack even more powerful while adding a cooldown, so that players would switch to Geddy instead of relying on one gunner.
How do I aim and fire as Alphonse?
Carry him as your active gunner and fire in the direction Otus is aiming; the wide spread compensates for loose aim at close range. The anniversary update added auto-aim, which the developers say makes the game fully playable without a second thumbstick, alongside toggles in the Options Menu for auto-aim, screenshake, flash effects and dropping the gunner on dodge. A precise second-thumbstick aim is still supported for players who want it, per the official anniversary update post.
What happens when I drop Alphonse on enemies?
Various enemies can be stunned by dropping Geddy or Alphonse on their heads, a change listed in the anniversary update notes. It is a quick crowd-control option when something is in your flight path, and it pairs well with the toggle that drops your gunner automatically when you dodge.
For the official feature list, see the Steam store page; the developer's site describes the game as an open-world exploration title mixing flight and platforming.
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